By Patrina Pellett, PhD (Follow me on LinkedIn)

We’ve all sat through (or delivered) those presentations. You know the ones I’m talking about. Slide after slide of data with numbers that blur together until you’re left with nothing but a vague sense of, well, something. But there’s one simple way to make sure your data isn’t just data dumped: add time and location.

Don’t Let Data Go to Waste: Here’s How to Tell Its Story

Why Time and Location Matter

Adding time and location might sound too simple to matter, but it makes all the difference. It's what turns information into a story your audience can actually remember. Think about it this way: if I tell you about every endpoint and p-value of a clinical trial, you'll zone out. But if I tell you that "in 2021, at major hospitals across Europe, patients who received treatment for six months saw a 70% improvement in their symptoms," you’re suddenly visualizing a real situation. You can almost place yourself there.

Creating a Setting for Your Data

Time and location create a setting for your data. They take abstract facts and anchor them in a moment, a place, and a story. This helps your audience connect, relate, and most importantly, remember. It’s no surprise that people are 22 times more likely to remember facts presented as part of a story.

The Challenge of Turning Data into a Story

We’ve all heard about the elements of a good story: a hero, a guide, a problem, and a resolution. But how do we translate these elements into scientific data? Who is the hero in a clinical trial? Is it the patient, the healthcare provider, or even the treatment itself? And what about the guide? How do we present ourselves as the experts leading our audience through the data in a way that makes sense? Turning data into a memorable story is challenging because data often lacks the clear characters and emotional arcs that make stories compelling. But that’s where a structured approach can help.

But here’s the kicker: going beyond the basics of "when the trial happened" or "where it took place" makes the real magic happen. Imagine instead of just the year, you mention the season when the study was done, and instead of just the country, you mention whether it was urban clinics or rural hospitals. These details make your data richer, more vivid, and stickier for your audience.

A Framework for Turning Data into a Story

If you want to take your storytelling to the next level, you need a framework that goes beyond adding time and location. That’s where the 4-Step StoryRX Framework comes in. It’s designed to help you turn complex scientific data into compelling narratives that captivate your audience and leave a lasting impression.

Get an intro to the 4-Step StoryRX framework and creative ways to add time and location (that you can start using immediately) in our free on-demand webinar: One Secret to Making Scientific Data Stick. These advanced tips go beyond the basics, helping you think outside the box when it comes to anchoring your data in a specific time and place.

Conclusion: Don’t Let Your Data Go to Waste

Your data deserves more than just being data dumped. It deserves to be remembered, understood, and impactful. By adding time and location, you create a story that resonates, helping your audience visualize and connect with your message. When you take it a step further and apply the 4-Step StoryRX Framework, you transform complex scientific data into a memorable narrative that captivates and inspires action. You get closer to that perfect pharma presentation and the opportunities that come with being a masterful presenter:

→ Career advancement

→ Impact on success

→ Build relationships

To go even further, explore our Storytelling for Impact online course. Learn to turn complex data into powerful, memorable stories and elevate every presentation.