Transform your storytelling skills in four weeks

The cohort runs from 7th May to 4th June 2022

  • CLASS STARTS

    Sat, 7-May-22

    Cohort goes on till 4-Jun-22.

  • TIME COMMITMENT

    12-14 Hours over 4 weeks

    3-3.5 hrs/week. Get immersed in the process.

  • LIVE SESSION TIMING

    Saturdays 10 to 11.30 AM India Time

    Five 90-minute live sessions (time extendable for QnA).

High-stakes communication matters...

Storytelling Techniques can help you win

If you are in any mid-senior level leadership role, you know one thing: High-stakes communication events matter.

These events could be critical business reviews, quarterly board meetings or key client pitches. If done well, they can drive a ton of impact.

But in today's world of exploding data-sets and expiring attention spans, you realise one thing. It's not enough to just present information.

You need to tell a story with your data.

...but your current review process is broken

Both for presenters and for reviewers

As presenters:

- You create detailed slide decks, but never get past slide 2 (the one with the 7-column corporate-template table)

- You cannot convey your core point clearly and are unable to get the required support from your audience

- You are left with a feeling of having let down your team (and yourself) for not having told a clear, compelling story of your work

As leaders/reviewers:

- You dread having to sit through a whole day of slides densely packed with information

- At the end of a day of review presentations - filled with obscure data points, pointless digressions, shouting matches and journeys down random rabbit holes - you are overwhelmed and mentally exhausted 

- Finally, you are scratching your head, thinking “So what is actually happening in our business?”

Sure, you've tried other approaches

But none of them have worked

  • PowerPoint training

    Adding beautiful images and templates on a weak or non-existent story narrative is like applying lipstick to a pig.
    It’s not going to have any impact.

  • Data Visualisation skills

    Fancy new charts or visualisation software can be useful when exploring your data for insights.
    But when explaining the data story, these fancy charts can actually be confusing. Narrative > visuals.

  • Executive Presence

    It's great to have a confident personality and deliver your messages in an assured manner.
    But that cannot replace the need to craft a clear visual narrative with your data.

Now just imagine...

What if you experienced a very different type of a high-stakes meeting?

  • You craft a clear narrative with your data, prepare simple visual slides and deliver with confidence and poise

  • Your audience is delighted with your command over the numbers and how well they have understood the business imperatives

  • You get a go-ahead for all your key recommendations and requests

How to achieve this transformation?

Is there a proven approach that works?

The answer: Effective Storytelling with Data

Your leaders will agree

“The real measure of good storytelling is that the review time will come down, if the deck is well prepared. For instance, earlier my review with the Treasury team used to take 2.5 hours. Now (after my team has undertaken your course and applied the techniques) it takes 45 mins.”

- CFO at leading industrial company

Especially if you present data for a living!

This course is ideal for the following audiences


  • Finance, HR, Functional leaders

    Present compelling data narratives and convince your audience to accept your recommendations


  • Business and Project Leaders

    Put your best foot forward during critical review presentations and get audiences to approve your proposals


  • Consulting, Analytics, Data Science

    Present your findings to senior audiences with clarity and impact and persuade them to act

The ESD course makes Data Storytelling as easy as ABC(D)

  • Align with Audience and story foundation: Understand your audience and set a strong story foundation

  • Build the Narrative: Craft insightful messages, build a coherent narrative and add the right engagement elements

  • Choose the right charts and visuals: Choose simple charts, create intuitive slides and apply visual highlighting

  • Deliver with impact Leverage the audience's curiosity to engage their attention and deliver with impact

(Here's the detailed Course curriculum)

  • 1

    Live Session 1 - 7th May

    • Recording of live session
  • 2

    Module 1: Introduction to Storytelling and Audience Analysis

    • Introduction to the Revised Edition (and a disclaimer)

    • What is Storytelling with Data

    • What situations demand high-effort Storytelling?

    • Why is Storytelling so powerful: 1

    • Why is Storytelling so powerful: 2

    • How to tell Data Stories: Guiding Principle 1

    • How to tell Data Stories: Guiding Principle 2

    • How to tell stories with data: Overview

    • Role Play - Audience understanding

    • A framework for audience analysis

    • How to deal with mixed audiences

    • Audience analysis quiz

    • Ensuring a concrete data foundation

    • Know your metrics tree
  • 3

    Module 2: Crafting insightful messages from the data

    • What is a 'message'?

    • Can you differentiate between 'messages' and 'titles'?

    • What makes a message a message?

    • The Data Storyteller's Core Objective

    • Why do 'longish' messages help in achieving the data-storyteller's objective?

    • What makes a message an 'insight'?

    • How to craft a message: the 6W1H method

    • A cool way to remember the 7 questions :)

    • Craft clear messages for the given data

    • The soul of a message - framing

    • A viral ad uses a key storytelling principle...

    • The magic ingredient that makes a message impactful

    • How do you build surprise: the underlying principle of norm-variance

    • A real-life example of norm-variance from one of the world's best storytellers

    • The parameters you can use to derive norms

    • Example of 'Context' based norm

    • Example of 'Perspective' based norm

    • The Norm-variance quiz

    • Making numbers relatable

    • Curiosity quiz

    • Using the power of Curiosity

    • A 3-step process for crafting the question to ask the audience

    • Covering your bases when trying a 'risky' Curiosity Play

    • Module 2 - Wrap up!
  • 4

    Live Session 2 - 14th May

    • Recording of live session
  • 5

    Module 3: Building a coherent Narrative from your messages

    • Introduction to Story Narrative

    • Beginning with the end in mind

    • Identify the right Point B

    • Starting trouble!

    • Figuring out the right Point A

    • How to choose the right Point A

    • The blue pill or the red pill

    • Find the main point of these paras

    • You need to BLUF your communication

    • Organise ideas about podcasts

    • Messages have buckets - and levels!

    • Introducing the Minto Pyramid Principle

    • Deriving the 'higher-level' messages for the Pyramid

    • A fun Bollywood example of 'vertical flow'!

    • Find the higher-level idea

    • Debrief: Example on deriving higher-level idea

    • Deriving the main message for an email

    • My personal journey with the Pyramid Principle!

    • Understanding 'horizontal-flow' in the Pyramid

    • Navigating the pyramid - top down or bottom up

    • Creating the most important slide in your presentation

    • The 5-step process from Excel data to the PowerPoint Slide

    • Steve Jobs reinforces the point about Narrative trumping visuals

    • Some standard data-story formats
  • 6

    Live Session 3 - 21st May

    • Live Session 3 (Narrative) - recording
  • 7

    Module 4: Choosing the right charts and highlighting the key finding

    • Introduction to Visuals

    • Choose the right chart for this data

    • The first step in choosing your chart: Your message

    • Identify what is wrong with these charts

    • When we choose the wrong chart even after knowing the message

    • The second step in choosing your chart: Identify the comparison factor

    • Quiz - Identify the right comparison factor

    • Debrief - Identifying the comparison factor in a message

    • Presenting: The Charts Cheat Sheet!

    • Choose the right charts for the data

    • It's not all about charts: A few tips from Infographics

    • What can we learn from Comic-strip panels!

    • How to ensure perfect sync between the message and slide contents

    • Identify the type of error

    • Debrief - the Type 1 and Type 2 error examples

    • Use of animation to release the information in bite-sized pieces

    • Introduction to the Declutter-De-emphasise-Highlight sub-module

    • Choosing the chart to be 'de-cluttered'

    • How to declutter a chart - example 1

    • How to declutter a chart - example 2

    • Why just decluttering isn't enough

    • Learning about visual highlighting from Bollywood's song and dance routine

    • Why do we need visual highlighting in charts?

    • Examples of de-emphasis and visual highlighting from real life

    • A detailed walk-through of a visual highlighting example

    • Applying highlighting principles to a table

    • Exploring a cool feature to use animation within a chart!

    • Summarising concepts on visuals
  • 8

    Live Session 4 - 28th May

    • Recording of Live Session 4
  • 9

    Module 5: Story Engagement Elements and Delivery Tips

    • It's time to add some engagement!

    • Why do we need the 'human' story element?

    • The need for a bird's eye and a worm's eye view

    • A vivid human story example

    • How to refine your human story before sharing

    • Quiz - Human stories

    • Introduction to analogies - the need for relatability

    • An example and some tips on using analogies

    • Quiz - analogies

    • Intro: How to begin and end well

    • 5 techniques you can use to begin well

    • 4 ways to end memorably

    • Introduction to Delivery!

    • Basic do's and don'ts for virtual delivery

    • Advanced delivery tip 1: How to present individual slides

    • Advanced delivery tip 1: Creating a script for presenting individual slides

    • Advanced delivery tip 2: What happens when you present without transitions between slides

    • Advanced delivery tip 2: How to transition between slides

    • Advanced delivery tip 2: The secret ingredient that drives a great transition

    • Quiz - Delivery tips
  • 10

    Final Live Session

    • Recording of final live session

  • 11

    Wrapping up!

    • It's a wrap!

Transform your storytelling skills in four weeks

The cohort runs from 7th May to 4th June 2022

  • CLASS STARTS

    Sat, 7-May-22

    Cohort goes on till 4-Jun-22.

  • TIME COMMITMENT

    12-14 Hours over 4 weeks

    3-3.5 hrs/week. Get immersed in the process.

  • LIVE SESSION TIMING

    Saturdays 10 to 11.30 AM India Time

    Five 90-minute live sessions (time extendable for QnA).

ESD is facilitated by a 'battle-hardened' coach

A Story guide who drives impact through a balance of structure and creativity

Founder, Story Rules

Ravishankar Iyer

Storytelling is both a science and an art. You need to combine both ‘left-brain’ and ‘right-brain’ elements to make it work well.

I come from the world of numbers and business, given my past as a CA, MBA and management consultant (hey, don’t judge me… we all make mistakes!).

But I also understand and appreciate the importance of ‘right-brain’ elements - an understanding that flowered during history-storytelling startup days (don't ask).

So, essentially you get the holistic, complete picture about storytelling!
For more details about my profile please visit my LinkedIn page

A course that's been proven to work...

Ravi has successfully delivered this course across leading firms

...and has gotten rave reviews from clients

"Ravi knows the science behind the story. His is a simple repeatable and scalable approach that brings real results.”
Kevin Ignatius, KPMG Management Consulting

"His approach of storytelling is not only unique but simple enough for everyone to understand. It's been six months since the session, I can clearly see a marked improvement in the way my team (including myself) think about the story even though we have only numbers to present.”
Vineet Jain, CFO India and Pricing COE APAC, Medtronic

“Ravi breaks down the vast topic into bite-sized, structured, and manageable components which makes it easy for the participants to understand and apply different concepts. I could see an immediate impact on my team's data storytelling approach. ”
Rajiv Gupta, Audit Leader, Data Scientist, Flipkart

“Ravi is a master of storytelling. Lots of people have the ability to take your idea and create a great story. Very few people can take an already great story and make it ‘wow’. Ravi did that magic for our speakers”
Ashwin Naik, Serial Entrepreneur, TEDx Pune Leader

...as well as a highly acclaimed first cohort!

Akhila Ali

5 weeks of exclusive training in Data Story Telling by Ravishankar Iyer has changed my perspective on data presentations. Doesn't seem boring and difficult anymore :-)
It was one of the best virtual trainings I have experienced so far, and a big thank you to Ravishankar Iyer, to make it so interactive and exciting.

Uday Kiran

This is like the course you do to set things right after they've gone haywire. For a long time, I'd been struggling with data presentations- should you pick a bar graph or a pie chart for this data - how the heck do I make a story out of this excel... Ravishankar made us unlearn and then put us through a grind to learn.. :)

Abhishek Gupta

Loved being part of the cohort and the learning is already making a difference. Thanks Ravishankar Iyer!


Well, this e-Course is different

Designed with specific milestones and as a community learning experience

  • Course calendar that makes you work!

    This is not a 'self-paced' course!
    There is a clear schedule - with videos to be seen, assignments to be completed and live-sessions to be attended!

  • Blend of Live+Pre-recorded sessions

    7.5 hrs of Live Sessions for assignments, experience sharing and QnA.
    (In addition to the 5 Hours of pre-recorded video lessons)

  • Community learning experience

    You'll present your own data stories and get feedback from Ravi and the whole class.
    A vibrant discussion forum for QnA, knowledge sharing and getting to know other great storytelling learners

Inspire change through the power of story

Transform your high-stakes communication events through simple, visual narratives

The course fees are Rs. 29,990 AI. Enrol before 15-April to get 20% discount (use coupon code 'early-bird').
The cohort starts on 7th May and enrolment closes on 30th April

More questions? Great!

In case you have any questions other than these below, email me at [email protected]

  • I'm not sure if this course is for me. Also, what if I need additional coaching?

    As mentioned, the course is mainly for leaders who need to make or review data-heavy presentations for high-stakes situations at work. The course would also be vital for senior folks from Consulting, Analytics and Data Science who want to up their storytelling game.
    However, if you are from the domain of Technology, Marketing, B2B Sales or are a startup founder and do not make data-heavy presentations, then this course may not be the right one for you.
    Do not worry if you are unsure. We will do a 1-1 call before the course and in the past, if I have found that the course is not relevant for someone, then I have informed them accordingly and refunded the entire amount.
    On additional coaching We can get into a conversation about the need for additional coaching (especially for a specific high-stakes event) and work out something suitable for that later.

  • What is so different about this e-Course's design?

    This course uses a “flipped classroom” model.
    In a normal classroom, the trainer teaches the material live. After the class, you may be asked to do some assignments - or you may try applying the concepts at work. You get stuck... But are unable to get any live support... and you end up doing things the old, ineffective way.

    In a 'flipped classroom', you see the lectures (as pre-recorded videos) at your own convenience and pace. Then, you work on the assignments on your own and with your groups. While doing so, you can clarify any doubts immediately over the community discussion forum.
    And then you have the Live sessions with me, where the time is used more productively to solve specific issues (especially those that were most commonly faced by all).

  • What does a typical weekly schedule look like?

    We will start on Saturday, 7th May with a 90-min live session, post which the first two modules videos would be released for viewing.
    You need to go through these, and then complete the assignment (if any) for the next live class.
    At the end of the week, we will have another live session where I'll answer your questions, share my observations about the work submitted and share some of my own experiences on data storytelling.
    Throughout the week, if you want to ask any questions, share inputs, reading suggestions etc., you will have access to a community platform (Whatsapp or equivalent) to do the same.
    This is how each week's schedule will run for four weeks.

  • What would be my total time commitment for this course?

    You basically need to write off four weeks of your lif... Sorry, didn't mean to reveal that.
    You can estimate that you'll spend about 3-4 hours per week... so across the four weeks, around 12-14 hours.
    I understand it would be difficult for busy working professionals. But think of it as investing time for your future - time that will help you craft better data stories that get stellar results at work!

  • When would the Live sessions happen? What if I can't make it to them?

    The live sessions would happen every Saturday between 10 pm to 11:30 am India time on the Zoom platform.
    These would be vibrant, engaging and enable you to solve specific challenges you are facing - so you should plan to attend them all!
    In the unfortunate event that you miss a live session, however, you will have access to all the session recordings and notes.

  • I'm really keen to attend! But I can't make it on the proposed dates. Any options?

    Yep! More cohorts would be planned soon. Subscribe to the email newsletter for updates: https://story-rules-on-saturday.ck.page/

  • The fee seems steep!

    Think of it this way. How many critical presentations do you make in a year? Say 6? (once every 2 months?).
    What makes these presentations critical? Mostly because you are discussing valuable ideas with clients or with senior leaders.
    How valuable would these ideas be? You might be pitching ideas worth millions in some meetings, but let’s take a conservative average of Rs. 1 million per pitch.
    If, after attending the course, you convert even one pitch in a year - because of better storytelling - then the value of the program would be more than realized! :)
    To give you the example of just one such person - Here is the story of Nitish (name changed) - a business leader from one of the companies I worked with.
    (As an aside, the pricing also ensures that your co-participants will be senior high-achievers like you who are really serious about improving this critical skill).
    On a separate note, if you are from a social enterprise and would like for your employees to undergo this workshop please reach out at [email protected]. Social sector organizations have a special place in my heart (and a special pricing on the course!).

  • Does the fee include GST? Also, can I get a GST invoice?

    Yes! The fees are all-inclusive of taxes.
    In case you need a tax invoice with your GST details, drop me an email and I'm happy to provide the same.

  • What is your refund policy?

    I am confident that you will get massive value from the course - and achieve tangible impact at work.
    Having said that, I'm committed to full learner satisfaction. And so, if you watch all the video lessons, complete the assignments, and still don’t find the course valuable, I’ll happily refund your full payment.