Storytelling with data: How to use a multi-level approach
And distill lots of information down into a memorable and actionable summary
This is a Guest Post by Christina Boris. It will be followed up by a free webinar that takes you through an in-depth discussion of the multi-level process. Register here to save your spot.
Christina has been an insights professional for over two decades and is the founder of Crosstown Collaborations, a market research consultancy based in New York City. Through her consulting practice, Christina helps clients strategically use insights to make smart decisions and grow their businesses. She weaves her multi-level storytelling approach into every project. Christina’s rescue pup (“Thor”) occasionally makes guest appearances on video calls, depending on his schedule.
Imagine this scenario: It's a busy Tuesday afternoon at work. Just as you're about to hop onto your fourth Zoom meeting of the day, your boss sends you an email with a dozen lengthy industry reports on a related topic and asks you to summarize what's in them. Yikes!
If this sounds all-too-familiar, you're not alone. I've been asked to do this type of summary so many times that I've developed my own process for it.
If you've never been asked to do this type of summary before, you may be asked to do something like it in the near future given recent business trends. This Forbes article cites research that found the transition to a data-driven, data-first and analytics-led culture has doubled in the last five years among Fortune 1000 companies.
At its core, I create multiple levels of summary for readers who want or need different amounts of detail – from a longer-form summary of each document to a short “insights” story that takes only a minute to read. My focus is on structuring the end-deliverable in a way that caters to various reader preferences, maximizes engagement with the summary content, and drives action.
More on this in a moment. First, let's talk a bit about why this type of summary exercise is becoming more and more common today. A recent Microsoft Discover Hour webinar framed the current business challenge --
In today's data-driven world, organizations are increasingly relying on the effective use of data and analytics to gain insights into their business operations... As organizations collect and store increasing amounts of data, the ability to empower all employees to practice data-backed decision-making has become increasingly important… However, it can be pretty challenging for companies to make the most of their data.. with reports finding that over 60% of all data within an enterprise goes unused for analytics. One key reason is because not all employees are comfortable working with data. And frequently, new tools require advanced skill sets and training that only certain roles can have or access. This makes it really hard for all employees to benefit from and can ultimately hinder the creation of a data-driven culture.
Ready or not, the ability to synthesize large volumes of facts, figures and information quickly and distill them down into actionable insights is a highly sought after skill set today. A few years ago, Gartner predicted that by 2025, data stories will be the most widespread way of consuming analytics and 75% of stories will be automatically generated. While I have not yet found a tool that can automatically generate a multi-level summary that meets my (extremely high) standards, I do test out new tools regularly and think it’s only a matter of time before I find one.
Regardless of whether you do the summary manually or using tools like GenerativeAI, the key is to organize the final deliverable in a way that boosts engagement with the content. I’ve found that providing three levels of summary accomplishes this. I usually create the levels in this order:
Level 1: A half-to full-page summary of each document with the key points exactly as they are written - the key thing here is to keep the take-aways exactly as they are written in the source document so they don't lose their meaning and intent. It's a good way to safeguard against misinterpretation and provide readers with the key details behind the summary without having to read the entire document. I also include links to the source document in case anyone wants to read it in its entirety.
Level 2: A paragraph summary (max) of each document in your own words - this is your (or your analytic tool's) high-level interpretation of the main take-aways from each document. This step serves as a bridge between your longer-form summaries and the short story because you are essentially crafting a short summary about each document. It's also helpful for stakeholders who want to read a high-level summary of each document first before deciding whether to read all of the details.
Level 3: A short "insights" story (3-4 paragraphs max) - the goal of the story is to stitch together the key insights across all of the documents summarized and leave the reader with some potential next steps. The idea here is you are connecting the dots across source documents for the reader in a memorable way and saving them from having to read and distill down the source material on their own.
For the final deliverable, I typically arrange the summaries in reverse order, starting with the short story first. The story is like a comprehensive "abstract" that weaves in the key points across all of the longer summaries, except it’s written in a short story format.
This multi-level approach accomplishes a few things:
1. It breaks the task of summarizing a lot of information down into manageable steps,
and
2. It creates multiple levels of detail – from a high-level story to more in-depth summaries of each document, for readers who want to dig in further
Why include a short story?
There is significant value in distilling information down to its essence
Storytelling is an ancient form of communication that we can all relate to because it's ingrained in our cultural history
Stories are memorable and easy to retell - according to the Content Marketing Institute, one study found that after a presentation, only 5% of people could recall a statistic; however, 63% could remember a story from it
It's easy to tell a short story at meetings and town halls
The story could be repurposed for content marketing - i.e., to include in a thought leadership paper or newsletter
The story could be incorporated into your brand story (depending on what you summarize)
Most busy professionals don't have a lot of time and will appreciate the short story
Stories are a powerful way to make content relatable and according to this LinkedIn post relatable content tends to generate higher levels of engagement
Content that is more relatable and engaging has a better chance of reaching audiences beyond the target through “likes” and “shares”
You will position yourself as someone who can break down complex information into simple concepts (that highly sought-after skill set I mentioned earlier)
I started using this multi-level approach over a decade ago and have received a lot of positive feedback from my readers over the years. I also believe it’s helped me gain greater access to executives who need to quickly understand today’s complex business environment and make important decisions.
As a follow-up, I am going to talk more in-depth about this multi-level approach in a live Streamyard session. I’ll share some additional tips on my process and answer your questions. Please join us on March 24th for the session – we’d love to see you!
Register here to join this informative and hands-on session!