Driving Buy-In: The Science of Influence with Data - Hardcover

Yuk, Mico

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1394307497 ISBN 13: 9781394307494

Publisher: Wiley, 2026

Synopsis

A step-by-step guide to transforming data into stakeholder buy-in and decisive action

Driving Buy-In, by data storytelling veteran Mico Yuk―who has trained over 20,000 data professionals at Fortune 500 companies including Shell, Nestlé, and Zoom―provides a practical guide for professionals who craft data visualizations and presentations that light a fire under decision-makers. It shows how to transform insights into real-world action. Eighty-eight percent of insights never influence a decision. This book fixes that.

Yuk introduces the Buy-In Method™, a two-pillar system for turning information into action ― grounded in behavioral science and neuroscience research. Pillar 1, the Data Storytelling Framework™ (Discover, Define, Design, and Deliver), turns data into a story the brain is wired to respond to. Pillar 2, the Three Signs of Influence (Clarity, Buy-In, and Action), reveals in real time whether your message is landing and exactly where stakeholders are in the decision process. Rather than focusing on technical skills or visual design, this book teaches the often-overlooked skill of reading human behavior.

You'll learn:

• How to ask the right questions that uncover the real problem ― move beyond vague requests and endless scope creep to get to the truth
• How to transform the way you communicate with stakeholders or executives ― translate and present technical findings so anyone can understand and act on them
• How to build stories that drive action ― using the same structure behind Hollywood blockbusters
• How to read any room using the Three Signs of Influence (Clarity, Buy-In, Action) ― no more guessing if stakeholders will act on your insights
• Why human influence is your competitive advantage ― in the AI era, anyone can generate insights, but driving stakeholder buy-in is what makes you irreplaceable

This book is for professionals who present data to influence stakeholders and accelerate decisions: analysts, data scientists, BI teams, product managers, consultants, AI/ML professionals, and executives. It's an expert guide in data communication for professionals who want to know exactly what works, what doesn't, and how to design and deliver presentations that will get buy-in from the people who make decisions. Go from order-taker to decision driver.

About this title

About the Author

MICO YUK is the creator of the Buy-In Method, an award-winning storyteller, and a top-rated keynote speaker whose work has influenced teams at Fortune 1000 companies around the world. She hosts Analytics on Fire, a top 2% global podcast, and leads the Data Storytelling Academy. She is recognized as a top data strategy voice on LinkedIn.

From the Back Cover

AN EVIDENCE-DRIVEN GUIDE TO TRANSFORMING DATA INTO STAKEHOLDER BUY-IN AND DECISIVE ACTION

Every day, professionals walk into meetings with solid analysis, valuable insights, and clear recommendations―yet walk out wondering why nothing happened. The problem isn’t the data. The problem is buy-in.

In Driving Buy-In: The Science of Influence with Data, Mico Yuk reveals why so much analysis and so many recommendations die in meetings: we are producing more insights than the human brain is prepared to act on. Decisions don’t fail because of logic?they fail because of emotion. Once you understand how ?emotion shapes every decision, you can finally use influence to drive real decisions and action.

Grounded in neuroscience and battle-tested across Fortune 1000 companies, Yuk introduces the Buy-In Method^™, a simple two-pillar system for turning information into action:

Story: The Data Storytelling (4D) Framework^™, which turns data into a story the brain is wired to respond to.

Signals: The Three Signs of Influence―Clarity, Buy-In, and Action―that reveal, in real time, whether your message is landing and exactly when your stakeholders are in the decision process.

Whether you lead teams, analyze data, manage clients, run strategy, or simply need people to act on your ideas, this book will help you:

• Create instant clarity and buy-in in the room
• Read the room and adjust in real time
• Increase the likelihood that stakeholders take action

Used by more than 20,000 professionals worldwide and teams at leading global brands, the Buy-In Method^™ is not another communication tactic. It is a new operating system for stakeholder influence―one that helps you see what others miss, measure what others guess, and drive the decisions that matter.

From the Inside Flap

You’ve spent countless hours perfecting your analysis, building dashboards, and preparing presentations―only to leave meetings wondering if anyone will actually act on your insights. Driving Buy-In: The Science of Influence with Data shows you how to fix that by combining story and science to influence decisions. It teaches you how to build clear, compelling narratives and read the signals that predict whether stakeholders will act or ignore your recommendations. Drawing on a decade of implementing data storytelling frameworks at organizations like Shell, NCIS, and Visa, veteran data storyteller Mico Yuk developed a proven system for turning insights into decisive action.

Driving Buy-In introduces the Buy-In Method^™ built on two pillars. Pillar 1 is the Data Storytelling Framework^™ (Discover, Define, Design, Deliver), which teaches you how to ask questions that uncover emotion, structure stories that drive action, and deliver with confidence. Pillar 2 is the Three Signs of Influence―Clarity (they get it), Buy-In (they want it), and Action (they’ll do it)―signals that show exactly where your stakeholders are in the decision process. You’ll learn how to read the room in real time, recognize when attention or alignment is slipping, and adjust your approach with clarity.

Grounded in behavioral science and neuroscience research, this book goes far beyond visualization design.

It reveals the patterns behind human decision-making and how to use stories, signals, and structure to guide it. You’ll learn practical techniques for storyboarding, aligning stakeholders, and knowing exactly when they’re ready to act. Refined through feedback from more than 20,000 students, this method gives you a simple, repeatable process you can apply to dashboards, slide decks, QBRs, and high-stakes conversations that demand real results.

As AI automates routine analysis, human influence becomes your competitive advantage. This book equips data professionals, managers, executives, and consultants with the skills to move from delivering information and hoping for decisions to consistently influencing stakeholders and watching decisions finally move forward.

Edition details

• Publisher: Wiley
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1394307497
• ISBN 13: 9781394307494
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240