Data Viz Today

Do you think your job is just to present the data? In this episode, we talk about why reporting numbers isn't enough and why your interpretation, context, and framing matter when communicating with leaders. Our guest, Morgan Depenbusch, is a data storytelling and data visualization expert who studies how insights influence people and decisions. Let's get to the show! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/101

When it comes to aggregating your data in your charts, it's hard to know what's overkill and what your reader actually needs. Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic and Mike Cisneros have an interesting approach where they want you to start with thinking about your audience and what decisions they need to make based on the chart, and anchor yourself there first. Then the design decisions become easier after that. It's a really practical chat, so I hope you enjoy it. Let's get to the show! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/100

Have you ever thrown a giant number at the top of your dashboard and hoped it did… something? Steve Wexler (yes, the guy who coined the term BAN, or Big Ass Number) joins me to teach you how to turn those big numbers into meaningful, context-rich moments that will make your user celebrate or panic (in a useful way!). Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/99

In this episode, I'm joined by Bill Shander to talk about how to hold your own in stakeholder discussions in dataviz projects, even if you're just starting out. He shares practical techniques from his new book Stakeholder Whispering, including how to build credibility, ask better questions, and stay grounded when opinions fly. If you've ever felt overwhelmed in a stakeholder meeting, this one's for you. Let's go! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/98

In this episode, I'm joined by Avery Smith to talk about how to actually land a data job right now without getting ghosted by resume bots. He shares his SPN method: Skills, Portfolio, Networking. We get into how to build just enough skills, why personal projects matter way more than you think, and how to reach out without being weird. If you're job hunting (or might be soon), this one's for you. Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/97

In this episode, I'm trying out a brand-new game called Next Question to help you sharpen your data storytelling skills by exploring the kinds of clarifying questions experts ask when facing challenges. I'm joined by Kat Greenbrook, author of The Data Storyteller's Handbook, and together we tackle real-world scenarios and share what questions we'd ask to steer data storytelling projects in the right direction. Show notes Grab a copy of my book Chart Spark

In this episode, I share the introduction of my book, Chart Spark, to inspire you to take the first steps towards a more fulfilling career, whether you're trying to transition into dataviz or integrate more creativity into your work. I'll redefine what creativity means, share why you need it in your dataviz work, show you how to cultivate a powerful creative practice, and finally, I share my personal story of having a fractured career at age 30 and turning it all around — including what everyone's calling the oh-so-relatable "trash can story".  Grab a copy of my new book Chart Spark — available in paperback, ebook, pdf, or audiobook. If you think the book deserves a review, I'd be so grateful if you shared your favorite part in an Amazon or Goodreads review 🙏🙏🙏 Need a team workshop? Read more about my Impactful and Innovative Data Communication 3-hour workshop that will increase the effectiveness of your team's data communication to guide decisions and spark innovation. Invite me to speak at your conference, event, or to you team! Join my newsletter

There's no way around it: If you can speak confidently about your dataviz work to other people, you'll make a bigger impact. But you're shy, nervous, an introvert, and not a natural speaker! That's ok. You CAN learn this skill. Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic, a data storytelling expert, best-selling author, and CEO of Storytelling with Data, joins us today to share how to identify and fix those pesky presentation nerves so you can finally have the impact you want. Let's go! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/94 Cole's best-selling books including Storytelling with You: https://www.storytellingwithdata.com/books My book Chart Spark: https://www.chartsparkbook.com

Are you looking for ways to make your work stand out in a crowded industry, like sports? Or maybe looking for a topic with pretty clean data to create a portfolio project? In today's episode, we're chatting with Shri Khalpada, a D.C. area creative coder and Principal Software Engineer at Cleaning the Glass, which is an NBA analytics website founded by Ben Faulk that's available to the public and also has more robust tools for NBA teams. Shri shares how he increased his chances of landing a coveted sports analytics job, and a few lessons he's learned working with sports data that can be applied to any dataviz job. Let's go! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/93 Grab my book Chart Spark, which has NINE prompts to help you be more innovative in your data communication: https://www.chartsparkbook.com If you think the book deserves a review, I'd be so grateful if you shared your favorite part in an Amazon or Goodreads review 🙏🙏🙏 Sponsor: Data Elixir newsletter! https://dataelixir.com

Are you ready to write a book? Or maybe see it in your future down the road? Well, I spent hours and hours researching the book publishing process, spoke with tons of authors about their experience, and then lived through it myself. I want to save you some time and share what I learned. Recently I shared all about the process with the Elevate Dataviz Learning Community that I co-founded and I'm sharing that conversation here today… In this episode, I share what's included in a book proposal, how advances and royalties work, what was harder and easier than expected, and much more!! Grab my new book Chart Spark (available in paperback, kindle, PDF, or audioboook): https://www.chartsparkbook.com Hop on our sponsor Data Elixir's awesome newsletter: https://dataelixir.com  

Have you ever felt like you made a big career mistake? Like you completely chose the wrong college major or took the wrong job. Well, today we're chatting with Charama Sulemane, a data analyst at the United Nations Office for Project Services. But only a few years ago, he was a fresh graduate in Mozambique and found out that no one was hiring for data science jobs in his area. He was questioning his decision to get into this field. But not ready to give up, Charama made a few smart moves that landed him his first job in dataviz. Let's go! Sponsor: Subscribe to the Data Elixir newsletter! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/92 My book Chart Spark: https://www.chartsparkbook.com

Data Viz Today, hosted by Alli Torban, is a friendly and insightful podcast for anyone interested in data visualization. It offers practical advice, showcases the latest tools and methods, and features inspiring stories from the field, aimed at analysts, journalists, and designers seeking to refine their data viz skills. Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com Chart Spark book: https://www.chartsparkbook.com Elevate Dataviz Learning Community: https://www.elevatedataviz.com Follow Alli Torban on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allisontorban

In this episode, I answer some common questions I've received lately about creativity, freelancing, dataviz process, and more. Let's go! What platforms would you join when on the look out for a network, freelance projects etc? I want to transition into a dataviz job but not sure where to start? What exactly do you mean by 'creativity' in the context of data and analytics? How can data people be creative? How do you respond to negative feedback of your creative idea? What do you do when you feel unmotivated? How do you handle the feeling of not living up to a client's expectations? I want to be creative and do my best work, but it's a lot of pressure! I feel like I'm stuck in my own bubble when it comes to being inspired. How do I branch out What is a common mistake people make when brainstorming or ideating? How do I know if my graphic is effective or if I should try to be more creative? I'm confused when to keep pushing or if it's good enough. Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/91

In this episode, I'll share a concept and prompt from my NEW book CHART SPARK, and how I applied it to the library check-out receipt to develop a creative idea that uses dataviz to encourage people to go to the library more. Use this prompt in your work to come up with creative ideas! Let's go! Now available: Chart Spark Join my newsletter Show notes

In this episode, Alberto Cairo shares some common threads he's noticed among his dataviz students who go on to excel in this field and common traits he noticed while interviewing accomplished visualization designers for his new book The Art of Insight. Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/89

Hey dataviz friend, my book is launching in early December (CHART SPARK), and after giving a workshop this morning that used the prompts from the book, I realized....chatting and brainstorming with other people is my happy place! So, do you wanna chat? Anything on your mind about dataviz careers, creativity, or brainstorming on a real project? I'm opening my calendar on Thursdays until the year-end for fun coffee chats. Snag a time on my calendly below. No cost or commitment required – just good vibes and chart sparks! 📊⚡ https://calendly.com/allitorban/chart-spark-virtual-coffee-chat-with-alli-torban

In this episode, we explore Dr. Barbara Wixom's insights on the three main ways companies (or even freelancers) can monetize data and dataviz, drawing from her extensive research and the insights of her book, Data is Everybody's Business. She shares the patterns of successful data monetization gathered over 29 years and we brainstorm ways it applies to dataviz work. Also, since Barb was a client of mine, we get a sneak peek into clients' top concerns when beginning a dataviz project so we can improve our processes. Let's go! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/88

As data people, we tend to be more logical and analytical, which makes navigating creativity's ambiguity a little tricky. So I called on Andy J. Pizza to help us out. To me, he is creativity personified — illustrator, author, podcaster, and more! He's worked with big clients like The New York Times and Nickelodeon, and has a new book coming out where he illustrates "invisible things." In this episode, Andy shares how his ADHD has become his superpower in his creative work, the little tricks he's found that help him create, how he sees critique in a new way, and he shares his three phases of inspiration. Plus, Andy predicts what will be necessary for creators of all kinds in a future full of artificial intelligence. Even though he's not a dataviz designer, you'll see many parallels in your work. Let's go! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/87

In this episode, I share the framework that helps me decide when to stick with "best practices" or try a new approach in my visualizations. We explore four key variables: the reader's time and patience, the need to capture attention, past struggles conveying a concept, and the designer's available time and resources. Let's go! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/86

In this episode, we dive into the world of scientific visuals with Jen Christiansen, Senior Graphics Editor at Scientific American and author of the new book Building Science Graphics. Jen shares when to consider including visuals in your work, the power of "welcoming gestures", and the effectiveness of comics in explaining complex concepts. We also discuss collaboration, the strategic use of arrows, and how to keep your projects organized. Let's go! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/85

In this episode, we explore how to practice openness through a fun activity that combines serendipity and structure. London City Hall's Data Visualization and Information Design Lead, Mike Brondbjerg, shares how he creates beautiful pieces of art dictated by the roll of a dice, and how these serendipitous experiments led him to create an incredible 3D flower project with census data! Let's go… Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/84

What's it mean to X-ray a dataviz? This is my new method to make sure I learn from my dataviz inspiration and organize it in a way that helps me use it later. In this episode, I'll share what it is and how you can X-ray dataviz too. Let's go! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/83 Join my newsletter: https://dataviztoday.com/newslettersignup

We know that we're supposed to gather inspiration, but then what? Gabrielle Mérite, a senior data visualization designer at Pentagram, shares what to do with your inspiration to put it to work for you! Join my newsletter! https://dataviztoday.com/newslettersignup Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/82  

Why are habits/rituals important to your creative practice and what are some examples? Duncan Geere, Will Chase, and I share what's been most impactful to our dataviz practice! Shownotes / watch video: https://blog.elevatedataviz.com/the-elevate-dataviz-show-6 RJ Andrew's creative rituals infographic: https://infowetrust.com/project/routines

How do you approach creativity for personal projects vs business intelligence? That's our big creativity question today for Neil Richards. Neil Richards is the author of the new book Questions in Dataviz, Lead Business Intelligence Analyst at JLL, and four-time Tableau Visionary. Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/81

We're exploring creativity in information design from the perspective of amazingly creative people in the field! Let's hear how Manuel Canales, the graphics assignment editor at the Washington Post and previously the senior graphics editor at National Geographic, gets the most out of his creativity. How he approaches the pressure of a new project has changed the way I work! Let's go… Show notes

We're exploring creativity in information design from the perspective of amazingly creative people in the field! Let's hear how Marcelo Duhalde, the Associate Creative Director at the South China Morning Post, approaches creativity. We dive into how he defines creativity, what his process is like, what kills his creativity, and more! Show notes

We're exploring creativity in information design from the perspective of amazingly creative people in the field! Let's hear how Duncan Geere approaches creativity. We dive into how he defines creativity, how he gets the most out of his creativity, and more! Duncan Geere is an information designer living in Sweden who works with graphics, words, and sound. He's one-half of the loud numbers, data sonification podcast and studio. And one-quarter of the Elevate data viz learning community. Duncan is always surprising me with his creative data sonification experiments, and he's also a really deep thinker. So I knew he'd have some interesting answers to my questions about creativity and he did not disappoint! Show notes Volunteer to be a Beta reader for my new book!

We're exploring creativity in information design from the perspective of amazingly creative people in the field! If it's not a magical process, then what is it? Let's hear how Mesa Schumacher approaches creativity. Mesa Schumacher is a science artist currently living in Fiji who specializes in communicating complex ideas through illustration, infographics, and animation. Mesa's work can be found in National Geographic and Scientific American, on signage at the National Zoo, in academia, and on giant puzzles! We dive into how she defines creativity, what her routines are, what kills her creativity, how she presents creative ideas to clients…and more! Shownotes  Volunteer to be a Beta reader for my creativity book!

We're exploring creativity in information design from the perspective of amazingly creative people in the field! If it's not a magical process, then what is it? Let's hear how Andy Kirk approaches creativity. We dive into how he defines creativity, what his routines are, what kills his creativity, how he presents creative ideas to clients, where he finds inspiration…and more! Shownotes  Volunteer to be a Beta reader for my creativity book!

Today, I'm launching a mini-series all about creativity in information design. If you're like me and came from a data background, communicating information in creative ways can feel a bit like a magical process, so over this series, I'll invite creative information designers and dive into their process: What are their routines, what kills their creativity, how do they present creative ideas to others…and more! Let's hear how Stefanie Posavec approaches creativity in information design… Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/75 Stefanie Posavec's work Sign up to be a Beta reader for my new book on creativity in information communication!

Today, we have Danielle Alberti on the show to share a behind-the-scenes look at how to become and be a data journalist! She's the editor of the data visualization team at Axios and shares: What's a typical day as a data journalist Which skills are important What she looks for in a resume and portfolio when hiring for a data journalist position What she would do differently if she were starting her data journalist career over again This interview with Danielle was the special opening segment to the Elevate Learning Community conference — you can watch the whole conference with thoughtful talks about information design here: https://elevatedataviz.com/live Full shownotes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/74

Today, we have Zan Armstrong with us to share 3 simple alternatives to aggregating time series data in the usual ways so you don't lose important nuance. It's so easy to get pushed into aggregating data a certain way by our software so being aware of some alternatives is really helpful when you're analyzing and visualizing data. Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/73

I walk you through my process for creating a data viz brief and how to use it! If you're interested in a short training and getting a copy of the data viz brief template that I use with my clients, shoot me an email with the subject line "INTERESTED!" and if there's enough interest, I'll host a live training! [email protected]

When you're kicking off a data viz project, do you have a series of questions that you ask to uncover the goals, audience, and data? Want to know how to kick it up a notch? I know I do! Recently, I had the pleasure of working with Liz Hatherley, whose whole expertise is wrapped up in pulling this kind of information out of her clients, which has led to incredibly smooth dataviz projects! In this episode, Liz shares more about what kinds of questions she's asking in her discovery workshops and how we, as data viz designers, can start integrating more strategic thinking into our own workflows. Let's go! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/72

Join the Elevate Membership Program! I invited a few of the best dataviz designers and freelancers I know on the show today (Duncan Geere, Gabrielle Merite, and Will Chase) and we absolutely stuffed the hour with as many dataviz freelancing tips as we possibly could! In this episode, we demystify the whole process: starting from when someone emails you that they're interested in your work, what you should write back, what you should ask in the discovery call, basics to include in your contract, tips on how to price your work, tools we use to prototype our visualizations, how to present your work to your client, navigating through feedback rounds, and more! I told you this episode is packed!! Let's go… Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/71

Today I'm calling out the biggest things I learned in the past year. There's just something about naming it that helps me remember to keep doing it in the new year and even how I can take it up a notch in the next year. In this episode, I'll highlight the three biggest lessons I learned this year, and they all stem from better communication with clients, ourselves, and with our colleagues. Let's get to it! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/70 Elevate Membership waitlist: https://forms.gle/wBDXYYm3rEawY3pPA  

Have you ever reimagined your tabular data set as a network and discovered new insights? Networks are an obvious choice if you're visualizing someone's social network, for example, but there are so many more possibilities! In this episode, Dr. Keita Broadwater will explain what a network is, share a couple of examples of tabular data reimagined as a network, and give us a few tips on when a data set might be ripe for this kind of analysis.

How do we future-proof our data viz careers? What skills are important now and 10 years from now as software companies come and go and $5 dashboards pop up on Fiverr? In this episode, Dr. Jonathan Schwabish and I talk about what our consultant work looks like right now and how we're working to future-proof our careers. This is a joint podcast between Data Viz Today and PolicyViz so we'll both be asking questions. Let's go! https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/68

Have you written off 3D as a big no-no? Not yet! In this episode, Dr. Tyler Morgan-Wall shares his latest innovations and impactful use cases of his Rayshader package in R. Take a listen and be amazed at the samples in the show notes! (you can use Rayshader and R for free!) https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/67

Have you heard of data sonification? It's the process of turning data into sound, and there's a novel podcast out now called Loud Numbers where Duncan Geere and Miriam Quick introduce a data story, explain how they sonified it, and then play the sonification they've created. In this episode, we discover how they created their podcast, what's the benefit of turning data into sound, and how we can make our own sonifications without sounding like complete amateurs! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/66

It's easy to think you have to be the master at D3 and also have the design eye of an artist in order to have a fulfilling data viz career, but that has not been my experience, nor the experience of my guest today Amanda Makulec who is the Data Visualization Society's Executive Director. She's heard her fair share of data viz origin stories, frustrations, and career pro tips, so I asked her to come on the show and share with us her golden advice on navigating a data viz career (spoiler alert: you don't need to be a unicorn!). Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/65

How can you take a dense, technical report and turn it into something people will actually read? In this episode, Ann K. Emery shares the top tips that she recommends to her clients that have been bringing reports to life for years! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/64

What can we do to make our data visualizations more accessible to more people, especially those with disabilities? In this episode, Frank Elavsky shares how we can integrate accessibility into our current data visualization workflow. It's a skill just like anything else, so let's get practicing! Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/63

Ah, money. The topic everyone wants to hear about but no one wants to talk about! It's a complicated and nuanced subject because there are so many variables that factor into someone's compensation, but... In this episode, I'll share some highlights from the responses in the Data Visualization Society community survey to give you a sense of what data viz professionals are pulling in. Don't forget to check out the interactive chart in the show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/62

What are the ingredients of a successful personal project? How do you even know what topic to make your personal project about? What constraints make for a successful personal project? In this episode, data visualization designers Nadieh Bremer and Shirley Wu share insights they learned from completing a year-long collaboration that ended with a new book called Data Sketches!

Do you feel lost when you're creating a chart? Are you feeling around in the dark with every new project? Confidence comes with practice, but you can also take a few smart steps, in the beginning, to create an effective chart. I've interviewed top designers for years on my podcast while creating and experimenting on my own, and I've found that these steps reap great rewards. Try them out, and you'll feel more confident in your data visualization skills regardless of the situation or your toolset. If you need help making your data visualizations a reality, I'd be happy to help! I have space in my consulting schedule opening up; I specialize in creating static charts, maps & infographics that are engaging and effective. Drop me a line! https://www.allitorban.com/resources/1

The last episode of the year! In this episode, I have a little data viz tennis match with fellow podcaster Lea Pica. We found the most inspiring visualizations in four categories: climate change, COVID-19, racial injustice, and the US presidential election. Lea and I bounce back and forth describing our favorite in each category and the mastery on display for each. What was your favorite data viz this year? Shownotes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/60

Have you ever created a successful graphic that really hit the mark and you felt like you were just spot on? Do you know how you can consistently replicate that feeling? If not, I have an idea of what you might be missing... Art direction! In this episode, we'll learn when you need art direction and when you don't, and how to use art direction to make sure you and your client work efficiently together to create graphics that hit the mark.

Have you ever felt frustrated when you're trying to express important data to someone? Do the bars and pies just seem to fall flat? Try turning the data into an experience! In this episode, I try to bottle up Miriam Quick and Stefanie Posavec's creative genius that they poured into their new book so that we can create data experiences in our work, too.   Show notes: https://dataviztoday.com/shownotes/58