Breakout Session: Building a shared foundation of trust through data storytelling

As data practitioners, we’re often frustrated with how our work is received: “Why do people ignore/disagree with/distort my analysis? Why don’t people just trust the data?” This talk digs into reasons why this happens, how you can prevent it, and how to stay zen when you can’t. It’s a practically oriented talk, grounded in years of experience doing analysis, building models, and leading data teams. As a bonus, I’ll also include results from a survey of 200 data practitioners about communication and storytelling with data.

At a purely logical level, the root cause behind people not “trusting the data” is that all analysis depends on two things: the data itself, plus assumptions about the context around the data. If you and your audience don’t share the same assumptions, they won’t share your conclusions. At an emotional and organizational level, there are all kinds of miscommunications, fears, incentives, agendas, etc. influencing why people don’t share assumptions.

This talk shows how great data storytelling can help solve both kinds of problems: building a clear, logical argument to support your analysis and ensuring that your chain of reasoning is grounded in assumptions shared by your listeners. Unlike most talks on data storytelling, I won’t just focus on tactics for delivering a single presentation—I’ll talk about how to use data storytelling to build a foundation of shared trust over time. This talk is for the 81% data practitioners who consider data storytelling an important part of their role and want to get better at that skill.