Tell Me a Story: Why Data Analysts Must be Storytellers, Too We live and breathe data. That said, however compelling the data is to us, others don't always connect without a story. Erica McGillivray, Senior Community Manager at Moz, will show you how to become a weaver of tales, displaying your data with the power of emotion, and boost your data-driven discoveries and business-related recommendations. For DAA Austin Symposium 2015.

1. Tell Me a Story:
Why Data Analysts Must be Storytellers Too
by Erica McGillivray
Moz
#DAAAustin @emcgillivray

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My dad

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Me

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“Empirical”
Evidence
We ate this bread
and didn’t die.

6. What’s the Problem?
He believes in stories. Not facts.
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7. "If the statistics are boring,
you've got the wrong
numbers."
— Edward Tufte
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8. What are Stories?
The blending of emotions and facts.
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—Memorable
—Impactful
—Personal

10. The Basics of Story Building
(around your data)
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Who’s
your
hero?
Business
hurdle
Outcome

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Who’s the hero?
Hint: It might not be you.

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16. Beware of Data Rabbit Holes
(or 4 Don’ts)
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Misleading
or shocking
data to prove
a point.
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"Humans make
illogical
decisions."
— Spock

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Giving too
much data.
2

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Building
fancy charts
to be fancy.
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Sending out
auto-generated
reports.
4

23. Keep Refining Your Message
(or 4 Dos)
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Understand
emotional
and business
goals.
1
$100k in sales
All the emotions

25. view web page Your Account |
Powells.com
We admire them for their vision, their fearlessness, their originality,
and their impact on the literary world and beyond.
These are the 25 Women to Read Before You Die,
as chosen by Powell's staff.
Note: For a limited time, all of the titles featured in our list are on sale!#DAAAustin @emcgillivray
Curate
your data and
its results.
2

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"A person who is gifted sees
the essential point and leaves
the rest as surplus."
— Thomas Carlyle

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HD vs. captions

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Use the
appropriate
medium for
the message.
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Be okay
when progress
appears illogical.
4

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32. Let’s Revisit My Dad
And apply what I didn’t know then.
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38. Let’s Build Customized
Stories with Data
Instead of letting the data stand alone.
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Stay in Touch!
erica@moz.com
@emcgillivray

40. Resources
#9 – “Stories impact us when they are memorable,
impactful and personal.” —Professor Jennifer L. Aaker
http://futureofstorytelling.org/video/persuasion-and-the-
power-of-story/
#11 – Freytag’s Pyramid
http://www.ohio.edu/people/hartleyg/ref/fiction/freytag.html
#20 - Which Flight Will Get You There Fastest? by
Ritchie King and Nate Silver
http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/flights/
#24 – MozCon 2015 Video Bundle
http://moz.com/mozcon-videos
#25 – 25 Women to Read Before You Die by Powell’s
Books
http://www.powells.com/25-women-to-read-before-you-die
#DAAAustin @emcgillivray
#28-29 – The Most Timeless Songs of All-Time by Matt
Daniels
http://poly-graph.co/timeless/
#30-31 - Does Making a Website Mobile-Friendly Have a
Universally Positive Impact on Mobile Traffic? by Rand
Fishkin
https://moz.com/rand/does-making-a-website-mobile-
friendly-have-a-universally-positive-impact-on-mobile-
traffic/
#35 - Lack of Snow Leaves California's 'Water Tower'
Running Low by Dennis Dimick
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2015/03/150304-
snow-snowpack-california-drought-groundwater-crisis/