3 Key Elements of Effective Data Storytelling

If data visualization gives you the ‘what’, data storytelling answers the ‘why’ of your company’s current standing.  

Visuals and data alone cannot suffice in driving change in a business. Injecting context into the data, however, spruces up the insights to create a narrative that captures our attention and engages the addressees to make an action. After all, what’s a better way to communicate insights than by using data to tell stories? 

In this infographic, we'll discuss the three key elements of an effective data storytelling and the roles they play in communicating insights across the organization. 

Elements of data storytelling

1. Data Component

Data storytelling for business starts with its basic unit — data. Analyzing the data sets enables you to understand what is going on in a particular aspect of the company. While it gives you an initial idea of the full picture, data, when transformed, turns into an insight that makes up the context of your data story.

2. Narrative   

This is where your data is brought to life as it gains a voice. A narrative supplements your data by inserting the element of context. This is what makes the story more human. A narrative talks to them on a level and uncover value that words on a document alone can’t express. 

3. Visuals/Visualizations 

A vivid representation is a good way to reinforce your data story. Presenting data in a graphical way supports the narrative you’re trying to tell in a creative way. To add, creating visuals is also a means of identifying any existing outliers or anomalies that rough data cannot.

With these three elements underpinning your data storytelling strategy, the potentials of your data story can be effective in compelling people to stand up and rise to the challenge. Remember that converting data to insights is not yet the end goal — the enterprise continues to the communication of insights to the key players of the business. 

Want to get a better hold of your data? We're here to help. 

D&V Philippines offers high-end business analysis and reporting solutions for CFOs and SMEs. Our in-house analysts have a broad of expertise in handling data analytic of our clients and various BI platforms. 

 You can download a copy of our whitepaper The Rising Frontier: Harnessing The Power of Business Analytics to discover how we can make your data work for you. We can also arrange a free consultation for a discussion on how we can be of better service.