The 9 Best Data Storytelling Books Based on Real User Reviews

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October 19, 2022Best Practices

The Best Data Storytelling Books

Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals

“Storytelling with Data teaches you the fundamentals of data visualization and how to communicate effectively with data. You’ll discover the power of storytelling and the way to make data a pivotal point in your story. The lessons in this illuminative text are grounded in theory, but made accessible through numerous real-world examples—ready for immediate application to your next graph or presentation. Together, the lessons in this book will help you turn your data into high impact visual stories that stick with your audience.”

Effective Data Storytelling: How to Drive Change with Data, Narrative and Visuals

“Effective Data Storytelling will teach you the essential skills necessary to communicate your insights through persuasive and memorable data stories. Narratives are more powerful than raw statistics, more enduring than pretty charts. When done correctly, data stories can influence decisions and drive change. Most other books focus only on data visualization while neglecting the powerful narrative and psychological aspects of telling stories with data. Author Brent Dykes shows you how to take the three central elements of data storytelling―data, narrative, and visuals―and combine them for maximum effectiveness.”

Storytelling with Data: Let’s Practice!

“This is not a book. It is a one-of-a-kind immersive learning experience through which you can become―or teach others to be―a powerful data storyteller. Let’s practice! helps you build confidence and credibility to create graphs and visualizations that make sense and weave them into action-inspiring stories. Expanding upon best seller storytelling with data’s foundational lessons, Let’s practice! delivers fresh content, a plethora of new examples, and over 100 hands-on exercises. Author and data storytelling maven Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic guides you along the path to hone core skills and become a well-practiced data communicator.”

DataStory: Explain Data and Inspire Action Through Story

“DataStory teaches you the most effective ways to turn your data into narratives that blend the power of language, numbers, and graphics. This book is not about visualizing data, there are plenty of books covering that. Instead, you’ll learn how to transform numbers into narratives to drive action. Nancy Duarte is one of the preeminent storytellers in American business and the acclaimed author of Slide:ology, Resonate, and the HBR Guide to Persuasive Presentations comes this book that will help you transform numbers into narratives.”

Introduction to Data Visualization & Storytelling: A Guide For The Data Scientist

“In this book, you will learn by example how to visualize the fascinating topics of gender equality, inclusion, solar energy and bias. You will also learn, What is the role of a narrative in a graphic; The foundations of visual narratives and what is the relationship between data, information and knowledge. The authors (a Kaggle master, a Bloomberg ex bureau chief and a psychology professor) bring together concepts of Data Science, Design Thinking and Strategy to take the reader on a journey where the destination is nothing less than great visual storytelling.”

Presenting Data Effectively: Communicating Your Findings for Maximum Impact

“Presenting Data Effectively, Second Edition by Stephanie D. H. Evergreen shows readers how to make the research results presented in reports, slideshows, dashboards, posters, and data visualizations more interesting, engaging, and impactful. The book guides students, researchers, evaluators, and non-profit workers―anyone reporting data to an outside audience―through design choices in four primary areas: graphics, text, color, and arrangement. The Second Edition features an improved layout with larger screenshots, a review of the recent literature on data visualization, and input from a panel of graphic design experts.”

Practical SQL: A Beginner’s Guide to Storytelling with Data

“Practical SQL is an approachable and fast-paced guide to SQL (Structured Query Language), the standard programming language for defining, organizing, and exploring data in relational databases. The book focuses on using SQL to find the story your data tells, with the popular open-source database PostgreSQL and the pgAdmin interface as its primary tools. You’ll first cover the fundamentals of databases and the SQL language, then build skills by analyzing data from the U.S. Census and other federal and state government agencies. With exercises and real-world examples in each chapter, this book will teach even those who have never programmed before all the tools necessary to build powerful databases and access information quickly and efficiently.”

The Truthful Art: Data, Charts, and Maps for Communication

“The Truthful Art is an introduction to quantitative thinking and statistical and cartographical representation written specifically for journalists and designers. A follow-up to The Functional Art, it goes into the specifics of how to create functional charts, maps, and graphs. Readers will learn what kind of statistical charts exist and how to use them correctly; what maps are with an introduction to cartography terms and techniques; the basics of maps including how to create locator maps and how to understand basic cartographical terms such as projection, scale, symbolization, etc.; and the main kinds of thematic maps (choropleth, isopleth, proportional symbol, etc.) and how to use them.”

Cool Infographics: Effective Communication with Data Visualization and Design

“Research shows that visual information is more quickly and easily understood, and much more likely to be remembered. This innovative book presents the design process and the best software tools for creating infographics that communicate. Including a special section on how to construct the increasingly popular infographic resume, the book offers graphic designers, marketers, and business professionals vital information on the most effective ways to present data. With Cool Infographics, you’ll learn to create infographics to successfully reach your target audience and tell clear stories with your data.”

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