Data Visualisation Software

DATA 4100 Data

Visualisation Software

Lesson 3

Narrative Intelligence and

Storytelling

Lesson Learning Outcomes

1 Explore The idea of Narrative Intelligence

2 Investigate storytelling in business and best practice

3 Apply storytelling to a given dataset

4 Distinguish between various aspects of public speaking

5 Evaluate non-verbal communication

Today’s software

You will need either

• Power BI

https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/get-

started/

OR

• Tableau Public or trial version

https://public.tableau.com/en-us/s/download

Today’s Data

• We have obtained a simple data set on the history of women’s

participation in Olympic events from data.world, see the KBS portal.

Access ‘womens_participation_in_the_olympic_winter_games.csv’

The variables are:

year: year of games

sports: sports introduced with women

womens_events: events in which women participated

total_events: total events held in that year’s Olympics

%_of_womens_events: Percentage of women’s events per total

women_participants: number of women participants

%_of_women_participants: Percentage of women participants per total

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under

CC BY

This Topic’s Big Idea

“Story, as it turns out, was crucial to our evolution -- more so

than opposable thumbs. Opposable thumbs let us hang on;

story told us what to hang on to.”

- Lisa Cron, Wired for Story

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/storytelling-quotes

Narrative Intelligence

• Organising information in to patterns to make sense of the world

• Problem solving experience is stored like a story

• Over time we form a library of stories uniquely stored so that we understand them and can retrieve them

• The library also contains the stories of others

• When something unexpected happens, we search in our library of experiences for something with a similar pattern

• If nothing similar, we find a new strategy or combine old strategies to solve the new problem and add it to the library

https://www.denisewithers.com/blog/how-narrative-intelligence-works/

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What’s storytelling in business?

• Good Storytelling in business is about presenting a

connected story instead of simply a list of facts related to

the business

• Focusses on the “human side of work”

• Persuades, engages and inspires the audience

• Trigger’s strong images in the mind of the listener

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-ND

Example business story: Organisational change

Angie, the manager of a larger retailer, wondered why customers often became

confused after speaking to sales staff in separate (siloed) functional areas,

Consequently customers didn’t buy the products they intended to, or did make a

purchase and then provided negative feedback because of being given conflicting

information.

Angie had an idea, that of a cross-divisional sales steering committee which could

improve communication, cohesion and processes across divisions, and thereby

improve customer relationships.

Angie found it difficult to get agreement on anything, since some of the sales staff

were resistant to change. Eventually, staff from different areas did agree to meet

fortnightly and, over a year, standardised processes across sales teams.

Customers are now happier and sales have improved.

Storytelling

All stories follow a specific pattern:

Situation (Context) Obstacles Resolution (Goal)

Beginning:

Where?

Who?

When?

Middle:

Conflict

Proposed Resolution

Complication

End:

Actual Resolution

Or Call to Action

Source: Knaflic, CN 2015 Storytelling with data. Wiley.

Adopted from Nancy Duarte, Resonate: present visual stories that transform audiences, 2010.

Example story pattern for

Organisational change

Source: https://tomtunguz.com/storytelling-duarte/ © TOMASZ TUNGUZ

2019.

Story components Story about organisational change

When, where, who Every cross-divisional function could benefit from a steering committee

Context At the time, all sales groups were independent (silos)

Conflict They were confusing customers with different rules/formats

Proposed resolution Create a sales steering committee

Complication It was difficult to reach agreement across sales groups

Actual resolution They agreed to meet every fortnight to discuss common ground. Processes were standardised over the next year and

customers were happier

Most important point I think every cross-divisional function could benefit from a steering committee

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Activity 1: Match the story line (right) with

the correct component on the left

Source:Adopted from https://tomtunguz.com/storytelling-duarte/ © TOMASZ TUNGUZ

2019.

Story components Example Story about customer interest

When, where, who Your company could benefit from our software just as Susan’s did

Context We installed a trial version of the software in Melbourne

Conflict I met with Susan, the CEO of a company similar to yours

Proposed resolution She was strategically smart and wanted to know if our software could help her business

Complication Employee production actually increased and she agreed to installing the software across all branches of the company

Actual resolution She knew that her company would buy it if she didn’t have software that worked in a global environment

Most important point She was concerned that the staff would have a dip in productivity while being trained

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Storytelling with data

“There are two goals when presenting data: convey your

story and establish credibility”. - Eduard Tufte

I. Incorporating a story will help the audience to adopt your

perspective (big idea) and take action.

II. The audience is the hero that has to overcome some obstacles in

order to succeed.

• For example, overcome resistance to your view and help you

achieve your goal

III. You are the mentor and your task is to help the hero (audience) to

overcome the trials.

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Storytelling: Best Practice

• A narrative is a spoken or written account of connected events

I. Data visualisation has to be accompanied by a narrative.

II. The narrative has to have a clear structure in order to

▪ win the audience’s attention

▪ to be convincing

III. We start with building context and engaging our audience in order to

win their attention. (Why should they pay attention? What’s in for

them?).

IV. The big idea has to be repeated and recalled

(to transfer information from short-term to long term-memory)

Knaflic, CN 2015 Storytelling with data. Wiley.

Activity 2: Storytelling about

women in the Olympics

• Form groups,

• Access the data set for today

‘womens_participation_in_the_olympic_winter_games.csv

• Load the data in Tableau or Power BI and plot women’s participation against

year, as in the next few slides

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-

SA

Activity 2: Tableau example

Activity 2: Tableau example

• Drag the year variable to columns and

• Drag variables

%_of_womens_events

%_of_women_participants

to rows and leave as sums

• Drag one of the row variables on color

• Click on sheet 3 and change the name to reflect what is in the plots

Activity 2: Load in Power BI

Activity 2: Power BI example

Activity 2: Load in Power BI

• As a group:

• Finish improving your charts

• Form a short story around the

results of the women’s Olympic

participation data

• Share your story with the class

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC

BY-SA

Public Speaking

“Great speakers are not born; they are definitely

trained”.

- Dale Carnegie

https://www.inc.com/carmine-gallo/steve-jobs-practiced-1-habit-that-turned-good-presentations-into-great-ones.html

Activity 3: Think – pair – share

Form pairs and answer these questions

Q1. Did you ever attended a presentation that was boring?

Q2. Discuss, in small groups, what elements might ruin the

outcome of a presentation.

Why is Public Speaking an

important skill to have

Public speaking is a great life skill to as it is necessary for achieving

four main purposes:

I. Persuade

II. Inform

III. Educate

IV. Entertain

….. in any area of your life:

I. Selling your ideas

II. Presentation to customers

III. Presentation to management

IV. Family gatherings (wedding, birthday, etc.)

Planning & Preparation

Step 1: Select a Topic

Step 2: Analyse your Audience

Step 3: Define the Objective and Purpose of the presentation

Step 4: Define the structure of the presentation

Step 5: Practice, Practice, Practice

Step 6: Get Feedback

“If you fail to plan, you’re planning to fail”.

- Benjamin Fanklin

Pillars of Effective Public

Speaking

Aristotele (BC 384-382) identified three main factors that

influence the effectiveness of a public speech:

https://insights.theberkeleygroup.org/ethos-pathos-and-logos-insights-for-nonprofit-marketing-and-branding-511736e741c9

Ethos

Your Credibility and Character

Characteristics of Ethos:

• Trustworthiness and respect

• Similarity to the audience

• Authority

• Expertise and reputation/history

Improving Ethos:

• Become an expert in the topics you present

• Research your audience

• Tell personal stories

• Be confident

Pathos

Your Ability to Create a Connection with the Audience

Why is it important?

• You want your audience to feel the same emotions you feel about

something

• Leveraging emotions will increase the chances that your audience

will understand your point, accept your arguments and act

according to your request

Improving Pathos:

• Storytelling

• Match your voice to your words (show sadness – soft voice)

• Use emotionally charged words

• Use analogies and methaphors

Logos

Your Ability to Deliver a Message that Makes Sense

Why is it important?

• A logical structure will help the audience assimilating, retaining

and acting upon the information

• A logical argument (which offers evidence in support)

Improving Logos:

• Use a language that your audience will understand

• Talk about opposite views (to explain your logical argument)

• Be specific (clear facts and stats cannot be debated)

• Make sure you follow a clear structure

Activity 4: Think – pair – share

Select a random topic and speak for full 60

seconds without any…

• Hesitation ( a pause longer than three seconds)

• Repetition (using the same words or phrases

repeatedly)

• Deviation (going completely off topic)

Non-Verbal Communication

▪ People trust their ears less than their eyes…if the the

speaker’s body language is inconsistent with their words

the audience tend to believe their eyes.

Aspects of Non-Verbal communication to be considered:

I. Body orientation and posture

II. Interpersonal distance

III. Hand and other gestures

IV. Facial Expressions

V. Parts of Paralanguage

VI. Eye contact

https://www.slideshare.net/FiveEEE/nonverbal-communication-skills-40030135

Non-Verbal Communication

Body Orientation

• We turn to people we are interested in…

Don’t turn your

back to the

audience!!

https://www.kelownanow.com/columns/smooth_talking/news/Mary_Anthes/15/04/26/Don_t_Turn_Your_Back

_to_the_Audience

Non-Verbal Communication

Postures and gestures

Positive Examples:

• Stand up straight but keep your body relaxed

• When speaking to someone from the audience lean slightly

forward towards their direction

• Keeps your arms and hands open with palms up to show

trustworthiness and honesty

• Limit repetitive movements

• Move slowly

https://cimbusinessevents.com.au/5-minutes-with-an-expert-on-public-speaking/

Non-Verbal Communication

Pay attention!!

Gestures have different meaning in different cultures.

https://brightside.me/wonder-places/15-hand-gestures-that-have-different-meanings-overseas-769110/

Non-Verbal Communication

Facial Expression convey emotions, and there are six

universal emotions:

• Happiness

• Surprise

• Sadness

• Disgust

• Anger

• Fear

https://www.slideteam.net/emoticon-facial-expressions-convey-multiple-feelings.html

Non-Verbal Communication

Eye contact

• Create a connection between the

presenter and the audience

• Small Groups: Make eye contact with

each individual

• Large Groups: Divide the audience in

groups and make eye contact with the

one person from each group

• Lack of eye contact shows a lock of

confidence

Non-Verbal Communication

Positive Examples:

▪ Head looking Up

▪ A Smile

▪ Small Hand & Arm Gestures

▪ Free Arms

▪ Keeping to one area of the

stage

▪ Making eye contact with

various members of the

audience

Negative Examples:

▪ Head Looking Down

▪ A Frown

▪ Exaggerated Hand & Arm

Gestures

▪ Folded Arms

▪ Wondering About The Stage

▪ Only focusing your Eye

contact on one or two

members of the audience

https://study.com/academy/lesson/negative-body-language-examples-signs.html

Effective Public Speaking

Do:

▪ Show enthusiasm and

energy

▪ Involve the audience (start

with a question)

▪ Be confident

▪ Use powerful visuals

▪ Keep it simple

Don’t:

▪ Don’t read your slides

▪ Don’t ignore the audience

▪ Don’t talk too fast or too

slow

▪ Don’t be late

▪ Don’t use jargon

https://presentationdeck.com/the-dos-and-donts-of-public-speaking/

References

Knaflic, CN 2015 Storytelling with data. Wiley.

Duarte, N. (2011). Resonate. [Kennett Square, Pa.]: Soundview Executive Book

Summaries.

Cardoso, E. (2018). Data Visualization Fundamentals for Business

Intelligence

Few, S 2004 Tapping the Power of Visual Perception, Perceptual Edge.

Few, S 2006 Information Dashboard Design:The Effective Visual

Communication of Data (1st Ed.), O’Reilly Media.