What's your story?
Antique Typewriter on Dark Wood photo by Patrick Fore, Unsplash

What's your story?

Stories help engage, persuade and inspire trust. A story, so says the dictionary, is “a description - either true or imagined - of a connected series of events”. There are many factors that make up a good story – but I think we’d all agree it needs to have a conclusion. You need to feel like you got to the end. When it comes to data storytelling, you’re generally basing it on ‘true’ events, not imagined ones. More like an autobiography perhaps? Just as you can’t change your past, so an organisation can’t change its past performance.

But within your organisation, what story are you actually trying to tell?

Data stories can come in various formats. When I’m looking for a new read, I don’t pick up a thriller if I want romance. I don’t check out crime if I want feelgood. So in just the same way, you need to know what you’re looking for. So here are 3 story ‘genres’ which might help you work it out:

  1. The ‘Historical’ genre: this type of data story has to look through all the clues from what happened in the past, to give us a baseline or benchmark. It’s essentially the ‘reporting’ type of data story. But let’s be clear - we’re not talking ancient history! So what happened last week, last quarter, last year, last 3 years? Did last year’s event attract people from a certain industry sector, or sized-organisation? Did your client satisfaction improve this year compared to last? Has your new business performance improved? You’re looking for patterns, looking to get evidence out of past performance to help inform future planning. 
  2. The ‘How to’ genre: this involves looking at where you are now, to work out ‘how to’ grow, to retain, to increase, to develop. It helps you make clear decisions based on information gathered in the present. It may often involve a survey as part of the research*, to help lay the foundations for your decision-making. It might be that you’re unsure what your members want in this current virtual world? Ask them! It may be that your employees have started to become disengaged recently – check in and see why. These insights will all help you better understand ‘how to’ retain employees, grow membership, increase sales. *(don’t knock the usefulness of a survey – a well-crafted one can deliver a great snapshot of what’s being said, felt, experienced). 
  3. The ‘Investigative report’: OK so it’s not a story per se. But this is where you need to use various sources – internal and external – to understand what gaps, patterns and truths there are. This can be useful when you’re looking at competitors – investigate and compare how they talk about themselves, their tone-of-voice, their Glassdoor (or other) reviews, their presence, and beyond. Or broader trends – where do our customers ‘hang out’, where do they like to shop, what makes them tick? Coupling external and internal helps paint the bigger picture.

OK so we’ve worked out our story genre. So what?

All of these story-types have the same things in common, both of which are equally important:

  • Practically, they all have a conclusion. It might not be the one you wanted to hear – it may even be a surprise! But they all deliver impartial findings from which clear decisions can be made and future strategic direction can be mapped out.
  • Emotionally, they give you confidence. They give you fact. They move you from a hunch or gut instinct, into an evidence-based decision-making.

So how do I begin?

The hardest part in any story is putting the first words on the page. That’s where I come in – I’ll do that bit for you. I just need to understand what it is you’re trying to say. You don’t need to have ‘big data’ to need to process it. I love working with smaller sets. We can probably get to your conclusion in a matter of hours or days.

Fancy a chat? I’m booking in 30 minute exploratory conversations, so we can work out what your story will be. Just comment or PM me, and I’ll follow up with you.

THE END

(couldn't resist!)

Nartan Rose Audiobook Narrator

I make audiobooks for independent authors

3y

Bonamy Waddell, maybe those difficult first words could be simplified to "Once upon a time, I had a gut instinct that ...." 😉

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Meg Fenn

Corporate & Community Relationships Manager at Bird & Blend Tea Co., B Corp / FRSA / Champion of Creativity & People

3y

Sounds great Bonamy!

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