The importance of stories

1. The importance of stories

Hi! Welcome to the Beginner Data Story Telling Case Study on Green Businesses. My Name is Camilo Martínez Burgos and I'll be your instructor for the course.

2. What to expect

Before beginning, let's review what you'll do in a Datacamp Case Study. In this type of course you will not learn any new topics but rather review the knowledge you covered in previous ones. We will check on some important concepts that will allow you to tell successful stories with data; you will go through all the steps of a data storytelling workflow and end up with the experience to embark on projects of your own. As this is nonetheless an introductory case study, you don't need to worry about having very robust knowledge on data literacy or data analysis. However, I strongly recommend you check these available materials on the platform before this Case Study.

3. What is a story?

Let's begin! The first thing we'll need to define in a data storytelling course is what a story is. Well, a story is a connected series of events told through words, imagery, body language, performance, music, and many other forms of communication. Notice how stories are being told all the time around you in your everyday life. Whether in the format of books, movies, conversations, ads, and many more, they are a fundamental piece of how we humans communicate with each other.

4. What is storytelling?

This highlights the importance of learning about storytelling. Storytelling is the activity, or art, of telling stories. It involves many elements like the message you want to convey to your audience, the medium through which it will get to them (like the ones we discussed before), the connection necessary to captivate your audience's attention, and the emotion that will allow them to empathize with your story.

5. Data storytelling?

Let's get data into the mix! According to this definition by Microsoft's Power BI, Data Storytelling is the concept of building a compelling narrative using data and analytics that help tell your story to a particular audience. In other words, Data becomes an additional tool in your toolbelt to tackle your everyday communication tasks. As such, this does NOT mean that Data Storytelling is reserved for highly technical individuals or that it requires overwhelming everybody else with complex plots. But rather, understanding how you can leverage the power of data to your service and, most importantly, your audience.

6. Why should you care?

So why should you care? There's a saying that an image is worth a thousand words. Well, you could say that a story is worth a thousand images. As I mentioned before, it can become quite a useful tool to add to your arsenal. It can draw your audience into a world and a situation they can empathize with, and it can convey emotions, values, and insights that resonate with them long after the story is over. You could have the most sophisticated statistical model to analyze your business needs, but if its insights do not stick with people and allow them to engage in more informed decision-making; that effort would be wasted.

7. Let's practice!

We'll review these concepts with the following exercises.

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