Discover why storytelling is the new must-have skill for finance professionals. Olivia and Ryan dissect how narrative, strategy, and modern FP&A tools combine to turn raw data into decisions, trust, and action. Real-world examples and practical strategies make this a canât-miss for anyone at the intersection of numbers and business.
Chapter 1
Olivia
Welcome back to FP&A Done Right, season two. Iâm Oliviaâfreshly caffeinated, slightly nervous as always, and joined by my partner in all things numbers and narrativesâRyan! Ryan, fancy explaining todayâs superpower?
Ryan
Absolutely. And yes, Iâm still riding high from our recent âspreadsheets to smart insightsâ chat, but this episode feels almost personal to me. Today, weâre going deep on storytellingâin finance. I know, it sounds a little counterintuitive, right? But it might just be the thing that turns a good finance team into a great one.
Olivia
Honestly, if youâd told me ten years ago Iâd be talking about telling stories as a fundamental part of reporting to the board, I wouldâve laughed you right out of the meeting room. But the more experience I got, the more I realised: dataâs only half the battle. You have to bridge from numbers to action, or no-one listensâor they nod politely and promptly ignore you. Storytelling is what gets decisions made.
Ryan
Itâs wild, right? Thereâs something about a narrative that just⊠sticks. Like, I could show the execs this gorgeous dashboard with every KPI sourced, five decimal places, ready to go. But unless I explain whatâs at stakeâwhat the data really means for them? Itâs just digital wallpaper. And honestly, I learned that the hard way. Wanna hear my origin story?
Olivia
You know I do.
Ryan
So picture this: twenty-something me, sweating through my suit, presenting revenue forecasts to the boardâold-school, tough crowd, everyoneâs crossing their arms. Iâm rattling off numbers, flipping through slides, thinking Iâm nailing it, right? Then the CFO goes, "But whatâs the point, Ryan?" Ouch. I froze. I realised right thenâfacts without a story just vanish.
Olivia
That hits, Ryan. I mean, weâve heard similar themes in past episodesâlike when we talked about finance moving from gatekeeping to guiding strategy. Storytelling is that missing link: it takes every analysis, every scenario and makes it something people actually care about. Itâs how you build trust with executives and stakeholders. They need to know not just what the numbers are, but what they mean for the businessâand for them personally.
Ryan
Totally. That trust thingâitâs huge. If execs feel like youâre hiding behind spreadsheets, theyâll start questioning every assumption you make. But if you share a narrativeâokay, hereâs where we are, hereâs what could happen if we keep heading this way, hereâs the risk, hereâs the rewardâthatâs when they start to buy in. And they act on it. Not just nodding along, but actually changing course if needed.
Olivia
Spot on. And one more thingâstorytelling isnât spin. Itâs not sugar-coating weak results. Itâs about connecting the dots for people who arenât in the financial weeds. Whether youâre pitching a board, rallying your team, or convincing operations leads to back a new hiring plan, itâs storiesânot just statsâthat turn skepticism into action.
Chapter 2
Ryan
So Olivia, letâs talk about the nuts and bolts. What actually makes a good finance storyâbesides that bit of magic?
Olivia
Right, letâs break it down. The best stories have structure: beginning, middle, end. For finance, that usually means context or the problem, analysisâyour data and findingsâand finally, the recommendation. But it gets deeper. You need to read the room. Is your audience the board, commercial leads, frontline managers? Adjust the level of detail, the visuals, even your language. I always think of it like game night: pick the right story, or youâll lose your players in round one!
Ryan
Completely. And data visualisation? Non-negotiable these days. Dashboards, simple charts, even colorâyes, my color-coded grocery lists finally make senseâhelp people see patterns, not just raw numbers. In my last big project, when I paired scenario planning charts with an actual storyâlike, âWhat happens if sales drop by 10% next quarter?ââsuddenly everyone was engaged. They were tossing out ideas. Thatâs when you know itâs working.
Olivia
Exactly. I still remember a tense board review a few years backâclassic situation, lots of pushback on expanding headcount. Instead of leading with a spreadsheet, I kicked off with a âwhat-ifâ dashboardâliterally, what happens to client turnover, revenue, staff wellbeing if we hold vs. if we hire. But then, crucially, I grounded that in a story: a real example of a burned-out account manager who almost walked. Suddenly, the board didnât just see a cost; they saw the riskâand the opportunity. We got buy-in, not just compliance.
Ryan
Love that. And honestly, the tools have totally changed the game. Platforms like Workday Adaptive Planning make it so much quicker to pull live scenarios, model the effects of a new plan, and visualise it allâall without being buried in manual number crunching. So you spend more time crafting the story, less time cleaning up formulas. Or, uh, finding out a linkâs broken in cell F293 again.
Chapter 3
Ryan
All right, letâs get practical. Because, well, stories are great, but nothing beats a real example. So Olivia, did you see that construction firm case? They had textbook cash flow chaosâmultiple projects, unpredictable vendor payments, and a jumble of legacy software. Revelwood came in with Workday Adaptive Planning, connected the dots, and built real-time narrative dashboards. Suddenly, the team wasnât flying blind anymore. They could see the impact of every decisionâby project, by payment type, down to milestone payments. It shifted their whole approach from reactive to strategic.
Olivia
And itâs not just a one-industry wonder. Look at that logistics company. They ditched the âgut feelâ and Excel nightmare, set up their first proper FP&A team, and used storytelling around live forecasts to sell new strategies internally. And an entertainment complex organization in the US, they use narrative dashboards to slice results by activity and location, letting them act, not just report.
Ryan
Thereâs a pattern here. The best results come from a few key practices: get everyone on the same âsource of truthââthe same data platform. Automate the routine, so analysts spend time explaining, not copying and pasting. Invest in explainable AI so stakeholders can trust the insight, not wonder if some mysterious black box dreamed up a forecast. The more transparent and collaborative you make the process, the stronger your story will land.
Olivia
And donât forgetâstakeholder engagement starts early. The more you understand what, say, operations or marketing really want from a forecast, the more tailored your narrative can be. Validate assumptions, share those âahaâ moments out loud, and never underestimate the power of a clear visual to bring a point home. Honestly, sometimes a single well-timed trend line can win the room faster than a twenty-slide appendix.
Ryan
Yeah, and for our listenersâif you want to build your FP&A storytelling muscle, start with the basics: structure your story, automate your data handling, visualise your findings, and involve stakeholders early. Leverage platforms that help you do this, but remember: the narrative is yours. Donât cede that to the machine.
About the podcast
This podcast series explores real-world strategies, tools, and success stories to help finance professionals master modern FP&A and enterprise performance management. From implementation best practices to scenario planning, headcount strategy, and cash flow managementâeach episode offers practical insights you can use right away. Disclaimer: This podcast was created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and may include AI-generated elements.
Olivia
Been there far too many times. And now with AI-driven analytics, youâre getting instant insights, faster trends, anomaly detectionâall feeding your story. Butâand itâs a big butâtools are just tools. They let you focus on the narrative, but you still have to ask: are you tailoring for this audience? Is your insight timely? Are you double-checking your data in these new dashboards, so everyoneâs working off the same truth?
Ryan
For sure. If your dashboardâs out of sync or your âsource of truthâ is off by even a little, the story collapses. People lose confidence. Itâs not just about pretty chartsâitâs about aligned, explainable numbers, so everyone can trust where theyâre headed. Thatâs when finance turns from being the police to being a real partner.
Olivia
Rightâand for everyone whoâs suddenly thinking, "Arenât we just accountants with extra steps?" No. Storytellingâs what takes us from showing numbers to shaping the strategy. And itâs only growing in importance as tech gets smarter and businesses get faster. Weâll tackle even more of these best practicesâand probably nerd out on some new techâover future episodes of FP&A Done Right. Ryan, thanks as always. Shall we sign off?
Ryan
Couldnât have said it better myself. Thanks, Olivia, and thanks everyone out there for listening. See you next timeâbring your questions, your war stories, and, uh, your best financial metaphors. Goodbye, Olivia!
Olivia
See you soon, Ryan. And goodbye to all of youâwe've wrapped up season two of FP&A Done Right - the Podcast. Learn more about finance transformation by visiting revelwood.com. We'll be back soon with season three!