We’re told that data storytelling is a new way of communicating using data. I submit that it’s among the oldest ways of communicating. In fact, data storytelling is effective precisely because it’s not really new. Storytelling is primordial, tapping into something deep within us. Data storytelling connects to that same something using numbers, narrative, and visuals. It forces our lizard brains to give data the respect it deserves. Regardless, data storytelling had better be something more than dashboards or visualizations, or it’s Just More Hype.

Data storytelling is a popular term in the field of data analytics. Storytelling implies looking deeply into the data to find the important messages and communicate those messages in the most effective ways. It’s a powerful concept that is sometimes diminished by those who position it as synonymous with data visualization – data viz vendors who adopt it as a marketing buzzword, pundits who equate it with visualization best practices, and so on.