Course Overview

AI changes the equation for data storytelling. Not because it does the work for you, but because it gives you a capable adviser that is available long after the session ends. AI can help you sharpen a headline, brainstorm a visualization approach, or push a first draft further.

This course teaches participants how to bring AI into the data storytelling process as a thinking partner. You will explore how to shape a message for a specific audience, consider different ways to visualize findings, and strengthen your communication. Throughout the process, human judgment stays firmly in the driver’s seat.

This hands-on workshop uses real data and real communication challenges. Participants work directly with AI tools and have time to experiment with how AI can fit into their own workflows.

What You Will Learn

By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

• Frame prompts effectively and move from vague questions to prompts that produce genuinely useful output
• Use follow-up questions to push AI beyond its first response and generate sharper, more audience-specific ideas
• Use AI as a brainstorming partner for visualization approaches, presentation formats, headlines, and draft write-ups
• Critically evaluate AI output and recognize when human judgment should take over
• Apply these approaches to everyday data communication work beyond the workshop

Course Format

This course is delivered as one live, virtual, instructor-led session. It combines demonstrations, hands-on practice with real data, and group discussion.

Most importantly, participants work directly with AI tools during the session. They do not simply watch the instructor use them. As the workshop progresses, participants apply what they learn to their own data and communication challenges.

Module Breakdown

Foundations of AI-Assisted Data Storytelling

First, participants explore where AI can help in the data storytelling process and where it falls short. They examine how AI can support message development, audience adaptation, and visualization choices. The discussion also focuses on how to keep human judgment central to the work.

Prompting and Iterating: Hands-On Practice

Next, participants practice framing prompts for real communication tasks. They learn how to provide the context AI needs to generate more useful responses.

Participants then use follow-up questions to push beyond the first response. Through this process, they learn how to challenge, refine, and strengthen AI output rather than simply accepting what it produces.

From Draft to Communication-Ready

Finally, participants apply the workshop approach to a finding, dataset, or work product they bring with them. They use AI to explore different ways to frame and communicate their findings for a specific audience.

Along the way, participants receive input from the instructor and their peers. They leave with practical approaches they can continue using in their own data storytelling work.

Who Should Attend

This session is ideal for:

• Evaluators and researchers
• Nonprofit and foundation professionals, including grantees
• Public Health professionals
• Government program analysts and agency staff
• Anyone who regularly works with data and wants to communicate findings more effectively and efficiently with AI’s help

This course pairs well with Illuminate’s Data Storytelling course, but it does not require it. It also stands on its own for anyone ready to bring AI into their data communication work.

Prerequisites

No prior experience with AI tools or data visualization is required.

Participants should bring a dataset, draft findings, or current work product to the class. This gives them a real communication challenge to work with during the session.

A paid AI account, such as ChatGPT Plus or Claude Pro, allows for deeper and faster interactions during the workshop. However, a paid account is not required.