I am constantly amazed by the energy and momentum around data science. Only a few years ago, I would be met with a blank stare when I told someone I planned on going to grad school for machine learning. Today, there is no need for my “it's like computer science, linear algebra, and statistics had a combined love child” analogy as most people instantly respond with “Oh, like AI!”
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Faster is different. It sounds strange at first because we expect faster to be better. We expect faster to be more. If we can analyze data faster, we can analyze more data. If we can network faster, we can network with more people. Faster is more, which is better, but more is different.
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When communicating about your latest data science project, whether verbally or in writing, your audience often needs to know the takeaway right away, or you’ll lose their attention. This is especially the case if your audience includes colleagues, conference attendees, or readers from outside your field. In an earlier post on communicating data science, I dove into how the elements of story can hold your audience’s attention through a dense presentation. This post introduces (and applies) some tried and true approaches for introducing the end of your story at the beginning. You’ll capture the attention of those for whom your point is valuable and have their attention for your story, and the rest of the audience doesn’t matter.
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Getting your audience’s attention, keeping it, and persuading listeners of your point are all hard to do in a world where most listeners start out thinking, and feeling, “I’ve got my own scheisse to do.” John Weathington’s recent post in Tech Republic, “Be the Hemingway of Data Science Storytelling,” makes the point that presenting data, which can be dry, is more effective if it incorporates elements of story – a protagonist, a journey with challenges, and a conclusion. Jeff Leek’s “The Elements of Data Analytic Style” has a chapter about presenting data that emphasizes story as the method for communicating results.
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