Data Storytelling with Power BI and VBA – narrative dashboards, reports, and presentation automation with AI

Training process

Training needs analysis

If you have specific requirements regarding the training programme, we will carry out a training needs analysis for you. This will guide us on which aspects of the programme should receive greater emphasis, so that the training programme meets your specific needs.

What will you gain?

Data-driven storytelling - You will turn raw data into a clear story that guides your audience from context through evidence to conclusions, making decisions easier and your insights easier to act on.

Narrative dashboards in Power BI - You will design Power BI dashboards that lead users naturally through KPIs, trends and details, instead of leaving them to interpret scattered visuals on their own.

Dynamic DAX commentary - You will create dynamic descriptions and commentary with DAX, so your report can explain results, highlight change and adjust the message to the current data automatically.

VBA report automation - You will build VBA macros that automatically generate charts, comments and ready-to-use reports, reducing manual work in recurring analyses and presentation preparation.

PowerPoint from data - You will learn how to create PowerPoint slides without assembling decks by hand, using Excel data and VBA to build a business-ready narrative automatically.

Power BI and Excel workflow - You will master a practical workflow linking Power BI, Excel and VBA, so you can move from dashboard to PDF report or presentation without duplicating work or data.

Clear visual communication - You will learn how to structure reports and slides using eye flow, information hierarchy and emphasis, so your audience understands the key message much faster.

AI for insights and comments - You will use ChatGPT to support insight generation and narrative comments based on data, while also learning AI limitations and how to keep conclusions reliable.

Training programme

1. Fundamentals of Data Storytelling

what is data storytelling and how does it support the decision-making process?
elements of a good data-driven story: context, narrative, conclusions,
model: Conclusion → Evidence → Visualization,
analysis of a data set whose purpose is a conclusion being the axis of the narrative.

2. Power BI – designing narrative dashboards

data layout in Power BI with regard to storytelling,
Bookmarks, selections, tooltips, drill-through – designing the user path,
dynamic comments and descriptions with DAX (e.g. SWITCH, FORMAT, CONCATENATE), formulas generated depending on the result.

3. KPI as the starting point of the narrative, source data as the background

design of a narrative dashboard with the sequence: KPI → trend → source → recommendation.

4. Excel + VBA – automation of narration

creating macros that create a chart + generate a comment,
creating report templates with comments dependent on data (IF, CASE),
generating charts and texts without the need for user intervention,
automatic creation of PowerPoint slides from Excel data.

5. Integration of VBA with Power BI

exporting data from Power BI to Excel (CSV),
preparation of automatic Excel/PDF reports from updated data,
scenario: Power BI (dashboard) → Excel (report) → VBA (comment and slides).

6. Visual communication and narrative layout

how to design reports and slides that „speak for themselves”?
principles of readability: eye direction, highlights, proportions,
comparison of exploratory and narrative dashboards.

7. AI in Data Storytelling

use of ChatGPT to generate conclusions and comments based on data,
best practices and limitations of AI in data analysis.

What are the prerequisites for participating in the training?

Excel basics - You should be comfortable working in Excel with tables, filtering and simple formulas, so you can focus on report automation instead of learning the basics.

Power BI basics - You should know the Power BI interface and be able to load data and build a simple report, because the course develops narrative design rather than tool basics.

Business data literacy - You should be able to read KPIs, trends and basic summaries, so you can build conclusions, comments and recommendations efficiently from reporting data.

Analytical thinking - You should be able to connect data observations with causes and conclusions, because the course focuses on building a message, not only on using the tools.