Actuarial Notes

Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals

By Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic · John Wiley & Sons · 2015

Study guide: Exam PCPA

A book on the fundamentals of data visualization and on communicating effectively with data by telling a story with it. In its publisher's words, it teaches how to understand the importance of context and audience, determine the appropriate type of graph, recognize and eliminate clutter, direct the audience's attention to the most important parts of the data, think like a designer, and use storytelling so a message resonates. Wiley published the paperback in November 2015 (288 pages).

On the syllabus

  • Exam PCPA — objectives C1–C3 (Domain C, Model Interpretation and Presentation); the outline cites the whole book, 1st edition, as a book to be purchased (B).

Foreword

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Introduction

1 The Importance of Context

  • Exploratory vs. explanatory analysis
    • Exploratory analysis is what you do to understand the data and find what might be noteworthy; explanatory analysis has a specific thing to explain, and the book focuses on explanatory analysis and communication.
  • Who, what, and how
    • Before visualizing any data, be clear on to whom you are communicating and what you want them to know or do; only then turn to how data can help make the point.
  • Who
    • Your audience
    • You
  • What
    • Action
    • Mechanism
    • Tone
  • How
  • Who, what, and how: illustrated by example
  • Consulting for context: questions to ask
  • The 3-minute story and Big Idea
    • 3-minute story
    • Big Idea
    • The Big Idea boils the "so-what" down to a single sentence that articulates your unique point of view and conveys what's at stake.
  • Storyboarding
    • A storyboard is a visual outline establishing the structure of the communication; start low tech, with a whiteboard, Post-it notes or paper, rather than in presentation software.
  • In closing

2 Choosing an Effective Visual

3 Clutter Is Your Enemy!

4 Focus Your Audience's Attention

5 Think Like a Designer

6 Dissecting Model Visuals

7 Lessons in Storytelling

8 Pulling It All Together

9 Case Studies

10 Final Thoughts

Bibliography

Index

Sources