October 1, 2023

The writer’s views are totally their very own (excluding the unlikely occasion of hypnosis) and should not at all times replicate the views of Moz.

Be a part of Lazarina on this Whiteboard Friday the place she discusses the important abilities and components concerned in knowledge storytelling. Study knowledge evaluation, and knowledge visualization, in addition to how you can talk wins and stability relationships with stakeholders.

Digital whiteboard showing the skills and elements of data storytelling

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Video Transcription

Hello there. Right this moment we’ll discuss knowledge storytelling. All through historical past, we people have used tales to speak info, to cross boundaries, and to additionally relate to at least one one other. So right this moment we’ll discuss knowledge storytelling and the way that can be utilized as a part of an search engine marketing or a advertising and marketing marketing consultant’s position.

We’ll speak concerning the 4 principal parts of information storytelling and the talents that you just want with a purpose to create lovely knowledge tales.

Knowledge Science

Image showing the elements of data science

So the primary part of information storytelling is knowledge science. So knowledge science is all about figuring out what insights you wish to extract out of your knowledge, nevertheless it’s additionally concerning the technical abilities that you just want as a marketing consultant or a marketer with a purpose to extract that knowledge.

So it combines a bit bit of information evaluation. It combines a bit bit of information engineering. However it’s all about figuring out what knowledge you want with a purpose to inform a great story.

Knowledge Visualization

Image showing the elements of data visualization

The second part of information storytelling is knowledge visualization. So knowledge visualization is all about figuring out how you can visualize the information that you’ve at hand primarily based on the insights that you just wish to talk.

It is also about selecting the visuals that enable you talk the narrative that you just wish to your stakeholders higher. So this implies you probably have a specific knowledge kind, whether or not it is numeric or text-based, it means selecting the visuals or in any other case the charts, the graphs, or tables that can enable you to speak these insights to your stakeholders higher.

mage showing that data, narrative and visuals are important in data visualization

The Narrative

Image showing that data, narrative and visuals are important in data visualization

The third part is the narrative. So the narrative is all about how do you convey insights to your viewers. What’s most necessary right here is that you just discover ways to talk wins, how you can evoke feelings in your stakeholders, how you can perhaps create some urgency with the tales that you’re saying, and likewise how you can talk the relationships between the tasks that you just’re engaged on and the outcomes that you’re seeing inside the knowledge.

What can be crucial right here is to indicate the trigger and influence relationship between the information factors, the tasks that you just’re engaged on, and what the outcomes of those are.

Relationships

Image showing the elements that exist in relationships in data storytelling

The fourth part, the massive circle right here that usually folks do not actually think about in knowledge storytelling is definitely the relationships.

So after we discuss relationships, it is all concerning the relationships that you’ve along with your stakeholders. That is one thing that usually you have to to work on as you’re working along with your stakeholders. However what’s most necessary right here is to know your stakeholders. Who’re they?

What are their hidden motivations? Who’re they reporting in to? Or what’s an important end result for them for this specific venture? It is also crucial so that you can know earlier than you create a report or any kind of knowledge story what success seems to be like for that exact individual and how one can greatest bridge the hole between the present efficiency and their ideally suited efficiency by means of the story that you just inform.

So now that we now have all of those totally different abilities that that you must know, we will see the three principal parts of a profitable knowledge story, and that’s initially the information. We all know that the information must be correct. It must be dependable. So what’s most necessary, if you end up your knowledge, is to know particularly whether or not there’s any sampling utilized, whether or not this can be a dependable knowledge supply, whether or not the information is full.

So these are the form of questions that you have to be asking your self each time you’re analyzing the information that you just wish to current to your consumer. The second crucial part and what we now have realized is that that you must have a really compelling narrative. So the narrative is a mix between your skill to bridge the gaps between the information and the tasks that you just’re engaged on.

However it’s additionally a mix between who you’re reporting in to. So relying on who your viewers is, your narrative is probably going going to alter though you’re reporting the identical knowledge. The third part is definitely the visuals that you will use. Each time you’re selecting visuals, at all times take into consideration whether or not that is essentially the most acceptable approach to current the knowledge that you need to that exact viewers, as a result of though generally you would possibly want to current to the viewers in a sure approach, like as an example, as an illustration, a dashboard, which may not be the best vessel for this knowledge and for this narrative for the actual individual.

Each time you’re selecting your visuals, it is crucial not solely to consider the platform the place you’re storing your stories and the way you’re constructing them, nevertheless it’s additionally necessary to consider whether or not you’re selecting essentially the most acceptable graphs and charts with a purpose to assist the viewers perceive rapidly what the specified actions after the report must be.

So each time you’re fascinated by your knowledge, your narrative, and your visuals, click on on the hyperlink inside the weblog put up as a result of there will likely be a guidelines there that can assist you by means of totally different questions on how you can greatest set up these three components if you’re constructing your knowledge story. With all of that, we now have lined a lesson for knowledge storytelling parts and abilities that that you must succeed.

Additional sources:

Youtube Video: Telling Stories with Data – What is Data Storytelling and How to Implement as a Consultant

Part 1: Beginner’s Guide to Data Storytelling for Digital Marketing Consultants and Analysts – Parts, abilities, and parts of action-provoking knowledge tales.

Part 2: Six Practical Ways to Implement Data Storytelling in Your Consulting – Actionable examples, suggestions, and greatest practices for implementing knowledge storytelling.

Video transcription by Speechpad.com