Data-driven Storytelling

Cameron is a leading content strategist who specialises in storytelling for the education and NFP sectors. He creates compelling Cases for Support and alumni publications, and is an experienced Annual Giving and Giving Day copywriter. Cameron has created a suite of content and writing courses for the QUT Executive Education program, and is a founding editorial board member of the Journal of Education Advancement and Marketing (UK). Cameron can be contacted via his website, or cameron@cameronpegg.com.au

Data is everywhere, and we utilise it for internal communications all the time. (Those who read finance reports, or monitor website or social media analytics, are all-too-familiar with certain graphs, charts, and “dashboards”).

But while we trust data to inform our spending and strategies, we often don’t extend its use to external engagement. This is a huge missed opportunity, particularly in the crowded education sector. If you want to stand out, and truly engage your audiences, data-driven storytelling is a fantastic tool worthy of exploration.

What does dataviz mean?

Datavisualisation, often shortened to “dataviz”, is the kind of storytelling we see in an academic journal, a finance report, or a Google Analytics dashboard. Charts and graphs, basically.

Infographics, however, are highly visual content that capture or summarise the story or message in an easy-to-digest, illustrative format. Infographics need to be built on accurate data or other information, but messaging and design decisions can be applied.

Think of data-driven storytelling as a continuum, with pure dataviz at one end, and infographics at the other. Often, content will sit somewhere in between.

Using data-driven storytelling in our sector

The opportunities are endless. You might want to show prospective students and parents your most recent academic results. How about explaining the enrolment or scholarships application process in an easy-to-understand and interactive way? Your uniform policy is probably best described visually (see the infographic below). Audiences value data-driven content because it demonstrates authority and transparency (this is a good reason donor reports are usually full of graphs!)

Focusing on the story

Before we can use dataviz or infographics to engage an audience, we need to be sure of the story we’re telling!

“What’s needed is a framework for understanding the different kinds of stories that data and analytics can tell. If you don’t know what kind of story you want to tell, you probably won’t tell a good one.”

Harvard Business Review

I have developed a simple list of data-driven storytelling types or “plots” that all organisations employ. These include:

Time
Relationships
Place
Process
Comparison

Think of what kind of story you want to tell first, before deciding which chart, graph, or infographic format might best visualise the key messages you want to make. As your data-driven storytelling experience develops, you will be able to “pair” these things more confidently and intuitively.

Further reading and resources

Financial Times Visual Vocabulary (matching story type to dataviz format)

https://datavizcatalogue.com/ (popular chart and graph formats explained)

https://www.a11yproject.com/ (enhancing readability and accessibility)

Cameron presented a session on data-driven storytelling at the 2022 Educate Plus Conference in Adelaide. Cameron’s next data-driven storytelling masterclass is being delivered online November 22-23, through the QUT Executive Education Program. Contact Cameron if you’d like to discuss bespoke training solutions for your team.