Sam Knowles
Sam Knowles is the Founder & MD of data storytelling consultancy Insight Agents. His purpose is to help organisations talk Human and sound like people. An established and sought-after trainer, speaker, and podcaster, he is the co-founder and co-host of the Small Data Forum podcast and chair of I-COM's Data Storytelling Council. Sam is the author of Narrative by Numbers (www.narrativebynumbers.com, 2018) and How To Be Insightful (www.HowToBeInsightful.com, 2020), both from Routledge.
Biography
“Insight Agents are storytellers. Data storytellers. Our purpose is to help organisations sound like people and talk Human.” There's more about the business at www.insightagents.co.uk.Insight Agents was founded in in the U.K. in 2013 by Sam Knowles, who’s the Managing Director. Sam combines long and varied consultancy experience with a planner’s facility for turning relevant data into narratives that resonate and campaigns that deliver. For a one-time PR man, he has unusually rich analytics experience and expertise.
Through Insight Agents, Sam helps all sorts of organisations – businesses and charities, universities and Governments – to identify and craft the most compelling, data-driven stories in their sector. He divides his time between consultancy, writing, and training.
Sam is the author of the book "Narrative by Numbers: How to Tell Powerful & Purposeful Stories with Data" (www.narrativebynumbers.com). It was published by Routledge in April 2018 to critical acclaim. Routledge has just published the sequel – "How To Be Insightful: Unlocking the Superpower that Drives Innovation" (www.HowToBeInsightful.com) – in May 2020.
Sam holds a doctorate in psychology, one source of his understanding of human motivation and behaviour and his love of telling stories with data. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and chairs the Data Storytelling Council of I-COM, a global association helping companies achieve competitive advantage through smart data marketing. Sam is a member of the Market Research Society (MRS), the Professional Speaking Association, and the Public Relations & Communications Association (PRCA).
An experienced and sought-after conference speaker, he has given recent keynotes for the MRS, the PRCA, the Media Research Group, the International Communications Consultancies Organisation, and at the Festival of Marketing. He has also spoken at Big Data, big pharma, food technology, sensory science, academic, and procurement sector events.
A prolific blogger and an accomplished speaker, Sam is a regular commentator and guest on podcasts. He is the co-founder and co-host of the Small Data Forum, a podcast examining the uses and abuses of data big and small in business, politics, and public life. You can hear Sam’s podcast appearances at www.smalldataforum.com and http://insightagents.co.uk/podcasts/
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
-
Data storytelling
Corporate and brand storytelling
Insightful thinking
Innovation
Academic impact
Personal Interests
-
Cricket (playing and watching), football
Wine
Books
Communication and social media
The uses and abuses of data big and small in politics, business, and public life
Websites
Books
Videos
Published: Nov 14, 2019
Keynote speech delivered at the 2019 European Sensory Network's annual summit.
Published: Mar 01, 2018
A 90-second summary of why the defining equation of the modern knowledge economy is "Analytics + Storytelling = Influence", the thesis underpinning my 2018 book, "Narrative by Numbers".