DATA STORYTELLING SCORECARD
About the Data Storytelling Scorecard
The Scorecard is based on Sam Knowles’ best-selling, critically-acclaimed books, 'Narrative By Numbers', ‘How To Be Insightful’ and ‘Asking Smarter Questions’.
This trilogy of books is rooted in more than 30 years of helping businesses, charities third-sector organisations, and government departments to use data smarter.
Sam’s purpose is to help all sorts of organisations sound like people and talk that rarest of dialects: ‘Human’.
SAM HAS BEEN A TRUSTED ADVISOR SINCE 2013
Analytics + Storytelling = Influence
A master data storyteller knows how to weave narrative and numbers together in just the right balance and blend, turning them into a tale that is both compelling and influential
We are persuaded to take action by others – customers, colleagues, collaborators – who can make a persuasive case for why we should do so. Powerful, impactful communication comes in the form of stories and storytelling.
Historically, the best storytellers have steered clear of data in their storytelling. They mistakenly believed that data gets in the way of telling persuasive tales. Traditionally, those who are good with data are not good storytellers – and vice versa.
Yet powerful stories rooted in data are the most persuasive of all. They appeal to the emotional part of our brains that makes decisions. And they appeal to the rational part of our brains that goes on to justify the decisions we make.
If you can blend the sometimes ‘fire and ice’ domains of narrative and numbers, the whole really is more powerful than the sum of the parts. Individuals, teams, and companies that embrace the potential of data storytelling are more successful than those that keep the two disciplines apart.
The scorecard will measure you against…
The 3 Core Skills of Effective Data Storytelling
Questions
Asking smarter questions to surface the right data.
For too long, the simple act of asking questions has been overlooked as almost too trivial to contemplate.
The building blocks of insight are data and information. They are often joined together in novel, unpredictable ways.
How we surface new information to make meaningful connections between data points is by asking smarter questions.
Insight
Using data to articulate genuine insights into the lives of those we seek to influence.
Ask yourself: how do we advance? As individuals, families, and businesses? As societies, nations, and as a species?
In a world with nothing new under the sun, we humans are remarkably resourceful at creating new things – for good and for ill.
If we stop and consider how we think for a moment – and then apply a simple and structured framework to it – we make it much more likely we will solve challenging insight problems.
Storytelling
Deploying data-driven insights to tell more impactful and fundamentally human stories.
As jobs in the knowledge economy become increasingly similar, there are two skills that everyone needs if they’re going to thrive.
These are the ability to interrogate and make sense of data and the ability to use insights extracted from data to persuade others to act.
There are simple and effective rules of data-driven storytelling that help to tell more compelling, evidence-based stories.
What do others have to say?
Your Data Storytelling Scorecard was spot on, reminding me that I am not a great data person who could lead more with empathy. I sometimes feel overwhelmed with data, and I found the feedback personalised, relevant, and interesting.
Lucy Paine,
Mentor, Always Possible
When it comes to telling stories with data, my biggest frustration day-to-day is in accessing and sorting the right data that supports or contradicts my hypotheses. The Scorecard provided me with a clear summary of strengths and weaknesses in data storytelling.
Sean Adams
Global Insight Director, Brand Metrics
UNCOVER YOUR DATA STORYTELLING STRENGTHS
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