Telling (Good) Stories with Data

Insight from Scott Berinato 

Okay, so now you’ve got a better variety of charts in your arsenal.

But guess what? Those charts aren’t going to convince anyone of anything without a good story behind them.

You can pay a McKinsey consultant $800/hr to tell that story, or you can learn to tell one yourself.

Let’s save you that $500k with a simple framework to get you started.

All you need are three acts: a setup, a conflict, and a resolution.

It worked when we started telling stories ~300,000 years ago, and it still works today.

A very simple example:

• The Setup (the situation as it was - “the status quo”): For the last 10 months, we’ve been building widgets at the same rate as our competitor 😀

• The Conflict (a change in the status quo, something is different now!): In May, our competitor unlocked a new widget building method 😞

• Resolution (how we’re addressing the conflict): This month, we figured out a similar technology, and we’re building widgets at the same rate again! 😀

The better you get at identifying these three concepts, the better you get at telling stories with the data at your disposal.

Next time you’re putting together a slide, consciously note the setup, conflict, and resolution of the story you’re trying to tell.

Learn more: How to effectively tell a story with data