Visual Analytics and Data Storytelling

Data Visualisation & Storytelling Course For Data Analysts

How do you present data in an interesting, engaging manner for effective communication? Master the art of visualizing data and communicate key insights through data storytelling. This course is perfect for those involved in data analysis on a day-to-day basis.

Course Details: Visual Analytics and Data Storytelling

Level: Intermediate

This workshop is designed for people who are involved in data analysis and need to make data presentations to stakeholders. It introduces participants to the importance of visualizing data—not just for analysis, but also for effective communication. Participants will learn the principles of data visualization and also frameworks to choose appropriate charts for communicating their key insights. This is a hands-on workshop and can be conducted using Tableau, Power BI or Excel. Participants will be able to create data stories with visuals to communicate their data analysis effectively in order to achieve the desired outcomes.

This course is ideal for:

  • Those who are involved in data analysis and require data visualisation skills for management reporting.
  • Those who need to make data presentations to internal or external stakeholders.

This data visualization course is designed to help participants:

  • Learn the importance of data visualization and its role in data analysis and communication.
  • Appreciate the principles of data vizualisation including visual cues and pre-attentive attributes to drive attention and focus.
  • Apply the key principles and techniques of data visualization to charts and graphs for effective communication.
  • Enumerate different types of charts and the context for their use.
  • Choose appropriate visualizations for data analysis and data communication based on the context and purpose.
  • Craft appropriate messages based on the insights from the data.
  • Describe the methodology of moving from the message to choosing an appropriate chart.
  • Structure messages into a storyline and tell a convincing story to stakeholders supported by charts, graphs and visualisations to achieve business outcomes.
  • Describe the different types of dashboards, who uses them and what is the objective of each type.
  • Create a simple and structured dashboard that is aligned with the requirements and enables business outcomes to be achieved.
  • Data visualization – the big picture
  • Principles and techniques of data visualization (from a communication perspective)
  • Choosing appropriate charts
  • Data storytelling
  • Dashboards
  • Overview of tools

Course Information

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Type of participants

Corporate teams

Course prerequisites

  • Experience in data analytics
  • Basic knowledge of MS Excel
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Pricing

On demand

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Next session

On demand

Duration

2 days

Course type

Virtual /
In-house

Related courses

Key highlights

Contextual

This course explains visual analytics and communication in the context of solving business problems. Like all our courses, this one too finds resonance with our participants because it is relatable.

Hands-on with a BI tool

Rather than loading up on theory, we give participants a working knowledge of BI tools like Tableau and Power BI through the analysis and visualization of datasets.

Clear framework

We take an intuitive but rule-based approach to using the right visuals in the right context to achieve desired outcomes. It helps participants apply the same principles at work to improve efficiencies.

Making a difference

FAQ

What is data visualisation?

Data visualisation refers to data representation via graphics such as charts, graphs, plots, maps, infographics and sometimes even animations. The graphical representation of data helps communicate information in a way that is easy to understand, and as such allows one to comprehend trends, patterns and outliers from complex data.

What are the types of data visualisation?

Types of data visualisation include:

  • Pie charts and bar charts help organise data into sections that, when put together, represent a whole. They are easy to understand and allow the comparison of components. 
  • Line charts are used to data over time. 
  • Scatter plots are often used for regression data analysis and to demonstrate the relationship between two or more variables. 
  • Histograms are bar chart graphs that plot a distribution of numbers to represent data in a particular range. Outliers in a dataset are easy to identify with a histogram. 
  • Tree maps are used to display hierarchical data and are excellent for comparing proportions between categories.
  • Heat maps are often used to display graphical representations of behavioural data according to location.

What is the purpose of data visualisation?

Getting through numbers and making sense of datasets doesn’t only take up precious time, but it can be exhausting too. Data visualisation helps distil data into meaningful insights that we can understand.

It saves hours and energy, allowing you to take up other tasks without compromising or ignoring the importance of data analysis. To put it simply, data visualisation makes data clear, simple and easy to understand so that one can analyse and interpret it to make effective decisions.

Why is data visualisation important?

Data visualisation is vital for the effective delivery of data in that it takes raw data, models and delivers it so that the data can be interpreted. It helps communicate information quickly, accurately and effectively. This, in turn, helps organisations make better decisions, identify areas to improve, and steps to take with their products. Data visualisation is key to an organisation’s growth and success.

Is data visualisation in demand within the corporate world?

Data visualisation enables businesses to glean better, more accurate insights on trends and patterns, helping them make faster and smarter decisions. As such, it’s no surprise that there has been a continuous increase in data analytics and visualisation in the corporate world. People with data literacy skills are in high demand across industries.

What are the prerequisites for taking a data visualisation course?

Data visualisation courses are ideal for those who are involved in data analysis skills and are required to visualise data for reporting purposes. Accord’s Data Visualisation & Data Storytelling course is designed to enable those who are involved in data analysis to present data to stakeholders.

What software is used for data visualisation?

There are many data visualisation software and tools available, such as ChartBlocks, Cyfe, Databox, Datawrapper, Easy Insight, Exago, Golden Software, Geckoboard, Grow.com, GoodData, Infogram, Microsoft Power BI, Tableau, Toucan and Visme. Each has its own pros and cons.

Is Tableau a data visualisation tool?

Yes, Tableau is a popular data visualisation tool that offers visual BI and analytics platforms. Tableau’s analytic software is available via Tableau Desktop, Tableau Server and Tableau Online. This software offers users embedded analytics capabilities, and the ability to share their data with Tableau Public.

Which data visualisation tools use SQL?

An important defining characteristic of data visualisation tools is how they use SQL. Some of the most commonly used data visualisation tools for SQL are Power BI, Chartio, Looker, Tableau, Domo, Mode, Klipfolio, etc.

What are common uses of data visualisation in an office?

Some common uses of data visualisation in the workplace include:

  • Using graphs to show changes over time. For example, the number of users for a certain app.
  • Using line charts to display trends. 
  • Using area or scatter maps to summarise geographical data. 
  • Using pie charts to show the proportions of several components.

What is the use of data visualisation courses in business intelligence?

Business intelligence is the ability to understand and use data to make better decisions that will help accomplish the strategic and operational objectives of the organisation. A data visualisation course teaches one to analyse, interpret, display and share data in a manner that is easily digestible. Businesses need data visualisation to effectively communicate and deliver business metrics and KPIs clearly and meaningfully.

How does data visualisation aid artificial intelligence?

Data visualisation helps Artificial Intelligence algorithms:

  • Understand information more accurately as data is presented in a visual format.
  • Discover the correlation or relationship between variables to learn more about trends, patterns and outliers in a dataset. 
  • Look for underlying data structures,
  • Develop accurate analysis models and test assumptions.