At Juice Analytics, we’ve spent years helping organizations make data understandable, engaging, and persuasive. Along the way, we’ve discovered principles that turn raw numbers into compelling stories. These aren’t hard rules—but they’ll make your data storytelling a lot more effective.

Here’s our updated list of 12 essential rules for telling better data stories in today’s fast-moving, insight-driven world.

Part 1: Think Like a Storyteller

1. A data story will express your point of view

Data can’t tell a story without your help. The choices you make — the metrics and visualization you choose, the sequence of content, even how you label the data — these are all an expression of your priorities and insights into the data.

Your job is to curate the information and guide the audience to the signal in the noise. Don't be afraid to have an opinion on what the data means.

Resource: Getting Started with Data Storytelling

2. Be ethical in the message and manipulation of data

*www.snopes.com/fact-check/mike-pence-smoking/*

With great storytelling power comes great responsibility. Don’t hide data that would counter your view. Don’t hide your agenda and message. Don’t mess with the scale or labels to manipulate how your audience interprets the data.

Trust is your most valuable currency. If you lose it, no amount of beautiful visualization will save you.

Resource: Ethical Considerations in Data Visualization

3. Know your message before creating your data story

We get ahead of ourselves sometimes by creating piles of charts and visualizations, hoping a collection of half-baked thoughts will add up to a complete story.

Step back. What do you really want to say?

Start with the hard work of understanding your data and audience. Then formulate the story in words. If you can't write your headline in a single sentence, you aren't ready to build a chart.

Resource: How to tell a great story with data

4. Empathy will let you connect with your audience

Stop designing for yourself and start designing for them. You want to reach your audience where they are, with visualizations and insights they can easily consume. Like the Flesch-Kincaid score for reading, you should account for your audiences’ level of data literacy. We use ‘Data Personality Profiles’ to understand who we are trying to reach.

Also, consider how you can deliver your data story in the ways they consume information, and with terminology they will understand.

Resource: A Lesson on Data Personality Profiles

5. Find ways to be personally relevant to your audience

*https://factourism.com/facts/saliva-pool/*

Big numbers numb us. To make data sticky, you have to bring it down to a human scale. Use "anthropographics"—real examples, specific customer stories, or relatable comparisons. Don't just show the churn rate; tell us about "Steve," the customer we lost last week.

Your data story will have more impact when your audience can personally connect to the information. What do they care about? How do they talk about the issue?

Comparisons and analogies bridge the gap of understanding to transform data from abstract concepts to personal insights.

Resource: Use Specific Examples to Enhance Your Data Story

6. Data stories should spark informed conversations

*https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/02/09/opinion/minimum-wage.html*

A good report shouldn't shut down conversation ("Here is the answer"); it should open it up ("Here is what we're seeing, what do you think?").

A good story opens your audience to new ideas and insights. It may even challenge assumptions. Now you are opening up a new dialogue and providing the opportunity for discovery and fresh perspective.

Resource: Is your message getting through? The right communication tactics can motivate your people--and fuel your business.

7. Be an advocate for your story

Designing a data story is only the beginning. Your next challenge is to get your audience to pay attention.

Insights don't sell themselves. You have to be the champion for your own work. Think of your presentation like a marketing campaign: you need a hook, a clear message, and a call to action. If you don't care about your analysis, why should anyone else?

Explore different ways to reach your audience. How do they consume content? In what form? When are they open to new ideas?

Resource: 9 Lessons on Data Products

Part 2: Design Principles for Data Stories

8. Move beyond individual visualizations and dashboards

A good visualization may set the scene for your data story or be the heart of your insights — but it seldom tells the full story. Similarly, a dashboard may contain the information for your data story — but it lacks narrative flow.

Modern data storytelling uses narrative flow, guiding the user step-by-step through the insights. Think "comic strip," not "collage."

Resource: The day the dashboard died

9. Start by writing to structure your thoughts

Writing is the most direct way to express ideas and messages.

Writing forces clarity. At Amazon, they banned PowerPoint in favor of written narratives for this very reason. If the logic of your story doesn't hold up in text, a chart won't fix it.

It will help you:

Clarify the structure of your story;
Articulate the language and terminology you want to use;
Test the flow and transition between parts of your story, and;
Ensure a concise, understandable narrative.

Resource: Why Jeff Bezos Banned Slide Decks

10. Build on traditional narrative structures

*https://blog.reedsy.com/three-act-structure/*

Like the traditional three-act play, a data story is structured around three core elements — the context, the core insight, and the action.

Nancy Duarte explains that many effective presentations contain a common structure when they show: (1) what is, (2) what could be, and (3) how to bridge the gap. Your data story can do the same.

Resource: The Art of Data Storytelling, Pixar Style

11. Metrics are the essential characters of your story

Treat your metrics like characters. Who is the Hero (Revenue)? Who is the Villain (Costs)? Who are the supporting cast? Give them depth and context.

Don't overcrowd the stage. Focus on the few metrics that actually drive the plot forward. The best metrics have a clear link to actions and are easily understood by your audience.

Resource: Metrics Are the Characters of Your Story

12. Your data story should lead your audience to actions

“You won’t get traction unless you expect an action.”

The "So What?" is the most important part of the presentation. If your audience leaves the room saying "that was interesting" but does nothing, you have failed. Always end with a clear path to action.

There is only one data visualization solution built from the ground-up to help you tell compelling data stories. It is Juicebox.

Resource: The Last Mile of Data

12 Rules for Data Storytelling (Updated for 2026)