What is Storytelling in Business and How It Can Be Implemented?

Introduction

Data is the fuel that keeps businesses running today. Technology helps businesses capture umpteen amounts of data every minute via satellite, smartphones, television, and other necessary devices for today’s survival. All this data that businesses are capturing today has a story to tell. Machine learning and artificial intelligence help businesses find the points of similarities and dissimilarities in the data and its patterns; now it is in the hands of humans to read the data. Create stories that this data wants to tell and convey to fellow humans so that businesses can make use of the data and its meaning.

In this article, we will be diving deep into what data storytelling is, the key takeaways while preparing the data storytelling presentations, and how businesses can learn the art and science of data storytelling for their own benefit.

What is Data Storytelling?

Data storytelling, in simple terms, means helping laymen or non-technical stakeholders understand what the data is telling them. Companies are going to get huge amounts of data regarding consumer behavior, purchase patterns, consumption patterns, after-purchase decisions, and others. Machine learning helps in analyzing the data, but now it is in the hands of the presenters to use this data and convey the story for the business.

Stakeholders, directors, and other decision-makers of the business do not have time to hear individually about what each pattern is signifying; they want the expertise of humans here to construct stories in which they can include all the data points that are necessary, what the data points signify, and how they can be used by the business to tap other business opportunities in the future.

How Can Data Storytelling Be Implemented?

Data storytelling can be successfully implemented if one keeps the following pointers in mind −

General Storytelling Rules

In data storytelling, the general rule of storytelling applies. In this sense, whoever is presenting the data needs to have a beginning in which they grab the attention of the audience, a body part in which the presenters will provide the audience with an in-depth understanding of all the data presented in the introduction and the many business impacts or opportunities, and a conclusion part in which the presenter is going to discuss all the solutions or business initiatives that can be taken.

Connect with the Audience

While presenting the data, the presenter should be able to understand the mood of the audience and their capabilities as well. In this sense, he should keep a check on whether his audience is engaged during the presentation. A highly technical presentation is not going to work with the non-technical; on the other hand, a presentation with a lot of technicalities will win over the hearts of the technical. Before preparing the story, the presenter should understand the audience and then only prepare the content of the story.

Collaborate in Data Storytelling

A good data story, or an effective one, is one that has a 360-degree angle in the sense that presenters should collaborate with other departments or individuals that can add more valuable information to the presentation. This homework or collaboration Is done to ensure that the solution or the remedies are practical and, along with the problem and data, have been viewed from different angles and perspectives. This will help the presenters create a strong and impactful presentation for the stakeholders.

Avoid Distractions While Data Storytelling

While data storytelling presenters have to avoid all kinds of distractions, it includes relying heavily on data, telling data points that are not relevant, not suggesting solutions or remedies properly, and others. What most of the presenters do not understand is that while presenting the data, the iceberg rule applies. The iceberg rule says that while presenting the data, only 10% of the analysis or data is going to be visible to the stakeholders, and the rest of the data is going to be only available to the machines or the data analyst. 10% of the data is relevant data that supports the story that management wants to convey to the stakeholders and is relevant for decision-making.

The key takeaways from data storytelling presentations are as listed below.

• Do not clutter your presentations with too much data or points.

• Do not write everything that you will be saying on slides.

• Only add graphs or pictures that are relevant to the story.

• Do not lose the business purpose in the aesthetics of the presentations.

• Collaborate with different teams and include their perceptions as well in the presentation (if they are relevant and useful).

Conclusion

All companies today have access to the data, but not all companies can go beyond descriptive analysis to predictive and prescriptive analysis. Even if some companies’ presenters can reach that level, they lack the skill of data storytelling. Data storytelling is the art of presenting the science of data in useful terms so that decisions can be made for the benefit of the business.

Data Storytelling is the new trending concept that will revolutionize businesses because businesses want the human intelligence of someone who could present machine learning analysis, someone who can collaborate with different stakeholders, and in the end, someone who can present stories that can help the stakeholders in improvising the business's performance. Data storytelling is an art that companies have to master.