Data
Intermediate
15 min
Narrative reporting — writing the two paragraphs the MD actually reads
The problem
Your report opens with 'This report analyses Q3 performance across all territories, using data extracted from Tally for the period…' The MD reads two lines, scrolls to the end, finds a recommendation with no context, and asks in the meeting the question your page-four analysis already answers.
The workflow
1Finish the analysis
2Write the conclusion first
3Add the cause
4Add the decision
5Cut the method
6Generate three versions
7Check numbers match
★Send
What you need
Original opening: This report presents an analysis of Q3 FY26 sales performance. Data was extracted from Tally for the period 1 October to 31 December and compared against Q2.
The tool
Any assistant, from one analysis
The prompt
Subscribers. The full prompt is part of the SMEMinds AI Playbook. See plans.
What comes back
Rewritten opening: Q3 revenue was ₹4.82 crore, 11.4% below Q2. Two accounts — Sharma Traders and Vishal Retail — account for 68% of the decline; the other 187 accounts were down 3.1%, which is normal quarterly variation.
Verify before you use it
Human review required. Check every line below before this leaves your screen.
- Read the first paragraph alone. Does the reader know what to decide? If not, sentence three is wrong.
- Check every figure against the appendix tables. A prose figure that does not match is the fastest way to lose a reader's trust.
- Confirm nothing important was cut. Method belongs in an appendix, but a material limitation of the data belongs in the summary.
- For the senior version, check that bad news is not softer than in the team version. Inconsistent framing across versions is worse than blunt framing.