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Overview
This is a 2.5-day course for professionals who wish to enhance their data communication skills and learn the fundamentals of data journalism. In focusing on storytelling rather than specific techniques of data analysis, the course is suitable for anyone who needs to communicate with data in their jobs.
Data storytelling offers an entertaining, engaging and interactive approach to data communication and builds on the premise that humans naturally communicate, interpret and understand information in a story-like manner. This entails three fundamental elements:
- Understanding the story behind data
- Creating compelling visuals to communicate it
- Writing it up into a coherent narrative.
Participants will leave the course empowered to understand the advantages of data storytelling approach and equipped with the skills to develop a compelling data story to influence colleagues, clients and stakeholders in their work.
Who this course is for
The course is for anyone that wants to learn to communicate better with data. You do not need to be a data analyst per se. For instance, you might be a civil servant or journalist whose work requires that you understand and explain data analysis produced by others.
Course content
The course will cover the following topics:
- Why tell stories with data?
- What are the elements and structure of a good data story?
- Developing a data story: a guide
- Data story tools: outliers and visuals
- Developing the framework of a data story
Teaching and structure
The course will include a mixture of lectures and interactive seminar-style classes where students will apply what they have learned.
The course ends with students developing their own data stories in groups, with feedback and guidance from the instructor.
Certificates
Participants will be issued with a certificate of participation upon completion of the course.
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course you will be able to:
- Implement the main features of a good data story effectively.
- Communicate complex and challenging societal issues to various audiences engagingly, using critical and evidence-based language and concepts.
- Utilise visuals effectively to explain compelling data stories.
Cost
The standard course fee is TBC
Course team
Dr. Igor Tkalec
Igor is a lecturer in Social Data Science at the UCL Social Data Science Institute. He is is an experienced teacher of statistics, data journalism and machine learning to a range of audiences. At UCL he has led the development of an innovative new undergraduate module on data storytelling, a course he has also taught at Sciences Po in Paris and as a training course at the United Nations. His research applies these methods to a range of important questions in social policy and European Union policymaking.
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Course information last modified: 18 Feb 2025, 11:00