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Chapter 4 • Business Reporting, Visual Analytics, and Business Performance Management 187

Cultures have long used storytelling to pass on knowledge and content. In some cultures,
storytelling is critical to their identity. For example, in New Zealand, some of the Maori people
tattoo their faces with mokus. A moku is a facial tattoo containing a story about ancestors—the
family tribe. A man may have a tattoo design on his face that shows features of a hammerhead
to highlight unique qualities about his lineage. The design he chooses signifies what is part of
his “true self” and his ancestral home.
Likewise, when we are trying to understand a story, the storyteller navigates to finding the
“true north.” If senior management is looking to discuss how they will respond to a competitive
change, a good story can make sense and order out of a lot of noise. For example, you may
have facts and data from two studies, one including results from an advertising study and one
from a product satisfaction study. Developing a story for what you measured across both studies
can help people see the whole where there were disparate parts. For rallying your distributors
around a new product, you can employ a story to give vision to what the future can look like.
Most importantly, storytelling is interactive—typically the presenter uses words and pictures that
audience members can put themselves into. As a result, they become more engaged and better
understand the information.

so What is a good story?
Most people can easily rattle off their favorite film or book. Or they remember a funny story
that a colleague recently shared. Why do people remember these stories? Because they contain
certain characteristics. First, a good story has great characters. In some cases, the reader or
viewer has a vicarious experience where they become involved with the character. The charac-
ter then has to be faced with a challenge that is difficult but believable. There must be hurdles
that the character overcomes. And finally, the outcome or prognosis is clear by the end of the
story. The situation may not be resolved—but the story has a clear endpoint.
think of your analysis as a story—use a story structure
When crafting a data-rich story, the first objective is to find the story. Who are the characters?
What is the drama or challenge? What hurdles have to be overcome? And at the end of your
story, what do you want your audience to do as a result?
Once you know the core story, craft your other story elements: define your characters,
understand the challenge, identify the hurdles, and crystallize the outcome or decision
question. Make sure you are clear with what you want people to do as a result. This will
shape how your audience will recall your story. With the story elements in place, write out
the storyboard, which represents the structure and form of your story. Although it’s tempting
to skip this step, it is better first to understand the story you are telling and then to focus on
the presentation structure and form. Once the storyboard is in place, the other elements will
fall into place. The storyboard will help you to think about the best analogies or metaphors, to
clearly set up challenge or opportunity, and to finally see the flow and transitions needed. The
storyboard also helps you focus on key visuals (graphs, charts, and graphics) that you need
your executives to recall.
In summary, don’t be afraid to use data to tell great stories. Being factual, detail oriented,
and data driven is critical in today’s metric-centric world but it does not have to mean being bor-
ing and lengthy. In fact, by finding the real stories in your data and following the best practices,
you can get people to focus on your message—and thus on what’s important. Here are those
best practices:
1. Think of your analysis as a story—use a story structure.
2. Be authentic—your story will flow.
3. Be visual—think of yourself as a film editor.
4. Make it easy for your audience and you.
5. Invite and direct discussion.
Source: Elissa Fink and Susan J. Moore, “Five Best Practices for Telling Great Stories with Data,” 2012, white
paper by Tableau Software, Inc., tableausoftware.com/whitepapers/telling-stories-with-data (accessed
February 2013).

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