quick reflection on the past 3 years

I've been debating whether to write and publish some sort of "best of 2013" post. While reflecting back over the past year, it occurred to me that I originally launched this blog in December. Which means it is currently anniversary month. I could have sworn I've been doing this for two years, but as I look back at the date stamps, I see that the very first post (5 easy tips) that launched www.storytellingwithdata.com was 12/9/10.

Which means it's actually been 3 years.

My, how time has flown by.

On the personal side, this time has been marked by death and birth, divorce and marriage, new cities and known cities, and probably a number of other dichotomies. On the work front, I've been very lucky to be able to grow storytelling with data from a side project into my focus, through this blog and an increasing number of public (including upcoming sessions in Boston & DC in early 2014) and custom workshops throughout the world. It's been an amazing adventure and I'm excited for what the future will bring.

I'll keep this reflection relatively short. It seems unfitting to write a post like this without some links back to historical posts, so I'll list for you the top 10 most-viewed posts to date:

1. how to do it in excel
2. no more excuses for bad simple charts: here's a template
3. the waterfall chart
4. my penchant for horizontal bar graphs
5. strategies for avoiding the spaghetti graph
6. chart chooser
7. logic in order
8. and the winner is...
9. slopegraph template
10. the power of simple text

Very big thanks to everyone who is reading this. I wish you and your loved ones a fantastic holiday season. I look forward to continuing to learn and share with you in 2014.

On that note, if there are any specific topics you'd like me to focus on here in the near year, please leave a comment with your idea(s).

Happy holidays!

a fresh perspective

This is the final post in the series on helping ensure the story you aim to tell is coming across effectively in your communication. Prior posts have been on horizontal logic, vertical logic, Bing, Bang, Bongo, and reverse storyboarding.

Today, we'll briefly discuss the value of soliciting a fresh perspective.

Once you've crafted your communication, give it to a friend or colleague. It can be someone without any context (it's actually helpful if it is someone without any context, because this puts them in a much closer position to your audience than you can be given your intimate knowledge of the subject matter). Have them talk out loud through what they pay attention to, what they think is important, where they have questions. This will help you understand whether the communication you've crafted is telling the story you mean to tell, or in the case where it isn't exactly, help you understand where to concentrate your iterations.

There is immense value in getting a fresh perspective when it comes to communicating with data in general. As we become subject matter experts in our space, it becomes impossible for us to take a step back and look at what we've created (whether a single graph or a full presentation) through our audience's eyes. But that doesn't mean you can't see what they see. Leverage a friend or colleague for their fresh perspective. Help ensure your communication hits the mark.

This ends my series of posts on concepts that can help ensure the story you want to tell comes across clearly in your communication. Here's a quick recap of the concepts we've covered (click the blue text to see the full related post):

• Horizontal logic: if you read through just the headlines, they tell your story.
• Vertical logic: everything on a single slide is reinforcing.
• Bing, bang, bongo: tell your audience what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you just told them.
• Reverse storyboarding: flip through the pages and write down the main point from each; this should reveal clear logic and progression and tell the overall story you're aiming for.
• A fresh perspective: seek input and feedback from others to refine your story.

What other methods do you use as you craft and refine your storytelling with data?
Leave a comment with your thoughts!

While I have your attention: I've just scheduled a public workshop in DC in February (details) and am in the process of finalizing a Boston session - details forthcoming. 

reverse storyboarding

This is the fourth (and penultimate) post in a series on helping ensure your story comes across effectively in your communication. Prior posts have been on the topics of horizontal logic, vertical logic, and Bing, Bang, Bongo.

Today, we'll briefly discuss reverse storyboarding.

When you storyboard at the onset of building a communication, you craft the outline of the story you intend to tell. As the name implies, reverse storyboarding does the opposite. You take the final communication, flip through it, and write down the main point from each page (it's a nice way to test your horizontal logic as well). The resulting list should look like the storyboard or outline for the story you want to tell. If it doesn't, this can help you understand structurally where you might want to add, remove, or move pieces to create the overall flow and structure for the story that you're interested in.

Stay tuned for the final post in this series, which will be on the value of soliciting a fresh perspective.