Client Asked for a Recap. I Blacked Out and Sent This.

It’s Wednesday.

Which means, if you work in marketing, you're probably explaining results to someone.

A client.
A boss.
A teammate.
Yourself.
God.

And if you’re like most smart, decent humans who did not go into this business because you love color-coding Google Sheets, you’re probably wondering:

How do I talk about performance without sounding like a spreadsheet in crisis?

How do I give data meaning?

How do I prove I know what I’m doing — even when it’s not going well?

How do I make people feel like things are moving in the right direction, even if the right direction is… sidewise and uphill and funded by Meta?

Here’s what I’ve learned after a decade of reporting wins, losses, and those deeply awkward “learning phases” that are neither winning nor learning:

You don’t need better numbers.

You need a better narrative.

So, today I'm going to share with you 7 reporting principles you can implement this week. They're not sexy. They’re not revolutionary. But they work. And they’ll make every conversation — from QBRs to Slack recaps — just a little less miserable and a lot more productive.

1. Decide what story you’re telling, before you touch the slides.

This is the part most people skip, and it's why their reports feel like a walk through an analytics graveyard.

Before you open PowerPoint, ask yourself:
What’s the point of this recap?

Are we showing growth? Diagnosing pain? Resetting expectations? Rebuilding trust?

If you don’t know what the report is for, then it becomes a list of things that happened. Which is fine if you’re writing a diary. But not if you’re leading a team, guiding a client, or building a brand.

Good reporting isn’t a summary. It’s a signal.

It says, "I see the big picture. I know what matters. And I’m not just measuring things—I’m moving things."

2. Set the structure, or get ready to talk about TikTok for 19 minutes

A client once interrupted my very well-planned recap to ask how TikTok ads were performing. We weren’t running TikTok ads.

So please, save yourself the misery.

Outline what you’re covering:

What happened (data)
Why it happened (insight)
What we’re doing about it (plan)
What we need from you (alignment)

Put it on a slide. Say it out loud at the start. Refer back to it when the conversation starts to drift into “Can we test Pinterest?”

Because when people know there’s a plan, they stop trying to create one mid-meeting.

3. Data is not the point. Interpretation is.

Most reports treat data as a destination.

“We spent $32K.”
“CTR dropped 14%.”
“ROAS is down MoM.”

Okay. And?

What does it mean?

Was that spend a step forward or a warning sign?
Is that CTR drop a creative issue or a targeting shift?
Is ROAS down because of competition, seasonality, or a product page with six font sizes?

The value is not in the number. It’s in the narrative.
Your job isn’t to read metrics. It’s to make them make sense.

That’s what separates a technician from a strategist. And if you want to be in the room for big decisions, you need to stop sounding like a dashboard and start sounding like someone who can guide decisions.

4. No one cares about the tab you didn’t show

Your audience is not wondering if there’s a ninth tab in your spreadsheet they haven’t seen yet. They’re wondering one thing:

“Can I trust you to know what matters?”

So curate. Contextualize. And stop apologizing for not showing everything.
Give them the signal, not the noise. Show year-over-year data, not just week-to-week wobbles. Highlight trends, not blips. Show your logic, not just your math.

People don’t want more data.
They want clarity. Confidence. A path forward.

Give them that, and they will stop asking to “dive into the raw sheet” ever again.

5. If there’s no action plan, it wasn’t a report. It was a confession

End every report with a plan. Even if the plan is to go figure out a plan.

Because performance is not the goal. Progress is.

So tell them:

What you’re keeping
What you’re killing
What you’re testing
What you’re watching

If the answer is “we’re not sure yet,” say so — and explain how you’ll know.

Clients don’t need perfect outcomes. They need clear intent.

And when you end with action, you show that you’re not just a narrator. You’re a navigator. That changes everything.

Final thought

People don’t remember what your ROAS was in March.

They remember whether they felt like you were in control of the story. Whether you helped them understand what mattered. Whether they left the meeting feeling slightly less overwhelmed or slightly more alone.

Reporting is about leadership.

Be the person in the room who names the truth, tells the story, and points to the next step with clarity and conviction, even if the numbers aren’t perfect.

Because that’s who they’ll listen to. That’s who they’ll trust. And that’s who they’ll keep bringing into the room.

—

See you next Wednesday.
Isaac

P.S. Want the actual deck structure and cheat sheet I use so I don’t embarrass myself during client recaps? Reply “God yes please,” and I’ll send it.

P.P.S. We have a free trial to our academy with hundreds of resources just like this. It costs $0, requires no human interaction, and gives you instant access to actual reporting templates, strategy docs, and training videos that make you look like the kind of person who doesn’t panic when asked “Can we hop on a quick call to go over performance?”

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P.P.P.S.

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