Storytelling with Data

Influence action through data! This is not a book. It is a one-of-a-kind immersive learning experience through which you can become—or teach others to be—a powerful data storyteller. Let’s practice! helps you build confidence and credibility to create graphs and visualizations that make sense and weave them into action-inspiring stories. Expanding upon best seller storytelling with data’s foundational lessons, Let’s practice! delivers fresh content, a plethora of new examples, and over 100 hands-on exercises. Author and data storytelling maven Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic guides you along the path to hone core skills and become a well-practiced data communicator. Each chapter includes: ● Practice with Cole: exercises based on real-world examples first posed for you to consider and solve, followed by detailed step-by-step illustration and explanation ● Practice on your own: thought-provoking questions and even more exercises to be assigned or worked through individually, without prescribed solutions ● Practice at work: practical guidance and hands-on exercises for applying storytelling with data lessons on the job, including instruction on when and how to solicit useful feedback and refine for greater impact The lessons and exercises found within this comprehensive guide will empower you to master—or develop in others—data storytelling skills and transition your work from acceptable to exceptional. By investing in these skills for ourselves and our teams, we can all tell inspiring and influential data stories!

Acknowledgments vii About the author ix Introduction xi Chapter 1 Understand the context 1 Chapter 2 Choose an effective visual 51 Chapter 3 Identify & eliminate clutter 107 Chapter 4 Focus attention 147 Chapter 5 Think like a designer 191 Chapter 6 Tell a story 235 Chapter 7 Practice more with Cole 285 Chapter 8 Practice more on your own 355 Chapter 9 Practice more at work 375 Chapter 10 Closing words 403 Index 407