WARNING: This episode is only for marketers who use data to make informed decisions.

Lea Pica is an industry-acclaimed data storytelling advocate, international keynote speaker, and instructor. She began her career as a data analytics practitioner with over 15 years of experience building digital marketing practices for companies like Scholastic, Victoria's Secret, Ralph Lauren, and Prudential.

Today she teaches presentation, data visualization, and her signature data storytelling methodology, the PICA Protocol, to tens of thousands of data practitioners all around the world. Lea also hosts the Present Beyond Measure Podcast, and is authoring her first book, called “Story-Driven Data,” publishing later this year.

Questions and topics we discussed include:

• How Lea made the leap from in-house marketer to a business owner.
• What drew her towards data and data storytelling?
• How can hiring managers evaluate a marketer’s ability to be a data practitioner?
• What is data storytelling? Why is it important?
• What is the PICA protocol? (Bonus - Lea shares the story of how she created this framework)
• What usually causes a lack of action after a data presentation is shown to a team?
• Should presentation slides have words on them? How many words are too many?
• What skills did you need to learn to become a great public speaker?
• And more!

You can find links to Lea’s work below:

• Lea’s free online assessment on the top data presentation silent killers - LeaPica.com/Assessment
• Lea’s podcast, (The Present Beyond Measure® Show) - LeaPica.com/Podcast
• Her upcoming book waiting list - LeaPica.com/TheBook
• Her amazing MOZ Whiteboard Friday video (PICA Protocol: A Visualization Prescription for Impactful Data Storytelling) - https://moz.com/blog/impactful-data-storytelling