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‘The question is, how
any additional expenditures.” These are the kinds of
narratives that data can uncover.

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR DATA STORYTELLING do we communicate
SKILLS
Here are some key principles and tips for improving this complex language
your data storytelling skills:
Set up a narrative structure to someone who
A presentation or report containing charts isn’t
data storytelling on its own, said Brent Dykes, who
is the author of the book Effective Data Storytell- doesn’t have the skill
ing and provides data storytelling training services.
Data storytelling should reveal an insight and
have a narrative structure that brings it to life with set to understand it?’
relevant context and supporting details, he said.
Know the elements that make a good story. Peter Margaritis, CPA, director of the School of Accounting Communications
“Stories organize information so that one thing Center and instructor of professional practice at Oklahoma State University
that happens influences the thing that happens
next,” Kazakoff said, and a story has a beginning,
a middle, and an end. “One of the fundamental Schmidt also suggested that accountants could
things accounting does is create these time frames draw on their own hobbies and experiences to cre-
so we can analyze data and make decisions,” he said. ate effective analogies that clients will understand.
Fiscal deadlines may be arbitrary but are important
for judging where things stand, Kazakoff said. They Avoid the ‘curse of knowledge’
provide natural beginning and end points, while the When it comes to improving your data storytelling
story is what unfolds in between to take a company chops, the first step may be admitting you have a
or client from point A to point B. problem, Kazakoff said. “One of the critical steps
It can be challenging, he acknowledged, to find for professionals is to recognize that your own
a narrative thread among the mess of information expertise gets in the way of your ability to commu-
that is available. “Figuring out a way to explain nicate clearly,” he said. “When we develop expertise,
how changes in numbers reflect changes in the real we become blind to what it is like for someone who
world” is a skill many successful people have in does not know that topic as well as we do.” He calls
common, he said. this phenomenon the “curse of knowledge.”
To get a feel for how nonexperts might view
Keep a story vault your presentation, consider a practice run. However,
When you hear or read something that resonates the co-worker you work with every day is usually
with you, or if something relatable happens to you, not a good stand-in for the people who need to
add it to your “story vault,” Barhydt recommended. make decisions based on your data, Kazakoff said.
She listens to podcasts while riding her exercise He recommended practicing your presentation on
bike, and almost every day she comes away with a someone outside of accounting if possible.
nugget of information she can use in the future. Even if you can’t practice with a nonexpert,
For example, she heard an interview with Jenni- Shander recommended taking a step back. “Instead
fer Hyman, the CEO of Rent the Runway, a luxury of cranking out slides, ask yourself what you’d say
clothing and accessory rental business. Hyman if your teenage niece asked you to explain these
talked about how the company had employed a numbers. Imagine you only have two minutes,” he
flat-rate pricing structure so customers would come said. “You’ll generally do a better job packaging up
back, but that it led to lower margins every time the explanation in a way that’s more like a story.”
someone returned to the website, ultimately hurting Margaritis pointed out that when you change
the business. “I thought, ‘I could totally use this the language you use and incorporate analogies,
anecdote next time I’m having a conversation about metaphors, and other storytelling techniques, you’re
the importance of promoting the right customer not dumbing down your presentation. You’re doing
behaviors,’” Barhydt said. your job well.

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