Storytelling and Executive Summaries

Ishaan's first email to Meera about late deliveries began: "First I pulled the delivery data, then I joined it to the orders table…" Twelve charts and four paragraphs later, the finding appeared. Meera, reading on her phone between meetings, never got that far. Analysts tell stories in the order they did the work. Decision-makers need them in the opposite order.

The rule

Answer first, then the evidence, then the ask.

A data story has three parts, often remembered as What? So what? Now what?

• What? The finding, in one sentence with a number: "March on-time delivery fell to 90%, 5 points below target."
• So what? Why it matters and where it comes from: "The whole gap is in Kolkata, at 85%; Jaipur hit its 95%. Kolkata sent 72 of the 96 late parcels."
• Now what? The recommendation and the decision needed: "Approve two experienced packers for Kolkata, about ₹40,000 a month in total, by 5 April."

Behind the three sentences sit two or three pieces of evidence, each supporting the answer: on-time rate by warehouse by week, Kolkata's staff turnover, and dispatch times. Charts that do not support the answer stay out, however much work they took.

Give every slide or chart a takeaway title. "On-time delivery by warehouse" is a label; "Kolkata's late parcels pulled March on-time to 90%" is a message. The reader should get the point from the titles alone.

An executive summary squeezes the whole story into three to five sentences at the very top of an email or report. Its test is simple: if the reader stops after the summary, can they still make the decision?

The shortcut

Write the three sentences, What? So what? Now what?, before you build a single slide. Then pick only the evidence those sentences need.

The trap is the chronological story: telling the method before the result. Keep the method for anyone who asks, usually in an appendix.

Drills

Answer fast — trust the rule.

Remember

• Answer first, then the evidence, then the ask.
• Write What? So what? Now what? before building any slide, and use takeaway titles.
• Trap: the chronological story that tells the method before the result.