So, I paired my visuals with a narrative. It wasn’t perfect, but it wove together context, meaning and action. That experience set me on a path to explore how data can be communicated more effectively; not just through numbers and charts but through stories that resonate.

Data storytelling is still an evolving field with different definitions. To me, it’s about communicating a message derived from data. This doesn’t always mean using data visualization or even using data!

What matters is the insight the data reveals. The data storytelling process can be broken into three key elements: the data, the story, and how we tell it.

Why are data storytelling skills important for managers and leaders?

This is like asking why good communication skills are important for managers and leaders. We likely all intuitively know why: these skills enable them to navigate change, foster engagement, and maintain positive relationships with employees, customers and stakeholders.

Data communication is a subset of communication, and data storytelling is a subset of this. Therefore, possessing data storytelling skills can help managers and leaders achieve the positive outcomes mentioned above by effectively communicating data.

You describe yourself as “easily annoyed by unclear data visuals.” What are some examples of those, and what do clear data visuals look like?

It annoys me when I’m looking for insight and I'm presented with a data visual that just confuses me.

The most obvious way this presents itself is if I can’t skim the visual. For example, there’s no takeaway in the title, it’s full of jargon and acronyms I don’t understand, there’s no visual hierarchy or contrast, or the visual has irrelevant data.

It means the designer hasn’t created this visual for me. They haven’t thought about the story they could use to educate and engage me with the data. They haven’t thought about my communication preferences and how much detail I want.

This usually comes down to the designer underestimating my interest in what they’re communicating. We all have very short attention spans, and our attention decreases the less we care about something.

A highly interested audience can forgive bad design, but it takes a frictionless experience to win over an audience that doesn’t care that much.

Our Building Better Managers report and Manager Skills Assessment highlight the importance of transparent communication skills. How does data storytelling relate to this?

Being transparent when communicating data isn’t just about making it available – it’s about making sure your audience understands it.

Many analysts feel their responsibility is lifted when they publish data, but I disagree with this. I think it’s an old way of operating.

I believe their responsibility ends when that data is understood and, even better, acted upon. That’s the only way to ensure our data helps drive a positive business impact.

Data storytelling invites a two-way conversation. If done effectively, it builds trust and credibility in the data and the person communicating it.

In your interview with our Pain Points podcast, you mention that some people say, “all data tells a story.” But that isn’t accurate. Why? What kind of data does tell a story?

For starters, there’s a lot of data out there that’s completely useless. It tells us nothing, and we usually dismiss it as noise when we go through the analysis process.

When it comes to communicating data, the two most common ways to do this are to create a dashboard or a data story. One involves a story, while the other doesn’t.

Dashboards are a popular way to communicate data. For many organizations, this is their default method. Unfortunately, these organizations are now drowning in their dashboards, and this method of data communication isn’t as effective as it once was.

The appropriate audience for a dashboard is a subject expert. They understand the context of the data, so when they see a number on a dashboard, they know the business significance of whether that number is high or low. They don't need that meaning explained to them.

The problem is that not everyone is a subject expert. Many people in a business are removed from the data team and don’t understand why some data should be important to them. That's where data storytelling comes in.

Both dashboards and data stories are types of data communication, and both are useful, depending on the audience.

What’s the connection between data visualization and narrative structure, and why is it important to know about?

I don’t believe there’s a necessary connection between data visualization and narrative structure. They can both exist independently of each other.

Not all data visuals are designed to tell data stories, and not all data stories rely on data visuals for their telling. In data storytelling, the narrative is the backbone, and any visuals are there only for support.

Even if you’ve spent a lot of time designing a beautiful visual, if it doesn’t support your data story, it has no place there.

If there’s one best practice you want our audience to take away from this interview, what would it be?

Understand what’s in your data communication toolbelt.

Dashboards are great – for the right audience.

Data stories are great – for the right audience.

When you understand the needs and preferences of your audience, you can select the right tool.

Any final thoughts?

Don’t be afraid of data storytelling. You might think that because you’re not a born performer, a literary genius, or a talented designer, you won’t be a good data storyteller. This is not true. Data storytelling skills can be learned.

What’s Next?

If you want to improve the impact of your presentations, you can find further guidance and inspiration on the art of data storytelling in our two short videos with Kat – Better Data Visuals and Data Storytelling Without Visuals.

And for when it comes to profit and loss, see our article Top Tips: Presenting Financial Information.

Tip of the Week

Ways of Seeing

By Kevin Dunne, Mindtools Content Editor and Writer

My two kids are at college and it’s hard. It’s hard for me because who’s going to do the dishes or put out the trash now, right? I do my best.

It’s hard for them because on top of all that paper writing, research and reading, and the general stress of thinking, “my life is over if I don’t get this degree,” they have to work part-time jobs too. Their dad isn’t as rich as they’d like him to be.

So they’re busy and sometimes it can be a little overwhelming. I try to reframe this hard road in a positive light.

I say, “Remember, there’s a nobility in the struggle. What value would anything have if you got everything on a plate? This hard road is taking you somewhere. It’s helping to make you the someone you want to be.”

They’re not just writing that “dumb” essay or flipping those burgers; they’re on their way. It all depends on how you see it.

How do you see things? Take our Are You a Positive or Negative Thinker? self-assessment to find out.

Pain Points Podcast

Don't miss the latest episode of our Pain Points podcast, exclusive to Mindtools members!

This week, we’re joined by presentation and public-speaking master Rich Watts. Give your presentations a boost and discover the fundamentals to great public speaking as Rich shares his top advice from his professional speaking career.

Subscribe Today

Video of the Week

Gary Cookson, Managing a Hybrid Team

Hybrid is here to stay and we need to get it right.

In this expert video, Gary Cookson shares his advice for managing a hybrid team so that everyone is happy, productive and thriving.

Watch Now

News Roundup

This Week's Global Workplace Insights

Burnout: That's So Last Generation

Avoiding burnout has long been one of the main challenges of the workplace, for businesses and their employees. And Gen Z reckon they have the answer – “micro-retirement.”

British newspaper The Guardian reported on this growing trend among those born between the mid-90s and mid-00s, who are “opting for short periods off throughout their working lives.”

The idea stems from a 2007 book called “The 4-Hour Workweek” by Timothy Ferriss. And the paper quotes Adama Lorna, who was inspired by the book and had herself a six-month micro-retirement.

She said, “Instead of waiting until you’re 60 or 70 to travel the world and indulge in hobbies, you do them while you have your youth, your energy and health.”

This is not, however, the same as a sabbatical, a more significant, singular career break.

Micro-retirement, says the paper, is a lifestyle choice, one that its proponents propose to repeat throughout their career to protect their work-life balance in the long- and short-term.

Office Politics Takes a Bite Out of Productivity

Unless you’ve been living on another planet, you will have noticed that there was an election in the U.S. last fall.

And this, reports online workplace news outlet WorkLife, is causing major fallouts back in the office.

Quoting career service Resume Now’s “Post-U.S. Elections Report,” they say a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. workers revealed “8 in 10 reported that workplace political tensions have escalated since the election.”

That, not surprisingly, is bad for business. The survey also reveals that “half of employees now frequently avoid working with colleagues whose political views differ from their own.”

There goes collaboration; here comes falling productivity.

Rick Hammell, founder of global payroll and Human Capital Management platform Helios, told WorkLife the solution lies in not banning political conversation but in establishing clear parameters.

He said, “Employers can be proactive in issuing guidelines that answer where and when, as well as how employees can navigate political discussions at work.”

For more thoughts on work-life balance and career breaks, see our article on Sabbaticals.

See you next week for more member-exclusive content and insight from the Mindtools team!