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| Data Science Lifecycle: Communication - Sketchnote by @nitya |
Test wetin you sabi about wetin go dey for dis lesson with di Pre-Lecture Quiz wey dey up!
Make we start dis lesson by explain wetin e mean to communicate. To communicate na to pass or exchange information. Information fit be ideas, thoughts, feelings, messages, secret signals, data – anything wey one sender (person wey dey send information) wan make one receiver (person wey dey receive information) understand. For dis lesson, we go dey call sender communicator, and receiver na audience.
We sabi say when person dey communicate, di aim na to pass or exchange information. But when you dey communicate data, your aim no suppose be to just dey throw numbers give your audience. Your aim suppose be to tell story wey your data dey support – better data communication and storytelling dey work together. Your audience go remember story wey you tell pass number wey you give dem. Later for dis lesson, we go talk about some ways wey you fit use storytelling to pass your data well.
For dis lesson, we go talk about two types of communication: One-Way Communication and Two-Way Communication.
One way communication na when sender dey send information to receiver, but receiver no dey give feedback or response. We dey see example of one-way communication everyday – for bulk/mass emails, when news dey deliver latest gist, or even when TV advert dey show why their product dey good. For all dis example, sender no dey look for exchange of information. Dem just wan pass or deliver information.
Two-way communication na when everybody wey dey involved dey act as sender and receiver. Sender go start by passing information to receiver, and receiver go give feedback or response. Two-way communication na wetin we dey normally think about when we dey talk about communication. We dey usually think about people wey dey gist – either face-to-face, or for phone call, social media, or text message.
When you dey communicate data, sometimes you go use one-way communication (like when you dey present for conference or big group wey no go ask question immediately after) and sometimes you go use two-way communication (like when you dey use data to convince stakeholders or teammates to do something new).
When you dey communicate, na your work to make sure say your receiver(s) dey understand di information wey you wan make dem understand. When you dey communicate data, you no just wan make your receiver carry numbers go, you wan make dem carry story wey your data dey support. Better data communicator na better storyteller.
How you go take tell story with data? Plenty ways dey – but we go talk about 6 for dis lesson:
- Understand Your Audience, Your Medium, & Your Communication Method
- Begin with the End in Mind
- Approach it Like an Actual Story
- Use Meaningful Words & Phrases
- Use Emotion
We go explain each of dis strategies well well below.
Di way you dey communicate with your family members fit dey different from di way you dey communicate with your friends. You go dey use different words and phrases wey di people wey you dey talk to go understand well. You suppose use dis same approach when you dey communicate data. Think about who you dey talk to. Think about their goals and di context wey dem get about di matter wey you dey explain.
You fit group most of your audience into category. For one Harvard Business Review article, “How to Tell a Story with Data,” Dell Executive Strategist Jim Stikeleather talk about five categories of audience.
- Novice: first time wey dem dey hear about di topic, but dem no wan make e too simple
- Generalist: dem sabi di topic small, but dem dey look for overview and main points
- Managerial: dem wan deep understanding wey dem fit use, with access to details
- Expert: dem wan explore and discover more, less storytelling, plenty details
- Executive: dem only get time to understand di main point and di conclusion of di matter
Dis categories fit help you know how you go present your data to your audience.
Apart from di audience category, you suppose think about di channel wey you go use to communicate with dem. Your approach go dey different if na memo or email you dey write vs if na meeting or conference presentation.
On top di audience, you suppose sabi di type of communication wey you go use (one-way or two-way).
If you dey communicate with Novice audience and na one-way communication, you go first educate dem and give dem better context. Then you go present your data and explain wetin e mean and why e matter. For dis case, you go focus well on clarity because dem no go fit ask you direct question.
If you dey communicate with Managerial audience and na two-way communication, you no go need to educate dem or give dem plenty context. You fit jump straight into di data and wetin e mean. But for dis case, you go need manage time and control your presentation. For two-way communication (especially with Managerial audience wey dey look for “actionable understanding of intricacies and interrelationships with access to detail”), question fit pop up wey fit carry di discussion go another direction wey no relate to di story wey you dey try tell. If dis happen, you fit take action to bring di discussion back to di story wey you dey tell.
To begin with di end in mind mean say you go first understand wetin you wan make your audience carry go before you start to communicate with dem. If you think about di takeaway wey you wan make dem get ahead, e go help you arrange story wey dem fit follow. Dis approach dey work for both one-way and two-way communication.
How you go begin with di end in mind? Before you start to communicate your data, write down di key takeaway wey you wan make your audience get. Then, as you dey prepare di story wey you wan tell, dey ask yourself, "How dis one fit join di story wey I dey tell?"
Make you dey careful – Even though e good to start with di end in mind, no go dey communicate only di data wey support di takeaway wey you wan make. Dis one na Cherry-Picking, wey mean say communicator dey only talk about di data wey support di point wey dem dey try make and dem dey ignore di other data.
If all di data wey you collect dey support your takeaway, fine. But if some data no support your takeaway or even dey support di opposite argument, you suppose still talk about am. If dis happen, make you dey open with your audience and explain why you still dey stick with your story even though all di data no dey support am.
Traditional story dey happen for 5 Phases. You fit don hear di phases as Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Denouncement. Or di easier one: Context, Conflict, Climax, Closure, Conclusion. When you dey communicate your data and story, you fit use dis same approach.
You fit start with context, set di stage and make sure say your audience dey understand di matter. Then bring di conflict. Why you need collect dis data? Wetin be di problem wey you dey try solve? After dat, di climax. Wetin be di data? Wetin di data dey mean? Wetin di data dey tell us to do? Then closure, where you go repeat di problem and di solution(s) wey you dey propose. Finally, di conclusion, where you go summarize di key takeaway and di next steps wey you dey recommend.
If me and you dey work together on one product, and I tell you "Our users dey take long time to onboard onto our platform," how long you go think "long time" be? One hour? One week? E go hard to know. But if I tell you say "Our users dey take, on average, 3 minutes to sign up and onboard onto our platform," e go clear pass.
Dis kind message dey clear. When you dey communicate data, e dey easy to think say everybody for your audience dey think like you. But e no dey always be like dat. To make your data and wetin e mean clear na one of your work as communicator. If di data or story no clear, your audience go struggle to follow, and dem no go understand di key takeaway well.
You fit communicate data better when you use meaningful words and phrases instead of vague ones. Below na some examples:
- We get impressive year!
- One person fit think say impressive year mean 2% - 3% increase in revenue, another person fit think say e mean 50% - 60% increase.
- Our users' success rates increase dramatically.
- How big di increase wey you dey call dramatic?
- Dis work go need significant effort.
- How much effort be significant?
To use vague words fit dey useful as introduction to more data wey dey come, or as summary of di story wey you don tell. But make sure say every part of your presentation dey clear for your audience.
Emotion na key for storytelling. E dey even more important when you dey tell story with data. When you dey communicate data, everything dey focus on di takeaway wey you wan make your audience get. When you dey use emotion, e dey help your audience connect, and e dey make dem more likely to act. Emotion also dey increase di chance say your audience go remember your message.
You fit don see dis one before for TV adverts. Some adverts dey very sad, and dem dey use di sad emotion to connect with di audience and make di data wey dem dey show stand out. Or, some adverts dey very happy and dem dey make you connect di data with happy feeling.
How you go use emotion when you dey communicate data? Below na some ways:
- Use Testimonials and Personal Stories
- When you dey collect data, try collect both quantitative and qualitative data, and mix di two types when you dey communicate. If your data na mostly quantitative, find stories from people to sabi more about their experience with wetin your data dey talk.
- Use Imagery
- Images dey help audience see demself for di situation. When you use images, you fit push audience toward di emotion wey you feel say dem suppose get about your data.
- Use Color
- Different colors dey bring different emotions. Popular colors and di emotions wey dem dey bring na:
- Blue dey bring peace and trust
- Green dey relate to nature and environment
- Red dey bring passion and excitement
- Yellow dey bring optimism and happiness
- Different colors dey bring different emotions. Popular colors and di emotions wey dem dey bring na:
Emerson na Product Manager for one mobile app. Emerson don notice say customers dey submit 42% more complaints and bug reports for weekend. Emerson also notice say customers wey submit complaint wey no get answer after 48 hours dey 32% more likely to give di app rating of 1 or 2 for app store.
After Emerson do research, e get some solutions wey go fit solve di problem. Emerson arrange 30-minute meeting with di 3 company leads to talk about di data and di solutions.
For di meeting, Emerson wan make di company leads understand say di 2 solutions below fit improve di app rating, wey fit lead to higher revenue.
Solution 1. Employ customer service reps wey go work for weekend
Solution 2. Buy new customer service ticketing system wey go make customer service reps sabi di complaints wey don dey queue longest – so dem go know di one to handle first.
For di meeting, Emerson spend 5 minutes explain why low rating for app store no good, 10 minutes explain di research process and how e find di trends, 10 minutes go through some recent customer complaints, and di last 5 minutes just touch di 2 solutions small. Dis na better way for Emerson to take communicate for di meeting?
For di meeting, one company lead just dey focus on di 10 minutes wey Emerson take talk about customer complaints. After di meeting, na only di complaints wey dis team lead remember. Another company lead dey focus on di research process wey Emerson describe. Di third company lead remember di solutions wey Emerson propose but e no sure how dem go fit implement di solutions.
For di situation wey dey above, you fit see say wetin Emerson wan make di team leads understand no be wetin dem carry comot from di meeting. Below na another way wey Emerson fit try.
How Emerson fit improve dis approach?
Context, Conflict, Climax, Closure, Conclusion
Context - Emerson fit use di first 5 minutes take explain di whole situation and make sure say di team leads sabi how di problems dey affect di company metrics like revenue.
E fit talk am like dis: "Right now, our app rating for di app store na 2.5. Ratings for di app store dey very important for App Store Optimization, wey dey affect how many people go see our app for search, and how dem go take see our app as new users. And of course, di number of users wey we get dey directly connect to revenue."
Conflict Emerson fit then use di next 5 minutes or so take talk about di conflict.
E fit talk am like dis: “Users dey submit 42% more complaints and bug reports for weekend. Customers wey submit complaint wey no get answer after 48 hours dey 32% less likely to give our app rating wey pass 2 for di app store. If we fit improve our app rating for di app store to 4, e go improve our visibility by 20-30%, and I dey project say e go increase revenue by 10%." Emerson go need prepare to explain di numbers wey e dey talk.
Climax After e don lay di foundation, Emerson fit then move to di Climax for like 5 minutes.
Emerson fit introduce di solutions wey e dey propose, explain how di solutions go solve di problems wey e don talk about, how dem go fit implement di solutions for di current workflows, how much di solutions go cost, wetin di ROI of di solutions go be, and e fit even show screenshots or wireframes of how di solutions go look if dem implement am. Emerson fit also share testimonials from users wey dem complaint take over 48 hours before dem address am, and even testimonial from one customer service representative for di company wey get comments about di current ticketing system.
Closure Now Emerson fit use 5 minutes take repeat di problems wey di company dey face, revisit di solutions wey e propose, and explain why di solutions na di correct ones.
Conclusion Since dis na meeting wey involve few stakeholders and dem go dey talk back and forth, Emerson fit plan to leave 10 minutes for questions, so dat anything wey dey confuse di team leads go fit clear before di meeting finish.
If Emerson use dis second approach, e go dey more likely say di team leads go carry wetin Emerson wan make dem understand comot from di meeting – say di way dem dey handle complaints and bugs fit improve, and say dem get 2 solutions wey dem fit use to make di improvement happen. Dis approach go dey more effective to take communicate di data and di story wey Emerson wan share.
- To communicate na to pass or exchange information.
- When you dey communicate data, your aim no suppose be to just pass numbers to your audience. Your aim na to tell story wey di data dey support.
- Communication get two types: One-Way Communication (information dey pass without expecting response) and Two-Way Communication (information dey pass back and forth).
- Plenty strategies dey wey you fit use to tell story with your data, 5 strategies wey we talk about na:
- Sabi Your Audience, Your Medium, & Your Communication Method
- Start with di End in Mind
- Approach am Like Real Story
- Use Words & Phrases wey get Meaning
- Use Emotion
The Five C's of Storytelling - Articulate Persuasion
1.4 Your Responsibilities as a Communicator – Business Communication for Success (umn.edu)
How to Tell a Story with Data (hbr.org)
Two-Way Communication: 4 Tips for a More Engaged Workplace (yourthoughtpartner.com)
6 succinct steps to great data storytelling - BarnRaisers, LLC (barnraisersllc.com)
How to Tell a Story With Data | Lucidchart Blog
6 Cs of Effective Storytelling on Social Media | Cooler Insights
The Importance of Emotions In Presentations | Ethos3 - A Presentation Training and Design Agency
Data storytelling: linking emotions and rational decisions (toucantoco.com)
Emotional Advertising: How Brands Use Feelings to Get People to Buy (hubspot.com)
Choosing Colors for Your Presentation Slides | Think Outside The Slide
How To Present Data [10 Expert Tips] | ObservePoint
Microsoft Word - Persuasive Instructions.doc (tpsnva.org)
The Power of Story for Your Data (thinkhdi.com)
Common Mistakes in Data Presentation (perceptualedge.com)
Infographic: Here are 15 Common Data Fallacies to Avoid (visualcapitalist.com)
Cherry Picking: When People Ignore Evidence that They Dislike – Effectiviology
Tell Stories with Data: Communication in Data Science | by Sonali Verghese | Towards Data Science
1. Communicating Data - Communicating Data with Tableau [Book] (oreilly.com)
Review wetin you don learn with di Post-Lecture Quiz wey dey above!
Disclaimer:
Dis dokyument don use AI translation service Co-op Translator do di translation. Even as we dey try make am accurate, abeg sabi say machine translation fit get mistake or no dey correct well. Di original dokyument for im native language na di main source wey you go trust. For important mata, e good make professional human translator check am. We no go fit take blame for any misunderstanding or wrong interpretation wey fit happen because you use dis translation.