Data Storytelling and Presenting Results Course
Data Storytelling and Presenting Results is an intermediate-level course of 5 lessons (about 2 h 57 min), with 15 exercises and 15 quiz questions. Prerequisites: Exploratory Data Analysis. Exercises run in the browser, with nothing to install.
- Data analysis
- Intermediate
- 5 lessons
- 2 h 57 min
- 15 exercises
- Exercises run in the browser
The course in brief
This course teaches you to present data results so that people understand and decide. You will frame your audience and your message, choose the right chart, declutter your visuals with matplotlib, structure a narrative with action titles and annotations, then formulate quantified recommendations while expressing uncertainty honestly, in the right format.
What you will be able to do
- Frame a presentation: audience, expected decision, format and key message
- Choose the right chart for each question and avoid misleading visuals
- Declutter a matplotlib chart and direct attention with an accent color
- Structure a narrative with situation, complication, resolution and action titles
- Annotate the key points of a chart
- Formulate actionable recommendations and communicate uncertainty
- Adapt the presentation to a meeting, a document, an email or a dashboard
Syllabus: 5 lessons
- Identify the audience, the expected decision and the presentation context
- Formulate a key message (big idea) in one sentence
- Organize a presentation by starting with the conclusion
- 02
Choosing the Right Chart
- Match each type of question to a type of chart
- Build a sorted, honest bar chart with matplotlib
- Recognize misleading or hard-to-read charts
- 03
Decluttering and Highlighting
- Remove visual elements that add no information
- Direct attention with an accent color and direct labeling
- Choose accessible colors
- 04
Structuring the Narrative: Action Titles and Annotations
- Structure a presentation as situation, complication, resolution
- Write action titles and annotate the key points of a chart
- Build a storyboard before producing the visuals
- 05
Recommendations, Uncertainty and Presentation Format
- Formulate actionable, quantified recommendations
- Represent and explain uncertainty without losing the message
- Adapt the presentation to the format: meeting, document, email, dashboard
Final project
Presenting an Analysis to an Executive Committee
Take the exploratory analysis of your choice (for example the project from the exploratory data analysis course) or generate a sales dataset with a problem to explain. Prepare the complete presentation for an executive committee: framing, storyboard, 5 to 7 decluttered, annotated charts, quantified recommendation with uncertainty, executive summary and cover email.
Deliverables
- The framing (audience, expected decision, format, key message)
- The storyboard with the action titles, validated by the vertical reading test
- A matplotlib Python script producing 5 to 7 decluttered, annotated, accessible charts
- A recommendation slide with an impact range and a tracking indicator
- A 5-line executive summary and the cover email
- An appendix listing the limits and the answers to the three most likely objections
Assessment criteria
- The key message is clear, quantified and presented first
- Each chart suits its question, is honest and decluttered
- The action titles tell the story on their own
- The recommendation is actionable and its uncertainty is expressed simply
- The format and level of detail suit the audience
Frequently asked questions
What is data storytelling?
It is the art of turning a data analysis into a message that is understood and acted on, by combining a structured narrative, suitable visuals and a clear recommendation.
Do I need to be good at design?
No. The course relies on a few simple, repeatable principles: remove the superfluous, use an accent color, write action titles and annotate the key points.
Does the course use Python?
Yes, the charts are built with matplotlib, and some exercises are written, real-world scenarios. The principles also apply to Power BI, Excel or any presentation tool.
What are the prerequisites?
Having taken the exploratory data analysis course, or knowing how to handle data with pandas and produce simple charts.
This course, told for your job
Say what you want to be able to do: “Data Storytelling and Presenting Results” takes its place in your path, with examples from your field. The concepts stay those of the course.