Data Storytelling

Bodhih’s workshop teaches participants to decipher data, its trends, and the statistical stories that drive the numbers behaviour. It is a powerful session that utilizes how storytelling can gain from data and all metrics that drive businesses.

The data driven storyteller often (intuitively) knows how to connect personal experiences with a vision and thereafter set the elements of plot, twists and punch line in her or her own story. However, Bodhih’s workshop on data-driven storytelling is about doing this same storytelling process by design. It is about laying out the various data sets in a pre-formulated way, slice and dice to see trends and thereafter to start making hypothesis based on experience and expertise.

Thereafter the participants through class presentations, case-study, and group discussions are hand-held in creating narratives and story-arcs that take these data commentaries and embeds them into the layers of the story. Data-driven storytelling works because it is a skill that touches the listener’s analytical sides and also their core emotions. So, it is an exercise targeted at both logic and rational centers, along with human instincts. This often makes the difference as the listeners become more receptive to the storyteller.

What is the Data driven storytelling process?

Data-driven storytelling explores various facets like – defining your audience, and their needs, goals, and wants. Through class presentations, group discussions and individual workbook activity, the participants understand in detail and thereafter plan an opening, message delivery and closing. In parallel, the data lines are set with careful detail, planning on the data commentary after analysing behaviours, and mapping out predictions that the numbers lay out. Along with narrative elements, the data elements are woven into the stories being worked out. Class participants are handheld by Bodhih’s facilitator to deep dive into the mentioned nuances in a step by step manner.

All the mentioned data-driven storytelling elements are planned with an intent to impress and influence. There are secrets of storytelling that include theme and hooks and also analogies. Bodhih’s program also focusses on the best formats for storytelling given the premise, audience, existing mindsets by a self-audit. The participants are able to clearly identify their data-driven storytelling strength and weakness by examining their current working styles, behaviour and class feedback. Through videos and facilitator led presentations, the learners start to develop an openness towards newer ways of doing things thereby increasing productivity within the given constraints.

Starting off with facilitator led presentation and group discussions, Bodhih’s data-driven storytelling program asks participants to work through the dimensions and guidelines of any storytelling techniques they know about. The encouraging to new ways, exposure session, tries to identify the various data-driven storytelling elements that most participants already know of and use in their daily work lives.

Learners through individual activity and insightful analysis (various types of stories) appreciate the concepts of character, story structure, emotion, visual language, pitching and feedback. These are advanced concepts and basis each unique participant’s specific workplace needs, Bodhih’s facilitator helps them customize and apply these powerful techniques.

The next session is focussed on understanding the importance of data-driven storytelling in business. It targets the age-old traditions that humans have used and revered to pass information, facts and lessons. Through group activity, and facilitator led discussions, the participants are taken through the creative thinking or brainstorming section that brings out ideas for creating stories.

Bodhih’s facilitators are seasoned professionals who create linkages between skills picked up in the workshops and then to apply them in participant’s current roles. This is done through specific illustrations and analogies and is true for the next session at the data-driven storytelling workshop – which is essentially handling the emotional flows that a story’s hero or protagonist’s goes through while navigating the highs and lows of the journey-events in the protagonist’s world.

Through facilitator led presentations and group discussions, workshop participants are familiarised on how to address the sticky parts and the traps to avoid. The class is given assessment exercises to demonstrate their skills at writing out data-driven sample stories and share it for a class debrief.

At Bodhih, data-driven storytelling program is a popular session that is part of a larger communication skills training suite. The session draws richly from research done on advanced data-driven storytelling techniques and also the cultural studies done on how story-telling impacts leadership and results.

How would you gain from India’s best Storytelling techniques workshop at Bodhih?

Bodhih customizes its data-driven storytelling process along the ADDIE model. Workshop experiences are analysed, designed, developed and delivered that are solution focused and include a range of blended training pedagogy such as role plays, group exercises, self-assessment tools, management games, individual activities, videos, case studies, facilitation, discussions and more.

In addition to the ADDIE model, the data-driven storytelling skill sessions takes advantage of the experiential adult-learning process of concrete experience – reflective observation – abstract conceptualization – active experimentation.

The edge in Bodhih’s data-driven storytelling workshops comes from researched industry learnings, current best practices and academic insights. The workshop takeaways ensure that learnings are grasped and applied at all levels within a company and its individuals. The long term benefits are to institutionalise data-drive storytelling by embedding structural elements as individual toolkits – data analysis, data commentary, data hypothesis and data proposition and thereafter combining these with theme, character, character’s world, plot, emotions, messaging and finally working through the audience lessons and takeaways.

What is Bodhih’s promise on data-driven storytelling workshops?

Managers across industries and functions and executive level participants who have attended Bodhih’s sessions on data-driven storytelling talk of the changed individual and team behaviours, namely, how team members have embraced the power of data in storytelling. The freshness in thoughts and also in presentations is apparent after the data-driven storytelling mechanisms has proven to inject motivation and positivity in the audiences.