Select the appropriate storytelling with data books for your course
Instructors at hundreds of universities use storytelling with data (SWD) books to teach lessons on data visualization, analytics, and business communication. The books teach students how to turn data into clear and compelling graphs. You can incorporate our resources in a variety of ways: choose book(s) as your core text, assign hands on practice exercises, or combine the books with our online resources to support your course learning objectives.
Books for core data visualization and communication concepts
The storytelling with data and storytelling with you texts work well as required reading and as source material to bring into lectures. They complement each other, so many instructors use both.
storytelling with data: a data visualization guide for business professionals
Focuses on: fundamentals of data visualization and communicating effectively with data
Teaches students to: choose the most appropriate graph for your data, designing graphs with the end user in mind, and highlighting key insights
Strong fit for: data analytics, data visualization, mathematics, and business communication courses that need to present data in graphs
Download the files containing data, graphs, and images and use them to learn or to teach
Request a digital review copy (must have a valid edu email address)
storytelling with you: plan, create, and deliver a stellar presentation
Focuses on: the individual’s role in communicating, from daily meetings to formal presentations
Teaches students to: understand the narrative arc and how to apply it to a business presentation, learn the value of storyboarding, and develop executive presence
Strong fit for: non traditional data courses that seek to introduce data storytelling in an accessible and holistic way using a case study
Download a sample chapter to peek inside and get a sense of the book’s content
Request a digital review copy (must have a valid edu email address)
Books for hands-on practice, assignments, and class discussions
The storytelling with data: Let’s Practice! and storytelling with data: before & after books are great options for instructors looking for assignment ideas and in-class examples. Both provide ready-to-go examples that are easy to weave into a course.
storytelling with data: Let’s Practice!
Focuses on: hands-on exercises structured in the same way as the original storytelling with data book, making it a great companion text
Teaches students to: work through three types of practice in each section: practice with Cole (guided exercises with solutions), practice on your own (open-ended exercises suited for in-class work or homework), and practice at work (applying concepts to business)
Strong fit for: class discussions and assignments, and real world examples
Download the Excel exercise data and select solution files to support student learning
Request a digital review copy (must have a valid edu email address)
storytelling with you: before & after—practical makeovers for powerful data stories
Focuses on: real-world examples to see the improvement when storytelling with data lessons are applied to common data visualizations
Teaches students to: overcome some of the most common challenges of working with data in a business setting, including adapting data visuals for different audiences, designing with certain constraints, and creating one-page summaries to send around
Strong fit for: lecture demonstrations, supplemental reading, in-class discussion or assignments
Download the PowerPoint and Excel files containing graphs and slides from each makeover chapter
Request a digital review copy (must have a valid edu email address)
Courses that use SWD books
Our books can be used as required text or supplemental reading and exercises in a wide range of undergraduate, graduate, and continuing education courses. Some examples include:
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Mathematics and statistics
Data science
Data visualization and analytics
Business analytics
Nonprofit leadership
Business communication
Public health
Political science
Social sciences
Human resource management
MBA programs
Executive education