We all know the moment: the analysis is brilliant, the Excel model complex, but the message doesn’t get through in the meeting with management. Why is that? Because numbers appeal to logic, but people often make decisions emotionally.

Prof. Dr. Fares Getzin from HTW Berlin puts it in a nutshell: Data storytelling is not a “soft art”, but a strategic tool for us controllers.

Here are the top learnings on how to go from being a “numbers supplier” to a real business partner:

1. The effect on the brain Fact-based pitches are often forgotten. Story-based pitches, on the other hand, are remembered 22 times more often. Why? Because narratives release oxytocin, which increases empathy and attention and enables stories to find their way into long-term memory.
2. The 3-act structure for finance We need to structure our reports like a good movie:

• Act 1 (exposure): Context and initial situation (e.g. the business model).
• Act 2 (Confrontation): The conflict (falling margins, exploding costs) – this is where our analyses come into play!
• Act 3 (Resolution): The Transformation (Recommendation & Call to Action).

3. know your audience! Understanding the target group is the absolute starting point of every effective data story. Investors have completely different interests and prior knowledge than employees or management.

Ask yourself these three questions before each report:

1. Who is the audience and what relationship do I have with them?
2. What do they already know? (Avoid unnecessary explanations or excessive demands)
3. What do they want to know? (What problem does my report solve for them?)

Only when we change our perspective can we turn a dry analysis into a relevant basis for decision-making.

Kill your darling: Less is more The following applies to visualization: “Clutter is your enemy!”. No 3D diagrams (distort proportions). No overloaded pie charts. Instead: Clear bar charts and the use of colors to draw the eye (e.g. in a zig-zag arrangement) to the essentials.

Pro tip for the next presentation: Don’t be the hero of the story. The hero is the company/team or the customer. We controllers are the mentor who shows the way to the solution with data and facts.

Data storytelling combines technical analysis with human communication – this is exactly what modern controlling is all about.