Storytelling with Data

February 1, 2016

For many business professionals, being asked to "show the data" often results in frustration, pressure, and feeling inadequate. Knaflic, known for her blog, storytellingwithdata.com, proposes using concepts from storytelling and visual design to illustrate data effectively. Most of the book is focused on presenting data visually. The author, who gives workshops on the subject, demonstrates how design principles can make standard visuals most effective, offers alternative designs, addresses when not to use an image, and convincingly evangelizes on why pie charts are not recommended. Later, she addresses narrative structure and rules for writing. Throughout, the author emphasizes how to incorporate data, whether as a visual or not, as part of an overall idea. For those interested in more information, Knaflic supplies books, authors, and websites for further reading. The author's style is friendly, chatty, and informal, though also at times clunky and unclear. This isn't an issue, however, as she employs numerous figures and illustrations to support her points. VERDICT While the topics promoted here aren't new, Knaflic doesn't claim them to be otherwise. This recommended work asserts that storytelling is a successful way to communicate information and effectively promotes the practical necessity of clarity and maintaining credibility.--Robert Mixner, Bartholomew Cty. P.L., Columbus, IN

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.