240: How to coax stories from data to present and persuade with guest expert Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic

Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, author of Storytelling with Data: Let’s Practice!

Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic and Bill Ringle discuss how data can be an integral part of storytelling for small business leaders to better insights and better business decisions.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth.

Top 3 Takeaways from this Interview

  • Start by considering your audience, be very clear on what the point is that you are trying to make.
  • Consider what flow will work best for your audience and your situation and how can you make that data really tell a story that is going to engage your audience.
  • Figure out what does the audience need to know to be in the right frame of mind for the information that’s going to provide them with.

Interview Insights

Read the Show Notes from this Episode

  • Cole tells about her inspiration and how they influenced her to connect to her potential. [01:25]
  • People use stories to amplify the effectiveness of using the data to be persuasive. [03:15]
  • It is necessary to change the way your organization communicates with data. [04:18]
  • Cole shares that we are responsible for bringing our audience on a journey, understanding and structuring our story to their needs. [05:16]
  • She recommends that thinking about our data in this way it really forces us to consider our audience and their needs and framing for them. [06:44]
  • How you use this method to help people build effective teams [08:35]
  • Figure out what does my audience need to know to be in the right frame of mind for the information I’m going to provide them with. [12:42]
  • Isn’t this what a dashboard supposed to do? [24:10]
  • My Quest for the Best Lightning Round begins. [28:20]

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Expert Bio

Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic tells stories with data.

She is founder & CEO of Storytelling with data (SWD) and author of #1 new release storytelling with data: let’s practice! and the best-selling book, Storytelling with Data: a data visualization guide for business professionals, which has been translated into a dozen languages, is used as a textbook by more than 100 universities, and serves as the course book for tens of thousands of SWD workshop participants.

Prior to SWD, Cole’s experience and perpectives were honed through analytical roles in banking, private equity, and as a manager on the Google People Analytics team. At Google, she used a data-driven approach to inform innovative people programs and management practices and traveled to Google offices throughout the US and Europe to teach the course she developed on data visualization. Cole has acted as an adjunct faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), where she taught Introduction to Information Visualization, and regularly guest lectures at prominent universities in the US and beyond.

Cole has a BS in Applied Mathematics and an MBA from the University of Washington. When she isn’t ridding the world of ineffective graphs, Cole is undertaking the adventures of parenting three young children with her husband at home in the Midwest and on travels abroad.

Contact Info for Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic

Web address: storytellingwithdata.com

Travels from: River Hills, Wisconsin

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​Books Authored by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic

Storytelling with Data by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic

Resources Mentioned During the Interview