storytelling with data podcast

Cole recently appeared on the Analytics Power Hour, and this was such a great conversation, we're rebroadcasting it here!

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There’s a version of this episode where AI replaces the data visualization expert entirely, and there’s a version where it’s useless without one. Neither is quite right, according to Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic of Storytelling with Data, who joined Tim, Moe, and Julie to sort out where AI genuinely earns its keep in data storytelling and where it’s just producing a shinier first draft of the same shitty slide. Cole—admittedly a skeptic-turned-convert who once joked she’d retire before having to deal with any of this—walks through why the humans who benefit most from AI are the ones who already have the foundation to know when to ignore it, why “let me look at some options” beats “give me the final chart” as a prompt, and why the analog, pencil-and-paper parts of the process might be the most valuable friction in the whole workflow. Bring your own opinions on whether Claude should ever be handed “the rules” and told to just go.

RESOURCED MENTIONED:

• Show notes: https://www.storytellingwithdata.com/podcast/114

• Schedule your storytelling with data team training

• Download our free SWD + AI Primer PDF document

• Article: using AI without giving up control (Alex Velez)

• Video: Data Storytelling in the Age of AI

• Storytelling with Data: AI Resources

• Storytelling with Data: AI Workshops

• Merlin Bird ID (app)

• Choiceology: The Algorithm Advantage (podcast)

• What kind of reader are you? (assessment)

• Funky Saurus by Matt Coen (video)

What can AI help us see, try, or explore that we couldn’t easily do before? Alli shares three standout talks from the 2026 Outlier conference—and three lessons for using AI in data visualization: 

- Use AI to expand your options without outsourcing your judgment.

- Give AI the information it needs to critique its work.

- Use AI to find what’s worth visualizing in the first place.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Show notes: https://www.storytellingwithdata.com/podcast/113

• Schedule your storytelling with data team training

• Download our free SWD + AI Primer PDF document

• Outlier Conference 2026 YouTube Playlist

• Surbhi Bhatia’s “DraftGPT: fast ≠ finished in vibe-coding data visualisation.”

• Madeleine Filloux’s “How we cloned our visualization team.”

• Nihanth Cherukuru’s “Emerging Opportunities at the Intersection of AI and Visualization.”

What happens in the space between one thing and the next? Whether you’re moving from email to deep thinking, analysis to communication, or one idea to another, these shifts require time and mental energy.

In this episode, Cole explores how thoughtfully designing transitions can help you work, think, and communicate more effectively. Discover practical ways to use time, space, movement, and other cues to shift your mindset—and help your audience follow your story. Small changes in how you get from here to there can make a surprisingly big difference.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Show notes: https://www.storytellingwithdata.com/podcast/112
• Join the next cohort of our public 8-week online course: plan, create & deliver - use the code PODCAST10 for 10% off!
• Book your storytelling with data team training!
• Episode 83: reflect & refine (sharing  statio, a meditative pause during a transition)
• Episode 6: say it out loud
• Episode 86: speak so others listen

Waterfall charts are great at showing what happened between where you started and where you ended—but they can look a little strange if you’ve never encountered one before.

In this episode, Alli explains what a waterfall chart is, when to use one, and how to make it easier for your audience to read. Plus, she highlights three clever examples from the storytelling with data community that use color, annotations, and even small multiples to make the most of this less-common chart type.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Show notes: https://www.storytellingwithdata.com/podcast/111
• Book your storytelling with data team training!
• Waterfall chart definition, examples, and the how-to video
• Waterfall community challenge
• Jian’s waterfall
• Keith’s waterfall
• Andrew’s waterfall

Conveying confidence when presenting often comes down to a few small, intentional choices. Jay Sullivan, author of Simply Said and communication expert at Exec|Comm, shares three simple tweaks that can make an immediate difference.

You’ll learn:

• his smart approach to eye contact
• what the “Arc of Silence” is and how to use it
• the helpful acronym “RIDE” to clearly explain a chart that you’re presenting

Show notes: https://www.storytellingwithdata.com/podcast/110

RELATED LINKS

• Book your storytelling with data team training!

• Simply Said by Jay Sullivan

• More about Jay’s work at Exec|Comm

• Connect with Jay on LinkedIn

Want to make your data story more engaging? Try adding a little tension. Join data storyteller Alli Torban as she explores how tension can create curiosity and keep your audience invested in your story.

You’ll learn three simple ways to build tension—expectation versus reality, knowledge tension, and action tension—and see how members of the storytelling with data community put each technique into practice.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Register for our 8-week online course: plan, create, and deliver your data story. September 28th–November 22nd, 2026.

  • Use the code PODCAST10 for 10% off your registration!

• Join the storytelling with data community!

• Look through the community exercise submissions for building tension

  • Danny’s submission

  • Miroslav’s submission

  • Regina’s submission

• Podcast: help! my data story feels boring

• Book your own custom team training!

What do you do when a leader asks you to find data to prove them right?

In this episode, data storytellers Ryan Biesecker and Alli Torban explore the difference between investigating a hypothesis and validating a foregone conclusion. They share practical ways to ask better questions, approach analysis with curiosity, and navigate the tricky situation when the data doesn’t support what your leader expected.

Learn how to protect your credibility while respectfully managing upward.

SHOW NOTES:

https://www.storytellingwithdata.com/podcast/108

RELATED RESOURCES:

• ⁠Register for our virtual, public workshop on August 20, 2026⁠. The next public workshop is November 5, 2026 (use code PODCAST10 for 10% off our public workshops and on-demand courses)

• Blog: what if my audience wants a different story?

• Blog: don't fall victim to "the curse of knowledge"

• Blog: how do I give an unbiased recommendation to my analysis?

• Community Conversation: around challenges while driving change

• Podcast: the challenges of change

• Book your own custom team training!

How do you handle a presentation when your boss gives you a slide limit? Join data storyteller Alli Torban as she tackles this common presentation constraint.

You'll learn why limiting slides doesn’t necessarily lead to shorter presentations, how negotiating for a time limit instead can lead to clearer communication, and practical strategies for when the slide limit truly isn’t negotiable.

SHOW NOTES: https://www.storytellingwithdata.com/podcast/107

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Register for our virtual, public workshop on August 20, 2026⁠ (use code PODCAST10 for 10% off our public workshops and on-demand courses)

• Alex’s blog post: limit the minutes and let the slides slide

• Book your own custom team training

Join data storyteller Alli Torban as she talks with Riley Martin, founder of Sportsball, about one of the hardest parts of data storytelling: getting people to care before you show the data.

You'll learn how Riley translates complex topics into approachable visual stories, why he assumes his audience starts with little or no background knowledge, and practical techniques for uncovering what your audience actually wants to know.

Show notes: ⁠https://www.storytellingwithdata.com/podcast/106

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

• Register for our virtual, public workshop on August 20, 2026 (use code PODCAST10 for 10% off our public workshops and on-demand courses)
• Riley Martin on LinkedIn
• Sportsball website
• Ilia Malinin figure skating infographic
• Sakura Micron pens
• Pentel PointLiner pens
• Zebra ClickArt markers
• Flourish Studio

Join Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic as she shares how AI can quietly flatten your data stories. You’ll learn why AI tends to smooth over the tension that makes a story compelling, how to keep the sharp edges that move your specific audience, and practical ways to stay in control—from analog brainstorming to sharper prompts. The goal: use AI as a thought partner without letting it dilute your perspective.

Show notes: https://www.storytellingwithdata.com/podcast/105

RESOURCES MENTIONED: