storytelling with data podcast

“I want to be able to show it and say, doesn’t that feel good? And you know what? We actually know it works well, it’s not just your intuition.” In this episode, Cole talks with Northwestern University professor and director of the Visual Thinking Lab, Dr. Steven Franconeri. Hear about research that helps us understand and harness the limits of our visual system and how it can be translated into practical terms to help you design better graphs and dashboards. Cole and Steve discuss several recent studies, how to bridge the chasm between academia and practitioners, some of the unsolved problems of data visualization, and more. Related links: Follow Steve: Twitter | LinkedIn | Faculty page The Visual Thinking Lab Journal: Psychological Science in the Public Interest Paper: The Science of Visual Data Communication: What Works, single page summary Paper: Declutter and Focus: Empirically Evaluating Design Guidelines for Effective Data Communication  Paper: Visual Arrangements of Bar Charts Influence Comparisons in Viewer Takeaways  Paper: Measures of the Benefit of Direct Encoding of Data Deltas for Data Pair Relation Perception Uncertainty: FiveThirtyEight’s 2020 Election Forecast Book: The Thinking Eye, the Seeing Brain (James Enns) Book: Visual Thinking for Design (Colin Ware) People mentioned: Lace Padilla, Jessica Hullman, Jeff Zacks, Priti Shah, Christie Nothelfer, Cindy Xiong, Matt Kay 

Establish yourself as a well-respected data visualization practitioner. Cole shares five points that will help you do it. Tune in to hear tips and tactics for setting good goals, learning, evaluating your work, influencing others, and getting the support you need to become—or help members of your team become—a data visualization and storytelling superstar, followed by Q&A. Subscribe to the SWD YouTube channel Watch become a data viz superstar part 1 to see Cole illustrate a progression along the graph spectrum Listen to podcast episode 14: learning data viz For more on OKRs, listen to podcast episode 13: goals like Google Download the Big Picture worksheet Join the SWD community; share your goal in your member profile

Have you encountered challenges in your attempts to drive change with data visualization? In this episode, Cole talks with SWD’s newest data storyteller, Amy Esselman, about the difficulties that can arise when you try to impact people’s perceptions and behaviors. You’ll hear about Amy’s research on the status quo bias and her encounters with it in real life. Tune in also for a conversation about the human side of data, developing empathy for those you aim to influence, and practical strategies for overcoming common barriers to change. Related links: Follow Amy: LinkedIn | Twitter Amy’s research: A Study of Status Quo Bias in Data Visualization Article: the old way is better Video: overcoming resistance Book: Nudge (Thaler & Sunstein) Share your stories & strategies in the SWD community conversation on change

Fresh off a successful search to expand the SWD team, Cole chats with SWD advisor, husband Randy Knaflic, about a critical part of the hiring process: interviewing. Randy shares tips learned and stories lived over a career of hiring talent, from Google to SpaceX to storytelling with data. From showing compassion for a nerve-racked candidate to strategies for thoughtfully crafting and effectively addressing interview questions—whether interviewer or candidate—there’s something for everyone in this episode. Subscribe to the SWD YouTube channel Watch become a data viz superstar part 1 to see Cole illustrate a data viz progression Listen to podcast episode 14: learning data viz For more on OKRs, listen to podcast episode 13: goals like Google

"There's so much value to be gained in the exchange that happens after someone asks a really good question." The Q&A portion of a presentation is important, but the uncertainty can also be intimidating. When should you solicit questions, and for how long? What do you do when a query is off-topic? What if you don't know the answer? Tune in to hear Cole and Alex talk about preparing for successful audience interactions, including strategies for navigating tricky situations. Cole also answers listener inquiries about presenting data visualizations and keeping an audience engaged. Upcoming Milwaukee workshop (use discount code PODCAST10) Podcast: it depends! Blog post: power pairing of color and words

Tune in to hear Cole discuss one of her favorite low-tech planning strategies: storyboarding. Small, sticky, and sublimely potent when used well—she details her penchant for post-it notes and process of using them to brainstorm, edit, and solicit feedback to create shorter, targeted, and generally more effective communications. Article: give it time Book: Info We Trust by RJ Andrews Book: Let’s Practice! by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic Book: The Big Picture by Steve Wexler Conversation: my bars don’t start at zero Exercise: storyboard YOUR project July 2021 virtual event: a tale of two audiences SWD community: sign up, explore the starter guide TC19 presentation: low-tech SUPERPOWERS for data storytelling Tool: Miro (virtual whiteboard) Upcoming workshops: storytellingwithdata.com/workshops (use discount code PODCAST10)

Cole talks with professional “chart looker-atter” Steve Wexler, about his new book The Big Picture: How to Use Data Visualization to Make Better Decisions—Faster. Tune in for a conversation centered around evangelizing the transformative power of data visualization in an organization, including the value of visualizing for “aha!” (not “ooh and aah”), increasing data fluency, and the importance of collaborating with stakeholders for better results. Also hear Steve’s view on why several highly-lauded historical graphs aren’t ones he’d recommend emulating, whether dashboards can tell a story, and more. LINKS: Buy Steve’s new book! The Big Picture | download a sample Follow Steve: @datarevelations | www.datarevelations.com More by Steve: The Big Book of Dashboards

A good data visualization can reveal and communicate insights. But bad graphs abound. In this episode, Cole chats with Ben Jones about misleading graphs. They discuss a number of common issues, including missorted time, miscalculated area, going against expected norms, spurious correlations, and more. Tune in for tips on how to read graphs and spot issues and avoid being duped, as well as strategies to consider when graphing data so the visualizations you create don’t inadvertently misinform. LINKS: Ben Jones | @dataremixed | Data Literacy Books by Ben mentioned: Learning to See Data, Avoiding Data Pitfalls Ben’s repository of graphical gaffes: What NOT to Do Book: Mind in Motion (Barbara Tversky) Book: Graphic Methods for Presenting Facts (Williard C. Brinton) Article: Linear vs. Quadratic Change (Robert Kosara) Article: Why not to use two axes, and what to do instead (Lisa Charlotte Rost) Article: The public do not understand logarithmic graphs used to portray COVID-19 Site: ourworldindata.org Site: spurious correlations Site/books: Calling Bullshit (Carl Bergstrom & Jevin West) Tweet/graph: Who emits the most? (Greta Thunberg) Resource: Ben’s “16 chart reading tips” checklist SWD workshops: see upcoming dates & register (use discount code PODCAST10 at checkout)

Giving good feedback to others—when done well—can help you sharpen your own thinking and approaches for visualizing and communicating with data. We’ll start with this critical topic in our new 10-week course, so it seemed like the perfect timing to repost the original episode of the storytelling with data podcast. I discuss the value of giving and receiving data visualization feedback and potential problem areas to avoid. Hear The Economist’s eloquent response to critique of one of their graphs, plus answers to reader questions on when to use graphs, considerations with dashboards, and data viz book recommendations (updated with some recent publications!). MENTIONED LINKS: 10-week course & upcoming workshops: storytellingwithdata.com/workshops Feedback? email feedback@storytellingwithdata.com Blog post: SWD makeover challenge on The Economist’s hurricane graph Article: “Design & Redesign in Data Visualization” by Fernanda Viegas & Martin Wattenberg Blog post: my guiding principles Article: The subtle art that differentiates good designers from great designers by UX Planet Blog post: a tale about opportunity Book: The Big Book of Dashboards by Steve Wexler, Jeff Shaffer & Andy Cotgreave Book: storytelling with data by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic Book: WSJ Guide to Information Graphics by Dona Wong Book: Show Me the Numbers by Stephen Few Book: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte Book: Avoiding Data Pitfalls by Ben Jones Book: Better Data Visualizations by Jonathan Schwabish Book: Let’s Practice! by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic Resource: SWD community Questions? email askcole@storytellingwithdata.com or start a conversation in SWD community

“You don’t have to be a cartographer to make a great map.” Cole talks with cartographer Kenneth Field, author of the award-winning book, Cartography. Tune in to hear the thought process for visualizing data when the “where” matters, including different types of maps, how purpose and audience should drive design decisions, and whether there’s any such thing as a truly accurate map. Plus, learn how technology has compressed the mapmaking process (for better and worse)—from graphicacy to objectivity and ethics, it’s an episode not to miss! LINKS: Follow Ken: @kennethfield | carto.maps.arcgis.com Buy Ken’s book: Cartography Also mentioned: How to Lie with Maps (Monmonier) Non-cartographers who made exceptional maps: Charles Minard (map), Florence Nightingale (map), Harry Beck (map)