DataStory: Explain Data and Inspire Action Through Story

The content is well written and really helpful. I used one of the concepts for a presentation recently that turned out very successful.

I am a marketer, and I have to share data all the time, in all different sorts of ways, to all different sorts of people. I have read all of Nancy’s books and this one does not disappoint! It helps you keep a fresh eye on the perspective of who your audience is, the journey you need to take them on, and even with data, how you can create a compelling vision and journey for them. I read it once as an enjoyable tell all, then devoured the second time around, complete with highlighter pen, to get all I could from it. Really smart stuff!

Having read a few other Duarte books (see my reviews of “Persuasive Business Presentations” and “Illuminate”) and preparing for an upcoming data related presentation, I wanted to get some tips in this regard. In her typical fashion, the author does provide some useful frameworks and suggestions, however, the book seems to be a very quick read which has its own benefits and limitations. As one might put it, Duarte wades into vast data forest, deals with many info overload brambles and thorny decision issues, and emerges with a tale and key lessons to help others of us who are facing similar journeys and challenges.More specifically, the book consists of an Introduction, 4 Major Sections with 11 Chapters: I. Communicate Data to Others: (1) Becoming a Communicator of Data, and (2) Communicating Data to Decision-makers; II. Bring Clarity Through Story Structure: (3) Crafting a Data Point of View, (4) Creating Action through Analytical Structure, (5) Structuring an Executive Summary as a DataStory; III. Make Clear Charts and Slides: (6) Choosing Charts and Writing Observations, (7) Annotating Insights onto Charts, and (8) Building a Skimmable Slidedoc; then IV. Make Data Stick: (9) Marveling at the Magnitude, (10) Humanizing Data, and (11) Storytelling with Data. At the end there is a Summary.My favorite aspect of the books is its overall message and its three-part framework. As Duarte states early on that “By transforming your data into vivid scenes and structuring your delivery in the shape of a story, you will make your audience care about what your data says.” She goes on to indicate that “A significant skill threshold stands between exploring, explaining, and inspiring with data.” To address these skill needs she suggests a “DataStory structure . . . [that] follows the three-act structure . . . [a] first act . . . [with the] problem to solve or an opportunity to pursue . . . [a] second act . . . [with the] conflict and complication . . . measurable symptoms . . . messy statistic that needs to change . . . [and a] third act [that] describes how the story would end if people took action to change it.”To my edification, the three areas seem to correspond with the branches of classical learning such described in Sr. Miriam Joseph’s “The Trivium” (see my review). I took heart from the way Duarte seems to be advocating such an integrated approach.On the one hand, there are the many nuggets of sage advice and practical tips along the way. For instance, she counsels “Due to the subjective nature of assumptions, it’s crucial to be transparent about all of those you’ve made.” She also indicates “Addressing potential counterarguments may be the most persuasive part of your recommendation.” Pointers such use of observation statements/headlines to frame charts, examples of particular layouts or arrangements of information to consider, as well as delivery hints like revealing one aspect of a bar chart at a time are helpful. I also was pleased to see her allusion to Vonnegut and the Guttenberg Project related to storylines (see my reviews of Archer & Jockers “Best Seller Code”)On the other hand, the book itself seems to read like the “pyramid structure” with one slide per thought that Duarte describes and it is over before you know it. It seems that it would have been useful to have more detail in a number of respects. For instance, there could been further reference to business intelligence tools and their use (see my review of Davenport’s “Keeping Up with the Quants”) as well as more attention to presentation difficulties such as dealing with data method questioners and so on. Also, the Kindle version suffers without the use of color and the charts and tables are small and difficult to read.Despite these challenges and the shortcoming of the book/e-book format, Duarte has provide another useful guide.

This book was an easy read, and I really appreciated how simple the thoughts were organized. I would recommend this to anyone presenting data, especially to help you organize the presentation and make it come alive so that the audience responds.

I should have seen and read this book years ago.It's easy to get fascinated by data, get lost in it, and present it.And then BOOM! How come the audience didn't share the same marvelous feeling I had.What a dumper.....It is in the storytelling!Thanks to this very well crafted book. And now...it begins...

Most of us create charts and graphs all the time but this book really explains why having clear charts is so important, especially when it comes to being able to communicate clearly. I can't tell you how many times I've sat in meetings and found myself trying to understand the chart titles more than paying attention to the information conveyed in it! Book is written in a fun, relatable style and connects nicely to Nancy's other books, with relevance to the other core concepts she's written about in the past. Having worked with many a scientist and engineer this is a must read if you work with data or any discipline!

The book was in great condition and speedy delivery!

I am a fan of Nancy Duarte's work, having seen her keynote on speech deconstruction 6-7 years ago. She's clearly an expert in her field and I've read one of her other books. Data Story is nicely put together. Excellent formatting and graphics and easy to read. Despite being 200+ pages long, it was a surprisingly quick read -- I was expecting it to take a week to read but instead finished half on a flight from Chicago to Orange County and the rest on a flight from New Jersey to Chicago. Many of the pages are only 10-50% filled, and it seems this was done to keep each page reserved for only one or a small number of points.Duarte disclaims early on (and I respect this disclaimer): "This book is about how data is communicated, not formulated." This should be understood by anyone considering reading this book. I was hoping for more explanation of communication styles, cognitive science, and explanation of communication approaches through examples. I'm a financial and data analysis professional and I didn't feel the book addressed these topics thoroughly. Instead, Data Story is more focused on the structure of a presentation and why the human brain is attracted to story (hence, I suppose, the book being called Data Story), comparing the presentation of data with hero/villian-type stories and movies. In this way, I feel the book would be far better received by an entrepreneur making a pitch for start-up funding to a VC than a corporate professional making a presentation to internal executives. I still enjoyed the book but would've enjoyed more detailed examples.

Although this book was more text-booky than we had imagined. We powered through as a team and learned a lot to implement into our small business team on how to use our data to tell better stories. This helped us review what we are currently doing and implement new steps for data story-telling to motivate partnerships.

Estoy satisfecho con la compra, por la gran utilidad del texto y su actualidad. Lo recomiendo para las presentaciones profesionales de alto impacto

Super recomendable para todo aquel que quiere transmitir el mensaje correcto asertivamente

Not many insights for an experienced presenter

The book is very informative. You have to find the good pace to read it: the graphic content is as important as the text, and you have to give yourself time to appreciate that. The author is practicing what is teaching, and the book itself is a wonderful example of how to present information using all the possibilities of color, text, images.