The gap between what we're expected to know about data and what we actually know is real—and growing. Dashboards, analytics platforms, and AI tools keep raising the bar. Somewhere along the way, a lot of learning professionals quietly fell behind and haven't found a low-judgment way back in.

Sound familiar? This session is for you. And it starts with a simple premise: You can't prompt your way out of not knowing the basics. This is an honest, low-judgment session built around the questions learning professionals are embarrassed to admit they still have—about data, about Excel, about what makes a chart actually work. Using a mix of scripted "asking for a friend" questions and live audience input, we'll tackle the real stuff: How do I choose between a bar chart and a line chart? Why does my pivot table look like chaos? What does it actually mean to tell a "data story"?

From there, we move into AI as a force multiplier—but only once the foundation is solid. You'll learn how to use AI tools effectively to build, format, and troubleshoot visualizations; how to write prompts that get you something useful; and how to use AI to pressure-test your own data narratives before someone else does the pressure-testing for you.

In this session, you will learn:

• Core principles of good data visualization design—including choosing the right chart type for the story you're trying to tell and what makes a chart work (or mislead)
• How to get unstuck in Excel: The fundamentals most people skip, quietly struggle with, and are relieved to finally just ask about
• How to write effective AI prompts for data visualization tasks and use AI to build, refine, and pressure-test your data stories more efficiently

This practical session is designed for learning professionals who work with data but don't consider themselves data people—those who can navigate Excel at a basic level but feel uncertain about pivot tables, chart selection, or data formatting—and who want to close that gap. No prior experience with data visualization tools or AI tools is required.