Storytelling with Data

introduction

I often receive emails from people who have read my first book, storytelling with data, or attended one of our workshops by the same name. There are notes of encouragement, support for the work we’re doing, and plenty of questions and requests. I especially love hearing the success stories: reports of having influenced a key business decision, spurred an overdue budget conversation, or prompted an action that positively impacted an organization’s bottom line. The most inspiring accounts are those of personal growth and recognition. One grateful reader applied storytelling with data principles during an interview, helping him land a new job. All of this success is the result of people from different industries, functions, and roles committing time to improve their ability to communicate with data.

I also hear regularly from people who want more. They’ve read the book and understand the potential impact of telling stories with data, but struggle with the practical application to their own work. They have additional questions or feel they are facing nuanced situations that are keeping them from having the desired impact. It’s clear that people crave more guidance and practice to help fully develop their data storytelling skills.

Others reach out who are—or would like to be—teaching the lessons outlined in storytelling with data. In many cases, they are university instructors (it’s amazing to think that storytelling with data is used as a textbook at more than 100 universities ...