Storytelling, a phrase that encapsulates the characteristics and skills demanded of an exemplary communicator. A clever Data Scientist is an effective communicator. They leverage the art of storytelling to accomplish determined goals or convey ideas.
The requirement of having soft skills such as communication could be viewed as secondary to skills such as programming, testing research or analytical skills. Nonetheless, a clever Data Scientist recognises the importance of cultivating a stable relationship with clients, team members, customers, and managers. And storytelling is a proven method to achieve this.
I’ve used storytelling to explain the impact of specific technological decisions on project delivery, application implementation and maintenance.
For example, using personal anecdotes to explain why leveraging a deep learning model released by Apple is favourable to using an open soured solution maintained by a third party.
In the scenario above, utilising storytelling had a better outcome than plainly stating the obvious fact that there’s a high level of reliability on software released by established brands such as Apple. At times, adding a personalised touch to viewpoints resonates with individuals at the receiving end.
In addition, storytelling adds a humanising component to the explainability of the techniques and tools leveraged in machine learning projects to non-technical individuals. It’s almost unreasonable to expect regular folks to understand the technical jargon we utilise with our fellow machine learning practitioners.
Steve Jobs was a great storyteller and his storytelling skills gave plain hardware a soul. Clever Data Scientists do the same with data. Couple intelligence gathered from data with humanising verbal annotations, and you’ll gain the ability to sway audiences.
Storytelling doesn’t have to be verbal. Written notes, articles or document can convey messages and ideas in a mannerism that oral forms are incapable of doing.
Take, for example, Data Scientists on Medium. I’ve come across individuals who excel at their respective professions, but take an extra step to communicate their experiences, knowledge and expertise through Medium articles.
There’s so much information to share on storytelling, and the benefits realised when applied within technical roles. But I’ll save it for a future article.
Steps to improve storytelling and communication skills:
- Speak publically as often as you can.
- Read more books.
- Learn from other good public speakers.