Visualization is a great way to explain and describe data to people who don't know data. Good visualization lets the data speak, as they say. But this doesn't mean you shove your data into a program or stick it into a presentation template and expect others to care. You still have to analyze and explore the data yourself, find what's interesting, and you present that.
"But how do I make this graphic look cool?"
Tell people something more about the data that isn't just, "Here's the data."
You could use an obscure visualization method in place of your standard one, but what's the point if you just say the same thing? You might catch an eye or two because of the novelty, but those eyes will bolt just as quickly if there isn't any substance.
So instead of showing the same non-message in different ways, you iterate. You cut and explore the data in different ways, and you make a lot of graphics that never see the light of day. Many will be ugly, and most of them will be uninteresting, but you might also find something worthwhile. Let that something guide you.
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