How to use data storytelling to fix your boring presentations

Let me share something that completely changed how I think about presenting data. There's this bakery in New York that ran a fascinating experiment, and I promise you, it's going to transform how you approach your next pipeline review or board meeting.

The “bakery experiment” that proves data storytelling’s significance

Picture this: Week one, the bakery owner (a savvy marketer) puts up a sign outside her shop. It reads: “Sugar, flour, salt, oven 475°F.” Pretty straightforward, right? All the ingredients, all the facts.

Week two rolls around, and she switches the sign to say: “Warm sourdough ready in 6 minutes.”

Can you guess which week sold more bread?

Same bakery. Same bread. Same everything… except the story they were telling. The second sign didn't list ingredients; it painted a picture of what customers would actually get. It aligned with the decision they were there to make: Should I buy this bread or not?

Here's the kicker: We make this exact same mistake in our pipeline calls, QBRs, and boardroom presentations. We show up with our ingredients (velocity metrics, conversion rates, pipeline coverage) when what leaders really want to know is: “What does this mean for our business?”

The 120,000-word problem nobody's talking about

I stumbled across this statistic last year that absolutely floored me: The average executive receives 120,000 words of information every single day. That's basically reading an entire novel. Every. Single. Day.

Now here's the million-dollar question: How much of that information do you think they actually retain? If you're lucky (and I mean really lucky) maybe 10%.

So think about it. You're spending hours crafting the perfect slides, agonizing over which metrics to include, making sure every data point is accurate. Then you walk into that leadership meeting, present your masterpiece, and what do you get? A silent nod. Maybe a “thanks for putting this together.” Some folks are listening. Others? They're mentally writing their grocery list.

Your job isn't to show them everything you know. It's to help them make those decisions faster and with more confidence.

The AI irony that's making everything worse

Speaking of making things worse, let me tell you about something that happened when I was running the enablement team at Paypal. We had this process for creating proposals – you know, RFPs, the whole nine yards. Our secret sauce? We'd always include videos or visual artifacts alongside all those Excel sheets and endless questionnaires.

One day, a CSM convinces our team to create an “expanded proposal” for an existing customer's renewal. What should have been a crisp 2-3 page summary ballooned into a 20-page monster. They were so proud of it, so confident we'd win.

Days pass. Weeks pass. Radio silence.

Finally, I call up an ops person I know on the customer's side. “What's going on?” I ask.

“Aneet,” they tell me, “we've received seven proposals. Every single one is 20-40 pages. We're literally using AI to summarize them all.”

The irony hit me like a ton of bricks. We used AI to expand our content to look impressive. They're using AI to shrink it back down to something digestible. We're creating content for robots to impress other robots, while the humans (the actual decision-makers!) are stuck in the middle, drowning in data.

How to fix your data delivery problem in 3 “acts”

Here's what ops and enablement folks often miss: Data isn't your problem. How you deliver it is.

You've got oceans of data at your fingertips. But your leaders? They've got minutes, maybe seconds, to make multi-million dollar decisions. Your job isn't to show them everything you know. It's to help them make those decisions faster and with more confidence.

That's why I developed this three-act framework for turning data into stories that actually stick:

Act 1: Hunt for truth, not data

Stop collecting every metric under the sun. Start hunting for the one insight that changes everything.

Remember the iPod launch? Steve Jobs didn't bore us with storage specs or battery life statistics. In a world of chaotic music industry problems, he simply asked: “What if you could have 1,000 songs in your pocket?”

Or take ChatGPT. When they launched GPT-1, then 3, now 5, did anyone talk about how many lines of code power these models? Of course not. They focused on one simple truth: Anyone can use this. A kid, a grandparent, someone who's never coded in their life. That's the story that stuck.

Your role isn't to report every data point. It's to surface the one or two insights that can fundamentally change how leadership thinks about the business.

Act 2: Craft your narrative like hollywood

Every great story has four elements:

• A hero (your sales team, your product, your customer)
• A villain (not a person – the thing blocking success)
• A conflict (the challenge you're solving)
• A resolution (your recommendation)

Let me show you how this works. Say your sales cycle has expanded to 90 days – 30 days above industry standard. Here's your story:

Hero: Your sales teamVillain: Whatever's causing the delay (maybe unclear stage exit criteria, or a tool that's not being used properly)Conflict: Extended cycle times are killing forecast accuracyResolution: Your specific recommendation to fix it

See how that's more compelling than just stating “cycle time is up 50%”?

Act 3: Start with your punchline

Here's what drives leaders crazy: We build suspense. We save the big reveal for slide 10. Meanwhile, they're thinking, “Just tell me what's wrong so we can fix it.”

Remember, 80% of a rocket's fuel is used in the first few minutes just to achieve liftoff. Your presentations work the same way. Start with your biggest insight, your most important problem, your key recommendation. Hook them immediately, then fill in the details.

The “trust KPI” that breaks down silos fast

Let me share something about building trust through metrics. When I took over a 100-person team supporting PayPal's $25 billion sales organization, I was the fourth leader in five years. The team was demoralized, skeptical, and working in silos.

Instead of imposing standard KPIs, I asked: “What does this team need right now to succeed?” Trust was the glaring gap. But how do you measure trust?

I couldn't create a “trust KPI,” but I could see symptoms. Everyone talked about “my” goals, “my” programs, “my” content. So I created a simple rule: Every team member had to share a goal with the person on their left and right. Qualitative? Yes. Did it work? Absolutely. Within months, the language shifted from “I” to “we.”

The universal truth about leaders

Here's something I've learned: All senior leaders want to hear about problems first. They're happy when things go well, but what really energizes them? Finding a problem that either needs their expertise or that you've already figured out how to solve.

Because think about it, how do great leaders seem to predict the future? They don't have a crystal ball. They do their homework. They connect macro trends to micro realities. They assemble narratives from noise.

That's your job too. Listen to earnings calls. What keeps your CEO up at night? Pay attention in team meetings. What does your CRO keep circling back to? These breadcrumbs lead you to the insights that matter.

The 4-step data storytelling framework (in 39 words)

The framework is simple:

1. Keep it human (people remember people, not percentages)
2. Get to the “why” fast (start with your insight, not the build-up)
3. Embrace uncomfortable truths (they're often the most valuable)
4. Ditch the jargon (if your mom wouldn't understand it, simplify it)

Your next move

The next time you're preparing for a big presentation, ask yourself: Am I listing ingredients, or am I selling warm sourdough? Am I reporting data, or am I revealing insights? Am I creating content for robots to decode, or stories for humans to act on?

Because here's the truth: In a world drowning in 120,000 words a day, the person who can distill complexity into clarity doesn't just deliver data… they become indispensable.

Your data is important. But your story? That's your superpower.