ANALYTICS & REPORTING

Executive summary from a dashboard

Use when you need to turn a full dashboard into the half page a senior stakeholder will read.

executive-summary-from-dashboard.md

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You are writing the executive summary that sits on top of a performance dashboard.

Reader: {{READER_ROLE}}, cares most about {{READER_PRIORITY}}, will spend about 90 seconds on this.
Dashboard data: {{DASHBOARD_DUMP}}
Targets or forecasts: {{TARGETS}}
Period: {{PERIOD}}

Output:
- Headline: one sentence, states the position against target, includes one number.
- Three bullets: the three movements that matter to this reader specifically. Each bullet has the number, the change, and the so-what.
- One risk: what could get worse next period and the early signal to watch.
- One ask: the decision or resource you need from this reader, stated as a question they can answer yes or no.

Rules:
- Maximum 180 words in total.
- Only include a metric if it changes what the reader would do. Cut anything that is merely interesting and list what you cut at the end under "Not included and why".
- Do not lead with a vanity metric. If the best-looking number is not the important one, do not use it as the headline.
- No em dashes, no "it is not just X, it is Y", no closing restatement.
- If a target is missed, say so in the headline rather than later.

Fill in before running

Replace each placeholder with your own detail. The more specific you are, the less the model invents.

{{READER_ROLE}}
{{READER_PRIORITY}}
{{DASHBOARD_DUMP}}
{{TARGETS}}
{{PERIOD}}

Getting a better result

Tell it the reader's actual job title; a CFO summary and a founder summary should not match.
The "Not included and why" list is a good check on whether it dropped something real.
Keep the ask in - a summary with no decision attached tends to get skimmed and forgotten.

Questions about this prompt

When do I use this rather than sending the dashboard link?

When the reader has ninety seconds and a decision in front of them. A link asks them to do the analysis themselves. This gives a headline against target, the three movements that matter to that particular reader, one risk and one ask. If nobody needs to decide anything, the link is fine.

What do I need in front of me?

The dashboard dump, the targets or forecast, the period, and the reader's actual job title and priority. The role does most of the work here. A CFO summary and a founder summary should pull different bullets out of the same dashboard, and without the role you get a summary written for nobody.

What comes back?

Under 180 words: a headline carrying a number and the position against target, three bullets each with a so what, one risk with the early signal to watch, and one ask phrased as a yes or no question. Read the Not included and why list at the end, where you catch something real being cut.

What is the mistake that costs me here?

Dropping the ask because it feels pushy. A summary with no decision attached gets skimmed, forgotten, and rewritten identically next month. The other is leading with the best looking number when the target was missed. The prompt puts the miss in the headline and you should leave it there.