Having some time off between speaking gigs, I have been reflecting a lot on how to level up what I do. I have been talking about analytics, data science and lately artificial intelligence all across the United States and the Philippines.
I’ve trained over 8,000 analysts, given over 200 talks and worked on over 50 big data projects the past several years. In that time I have learned a lot about how I deliver content and empower my audience.
I have heard at least 500 talk from other speakers and watched 100’s of video talks. So when I reflect on my speaking, I take all this in. I came up with these tips:
· Design each talk so that it mirrors what one would get from the 1st hour of coaching.
· As a speaker, you have about seven seconds to solidity first impressions, what do you do in your first 7 seconds?
· You need to be selective with your content. You can’t help everyone, so don’t try. Focus on giving content to those who are ready to make sense of it.
· I get paid for access to my brain. Think of coaching and training with an expert that way. How valuable is to have insight into the mind of an expert.
· What is your post interaction accountability? How are attendees held accountable to stick to their initial acknowledgement that this is an area where they need help?
· Meet with 2 people a day, follow up with each one personally. This is so much harder than it seems. Automate it, outsource it, do what it takes to keep it going.
· Develop a physical product you can giveaway that take people back to your story and ties them to an emotional experience. Something to do with being a self-taught data guy.
· Prior to the event, develop a purpose driven message. Create 2–3 talking points and a call to action (attend). Use both storytelling and story selling.
When I talk, it is always a process of evolution. Taking these steps to enhance my talks will allow me to deliver even more value, not just as a speaker, but a consultant, trainer and coach as well.
Daniel Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics firm with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and as of February 2019, Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and offers big data coaching and analytics training seminars on both sides of the Pacific. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.
Sonic Analytics(www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. We also advocate the use of analytics for civic responsibility through training, consulting and education.
As citizens of this great democracy, we need to look at the data (analytics), plan a course of action (strategy) and share our data-driven viewpoints (presentation). This approach to a data savvy work force starts in school. So, we started an internship program to empower our youth to use Analytics, plan Strategy and Present their insights… ASP!
When not training current and future analysts, you can find Dan championing the use of analytics to empower data-driven citizenship by volunteering his expertise with schools and non-profits dedicated to evidence-based social progress like Saint Leo University’s Women in STEAM 2020 Conference.
Do you want to know how to run a successful business and have time to enjoy life? Would you like your business to generate revenue 24x7x365, regardless of whether you’re in the office or off on an exotic vacation?
Studies show that only 40% of an employee’s time (this includes everyone from individual contributors to C-Suite executives) is spent performing primary job functions. How would you like to reclaim 60% of your time? What could you do with double the manpower in your company, at no additional cost to you?
I think about this a lot, and thanks to the idea from my good friend and key business partner, Melanie McSally (mmcsally.com), I have developed a new program for small business owners and entrepreneurs who might be struggling to keep up with those of the forefront of their industry.
I’ve found that the key to being successful is freeing yourself from the mundane, manual processes that you only put in place out of necessity.
What would you do with an extra couple of hours every day? Imagine how you could focus on the big picture, think more strategically and explore new opportunities that generate additional revenue.
So how do you free up your time?
First, you have to determine what you do now that should be being done by someone, or something else. When you master the art of delegation, you gain piece of mind that important things are getting done by those you trust.
Second, you need to determine what you are doing that can and probably should be done by someone else. Why do it yourself, when you can partner with a managed virtual assistance provider so when you wake up in the morning you see several completed tasks waiting in your inbox.
Third, you have to turn to technology to take away manual, repetitive processes that eat up a lot of your time. Artificial intelligence has become indispensable in our daily lives, but few of us have started using it in our business. It’s not as scary, as expensive or as difficult as you might think.
Small businesses that are able to compete with the tech-driven titans of their industry are doing so because their leaders have mastered the art of delegation, employ the strategy of outsourcing and are embracing technology advances with automation.
Which all leads me to a new training and coaching offering:
Delegate, Outsource & Automate Your Way to Massive Success
The Art of Delegation is about knowing what you should give up and who can do it better than you. Hire for Complementary skills, invest in your team, have an eye towards succession .., work yourself out of a job so that just about everything you do can be done in parts by other people. Enhance systems, invest in talent and be clear on your role so your foundation solid.
The Strategy of Outsourcing is all about knowing the long term, looking for when it’s best to have someone else do it. Factor on cost, time and skill set. Partner well. Treat them as employees and they will act like it. Give time consuming, auxiliary tasks that are important but routine to contractors who help you build.
The Science of Automation. Looking to A.I. for deeper, more actionable insight. Low hanging fruit first. Automation comes in many forms but is almost always more efficient, more cost effective and provides higher quality overtime. The things you put inside that make it all run harder, faster, stronger, better. This is the smart way of doing things that those at the front of the pack are already doing.
Looking forward to delivering this solution to small businesses who aren’t afraid to dive in upgrade their way of doing things.
Daniel Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics firm with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and as of February 2019, Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and offers big data coaching and analytics training seminars on both sides of the Pacific. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.
Sonic Analytics(www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. We also advocate the use of analytics for civic responsibility through training, consulting and education.
As citizens of this great democracy, we need to look at the data (analytics), plan a course of action (strategy) and share our data-driven viewpoints (presentation). This approach to a data savvy work force starts in school. So, we started an internship program to empower our youth to use Analytics, plan Strategy and Present their insights… ASP!
When not training current and future analysts, you can find Dan championing the use of analytics to empower data-driven citizenship by volunteering his expertise with schools and non-profits dedicated to evidence-based social progress like Saint Leo University’s Women in STEAM 2020 Conference.
I have the honor to be speaking at the San Diego Small Business Expo on September 27, 2019. My workshop will focus on how small businesses are using A.I. to create massive success.
One of the biggest myths of getting started with A.I. is that it is only for large companies. Many entrepreneurs and small business owners worry that A.I. is too complex, to expensive and will take too long to set up. But that is not the case.
During my workshop, we will discuss several applications of how you can prepare your business to get A.I. ready.
It all starts with have good data governance in place, to ensure your data is clean, easy to access and it’s use is not hindered across your business. We will also discuss how to identify business processes that you can automate in order to free you up to spend more time on growing the business. Finally we will cover cutting edge use of customer behavior influencers to maximize profits.
The bottom line, is that if your business is not already moving towards using A.I., you are at an increasingly perilous disadvantage. If you are not investing in this new technology, you can sure bet your competitors are.
It will be an amazing day, with over a dozen other small business experts and influencers offering their insights on how to hyper accelerate your success.
Oh and its Free to attend!!!
Daniel Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics advocacy with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and as of February 2019, Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and offers big data coaching and analytics training seminarson both sides of the Pacific. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.
Sonic Analytics(www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. We also advocate the use of analytics for civic responsibility through training, consulting and education.
As citizens of this great democracy, we need to look at the data (analytics), plan a course of action (strategy) and share our data-driven viewpoints (presentation). This approach to a data savvy work force starts in school. So, we started an internship program to empower our youth to use Analytics, plan Strategy and Present their insights… ASP!
When not training current and future analysts, you can find Dan championing the use of analytics to empower data-driven citizenship by volunteering his expertise with schools and non-profits dedicated to evidence-based social progress like Saint Leo University’s Women in STEAM 2020 Conference.
If Amazon is investing in up skill training, because they can see what’s coming, why wouldn’t everyone else? Offering companies analytics and data science up skill training seems like a sound business model right? And that my friends, is why we have Sonic Analytics.
I ran a data science-centric program the past 18 months to do just this for Accenture’s Philippines operation. We put over 500 Accenture employees through our Applied Analytics Training Series covering topics like Data Mining, Blending and Visualization, discussed case studies by the likes of Google, Best Buy and HP, and conducted exercises giving attendees a chance to design business dashboard prototypes, build predictive models in Excel and practice data story telling. We can do the same for you.
Dan Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics advocacy with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and as of February 2019, Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and has recently begun offering public training seminars in the United States. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.
Sonic Analytics(www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. We also advocate the use of analytics for civic responsibility through training, consulting and education.
For those of you who follow me and have not yet attended one of my trainings, I want to share with you what we do. Here are some excerpts from a recent talk I gave in Chicago with Powerteam International.
Let’s talk about how to master your data to increase your income. Over the next couple of blog posts I’m going to walk you through some tips on how to increase the insight you glean from your data and use that to increase yyour income. We’re going to cover five things.
First of all, we’re going to talk about how big data is a wave of disruption. It’s causing massive disruptions in every industry and every type of business. We’re going to talk about how data analytics is a process. You have to be able to understand the entire process, to be able to master the data in your business.
Next, we’re going talk about how to find the right data at the right time. Like anything worth finding, this will require a map. You have to be able to look at your data throughout your business like you’re mapping something and going from start to finish.
We will next cover talking making impactful data visualizations. It is actually something that is quite hard to do, so I am going to talk about some tips on how to make some better visualizations.
Then finally we will cover storytelling with data, which is how you influence decision makers.
To recap…
1. Big Data is Disruption
2. Analytics as a Process
3. Finding the Right Data
4. Data Visualization
5. Storytelling with Data
I generally cover this subject matter over a two-day course, but for written consumption I have condensed it.
I have made it very layman.
So, we’re not going sit here and go through a lot of complicated technical stuff. This is more of a high-level perspective of my experience. Of what I know about analytics and why I want to share with you.
A little about me, so I have about 20 plus years of experience working with analytics or data analysis work. Most of my professional experience came with Wells Fargo Bank.
I worked for 15 years with Wells Fargo’s as a senior analyst. For the last seven or eight years though after I left Wells Fargo, I set up my own business. I’ve been teaching people how to be analysts. Talking to companies about how to use more data in their decision-making. Talking to people about how to really level up with their business.
I’ve been doing a lot of that in Asia and I just recently moved to Florida. I am expanding my business towards the East Coast and up here in Chicago. I also have a master’s in education. I was a teacher before I was an analyst. My favorite thing to do is talk about analytics in a way that could help empower people. This is me fulfilling my destiny.
I have a company called Sonic Elevate. Since 2011, we have trained over 8,000 people. Conducted over 186 trainings. We’ve worked on over 50 projects across Southeast Asia.
We at Sonic, work with a wide range of companies, a broad spectrum of types of businesses. The one thing they all have in common is they all have a lot of data and they’re all struggling to use that data effectively. It doesn’t matter how big or how powerful or how amazing a company is. They have to really look at data in a way that allows them to constantly optimize this.
I want to share with you a few of those things that some of these companies do within the framework of the outline I listed above.
Big Data, Analytics, Data Governance, Data Visualization and Storytelling with Data.
If you want to attend a training or set up some time for a 1 on 1 coaching session, let’s connect.
Dan Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics advocacy with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and as of February 2019, Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and has recently begun offering public training seminars in the United States. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.
Sonic Analytics(www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. We also advocate the use of analytics for civic responsibility through training, consulting and education.
As citizens of this great democracy, we need to look at the data (analytics), plan a course of action (strategy) and share our data-driven viewpoints (presentation). This approach to a data savvy work force starts in school. So, we started an internship program to empower our youth to use Analytics, plan Strategy and Present their insights… ASP!
When not training current and future analysts, you can find Dan championing the use of analytics to empower data-driven citizenship by volunteering his expertise with schools and non-profits dedicated to evidence-based social progress like Saint Leo University’s Women in Data + Science Program and the Data + Women of Tampa Meet Up Group.
One of the biggest reasons analytics projects fail is that they are not fully supported by senior management.
According to Gartner, more than half of all analytics projects failbecause they aren’t completed within budget or on schedule, or because they failto deliver the features and benefits that are optimistically agreed on at their outset.
I’ve seen a lot of studies like this, asking why big data projects fail, why companies come up short with their digital transformation efforts or why going out and hiring a rock star, data scientist fails to fix everything. Quite often it’s because the bosses never really believed that great analytics was going to be make much of a difference as compared to just basic analysis and reporting.
I’m fact, lack of management support, was among the top 3 reasons analytics projects fail in a survey I conducted of over 700 analytics professionals via LinkedIn a few years ago.
When someone in an organization identifies a need for better analytics, one of the first things they need to do is get buy in from the top.
In a lot of cases, people will just jump to the conclusion that this is a technical problem. One that can be fixed with a technical approach.
However, it’s often the case that the real problem is in the culture of the business. And when that’s the case, technical solutions usually fail.
I recently wrapped up an 18 month training project with Accenture’s operations in the Philippines. We trained over 400 Accenture team members in Applied Analytics at the request of their top brass. Their support was essential in getting the ball rolling, fine tuning the training curriculum and filling up each class with 25 analytics minded employees.
Wether it be sending people to a training, buying a new piece of technology or adding staff, you’ll need their support to make sure you are successful.
Applied Analytics with Accenture
Dan Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics advocacy with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and as of February 2019, Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and has recently begun offering public training seminars in the United States. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.
Sonic Analytics(www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. We also advocate the use of analytics for civic responsibility through training, consulting and education.
As citizens of this great democracy, we need to look at the data (analytics), plan a course of action (strategy) and share our data-driven viewpoints (presentation). This approach to a data savvy work force starts in school. So, we started an internship program to empower our youth to use Analytics, plan Strategy and Present their insights… ASP!
When not training current and future analysts, you can find Dan championing the use of analytics to empower data-driven citizenship by volunteering his expertise with schools and non-profits dedicated to evidence-based social progress like Saint Leo University’s Women in Data + Science Program and the Data + Women of Tampa Meet Up Group.
Per wikipedia, a mastermind groupis a peer-to-peer mentoring concept used to help members solve their problems with input and advice from the other group members. The concept was coined in 1925 by author Napoleon Hillin his book The Law of Success, and described in more detail in his 1937 book, Think and Grow Rich. In his books, Hill discussed the idea of the Master Mind, which referred to two or more people coming together in harmony to solve problems.
I had never really heard of the this concept until I met Bill Walsh, America’s Small Business Expert at a Small Business Expo a few months ago. Meeting Bill was a game changer.
After listening to Bill talk to a group of entrepreneurs and small business owners for 45 minutes, I was shocked to see I had made 4 pages of notes. I immediately signed up to lead a mastermind in Orlando, Florida as I was in the early stages of expanding my business to the Sunshine State.
This is a big deal for me because as a data guy, I tend to execute my business decisions after pretty thorough analysis. But I saw an opportunity and I went for it. I had my first mastermind meeting after 45 days of planning and was successful in bringing together an initial groups of liked mind professionals committed to raising their game through collaboration and mind share.
And then it occurred to me, that if Masterminds are being successfully implemented across the U.S.. why not the Philippines?
Having devoted a huge % of the last decade to leading a charge to upskill the analytics talent in the Philippines, I should be doing the same with a mastermind.
The upward trajectory of small business and entrepreneurship in the Philippines continues to quicken. And in all my years training people to use analytics, I have worked with thousands of Filipinos working for small businesses or themselves looking to be more competitive. Analytics is a big part of leveling up your business. They’re are a lot more pieces to the puzzle of business success, but it occurred to me there was one key one missing.
Masterminds.
I learned back in 2011, that when it comes to economic opportunity in the Philippines, the sky is the limit. My adopted home is a land of almost unlimited potetnial.
So in partnership with Bill Walsh and Powerteam International I will be launching a series of Quantum Mastermind’s in Metro Manila and across the Philippines.
Dan Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics advocacy with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and as of February 2019, Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and offers big data coaching and analytics training seminars in the United States. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.
Sonic Analytics(www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. We also advocate the use of analytics for civic responsibility through training, consulting and education.
As citizens of this great democracy, we need to look at the data (analytics), plan a course of action (strategy) and share our data-driven viewpoints (presentation). This approach to a data savvy work force starts in school. So, we started an internship program to empower our youth to use Analytics, plan Strategy and Present their insights… ASP!
When not training current and future analysts, you can find Dan championing the use of analytics to empower data-driven citizenship by volunteering his expertise with schools and non-profits dedicated to evidence-based social progress like the Analytics Association of the Philippines, Saint Leo University’s Women in Data + Science Program and the Data + Women of Tampa Meet Up Group.
When you least expect it, that is when it happens.
When you stop looking for something, what you are looking for finds you.
At least that is what happened to me the past two days as I attend a couple of amazing events produced by Powerteam International.
48 hours ago I was in a bit of a funk.
Maybe more than a bit of funk. It was actually about fourteen months ago when I came to the conclusion that I needed a new mountain to climb.
I am one of those people who live for the journey, not the destination. When I check off all of the boxes I wanted to check off in a certain pursuit, I need to move on to something different.
So when I pretty much achieved all I had set out to do in the Philippines, I started looking for something new to do back in the U.S. My absolute favorite thing to do is talk about analytics in front of an audience hungry to level up with their ability to optimize data. It took 8 years, but I had pretty much become the biggest name in analytics training in the Philippines. So what is my follow up to that?
I spent the past year plus exploring how to get more involved in using analytics for civic responsibility and advocating for a more data-driven electorate. However, I just couldn’t find a place where I could pour my passion into.
Long story short, that brought me to the Small Business Expo in Orlando two days ago.
Having just spent a day exploring Disney’s Animal Kingdom, I was mentally well rested and ready to get out there and network as I was planning to basically rebuild my training advocacy that I had built in the Philippines, but now in North Central Florida.
One more point, before talking in depth about my Game Changing Day.
I took this private tour safari at the animal park. I was setting out on the deck overlooking the savannah section of the park watching giraffes, spring buck and really, really big horned cows as the sun started to set.
It was a beautiful moment. And honestly it was not cheap. It cost like $180. But man was it worth it.
I said to myself, I love this. I want to keep doing this kind of stuff. But I’m gonna need to make a lot more money if I want to really have the lifestyle I want.., to travel, to explore, to experience. In short, I need to be rich to get to the top of my next mountain.
Unsure how I would get there, but ready to start a new chapter I entered the Expo.
At first glance it was like any number of similar expos that I have been to over the years. A bunch of workshops, an exhibitor area, a main stage with a bunch of speakers I hadn’t heard of before. So I got into networking mode.
Attending a couple of workshops and walked half the exhibitor area, picking up a few ideas and 1–2 good leads. And then it all changed.
I attended a workshop by a guy named Bill Walsh. Yeah being a lifelong 49ers fan, that was the main reason I picked this workshop.
Before I knew it, I had filled up several pages of notes. Like how to use your book to build your business without even finishing the book. I mean Bill was giving me a lot of really good small business ideas that make a ton of sense. Another that stuck out was the idea of selling from stage. Honestly, the fact that I was getting all this for free was quite remarkable.
And then the sales pitch came. Like most speakers Bill had something to offer us. In this case a Public Speakers Camp. Five days of intense training to up your game as a speaker to really optimize your time on stage. Sounds awesome. The kicker, the price tag was kinda high… probably too high for 90% of the attendees.
So at the end, I hung around. Fired up by the pages of notes I had taken and seeing the potential that abounds in what Bill said. I really could focus more on my passion (public speaking) to offer what I am good at (analytics training) that will enable more of my prime motivator in life (travel).
I got a deeper understanding on the offer and started to sense it could be a game changer. It’s a significant investment, but if it pans out this could shave two years off of my business development plan. I could easily be making 7 figures in the near future.
The Platinum Speaker Program, five days with 20 like-minded individuals being taught by Bill. All kinds of help with refining your offer, polishing you message and picking up best practices. With a promise to be put in stage within 60 days. Sounds kinda too could to be true right?
That’s what most of us would think. And we would never stop thinking.
But I get it. I see exactly how this would benefit someone like me.
So I signed up.
But I still didn’t appreciate the scope of what I had signed up for.
After talking with Bill, I went back to the exhibitor area. And started to fit the pieces together.
Several of the speakers had done what I was doing. And one after another, as I spoke to them, Deann, Merri-Jo, Tina, Sheridan, Angel… validated my thoughts that this is something I should be part of.
The Small Business Expo is THE stage that the graduates of the program are put on. They get to talk about their area of expertise and offer their services while also sharing what Powerteam does for its speakers.
It’s brilliant.
I’ve been a speaker at many, many events where part of the speaker lineup (including myself) is working closely with the event organizers to develop additional post workshop activities to partner on.
But this one, the Small Business Expo series… it’s the best I have ever seen.
It will get me on stage, to build my advocacy, to grow my business and take me all around the world.
For me it is that game changer I had been looking for, but did not expect to find it here.
Boom! I got my mojo back.
Now off to climb a new mountain.
Dan Meyer heads Sonic Analytics, an analytics advocacy with offices in Manila, the San Francisco Bay Area and as of February 2019, Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and has recently begun offering public training seminars in the United States. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.
Sonic Analytics(www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. We also advocate the use of analytics for civic responsibility through training, consulting and education.
As citizens of this great democracy, we need to look at the data (analytics), plan a course of action (strategy) and share our data-driven viewpoints (presentation). This approach to a data savvy work force starts in school. So, we started an internship program to empower our youth to use Analytics, plan Strategy and Present their insights… ASP!
When not training current and future analysts, you can find Dan championing the use of analytics to empower data-driven citizenship by volunteering his expertise with schools and non-profits dedicated to evidence-based social progress like Saint Leo University’s Women in Data + Science Program and the Data + Women of Tampa Meet Up Group.
Early in my career, I realized that I had a very in-demand skill, something that people really needed in the business. I knew how to use Microsoft Excel. The ability to make spreadsheets and turn them into reports and to do analysis, surprisingly, was something I had a natural talent for.
It’s actually quite amusing to think how my entire career trajectory benefited from my innate ability makes sense of large files of numbers in a speadsheet. I was able to start doing that on a regular basis, making reports and doing different types of business analysis work that added a lot of value to the bank. Making sure we targeted the marketing of our products to specific, much more likely to buy, geographic and demographic groups accelerated the adoption rate and drove up cross sell of additional products.
Before I knew it I had a 15 year career with Wells Fargo and in that time, I got to do all kinds of analytics from end to end. Bringing in new data, structuring it, putting it in databases, and figuring out how to extract insight and report to senior management was something I got really, really good at.
After years of great experiences, working on huge data science projects and working across various teams to roll out complex analytics solutions. So, after doing that for the bank, I went into business myself as an analytics expert. I’ve spent the last decade working with a wide range of companies helping them level up their use of data.
Now, I am working small business owner and entrepreneurs as Icoach them into how to look at their data the same way Wells Fargo looks at its data. I help them implement analytics systems and processes — solutions that will help them mimic what the big successful multinational companies are doing with their data —so then they can be more competitive. That opportunity to coach them and give them a chance to be successful is what’s driving me.
It all starts with a commitment to start doing things that most other businesses aren’t doing very well or even at all.
Sharing an excerpt from a recent issue of Success Profiles Magazine that I was featured in. Thanks to Brian K. Wright and Bill Walsh for the opportunity!
Francisco Bay Area and as of February 2019, Ocala, FL. With over 20 years in Big Data, Dan is one of the most sought-after public speakers in Asia and offers big data coaching and analytics training seminarson both sides of the Pacific. Dan has also recently joined the Powerteam International family as a small business analytics resource speaker.
Sonic Analytics(www.sonicanalytics.com) brings big data analytics solutions like business intelligence, business dashboards and data storytelling to small and medium sized organizations looking to enhance their data-driven decision-making capabilities. We also advocate the use of analytics for civic responsibility through training, consulting and education.
As citizens of this great democracy, we need to look at the data (analytics), plan a course of action (strategy) and share our data-driven viewpoints (presentation). This approach to a data savvy work force starts in school. So, we started an internship program to empower our youth to use Analytics, plan Strategy and Present their insights… ASP!
When not training current and future analysts, you can find Dan championing the use of analytics to empower data-driven citizenship by volunteering his expertise with schools and non-profits dedicated to evidence-based social progress like Saint Leo University’s Women in Data + Science Program and the Data + Women of Tampa Meet Up Group.
Every few months I devote a day to discover what the current trends in analytics are. I do this both to refresh the slides in my presentation and to refresh my mind to see what I may have missed.
The amount of literature out there on analytics continues to blossom at an amazing rate, making it a true challenge to stay well versed on what’s hot and what’s not. I read a new analytics themed book at least once a month and I follow dozens of blogs, web sites and social media groups. Being well versed on what is current in analytics is a key to success.
Every time I go to list the top 5 analytics trends, I find that some things change and some stay the same. Ever since I have been writing about analytics, data visualization is near the top. Business dashboards continue to be a big need. Business Intelligence (BI) tools evolve and new ones’ pop up, but Tableau continues to be a market leader.
That said, we are still squarely in an MS Excel dominated world. Upwards of 80% of Filipino professionals I recently surveyed still use Excel as their primary tool for data analysis. And even the ones who have dedicated BI tools, still use Excel for 75% of their analytics work. The adoption of BI tools is trending upward, but the curve is still very step.
Another trend that has been on the upswing is how more and more data is now unstructured data. The discussion on what is unstructured data and how best to mine it and integrate it with structured data has really been at the forefront for a while now. Going from 80% structured to 90% unstructured in just a few short years as mankind generates unprecedented amounts of data not easily captured in a database every day.
As October 2018, if I had to pick 5 current trends in analytics to talk about it would be:
(1) How to Conduct Impactful Data Storytelling,
(2) The Analytics and Data Science Talent Shortage,
(3) Using Big Data Analytics for Digital Transformation,
(4) Optimizing Data Warehousing and Data Lakes,
(5) Which Tool Is Best; Tableau or Power BI, R vs Python, etc
And thats is not even touching topics that are on the cutting edge like machine learning, artificial intelligence and augmented analyst. Although those are super important to an overall understanding of how we can optimize data, these topics generally are several steps down the road from where my audience sits. They are still trying to master the fundamentals of business analytics and introductory data science.
So I spend a fair amount of time looking for YouTube videos or TED Talks on these topics to add to what i read.
The amount of information available to consume if immense. I guess as we have more and more data and more and more tools to analyze data, we will have more and more people writing about how to use data.
Over the past few years businesses in the Philippines have invested heavily in big data, analytics and data science, but still have not achieved the expected outcomes of data-driven companies.
Based on our learnings from the 100’s of Filipino businesses and 10,000s of Filipinos who have taken part in DMAIPH Analytics trainings all across the country, we have crafted a proven, non-technical approach to upskilling your team in analytics.
In 2019, we will be launching two new training programs: (1) Our DMAIPH Applied Analytics Master Class series for executives, leaders and decision-makers and our (2) DMAIPH Applied Analytics Boot Camp series for practicing analysts.
We will feature case studies of real Filipino run business, exercises based on actual analytics challenges being solved by Filipino analysts, and provide you with a copy of my book, Putting Your Data to Work, an analytics guidebook for the Filipino professional
Connect with us via our marketing partner, http://www.sonicanalytics.com to learn about upcoming analytics trainings and events.
Decision-Making, Analytics & Intelligence > Philippines 