Data Visualisation & Storytelling for Government
Back Due To Popular Demand
2-day Training | Tuesdays, 7 & 14 June 2022 | 10 AM – 2:30 PM AEST | Online
Training Overview
Communicating Public Sector Data Sets through Data Visualisation and Storytelling Techniques
All levels of government collect an increasing amount of data every day, with this data becoming a critical asset for insight-led decision making. However, it can be difficult to organise, manage and extract actionable insights from these large, diverse data sets, let alone effectively lead a data team to responsibly and accurately inform larger organisational or political decisions.
Emerging as a tool to overcome this challenge is data visualisation. Naturally the human brain is pre-programmed to respond faster to visual cues, and with the rise of big data in recent years, the importance of data visualisation, coupled with the art of data storytelling, has grown exponentially.
Through an innovative mix of lecture-style presentations, interactive group exercises and expert feedback, participants in the Data Visualisation & Storytelling for Government training will learn the fundamentals of data visualisation and how this tool can be leveraged to identify insights, how to build more compelling data narratives, and how data storytelling can secure stakeholder buy-in and inform decision making.
Learning Outcomes
Meet Your Facilitator
LISA CORNISH
Data Journalist, Data Scientist, Data Strategist, Data Visualisation and Data Communication Expert
Lisa Cornish is a data journalist, scientist, analyst, communication, visualisation expert and geospatial analyst with expertise in big data and open data. She develops end-to-end solutions including strategies for data
publication and development of interactive visualisations, including Tableau, Qlik, R and Power BI, to improve the use of corporate and open data.
Lisa works with clients to improve communications strategies, highlighting the value of data journalism and interactives to enable end-users to better understand issues, policies and decisions being communicated, and aims to build capability within organisations to achieve these goals through training and knowledge sharing. As a journalist, her work has featured in Devex, News Corp Australia, The Mandarin and SmartCompany.
Lisa has partnered with a range of organisations to deliver interactive communication strategies, including the World Intellectual Property Organization; Austrade; Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’ Department of Industry, Innovation and Science; Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet; Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority; IP Australia; The Treasury; Workplace Gender Equality Agency; and ANZ Bank.
Key Sessions
Keynote Session 1
An Introduction to Data Visualisation and Data Storytelling
Key concepts:
- What makes a striking visualisation?
- The role of visualisation in analytics
- The tenets of visualisation
Keynote Session 2
Grammar of Graphics
Key concepts:
- The vocabulary and grammar of visualisation
- Using layout, hierarchy, colour, shape, line and typeface
- Exploring visualisation techniques to tell the right stories
Keynote Session 3
Building Compelling Data Narratives
Key concepts:
- Taking data attainable, digestible and functional through visualisation
- Gleaning valuable insights from data sets
- Building compelling narratives to engage stakeholders
- Avoiding the traps of dashboards
Breakout Activities
Assess data visualisations against best practice guidelines
- How would you present this data?
- Select the best way to visualise data presented, with the option of designing your selected option
Project Brief
Steps:
- Breakout into groups for a hands-on learning experience
- Harness the theoretical and practical knowledge gained and apply it to realistic data visualisations and data sets
- Work on realistic data sets and unique projects
Assess visualisations and tell your story
Steps:
- Assess the good and bad of a real data visualisations
- Recommend changes, and using the raw data suggest and draft ways to improve the visualisations
- Identify a story in the data to present to stakeholders, securing buy-in for your project
Pitch and Share:
Steps:
- Present your mini project with the group
- Harness the design, storytelling and application techniques learnt to deliver a compelling data narrative
- Benchmark against your peers
Pitch and Share:
Steps:
- Peer-review fellow participants projects
- Receive professional feedback and constructive criticism from training facilitator
- Discuss visualisation and narrative building best practices and top tips
