Data storytelling is not complicated. Big Power BI report structure started with one simple idea: every good report should have a beginning, middle, and end.
Telling stories in data is simpler than people think
In this part of the series, people often assume that “data storytelling” means something complicated.
Something creative.
Something soft.
Something subjective.
No. It started with something very simple. Every good story has three parts:
- A start
- A middle
- An ending
We instinctively understand this structure in films, books, and conversations. If someone starts a story halfway, we feel lost. If they never get it done, we get frustrated.
But when we opened Power BI, we abandoned that structure completely. Most reports are all in the middle, with little beginning or end.
The problem: a report without a start
Open most of the dashboards and what do you see?
- Metric
- Chart
- Comparison
Quick. No context. No framing. There is no explanation of why this page exists or what decisions it supports.
It’s as if someone walked into a movie theater, missed the opening scene, and pressed play in the middle of the film. The audience immediately worked harder than they should have.
They ask:
- What do I see?
- What time period is this?
- What problem do we want to solve?
- Why is this important now?
If your report forces your audience to adjust before they think, you’ve created friction. The beginning of the report should answer one simple question:
Why should I care?
Middle section: where most of the report is located
The middle is where the analysis happens. This is where you browse:
- What happened
- What drives him
- where the pattern is
- What a surprise
And this is where most dashboards stop. They present the data. They present the details. They present trends. And then they left the room. No conclusion. No implications. No direction.
This is the analytical equivalent of when someone explains an issue in detail and then abandons it mid-sentence. Technically correct. Structurally incomplete.
Lost ending
Here’s the uncomfortable truth, If your report doesn’t have an ending, it’s not finished. It doesn’t matter how accurate the data is. The ending is where you clarify the implications.
This answers:
- So what?
- What does this mean?
- What should we do?
Endless, dashboards create discussions, not decisions. And discussion is not the goal. The goal is clarity.
The structure of a Power BI report should follow the story
A good Power BI report should work like this:
The beginning
Set context. Determine the scope. Explain the decision.
Answer: Why should I care?
Middle
Explore the driver. Show the pattern. Highlight what’s important.
Answer: What happened and why?
End
State the implications. Reduce ambiguity. Point toward action.
Answer: What do we do next?
That structure is not creative writing.
This is cognitive alignment.
Let’s try it on my football report
Why we abandoned structure in analytics
There’s a reason why most dashboards are centered.
- We are trained to build models.
- We are trained to calculate sizes.
- We are trained to visualize data.
We are rarely trained to organize our thoughts. So the dashboard becomes a container for metrics, not a vehicle for decision making. They are built as analytical canvases, not narrative threads. And that’s why they feel solid. Not because the data is wrong. Because the structure is lost.
Spreadsheet mindset
Spreadsheets have no beginning or end. They have rows and columns. They are designed for exploration, not persuasion. When we treat Power BI like an interactive spreadsheet, we get an exploratory dashboard that relies on the audience to construct meaning. But business stakeholders do not require further exploration. They need clarity. It requires structure.
Structure reduces cognitive load
If the report follows a start–middle–end structure:
- The audience knows where to start.
- They understand what is important.
- They no longer wonder what the conclusion is.
Structure eliminates the work of interpretation. It guides attention. It broadens your horizons. Without structure, even good visuals will feel fragmented. With structure, even simple visuals feel strong.
A practical test
I’ll use this storytelling framework with my FPL dashboard in the next post. But try this on one of your own. Open one of your main reports and ask:
- Where did it start?
- Which page determines the context?
- Where does the report obviously end?
- Are the implications explicit?
If the report just stops after analysis, it means the report is not finished.
If it doesn’t answer “what now?”, then it is incomplete. Storytelling in analytics is not about creativity. It’s about completing that thought.
In the next post, we will use this framework and apply it to my FPL report. And in the next post we’ll explore how the “hero’s journey” changes your role as a report writer — and why you’re not the hero of the story.
Related: Decision-Based Analysis in Practice: Fantasy Football Examples
Start series: Dashboards Don’t Drive Decisions (And That’s the Real Problem with Analytics)
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