From the course: Learning Data Science

Defining a story

From the course: Learning Data Science

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Defining a story

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- A friend of mine recently bought a video camera and created a short movie about his trip to Mexico. The editing software made the video look spectacular. The opening credits looked like a movie you'd see in a theater. There was music, voiceover and even some special effects. We sat down together and watched his 15 minute movie. After about five minutes of watching, I was reminded of the difference between storytelling and looking at images. He made no effort to draw me into his trip. It was just great footage of a beautiful place. Many data science teams think about storytelling the same way. These teams feel that if you just have beautiful visualizations, then the story will tell itself. Beauty can enhance the experience, but it doesn't tell a story. The Greek philosopher Aristotle laid out the important elements of a story. These include plot, mythos, and spectacle. These elements are a fine place to start, but they only give you a sense of the parts of the story. The tools of storytelling are not the same as the art of storytelling. The art is being able to have your audience make a real connection to what you're telling. Create a story that uses language and visuals to help your audience grasp the deeper meaning. That's one of the first things you need to think about in storytelling. How are you going to create a connection? How will you help your audience find the larger meaning? Think about the best presentation that you've seen. Did you come away with it saying, I'd really understand what was said, but the chart was spectacular. It's more likely that you said the opposite. You probably thought of the misunderstood child or the overworked parent. These might have been the characters in the story. The dozen PowerPoint slides probably faded out of your memory. The second part of the definition is helping the audience remember that a good story is for the benefit of the audience. There's nothing more boring than watching a data science team talk about their accomplishments. You're telling a story to help the audience connect with the material. Everything you say should be there for their benefit. That means that you shouldn't talk about the process or share the credit. Get right into connecting. Finally, remember that it's all about creating this connection to help your audience find some meaning. When you've done a good job, then the audience will find some of the meaning that you are trying to communicate. Maybe they only found part of the meaning that may have been the part where they found the closest connection. That's fine, and you can use that to build on your next story. Beauty and production value and data visuals don't necessarily mean that there's a good story behind them. I would've gotten a lot more out of that video if my friend had spent less time on special effects and more time telling me a story. Mexico's a beautiful country filled with colorful history and a terrific culture. If he'd only started there, then I would've felt like we shared the experience. I would share the larger meaning of his trip and not just look at some well crafted imagery.

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