Practice Area

Management and Leadership

Telling Stories with Data


  • Traditional Classroom: 1-day
  • Virtual Instructor-led: Two 3-3.5 hour sessions; Three 2-hour sessions

Good decisions are made when executives and managers understand the story behind complex data. This one-day, highly interactive, experience-based, facilitated workshop focuses on how to make data more concise, impactful, and compelling to the intended audience through storytelling.

Prior to class, participants complete a pre-work assignment using a real-world data set. Participants will either use a data set provided or choose a data set from their work environment and prepare a five-minute presentation using a slide deck of up to four slides and a narrative memo that clearly explains what conclusions they are attempting to convey. During the workshop, each participant will present his or her “data story” and receive feedback from the instructor and the other participants on how to improve the “data story.” Then, using the skills acquired in the workshop, each participant will create an improved presentation.


Target Audience

This course is designed to benefit anyone who is required to present complex and/or technical data to executives, managers, decision makers, or stakeholders in a manner that the intended audience can clearly understand.

Learning Objectives

  • Present data in a more concise, impactful, and compelling manner to your intended audience through storytelling.
  • Analyze your audience and choose the appropriate ways to present your data.
  • Present a real-world data set during the course and receive feedback from peers and the instructor.
  • Develop concise slides, compelling storylines, and convincing memos and talking points.

Pre-Session Assignment

  • Using a real-world data set, prepare a five-minute presentation using a slide deck of up to three slides and a narrative memo that clearly explains what conclusions you are attempting to convey. This will be presented during the course. In addition, there will be 2 reading assignments.

Course Outline

Introduction and Overview
Create the Story
  • The Importance of Telling a Story
  • Preparing for Your Presentation
    • Performing an Audience Analysis
    • Brainstorming
    • Organization
    • Create a Presentation Outline
  • The Power of Repetition
Choose the Right Visuals
  • Common Graphs and Charts and How to Create Them
  • Choosing the Right Visual for Your Data
Create Effective Visuals
  • Pre-Attentive Attributes
  • Focusing Audience Attention
  • Create a Visual and Present Your Data

MDI1019E Course Code


For more information on this topic, as well as how Corporate Education Group can help power your organization’s performance, contact us via email or call 1.800.288.7246 (US only) or +1.978.649.8200. You can also use our Information Request Form!


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