The Boulder BI Brain Trust founder and leader Claudia Imhoff interviewed me at the recent Pacific Northwest BI Summit. She asked about data storytelling. Listen to it here.
storytelling
No, you’re not a data storyteller yet
The designer Stefan Sagmeister has a message for those who would presume to call themselves a “storyteller” when they’re not really: “No, fuckhead, you’re not a storyteller.” I agree, except for one word: yet. Many could become one.
Some of us in the data industry can identify. We’ve shouted something like this at our monitors as we’ve read about supposed “big data.” No, fuckhead, it’s just data! Now comes data storytelling, and we find ourselves shouting again.
Another annoyance is the idea that stories occur only in certain media. Sagmeister makes that mistake. “People who actually tell stories,” he says, “meaning people who write novels and make feature films…”
No, Sag, a story is just a structure.… Read the rest “No, you’re not a data storyteller yet”
Double-cream pays a visit: the foes of data storytelling take aim
The stage lights go up, the cue is given, and the much-anticipated DataStorytelling strides in from stage left, and the spotlight focuses. Then from somewhere outside the light a pie lands on Storytelling’s face. Whipped cream flies everywhere, and the curtain falls.
Who could have done this? The audience murmurs, and backstage the crew stare at each other in shock. Everyone likes stories, don’t they? And we all like data, don’t we?
Detectives arrive. They dismiss out of hand assurances that DataStorytelling has no enemies, only friends. In fact, they insist, there are many potential perpetrators.
The data sentries are questioned first, being immediately available.… Read the rest “Double-cream pays a visit: the foes of data storytelling take aim”