Week 10 · Designing Effective Data Stories

A communications professional’s job is not to show data. It is to help someone understand data and make a decision. A dashboard is not a story — this lab turns yours into one.

At a glance

Time	~65 minutes, in class (35 min design and write, 25 min peer feedback, 5 min debrief)
Work with	Individual draft first, then a partner for peer feedback
You need	Your Unit 07 dashboard (three charts, one filter); an agent (Claude or Manus) is optional, for script revision only
You hand in	A storyboard and a three-minute script — your Data Story Storyboard and Script
Graded on	Honesty and focus — a single defensible message, a chart order the audience can follow, and every caveat from your dashboard carried into the spoken script

The scenario

Your Unit 07 dashboard answers “which outlets and categories should get attention next quarter?” for Kopi Kembali’s regional manager. This lab turns that dashboard into a three-minute spoken narrative that helps one named person make one decision.

There is no new dataset — the raw material is your own dashboard and everything you verified while building it. If you don’t have a Unit 07 dashboard yet, build the minimum three charts from your Session 07 data first, then come back here.

Part 1 — Find your audience and your big idea · 8 min

Name your audience · 3 min

Do not say “the client.” Give them a real role — a real name if you can.

• Who is this person? (Example: “A social media lead at a fashion brand.” Not “the stakeholder.”)
• What do they already know? (Example: “She knows engagement varies by platform but does not know which to prioritise.”)
• What will they do with this story? (Example: “She will brief her team and rebalance next quarter’s content calendar.”)

Find your one big idea · 5 min

Look at your three charts. If your audience forgets everything except one insight, what should it be? Write it in one sentence — not a number, an insight.

Bad	“Instagram has 1,200 posts.” — a number, not an insight
Bad	“Instagram has high engagement.” — too vague to act on
Good	“Instagram posts get three times the engagement of Twitter posts, so we should shift budget there.” — a decision

Test it: if the stakeholder believes this one sentence and does nothing else, have you succeeded? If no, keep digging — you have not found your big idea yet.

Part 2 — Choose your narrative structure · 5 min

In Unit 3, your team framed the stakeholder’s decision with SCQA — Situation, Complication, Question, Answer. The structure you pick here is the vehicle for delivering that Answer.

Option	Pattern	Use it if
A — What is vs what could be	Current inefficiency, then the possibility for change	You’re showing a gap or waste and arguing for change; the audience already understands the current state
B — The change story	Problem, root cause, solution tested and working — detective work	You’re explaining why something changed and what to do about it
C — The profile / segment story	Introduce a group, show how they differ, argue why they matter	You’re arguing a specific segment deserves attention, not that the overall strategy should change

Chart order for each:

• A: where effort goes today → where engagement actually is → the gap → the projection if you change
• B: the decline over time → what changed alongside it → the test result that worked → the recommendation
• C: who the segment is → how they differ from the average → why they matter → how to reach them

Write down which structure you picked and one sentence why (example: “I am showing a gap and arguing for change, so what is vs what could be.”).

Part 3 — Storyboard your charts · 15 min

For each of your three charts, write:

1. What question does this chart answer? Not the axis labels — the actual question (example: “Which platform gives us the best return on effort?”)
2. What is the insight you’ll point out? One sentence — the one thing the audience needs to know.
3. What will you say out loud? Full sentences, as if speaking. Aim for 30 seconds per chart.

Your audience: [Name and role]
Your big idea: [One sentence]
Narrative structure: A / B / C

Chart 1: [Name]
Question it answers: [Write one sentence]
Insight: [Write one sentence]
What I will say: [Write full sentences as if speaking. Aim for 30 seconds.]

Chart 2: [Name]
Question it answers: [Write one sentence]
Insight: [Write one sentence]
What I will say: [Write full sentences as if speaking. Aim for 30 seconds.]

Chart 3: [Name]
Question it answers: [Write one sentence]
Insight: [Write one sentence]
What I will say: [Write full sentences as if speaking. Aim for 30 seconds.]

Part 4 — Write your three-minute script · 7 min

Aim for 300–400 words (roughly three minutes spoken aloud), structured like this:

1. Open (20–30s): who is your audience, what is the problem or opportunity?
2. Chart 1 (30–45s): introduce it, point out the insight, explain why it matters.
3. Chart 2 (30–45s): same.
4. Chart 3 (30–45s): same.
5. Close (20–30s): bring the three insights together and state your recommendation.

Tip

Write conversationally. This is not a presentation script full of filler — speak naturally, as if you were sitting across from your audience explaining the data.

Three-minute data story
[Write your full script here. Aim for 300 to 400 words. Read it aloud once to check the timing.]

Using an agent to help (optional)

🔗 On your agent platform

Open Claude or Manus for revision only — after you have a draft storyboard and script. Describe your audience, your three charts, and your big idea, then ask the agent to write a three-minute spoken story. Read the draft aloud, edit it hard, and make sure it ends up in your voice, not the agent’s.

I am telling a social media lead about platform investment. She knows engagement
varies but does not know which platform to prioritise next quarter. My big idea
is: shift budget to Instagram because it gets three times the engagement per post.

I have three charts:
1. Engagement rate by platform (Instagram highest)
2. Video reaches furthest on Instagram
3. A projection showing what would happen if we shifted budget

Write a three-minute spoken story (300 to 400 words) that explains these charts
to her and recommends the shift. Make it conversational, not formal. Assume she
is sitting across from me and I am talking to her.

Keep it in your voice

The agent might write: “The pivotal moment in our engagement analysis reveals a compelling narrative…” That’s too formal. Edit it down to something you’d actually say: “Here is what the data shows: Instagram gets three times the engagement of other platforms.” The agent drafts. You own the voice and the meaning.

Part 6 — Peer feedback · 25 min

1. Pair up with another student and exchange your storyboard and script.
2. One of you speaks — reading the script aloud as if presenting — while the other listens and takes notes (5 min).
3. The listener gives feedback using the template below (5 min).
4. Swap roles and repeat (10 min total for feedback).

1. Is the big idea clear?
   Could you say back to me in one sentence what this person is arguing for?
   (Write one sentence. If you cannot, tell them why.)

2. Do the charts make sense in this order?
   Did each chart answer a question that made you want to hear the next one,
   or did you feel lost? (One or two sentences about the flow.)

3. One thing to strengthen and one thing to cut
   If you could add one element to make the story stronger, what would it be?
   (A definition, a comparison, a caveat?)
   If you could remove one thing to sharpen the story, what would it be?

Revise your script

On your own time, after the lab: read your peer’s feedback and jot down three things —

1. A strength to emphasise
2. A thing to cut or simplify
3. A detail to add or clarify

Then revise your script and storyboard. You don’t have to make every change; take what resonates.

Verify & submit

• Audience is named and specific — a real role, not “management” or “the client”
• The one big idea is a single sentence, not a list of findings, and survives being said in a lift
• Narrative structure is evident (A, B, or C, or thoughtfully adapted) and you can defend the chart order
• The recommendation comes first in the script, not as a reveal
• Every caveat from your Unit 07 dashboard brief appears somewhere in the script
• Script is in your own voice — not copied from an agent or a textbook
• Revised storyboard and script reflect your peer feedback

Add your storyboard and script (the template filled in with your audience, big idea, structure choice, and chart-by-chart notes, plus the full revised script) to your individual portfolio, and submit the Unit 9 xSiTe checkpoint.

Capstone connection

This is stage 6 of your capstone pipeline: Communicate and recommend. You’ll use this exact discipline when you write your recommendation and design your pitch to the stakeholder — name the stakeholder, find the one big idea the data supports, choose a narrative structure, sequence your evidence, and check for honesty. The same principles apply.

Companion links: Unit 09 app · lesson plan