Data Storytelling: How to Effectively Tell a Story with Data

Date: 2021-11
Author: Catherine Cote
Source: https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/data-storytelling
Domain: Persuading with Data
Subdomain: Telling Stories with Data
Type of Resource: Reading

In this article, Catherine Cote invokes recent research psychology to show that, in most cases, human brains are wired to prefer making meaning out of stories rather than raw data. Emphasizing organizational communication and business contexts, the article offers a useful, quasi-literary framework for doing data storytelling that adopts concepts such as setting, character, and conflict.

Keywords: Data Storytelling Data Stories Persuading with Data

MLA Citation: Cote, Catherine. ‘Data Storytelling: How to Effectively Tell a Story with Data.’ Harvard Business School Online, 2023. https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/data-storytelling

Note: This article from Harvard Business School Online positions data storytelling as an essential soft skill that complements hard skills in data analytics. Author Catherine Cote invokes recent research psychology showing that, in most cases, human brains are wired to prefer making meaning out of stories rather than raw data. Emphasizing organizational communication and business contexts, the article offers a useful, quasi-literary framework for doing data storytelling that adopts concepts such as setting, character, and conflict.