Structure + ethics of storytelling

Due by 11:59 AM on Monday, December 4, 2017

Reflection memo

Write a 500-word memo about the assigned readings (class 10; class 11) for this week. You can (should) use some of the prompt questions there if you want:

• How do organizational structures enhance (or detract from) the resonance of a presentation?
• Duarte’s final rule for the section is that “Structure is greater than the sum of its parts.” How so?
• How does Alda treat presentation structure in his book?
• Is it ethical to emphasize certain aspects of the facts in data more than others? How do you decide which facts to use to convince audiences?
• When you’re telling a story about data, you’re inherently manipulating audience emotions. Is that okay?
• In Nussbaumer Knaflic’s complete example, the “after” version of the graphic is much more readable and impactful than the “before” version (see p. 205). The “after” version tells a complete story—but did it drop any other aspects of the data in the service of that story? Is that okay?
• What’s the difference between tailoring data for specific audiences and “dumbing it down”?
• How does anti-intellectualism relate to science and data communication?

As you write the memo, also consider these central questions:

• How do these readings connect to our main goal of discovering truth?
• How does what I just read apply to me?
• How can this be useful to me?

Submit the memo as “Reflection 6” on Learning Suite by noon on Monday.