Effective Data Storytelling: How to Drive Change with Data, Narrative and Visuals

While other books about story merely entertain, this one is special because the principles are so memorable and applicable. It has truly changed the way I prepare for meetings, speak at conferences, and connect with customers. Instead of getting frustrated when ego and bias blind others to the ideas that could help us improve, I finally have a guide to balance the data, visuals, and narrative behind the research. The detailed examples make it easy to advance beyond labeling a presentation as effective or not. Now I know exactly WHY data stories are so influential and how I can replicate the best approaches in my own critical opportunities for influence. As a web analyst for 4 years, a digital advertiser for 4 years, and now a business intelligence product manager for 4 years - this is the most relevant and helpful book of my career. Next time you sit down with a chart or a slide remember this - you are starting in the wrong place. Turn off your computer, get out this book, and find a stack of post it notes. I promise the time spent organizing the hook, rise, aha, and solution will be more persuasive. This is because you are focused on connecting both the logic and emotion of the audience instead of merely boring and confusing them with an overcomplicated pile of unconnected numbers. Stories are not just for kids at bedtime. They are the only way to achieve the incredibly rare miracle of actually changing minds. Many are great with data. Some are solid with visuals. Very few are skilled with narrative. A small investment in that final skill will make you and your ideas truly stand out. To prove it, let me end with a story. I had to speak at our annual user conference (hook). People were sick of the same type of best practice breakout sessions (rise). The rough draft has great tips but nobody seemed to care (rise). I spent more time gathering relatable experiences supported by visuals other than charts (rise). After lots of practice I knew I had to balance slides with substance and stories (Aha). I spoke to 700 people and was rated the best session at the conference - and had fun seeing people actually apply my advice (solution). You can do this too. Whether at home, church, school, or work - people want more than logic and analytics. They crave connection. Stories are the best way to foster that type of empathy. Then you can all change together. Thanks Brent for writing this book. It has changed me.

Brent Dykes does a brilliant job of sharing insights around why most data isn't being effectively applied to creating impact on our businesses/goals/objectives. The screen captures I shared provided a particular a-ha moment for me. The only data communication method that has a clear Main Point...alerts. Since most of us are using reports, dashboards, and less frequently, infographics, we are literally providing NO Main Point! Imagine a story without a point?! If you're tired of acquiring, assembling, and reporting on data with no tangible IMPACT being created, I encourage you to read this book.

In Greek mythology, Prometheus brought fire to humanity. With this book, Brent has brought fire to you. Around the prehistoric fire, storytelling was a source of learning, a foundation of human society. Poorly delivered stories have prolonged some societal suffering, while effective stories have saved lives and changed history. Details of ancient and recent history ground Brent’s story as he brings you forward to our present data driven day. Data, narrative, and visuals, listed in the title, don’t describe the full depth of what Brent delivers. He covers details of what you must do as a presenter viewed from audience reception and responses. Brent speaks to audience needs and motivations, their attention to what you present, and their ability to see and understand the layouts of your visuals. Brent gladly stands on the shoulders of other researchers, citing historians, psychologists, business leaders, and especially pioneering names in data discovery and visualization – Tukey, Cleveland, Tufte, Few, and others. Brent’s research underlies easily understood figures and tables describing concepts. Brent provides a list of specific steps to follow to build your own effective data stories; and those data stories can be very powerful. This book’s power, hidden in plain sight in the title, “drive change”, is addressed in the very first chapter. Change is disruptive and unavoidable. “The bigger an insight is, the more disruptive it will be to the status quo.” If read closely with an open mind, you hold fire in your hands with Brent’s book, but you need practice. Read his book, practice, and drive some change.

This book is a breath of fresh air for the analytics community and the stakeholders relying on their insights. Too often, analysts are taught that visualization is the most important way to engage people with your data. Brent Dykes understands that visualization is just part of the equation and does a masterful job teaching readers how to weave insights into a narrative that leads decision makers to act as opposed to hoping they simply remember an interesting tidbit of information. Where most analytics content tends to focus on technical skills, new algorithms, and wildly complex new charts and graphs, Effective Data Storytelling answers questions about how to gain traction with your findings in the real world. • How to deal with situations where your findings are in contrary to existing beliefs • What is happening in a decision-maker’s brain as they decide what to do with the insights being communicated • How to build to your ‘aha’ moment • How to handle the impatient, ‘just give me the numbers’ decision-maker. • Many more practical use-cases for crafting the narrative and engaging audiences who’s attention is limited Once an analyst has the technical foundation to perform exploratory analysis, this book may be the most valuable tool in their long-term development and success.

This is a terrific book. It does what most other data viz books don't: it gives a roadmap for identifying data insights then how to present them within a structured storytelling frame. Most books just focus on visualization design and give the story short shrift. This book covers elements of a good data story equally, i.e., how to use data, narrative, visuals together. It's well researched; rich in stories (obviously); and easy to read. As someone who is trying to advance the use of data in their organization, I found the structured approach the author provides extremely easy to implement. I'd recommend the book for folks just starting out working with data and data viz, current practitioners, and analysts who need to better connect their insights with decision makers.

I finished this book as part of learning what goes into data storytelling. I came from almost no understanding when I started to feeling very comfortable communicating data with a story. The way Brent Dykes weaves in his own stories (the guide in Italy was my favorite) helps bring the topics a fresh perspective. It's a great investment, and I recommend this book to anyone interested in the topics of communicating business ideas, data storytelling, or driving change.

This is a wonderfully thought out book on Data Storytelling from Brent Dykes. His research, presentation, and arguments on this subject was insightful, accurate, and energizing. I honestly wish I had this book 2 years ago as a basis to help me frame a major insight that could dramatically improve the customer experience. I was still lucky to influence a mindful VP on fixing a major part of the digital experience, but I might have been able to get it done sooner if I applied the lessons from this book. I highly recommend this book to both Business and Analytical team members. This book helps readers carefully consider how they actively build a Data Story to elicit change using Data and Insights as the foundation. All the core elements that support a good Data Story including quality data, an insight, a narrative, and clean visuals that come together in a Data Story for action. This book does a great job at explaining each of these elements and provides many great examples that readers can relate with. Across my own digital career, I have seen many team members struggle with being able to clearly articulate an insight and even describe what a possible solution to the problem is. This book can help them understand the process to effectively communicating their insight with a plan to action. With the explosion of business intelligence tools it has become much easier to discover insights, yet many people still struggle at putting a clear story to explain it. This book can help you pull it all together to make an impactful change. Three major things I learned from this book Humans act and respond to emotions – We all know this is true, but as data explorers, we must always recenter back to this paradigm. As we discover insights, we must develop it into a Data Story that can reach into our human emotions and influence change. The data alone does not stir emotions, it is the meaning they represent along with the potential direction and impact they could go. We must craft stories that speak to our emotions. Ingredients to every Data Story = (Data + Narrative + Visuals). This book dives deep into each of these elements as they complement and strengthen the authors argument on what is a good Data Story. Once you discover an Insight, it is not just about showing a fancy chart with words describing a big change. You must critically think about every element as a scene in a story arc. Every piece works together to bring an audience along the journey to the Aha moment, and then the opportunity for the audience to help create the last chapters to this adventure. Visualizations support a Data Story - As a BI Professional, I love the power of data visualizations. They can help you quickly identify outliers and trends much quicker than spreadsheets. When crafted correctly, they can also be used to help focus attention and elicit emotions when paired with a strong narrative. However, we must be critically careful on how we emphasis, and present as to not mislead or confuse our audience. Brent does a good job at describing techniques on how to reduce the effort in visuals for an audience to understand. At the end of the day, this is a powerful book for all kinds of people that use and interact with data. Whether you are a data scientist, an analyst, a product marketer, or even a VP. We all need to be better Data Storytellers. If you lead a team of people, read this book, and pass it around. Once you and team have a common understanding on a process for better communicating and sharing our data insights, we all can become more Effective Data Storytellers.

My brother in law, just graduated college this summer and is looking to kick start his career with a job as a Business Analyst. I gave him this book to help him beat the competition in the entry level workforce. He was so grateful and opened it the second I gave it to him. Thank you, Brent for being an inspiration to the generation entering the workforce and for creating a resource that gives them a competitive advantage while trying to start a career during COVID.

Just finished reading this. A huge thank you to Brent for writing this awesome book. One of my favorite parts was the psychology behind data storytelling. In particular, two quotes from this section resonated with me: "We hear statistics, but we feel stories." "When a story is shared, an interesting pattern emerges in the brains of the storyteller and the listeners - they synchronize." We tend to assume our audience will know what our numbers mean - a fatal flaw. When we tell a story along with the numbers, however, we work smarter not harder. Only then can our data's voice be heard in the capacity it deserves. Lastly, it allowed me to see that psych and analytics go hand in hand on a deeper level.

We hear how data offers meaning and truth, but often is misrepresented in the articulation of the how and why due to the viewers interpretation. Effective Data Storytelling provides simple to understand stories and examples on how to create a narrative with content that is effective, and will generate impact to your research, conversation and writing. Dykes’ book easily illustrates how to gain an advantage with data to build trust, accelerate relationships and drive strategic outcomes. This book should remain on your desk, and serve as a “go-to”, when building a strategy for success, and developing ideation.

While other books about story merely entertain, this one is special because the principles are so memorable and applicable. It has truly changed the way I prepare for meetings, speak at conferences, and connect with customers. Instead of getting frustrated when ego and bias blind others to the ideas that could help us improve, I finally have a guide to balance the data, visuals, and narrative behind the research. The detailed examples make it easy to advance beyond labeling a presentation as effective or not. Now I know exactly WHY data stories are so influential and how I can replicate the best approaches in my own critical opportunities for influence. As a web analyst for 4 years, a digital advertiser for 4 years, and now a business intelligence product manager for 4 years - this is the most relevant and helpful book of my career. Next time you sit down with a chart or a slide remember this - you are starting in the wrong place. Turn off your computer, get out this book, and find a stack of post it notes. I promise the time spent organizing the hook, rise, aha, and solution will be more persuasive. This is because you are focused on connecting both the logic and emotion of the audience instead of merely boring and confusing them with an overcomplicated pile of unconnected numbers. Stories are not just for kids at bedtime. They are the only way to achieve the incredibly rare miracle of actually changing minds. Many are great with data. Some are solid with visuals. Very few are skilled with narrative. A small investment in that final skill will make you and your ideas truly stand out. To prove it, let me end with a story. I had to speak at our annual user conference (hook). People were sick of the same type of best practice breakout sessions (rise). The rough draft has great tips but nobody seemed to care (rise). I spent more time gathering relatable experiences supported by visuals other than charts (rise). After lots of practice I knew I had to balance slides with substance and stories (Aha). I spoke to 700 people and was rated the best session at the conference - and had fun seeing people actually apply my advice (solution). You can do this too. Whether at home, church, school, or work - people want more than logic and analytics. They crave connection. Stories are the best way to foster that type of empathy. Then you can all change together. Thanks Brent for writing this book. It has changed me.

Brent Dykes does a brilliant job of sharing insights around why most data isn't being effectively applied to creating impact on our businesses/goals/objectives. The screen captures I shared provided a particular a-ha moment for me. The only data communication method that has a clear Main Point...alerts. Since most of us are using reports, dashboards, and less frequently, infographics, we are literally providing NO Main Point! Imagine a story without a point?! If you're tired of acquiring, assembling, and reporting on data with no tangible IMPACT being created, I encourage you to read this book.

In Greek mythology, Prometheus brought fire to humanity. With this book, Brent has brought fire to you. Around the prehistoric fire, storytelling was a source of learning, a foundation of human society. Poorly delivered stories have prolonged some societal suffering, while effective stories have saved lives and changed history. Details of ancient and recent history ground Brent’s story as he brings you forward to our present data driven day. Data, narrative, and visuals, listed in the title, don’t describe the full depth of what Brent delivers. He covers details of what you must do as a presenter viewed from audience reception and responses. Brent speaks to audience needs and motivations, their attention to what you present, and their ability to see and understand the layouts of your visuals. Brent gladly stands on the shoulders of other researchers, citing historians, psychologists, business leaders, and especially pioneering names in data discovery and visualization – Tukey, Cleveland, Tufte, Few, and others. Brent’s research underlies easily understood figures and tables describing concepts. Brent provides a list of specific steps to follow to build your own effective data stories; and those data stories can be very powerful. This book’s power, hidden in plain sight in the title, “drive change”, is addressed in the very first chapter. Change is disruptive and unavoidable. “The bigger an insight is, the more disruptive it will be to the status quo.” If read closely with an open mind, you hold fire in your hands with Brent’s book, but you need practice. Read his book, practice, and drive some change.

This book is a breath of fresh air for the analytics community and the stakeholders relying on their insights. Too often, analysts are taught that visualization is the most important way to engage people with your data. Brent Dykes understands that visualization is just part of the equation and does a masterful job teaching readers how to weave insights into a narrative that leads decision makers to act as opposed to hoping they simply remember an interesting tidbit of information. Where most analytics content tends to focus on technical skills, new algorithms, and wildly complex new charts and graphs, Effective Data Storytelling answers questions about how to gain traction with your findings in the real world. • How to deal with situations where your findings are in contrary to existing beliefs • What is happening in a decision-maker’s brain as they decide what to do with the insights being communicated • How to build to your ‘aha’ moment • How to handle the impatient, ‘just give me the numbers’ decision-maker. • Many more practical use-cases for crafting the narrative and engaging audiences who’s attention is limited Once an analyst has the technical foundation to perform exploratory analysis, this book may be the most valuable tool in their long-term development and success.

This is a terrific book. It does what most other data viz books don't: it gives a roadmap for identifying data insights then how to present them within a structured storytelling frame. Most books just focus on visualization design and give the story short shrift. This book covers elements of a good data story equally, i.e., how to use data, narrative, visuals together. It's well researched; rich in stories (obviously); and easy to read. As someone who is trying to advance the use of data in their organization, I found the structured approach the author provides extremely easy to implement. I'd recommend the book for folks just starting out working with data and data viz, current practitioners, and analysts who need to better connect their insights with decision makers.

I finished this book as part of learning what goes into data storytelling. I came from almost no understanding when I started to feeling very comfortable communicating data with a story. The way Brent Dykes weaves in his own stories (the guide in Italy was my favorite) helps bring the topics a fresh perspective. It's a great investment, and I recommend this book to anyone interested in the topics of communicating business ideas, data storytelling, or driving change.

This is a wonderfully thought out book on Data Storytelling from Brent Dykes. His research, presentation, and arguments on this subject was insightful, accurate, and energizing. I honestly wish I had this book 2 years ago as a basis to help me frame a major insight that could dramatically improve the customer experience. I was still lucky to influence a mindful VP on fixing a major part of the digital experience, but I might have been able to get it done sooner if I applied the lessons from this book. I highly recommend this book to both Business and Analytical team members. This book helps readers carefully consider how they actively build a Data Story to elicit change using Data and Insights as the foundation. All the core elements that support a good Data Story including quality data, an insight, a narrative, and clean visuals that come together in a Data Story for action. This book does a great job at explaining each of these elements and provides many great examples that readers can relate with. Across my own digital career, I have seen many team members struggle with being able to clearly articulate an insight and even describe what a possible solution to the problem is. This book can help them understand the process to effectively communicating their insight with a plan to action. With the explosion of business intelligence tools it has become much easier to discover insights, yet many people still struggle at putting a clear story to explain it. This book can help you pull it all together to make an impactful change. Three major things I learned from this book Humans act and respond to emotions – We all know this is true, but as data explorers, we must always recenter back to this paradigm. As we discover insights, we must develop it into a Data Story that can reach into our human emotions and influence change. The data alone does not stir emotions, it is the meaning they represent along with the potential direction and impact they could go. We must craft stories that speak to our emotions. Ingredients to every Data Story = (Data + Narrative + Visuals). This book dives deep into each of these elements as they complement and strengthen the authors argument on what is a good Data Story. Once you discover an Insight, it is not just about showing a fancy chart with words describing a big change. You must critically think about every element as a scene in a story arc. Every piece works together to bring an audience along the journey to the Aha moment, and then the opportunity for the audience to help create the last chapters to this adventure. Visualizations support a Data Story - As a BI Professional, I love the power of data visualizations. They can help you quickly identify outliers and trends much quicker than spreadsheets. When crafted correctly, they can also be used to help focus attention and elicit emotions when paired with a strong narrative. However, we must be critically careful on how we emphasis, and present as to not mislead or confuse our audience. Brent does a good job at describing techniques on how to reduce the effort in visuals for an audience to understand. At the end of the day, this is a powerful book for all kinds of people that use and interact with data. Whether you are a data scientist, an analyst, a product marketer, or even a VP. We all need to be better Data Storytellers. If you lead a team of people, read this book, and pass it around. Once you and team have a common understanding on a process for better communicating and sharing our data insights, we all can become more Effective Data Storytellers.

My brother in law, just graduated college this summer and is looking to kick start his career with a job as a Business Analyst. I gave him this book to help him beat the competition in the entry level workforce. He was so grateful and opened it the second I gave it to him. Thank you, Brent for being an inspiration to the generation entering the workforce and for creating a resource that gives them a competitive advantage while trying to start a career during COVID.

Just finished reading this. A huge thank you to Brent for writing this awesome book. One of my favorite parts was the psychology behind data storytelling. In particular, two quotes from this section resonated with me: "We hear statistics, but we feel stories." "When a story is shared, an interesting pattern emerges in the brains of the storyteller and the listeners - they synchronize." We tend to assume our audience will know what our numbers mean - a fatal flaw. When we tell a story along with the numbers, however, we work smarter not harder. Only then can our data's voice be heard in the capacity it deserves. Lastly, it allowed me to see that psych and analytics go hand in hand on a deeper level.

We hear how data offers meaning and truth, but often is misrepresented in the articulation of the how and why due to the viewers interpretation. Effective Data Storytelling provides simple to understand stories and examples on how to create a narrative with content that is effective, and will generate impact to your research, conversation and writing. Dykes’ book easily illustrates how to gain an advantage with data to build trust, accelerate relationships and drive strategic outcomes. This book should remain on your desk, and serve as a “go-to”, when building a strategy for success, and developing ideation.

Dykes does an amazing job outlining every aspect of how to tell a compelling story your audience will not only remember but act on, and it's easy to see how much his recommendations can transform any business communication--an email, a presentation, an article, a paper ... anything. He breaks it out into steps and checklists so you can make sure what you're working on will be a slam-dunk with your audience, whether that's your boss or it's a large auditorium of people at a conference. I loved it and will be applying it not only to my own communications with my team, but in outbound marketing storytelling as well.

What I enjoyed the most about this book, outside of its thoroughness, was that it provided ideas & concepts that could be applied IMMEDIATELY to projects & presentations I was working on at the time. If you're looking for a way to improve how you are communicating data or want to broaden your current skill set to include data storytelling, this is a fantastic place to start.

Very well written, easy to read and full of both practical nuggets as well as reference material for context ( i’ve made so many notations/underlines/highlights!). Brent not only writes about how to better visualize your data to tell the best story but sets the stage for why it’s important. This is great addition to my data analytics library !!

This book is a bust read for anyone who wants to make an impact with their work, not just data professionals. I love all of the examples, stories, and of course data behind all of the principles Brent shares in his book. Understanding the psychology behind what drives stakeholders to action and what they remember was fascinating. If you have been thinking about picking up this book, go for it! It is a great read that I will reference often.

This book is one giant “you need a story” fest, and does nothing to teach you how to structure a story. Not recommended for any serious data person.

I read anything about data consumption and interpretation I can get my hands on. This book stands out in the clear structure and accessible writing style. I’m always a bit sceptical when authors talk about data-story-telling, since most of these “stories” are only about the story and not enough about the data. However, Brent Dykes nailed it with this book. I love his practical approach. Anyone who is involved in data-sense-making (aren’t we all?) should read his book.

I love the simple approach to the many topics of telling stories with data vs. just showing metrics and dashboards. So much of the world today is craving data, yet we haven't master how to consume and retain it. I loved the visuals throughout the book to anchor topics and concepts - I especially liked the 3-way diagram attached that captures the essence of how to drive change. I couldn't recommend this book more for anyone who uses data to drive business decisions and change!

This is a must read for anyone using data to share insights. For years, we have been sharing data to our colleagues and customers and many times we get it wrong by showing slides of tables. Data storytelling takes practice because there is a mix of analytics, creativity and editorial all wrapped together. I have worked with Brent D for many years and so excited he published his insights and experiences.

I really enjoyed not only the step-by-step processes within the book but the overall narrative that made it a helpful, well-researched and interesting read. Highly recommend for anyone trying to convince others to take action with data.

One of the best books out there on the subject. Goes way beyond “here is the correct graph to use” and shows you how to structure the story.

Actual topic, very practical.