- It’s insights that motivates the audience not the data.
- The audience receives the insights if it fits their goals and objectives.
- Relevant insights drives the audience to take action or make a decision.
The audience is motivated when they hear insights from the data, not from hearing or seeing the data as a thing by itself. Simply showing the data without context will not create understanding. Data helps reveal insights that you share with your audience. Insights provide the audience with something new that they were unaware of or uncertain about. Insights confirm a hunch that the audience already possesses. Insights can highlight a deficiency or expose a heretofore unknown need.
Insights are received by the audience if they fit the goals and objectives of the audience. Insights supported by data create a stronger motivation for the audience than simply hearing or seeing the data as an independent entity. Mining the nuggets of insights is time consuming. Deep data analysis is required to find interesting and relevant insights. To this end, there are many possible starting points. One possibility is to look at what is working and what is not working, then analyze the data behind it.
The structure of your story must appeal to your audience’s traits. Some members of audiences are convinced by seeing the data, others may be driven by ambition, and yet others may be attentive and thoughtful. The data reinforces the insights to the audience. Effective use of related data helps the audience arrive at actionable conclusions. Data within the right context creates credibility for the storyteller and sustains the story. Significant insights, supported by the data, affects the audience to want to take action and make a decision.