Class XII Artificial Intelligence
UNIT 8: Data Storytelling
8.1 Introduction to Storytelling
“Once upon a time, there lived a King…”. “On a dark night, when it was raining…”. “Long
long ago…”. These familiar sentences spark interest, enthusiasm, and curiosity in all of us.
Aren’t they familiar?
Yes, they are usually used when telling stories. Stories have been a part of our lives since
ancient times. They have existed from the time of cavemen to the present day. Stories are a
way to share our imaginations, experiences, and thoughts with others.
So, what are Stories?
Stories are a valuable form of human expression. They connect us closely with one another
and transport us to different places and times. Stories can be of various types, like folk tales,
fairy tales, fables, and real-life stories. Each type of story creates a sense of connection, and
folk tales, in particular, strengthen our sense of belonging to our community and help
establish our identity.
Every story has a theme or topic. There is always a storyteller and a listener, and sometimes
the listeners can be a group of people. According to the dictionary, a 'story' is a 'factual or
fictional narrative,' meaning it tells about an event that can be true or made up, in a way
that the listener experiences or learns something. Stories can be used to share information,
experiences, or viewpoints.
The process of telling a story narratively is known as Storytelling. It encourages
people to make use of their imagination and creativity to express themselves, which
improves their communication skills. Storytelling can be in different forms- oral, digital, and
written.
Evolution of storytelling.
What are the benefits of stories?
1. Enhances communication skills.
2. Boosts imagination and creativity
3. Strengthens memory and retention.
4. Encourages emotional intelligence
5. Preserves culture and tradition.
6. Develops critical thinking skills.
7. Makes learning engaging and effective
8. Builds confidence and public speaking skills.
9. Supports psychological well being.
10. Encourages ethical and moral development.
Storytelling as a powerful and Cross Cultural tool
1. It conveys the culture, history, and values that unit people.
2. It increases the awareness about cultural differences
3. It enhances cross cultural understanding.
4. It generates interest.
5. It captures our attention.
6. It communicates meaning.
7. It also inspires us.
Factors that make storytelling powerful.
1. It makes information more compelling.
2. It helps with learning because stories are easy to remember.
3. It works for all types of listeners.
4. It allows the interaction between story teller and listener.
5. It shapes, empowers, connects people by doing away with judgments.
Elements of storytelling
1. Characters: The characters are the people or animals or some things or objects which
are featured in a story. They perform the actions and drive the story.
2. Plot/setting: Setting refers to the time or location in which the story takes place. Plot
refers to the sequence of the events of the story.
3. Conflict: It is the problem or the situation the characters are dealing with. It drives the
story forward which makes the story engaging and a key element for the characters.
4. Resolution: It is the end of the story where the characters arrive at a particular situation
to resolve the conflict. It is the stage after climax which is the peak or height of any story.
5. Insights: The ability to have a clear, deep, and sometimes sudden understanding of a
complicated problem or situation.
Introduction to Data Storytelling
Data are individual facts, statistics, or items of information, often numeric. In a
more technical sense, data is a set of qualitative or quantitative variables about one or more
persons or objects. So, keeping these definitions in mind, when we connect logically related
data together, they tell us something. The collection of data when represented in a better
way has a greater impact which can be engaging, entertaining, thought provoking, helps in
better decision making and can make way for big changes.
So, when we interpret this data in a systematic way, then this concept is known as Data
Storytelling. It is a practice that is used lately by analysts and data scientists to
communicate their findings and observations from data to technical and non-technical
business stakeholders who are in general called audience.
Data storytelling is the art and practice of translating complex data and analytics
into a compelling narrative that is easily understandable and relatable to various
audiences.
Data can be in the simple form of numbers and digits. This data when it is pictorially
represented is known as Data Visualization. It can be in the form of different types of
charts or graphs. Depending on the requirements, data can be interpreted in the form of
narratives known as Data Stories which can reduce ambiguity. It can be clear with respect to
context and convey the right meaning which can be used for an effective decision-making
process.
Need for Data Storytelling
Data, when presented in a narrative format, is better absorbed, retained, and understood
compared to a collection of disjointed facts or figures. Just like the effectiveness of
storytelling in memory retention, data storytelling enhances the comprehension and impact
of data insights by providing context and structure.
The need for data storytelling is gaining importance in all fields. Many companies and brands
are using data storytelling as an effective method of conveying their message and gaining
client loyalty. Data storytelling makes complex data more accessible and understandable,
allowing audiences or stakeholders to grasp insights easily. Engaging narratives and
compelling visuals keep audiences engaged, increasing retention and attention. Storytelling
with data empowers better decision-making by presenting evidence-based insights.
Why has Data Storytelling become very powerful now?
In today’s business context, data storytelling becomes so critical due to these
characteristics:
1. It makes the insights and key findings memorable to the audience.
2. It is a persuasive way of communicating key insights and findings to both business
stakeholders and technical stakeholders.
3. It is also important that the story is engaging to the audience.
Today, data storytelling is filling a vital gap in business as well as the technical analytics
process between technology and people. By combining an increasingly essential resource
(data) with a familiar and time-tested form of communication (storytelling), this skill can help
more people translate their insights into action. From a data literacy perspective, once an
organization’s people are comfortable with reading and working with data, they should also
learn how to communicate insights effectively.
Essential elements of Data Storytelling
The three key elements of Data Storytelling are:
1. Data 2. Narrative 3. Visuals
Types of data and their Visualizations.
Steps to create a story through data
If the data collected is represented in just a series of graphs and charts, it will not serve the
purpose to any organization. It should be communicated well with proper narrative, with
proper context and meaning, relevance and clarity. The narrative should be able to take the
focus of the audience to the correct spot and not miss out on important facts. To find
compelling stories in data sets, the following steps are to be followed:
Ethics in data story telling:
1. Accuracy and Integrity
2. Transparency and Methodological Clarity.
3. Privacy, Confidentiality and Ethical data usage.
4. Fairness and avoidance of misrepresentation.
5. Audience awareness and responsible communication.
