[quotes] Effective Data Storytelling - Brent Dykes 2020

 

"If literacy is defined as the ability to read and write, data literacy can be defined as the ability to understand and communicate data."

"I have observed five key steps to driving value from analytics: data, information, insight, decision, and action."

"The right fact at the right moment may catch your attention, but it may not speak as well to other people as it does to you. On its own, data often doesn't possess the inherent strength needed to be more than just noise - let alone to drive action. Without the right context and explanation, it can easily be misunderstood, forgotten, or dismissed."

"Only when the facts are inconsistent with our preferred judgments do we question their accuracy or demand more data."

"Two key tools in their handbook underline the importance of telling stories with data. First, when you seek to correct a myth or misconception, you must be mindful to craft an alternative narrative around your new facts. Otherwise, your audience will be left with a gap in their mental model where the myth was debunked with nothing to fill it."

"Whenever we are fortunate enough to come across a valuable insight, we have a responsibility as its steward or guardian to see it realize its full potential."

"Each event serves a purpose in advancing the story and developing the characters. Similarly, how you structure and sequence the information forms the backbone of your data story. Sometimes, what is left out is just as critical to the story's success as what is included."

"On closer examination, it is hard to separate the storyteller from the story. The insights or ideas that someone shares through visual narratives represent discoveries that have enlightened that individual's mind. A data story can never be just an arbitrary collection of facts that is passively disseminated. Each data story is prepared and told by someone who cares about the numbers and sees a purpose in sharing the data with others."

"Digital marketing evangelist and author Avinash Kaushik recommends evaluating each insight in the following three ways, which form the foundation of his 'so what' test:
1. Why should your audience care?
2. What should they do about it?
3. What's the potential business impact?"

"Whenever possible you want to place data elements that are being compared in close proximity to each other."

"You start by confirming you have the right data to visualize each story point. Your choice of what data to visualize can mute or amplify the points you're trying to make."

"Basically, this means you need to limit your scene to feature only one visual. You can have multiple charts in the same scene as long as they're tied to a single story point."

"The natural consequence of sharing an insight is change."

"As this is a relatively new field within the ancient discipline of storytelling, we'll continue to see new innovations and approaches in data storytelling as our capabilities and creativity evolve."

[quotes] The Slum Dreamer - Wilfred Mwangi 2013

 

"I had not sought these expectations but I had always fulfilled them."

"This culture of sharing was very interesting to me because in the urban town where I lived with my dad, this never happened. If you ran out of an ingredient, you had to go buy it or do without it. Nobody would even think to borrow salt from their neighbor."

"So out of necessity, portions in Kibera are just large enough to get you through the immediate moment of need, for the next moment is not guaranteed... In Kibera you buy a cube of cooking fat just enough for whatever meal you are making at that particular moment for nobody knows what the next meal would be or what it will bring with it. In the townships, French fries are portioned by the plate, but in Kibera you buy French fries by the teaspoon; just enough to trick your taste buds after months of salivating."

"The joke around our family was that my dad had the greatest ideas until he actually got the means to implement them, at which point they magically disappeared."

"For the first time now, I understand that the people living in Kibera are not losers as I had always thought of them. They are the people courageous enough to face indignation in an effort to keep their hopes of a better life alive. Kibera offers them the only real chance of living in Niarobi where all the jobs are, and while they could go back to their rural areas and not have to shit in plastic bags or pee on their door steps, they have chosen instead not to give up on their dreams and have taken a slap from Kibera smack in the face, but still keep going."

"So Kibera was really where people with nothing but hope and the audacity to do what it takes moved to keep their dreams alive."

"I will finally join the all those people waking up early in the morning to begin the long walk from Kibera to their various work places. I too have a job to go to. I too have something to walk for. It is not much, but it is everything. It is also a starting point. I will pour my heart and blood into it. I will cherish it and treasure it, because it is a job that will afford me the privilege of continuing my stay in Kibera,"

"Kibera had first shocked me, then welcomed me, toughened me, seasoned me, opened my eyes to a world beyond my imagination, chewed me, and finally threatened to take my will and desire to live again, to swallow me. With its stinking air that I had twitched my nose to and its infested waters that had given me bilharzias, I had come to rely on Kibera to live, just one day at a time, one moment at a time, penny after penny. I had learned to appreciate the now."