On April 29, the online international workshop “Using Data to Tell a Digital Impact Story” brought together participants to explore how data, insights, and storytelling can become meaningful communication that strengthens social impact. The workshop featured three keynote speakers in the first part, followed by three interactive breakout sessions where participants discussed the main themes in smaller groups, shared experiences, reflected on their own communication practices, and exchanged ideas.
The first session, led by Doc. Dr. Ieva Žebrytė, PhD, focused on turning data into understanding and moving from numbers to meaning. She highlighted that impact is not only measured through indicators or statistics, but also experienced subjectively by stakeholders. For this reason, organisations should involve beneficiaries, staff, and partners in defining what success means to them. Her practical advice was to collect only the data that can truly support decision-making, start with simple feedback tools such as small surveys or conversations, and use measurement not to “solve” every tension between social and economic goals, but to better understand and manage them while staying true to the organisation’s mission.
The second speaker, psychotherapist Dainius Jakučionis, explored the psychology of trust in digital relationships. He reminded participants that trust online is shaped even before a message is fully heard – through design, visual quality, reputation, familiarity, and clarity. His key message was that digital communication should be simple, human, and provable. He encouraged organisations to say less but say it clearly, avoid jargon, use specific evidence instead of vague claims, disclose partnerships and sponsorships openly, respond quickly, and communicate honestly about failures, corrections, and work in progress. As he emphasised, trust online is not built by sounding important, but by being clear, human, and trustworthy.
The third session, delivered by Beth Daley from the Digital Storytelling Festival, focused on cognitive load, attention, and how to tell impact stories in a way that gets heard. She shared seven storytelling tips: be personal, be informal but expert, tell hidden stories, illustrate your points, signpost the journey, be specific, and be evocative. Her presentation reminded participants that stories based on facts do not have to be dry. A strong digital story can begin with one specific detail, invite the audience emotionally into the scene, and then connect it to a broader message. Clear structure, visual support, and accessible language help audiences stay engaged, especially in complex digital environments.
In the second part of the workshop, participants continued the conversation in interactive breakout rooms. These discussions created space to reflect on how organisations can communicate impact more clearly, responsibly, and authentically. A shared conclusion emerged: in a world full of endless information, generated content, and constant documentation, meaningful communication depends on truth told in a human way. It also requires selectivity – choosing what data to collect, what stories to tell, what content to consume, and what message we want people to remember. The workshop showed that impactful digital storytelling is not about adding more noise, but about combining evidence, clarity, emotion, and honesty into communication that people can understand, trust, and feel.