When was the last time you saw a diagram that stayed in your mind for days afterwards?
Most of us would find it difficult to recall a memory. The situation is quite different with videos: images, voices and music can really burn themselves into the brain. So why not transfer data to this medium as well?
As part of my statistics lecture in my master’s programme, I was asked to use cluster analysis to identify different user groups from a huge data set on video-on-demand in Germany. The results were initially – as is so often the case in statistics – rows of numbers and abstract group names. Even then, I noticed that it was easier to give the numbers and clusters a face. The “classic users” then become, for example, the Tatort group. Most of us would probably identify this association with people in our own environment. Only with this image in mind does the data graph become a real, living story and anonymous groups become real people.
The image on the left shows that relationships with abstract group names remain incomprehensible and often leave no lasting impression.
Diagrams and dashboards show data, but they rarely tell a story. People, on the other hand, process information better when visual and auditory channels are combined. A video is ideal for this – it captures our attention, can build suspense and heighten emotions.
While traditional visualisation stops at facts, data storytelling in video goes one step further: it combines information with dramatic structure and emotional content. Oder wie es die Forschung beschreibt: Erfolgreiche Geschichten verbinden Ethos (Glaubwürdigkeit), Pathos (Emotion) und Logos (Logik) (Schröder et al., 2023).
Videos also serve various communication purposes: from product presentations and testimonials to image building, trust building and knowledge transfer. Effective video communication combines specific, understandable and relevant information with emotions and social issues to positively influence attitudes and interaction. (Dong et al., 2023 & Yong & Lee, 2022)
„Videos haben die Macht, ihren Zuschauer:innen auf verschiedenen Ebenen zu begegnen. Das Zusammenspiel von Bild und Ton gibt dem Medium eine Wirkung, die es ermöglicht, die komplexesten Inhalte zum Leben zu erwecken und erlebbar zu machen.“
Linus Burkel, Storytelling-Trainee at Mashup Communications
Source: Own representation based on Cao et al.
These examples show that not all data videos have the same goal. The key factor is the objective – whether it is to inform, move or inspire.
Unlike traditional visualisation, which primarily presents facts, data storytelling combines this data with personal perspectives to create an emotional connection. Good stories almost always follow a narrative arc. Data videos also make use of this structure – often in the form of:
Hook: Set the context and spark interest
Hold: Exploring conflicts, challenges and insights
Payoff: Convey a clear, meaningful message
Different story types also help to make complex content understandable – for example, change over time, detailed analyses, comparisons or highlighting exceptions.
You can find more exciting examples and a detailed guide here: 5 reasons for data storytelling.
How do such principles work in practice? Three very different videos show how data can be brought to life with the help of storytelling, different genres and dramatic devices: from emotional appeals and vivid knowledge transfer to the step-by-step resolution of a complex inequality.
Volvo impressively demonstrates how data comes to life. Volvo’s video on the E.V.A. initiative is a prime example of effective persuasion. Right at the beginning, the camera focuses on crash test dummies in accidents, supported by dynamic music and visual effects. As the scenes unfold, facts become apparent: women are significantly more at risk because cars are often designed for male dummies. At the end, Volvo provides the solution – since the 1970s, the company has been providing real accident data to encourage the entire industry to adopt safer standards. The figures do not remain abstract. They are given a face in the form of animated dummies and a clear message: safety should not be a question of gender.
Hardly any other video illustrates as impressively as Powers of Ten just how powerful visual metaphors can be. The camera starts at a normal picnic spot and zooms step by step out into the universe, only to then dive deep back into the skin cells of a human being.
What makes this approach special is that simply listing all the facts about orders of magnitude and dimensions would hardly have fascinated anyone. It is only through the visual “flight” that a vivid image is created in the mind, giving meaning to the abstract numbers.
This demonstrates the classic dramaturgy of a successful factual knowledge video: it begins with a simple everyday scene that immediately creates familiarity. From there, the view opens up step by step, so that in the end a different understanding of magnitudes emerges and we realise what place we ourselves occupy in this structure.
The narrative style of The Inequality of American Wealth follows a principle that can be described as a chain of facts: a series of facts that build on each other logically, becoming more condensed step by step and culminating in an “aha” moment at the end. The genre moves between knowledge and persuasion.
This approach is particularly crucial when it comes to a topic such as wealth distribution. Figures, quintiles and percentages initially seem unwieldy and abstract to many people – which is one reason why they are often quickly dismissed. But the video takes a different approach: it starts with simple questions and clear bar charts that make it easier to understand. From there, the picture unfolds piece by piece. Each new piece of information fits into the chain and illustrates the dimensions of inequality.
The result is a nuanced understanding: the actual distribution of American wealth differs significantly from what many people expect. The clear sequence of facts makes this insight easier to remember and turns the video into a vivid example of how complex content can be communicated in an understandable way.
The examples show that storytelling (dramaturgy and genre) is not merely theoretical, but rather a practical tool that makes data understandable and memorable.
Establish context: Formulate a clear guiding question.
Use emotions: images, music, metaphors.
Apply dramaturgy: Hook – Hold – Payoff.
Select genre: Every destination needs the right type.
Use combination: Visual + auditory channels reinforce each other.
Ensuring credibility: disclosing sources, creating transparency.
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