Data-Backed Storytelling: The Strategic Data-Backed Story Ending

To inspire an audience to act based on data storytelling, the “New Normal” created at the end of the story must be strategically communicated. If the “New Normal” doesn’t exist yet, it needs to be projected in the form of a vision or the audience may need to participate in creating the “New Normal.”  

Whether the “New Normal” exists or is cast as a vision, it needs to be communicated swiftly because audiences naturally need the story to come to an end. 

Read these three Data-Backed Storytelling Tips to learn more about how to shape the ending of your data-backed story.    

To reach audience resolution, data-backed stories might be “unfinished stories.”

Yes, you can tell an incomplete story…but you must help the audience envision the ending they want.

A good story contains four elements: the “Normal,” the “Uh Oh,” the “Intervention,” and the “New Normal.”

Three possibilities exist for the “Intervention” part of the story:

1. In the Loop: The intervention might be a description of mitigating actions that have already occurred.
2. Observe to Serve: The intervention might be the problem-solving actions you wish to recommend.
3. Choose Your Own: The intervention might be a discussion you facilitate with the audience to brainstorm ways to eliminate the problems and pain points conveyed in the story.

Which of these three intervention strategies will you use in your next data-backed story?

Create a new reality to end your data-backed story.

As audience members, we’re trained to anticipate a “New Normal” at the end of the story—a snapshot of life after the characters’ conflict ends.  Sometimes we’re given just a glimpse, and we’re left to our imaginations to envision what that new normal might look like for the characters.

In the same way, a data-backed story might contain a clear “New Normal”: “Here’s the impact from the changes we made to our service…data, data.”

Or, if the story is unfinished, the “New Normal” might be a projected ideal state: “If we make these changes, we could decrease our labor costs, increase our profit margin by 7%, and most importantly provide a world-class customer experience.”

Whether the “New Normal” is a reality or a projected reality, it’s critical to cast a vision that motivates the audience to be the heroes who’ve changed people’s experiences for the better.

Take time to imagine the “New Normal” you want your audience to see in their mind’s eye in your next data-backed story. Will you cast a vision of an existing new reality or a projected new reality?

Keep the “New Normal” brief. Really brief.

Which of the four parts of a story most captivates the audience?

The “Uh Oh” and the “Intervention.”

Why? That’s where the pain and suspense lie. We know from neuro-economist Paul Zak that pain and suspense increase our cortisol levels, and cortisol keeps us focused.

Once the “Intervention” has been laid out however the suspense ends. Cortisol levels drop, and attention can wane. Lingering too long in the “New Normal” risks losing the audience’s focus and being perceived as droning on. So it’s important to keep the “New Normal” vivid, exciting, and to the point.

Consider a time when you heard a storyteller drone on with the new normal. What was your reaction?

Catch up with this blog series:

• Blog #1: The Human Brain Needs Data-Backed Stories
• Blog #2: How Data Can Inspire
• Blog #3: The Strategic Data-Backed Story Set-Up

About Sally Perkins

Dr. Sally Perkins serves as Sr. Manager of Storytellers at Authenticx. She analyzes quantitative and qualitative conversational data from which she crafts impactful data-backed stories that offer insights into how professionals across industries, such as healthcare, can improve the customer experience and their business outcomes.

About Authenticx

Authenticx was founded to analyze and activate customer interaction data at scale. Why? We wanted to reveal transformational opportunities in healthcare. We are on a mission to help humans understand humans. With a combined 100+ years of leadership experience in pharma, payer, and healthcare organizations, we know first-hand the challenges and opportunities that our clients face because we’ve been in your shoes. In 2023, Authenticx was ranked No. 349 on the Inc. 5000 recognized as one of America and Indiana’s fastest-growing private companies.

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