The 1 Thing Most Data Presentations Miss

Today I was going through my old movie collection (some beauties on the shelf ).

Then I spotted Se7en.

30-year-old movie.

No fancy effects. No AI.

Just a gripping story. And a brutal twist.

Why do we still remember stories like this?

Because they use the tools we often forget in data storytelling:

Tension

Emotion

Specificity

Now think about your last presentation.

You had great insights.

But did you create tension?

Did you build toward a moment that mattered?

Did you make the audience care?

Most start with a loooong background.

But that delays the moment people actually tune in.

What most Data professionals do:

➡ Slide 1: Background

➡ Slide 2: Methodology

➡ Slide 3: Data dump

➡ Slide 4-12: More data

➡ Slide 13: Thank you

Better version:

Keep the context short:

“Churn has been relatively stable for months.”

Then jump to the tension:

“But in the last 3 weeks, something changed.”

Now bring the data:

“Churn has doubled among first-time buyers.”

End with the message:

“If we act now, we can retain 2,000 customers this month.”

Your job isn’t to dump information.

It’s to build a story people remember.

Not because it’s dramatic.

But because it’s clear.

Structured.

And relevant to what your audience actually cares about.

Thanks for reading.