What is a key message?
Often overlooked, they're relatively easy to incorporate into your Storytelling with Data process. You just need to keep a couple of things in mind:
A key message is what you want your audience to learn from your Story, Dashboard or Viz - it's what you want them to remember after they've heard your speech, read your Story, or interacted with your Viz. It doesn't have to be a fact or statistic, but rather a statement that concisely conveys what the public needs to know about the issue, problem, or whatever you're trying to communicate - and what they should do about it.
You might have more than one key message, depending on your own objectives and presentation (but should avoid having too many), but they typically have two goals:
- Inform your public
- Stimulate action based on your data
How to create a key message?
Know your audience. It goes without saying, but it's necessary to be remembered again at this point. If you're working for a company, your Dashboard might be used by different departments, with different, sometimes even conflicting, interests. It is a good idea to tailor your key message to each audience, if possible. Step back from your problem and think about the story you want to tell. Summarize the main information and adjust it for your public needs, interests, and motivations. Finance might want to keep costs low, but marketing wants more resources, understand them and you'll be halfway to a successful key message.
While devising your key messages, avoid acronyms and abbreviations, use plain language, and try not to assume too much. After that, you should support them with facts and statistics, a.k.a your data. But don't forget, facts validate decisions, but usually, emotions are what drive people's actions, so don't think that because your data is precisely telling the best course of action that the interests and needs of your audience can be overlooked.
How to deliver a key message?
Well, you guessed it, through your Viz! Generally, there are two basic ways for a Data Analyst to achieve this: a static presentation or an interactive dashboard.
The first offers complete control of the narrative, allowing you to guide your public through your data, you're in control of where the story goes. The second might be riskier, but interaction has its own benefits. Yielding control to the audience can add credibility and make them side with you, or not correctly use your dashboard and end up not understanding what you were trying to say.
Each tool presents its own challenges and benefits and has the power to strengthen your statement. Choose with care!
What are the benefits of key messages?
- Offer your different forms to consider your problems/issues
- Clarify budgeting or other decisions, emphasize your process and showcase your understanding
- Help to establish your role, especially if you're new to an organization
- Provide answers to difficult questions
- Assists in seeing a clear picture of your problem, by providing the most important elements
- Generates understanding, focus discussion and brings consistency to your issue at hand