What are the best practices for sharing a data story?
Data stories are powerful ways to communicate insights, persuade audiences, and inspire actions. But how can you share your data stories effectively and avoid common pitfalls? Here are some best practices to follow when crafting and presenting your data stories.
Know your audience
Before you start designing your data story, you need to understand who your audience is, what they care about, and what they need to know. This will help you tailor your message, tone, and format to suit their preferences and expectations. You can use personas, surveys, interviews, or other methods to gather information about your audience and their goals, challenges, and questions.
Choose the right format
Depending on your audience, your data story may take different forms, such as a report, a dashboard, a slide deck, a video, or an interactive visualization. You should choose the format that best suits your purpose, your data, and your delivery mode. For example, if you want to tell a linear narrative with a clear beginning, middle, and end, a slide deck or a video may work well. If you want to enable your audience to explore the data and discover their own insights, an interactive visualization or a dashboard may be more appropriate.
Use clear and compelling visuals
Visuals are essential elements of any data story, as they can capture attention, convey information, and evoke emotions. However, not all visuals are created equal. You should use visuals that are relevant, accurate, and easy to understand. Avoid using too many colors, fonts, or charts that may confuse or distract your audience. Use labels, legends, and annotations to explain your visuals and highlight key points. Also, make sure your visuals are consistent and aligned with your brand and style guidelines.
Craft a narrative arc
A data story is not just a collection of facts and figures. It is a story that has a structure, a plot, and a message. You should craft a narrative arc that guides your audience through your data story and engages them emotionally and intellectually. A narrative arc typically consists of four stages: exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution. In the exposition, you introduce your topic, context, and characters. In the rising action, you present your data, analysis, and insights. In the climax, you reveal your main finding, recommendation, or call to action. In the resolution, you summarize your key takeaways and next steps.
Practice and refine
Before you share your data story with your audience, you should practice and refine it until you are confident and comfortable. You should rehearse your delivery, timing, and tone, and anticipate potential questions or objections. You should also seek feedback from others, such as colleagues, peers, or mentors, and incorporate their suggestions to improve your data story. You should also test your data story on different devices and platforms to ensure it works properly and looks professional.
Be honest and ethical
Finally, you should always be honest and ethical when sharing your data story. You should respect your data sources, acknowledge your limitations and assumptions, and disclose any conflicts of interest or biases. You should also avoid manipulating or misrepresenting your data to fit your narrative or agenda. You should aim to inform, educate, and persuade your audience, not deceive, mislead, or coerce them.
Source: LinkedIn