Hello Reader 👋

January flew by faster than expected.

I had one of those moments recently where you look at the calendar and realise it’s already February, and you’re not quite sure how that happened.

January was packed: new experiences, new conversations, new work.

So packed that I didn’t even have time to properly think about 2026.

But I did spend time on my objectives for the year. And one of them was very clear: I want to be more present (live webinar coming)

In these recent live conversations with CFOs, a topic came often: when they compare their internal FP&A work with what consultants bring to the table, there’s one thing they consistently miss: the headline.

Not clear enough, not actionable, not impactful. In brief, it could be better.

So this week, we’re talking about why your headline must fit on a T-shirt

So take a coffee, sit down and read FP&A Stories just like 20k other readers.

This week in FP&A Stories

👕 Why your Big Idea must fit on a T-shirt

In FP&A, we’re trained to be precise (and even more if we went through auditing or accounting)

It itches us when something we noticed is not part of what we report, so we want to say everything.

And so, one thing that's blocking is basically the title of our slides: if we can't choose, we just use a generic title like "P&L MM/YYYY" or "Revenues Analysis Q1 2026".

The problem with that is that your "title" is compared to what big-shot consulting firms do

See the difference? By reading the title, you already know what it's going to be about and the "So What".

Why? Because today people expect headlines, and that's different from a title.

A headline is a decision lens: It tells the room what matters most before anyone looks at the rest of your slide.

What we should expect from a headline

A good FP&A headline does 3 things at once.

1. It narrows the discussion
2. It signals what deserves attention now
3. And it makes the decision implicit

If your audience finishes reading the headline and still doesn’t know why the slide exists, the slide has already failed, no matter how good the analysis underneath is.

At a minimum, a strong FP&A headline is an active sentence.

That means:

• a subject
• a verb
• and a complement

“Revenue pressure in Q1” is not a headline.
“Revenue declines because volume dropped in SMB” is.

When you force yourself into a subject, a verb, and a complement, something interesting happens.

You’re no longer describing the slide. You’re making a claim.

The ideal length (this is where the T-shirt rule applies)

Here’s the simple test.

If your headline:

• needs two lines, you’re still thinking
• needs a subtitle, you’re still hedging
• needs a footnote, you’re avoiding ownership

If it doesn’t fit on a T-shirt, you haven’t really chosen your Big Idea yet.

This has nothing to do with being catchy. It has everything to do with being clear enough to commit to one message.

Different ways to formulate a strong headline

There’s no single “right” headline format. But in practice, strong FP&A headlines tend to fall into a few categories:

• Contrast – highlighting opposing movements that matter
• Implication – pointing forward to what the numbers mean next
• Surprise or outliers – calling out what broke the pattern
• Milestones or thresholds – showing when something critical was crossed
• Trend summaries – naming the pattern over time, not the data points
• Call to action – making the recommendation explicit
• Myth-busting – challenging assumptions the business holds

As you can see, there are plenty of choices for the format.

The challenge is now to choose.

🎥 Coming up - From reporting to influencing decisions (live masterclass)

Over the past weeks, I’ve been working on something that goes well beyond headlines. It’s about how FP&A teams evolve from reporting numbers to actually influencing decisions, step by step.

Headlines are one of the earliest signals of that shift. But they sit inside a broader maturity model that explains why some finance teams are heard instantly in the room, while others struggle despite strong analysis.

I’ll walk through that live very soon.

I won’t say more here, because it deserves its own message.

You’ll get the details on Friday.

(If you're a CFO or a Finance Team Leader, you don't want to miss that)

That's a wrap for this week

See you next week!​

P.S.

After 17 years in FP&A, Consulting and Leadership, I’ve coached and trained finance teams across industries, from consulting and manufacturing to tech, media, and global logistics.
Through The Finance Circle, I’ve had the chance to work with teams from companies like Deloitte, Holcim, CMA CGM, Bauer Media, Indeed, Volvo, AbbVie, NATO, and many others.

If you want to sharpen your own storytelling skills or bring this work into your team, here are a 3 ways can work together:

• ​Financial Storytelling Program for Individuals​
  A practical program built on the same methods I teach in corporate trainings worldwide. More than 400 finance professionals have taken it to strengthen how they communicate insights.
• ​Train Your Team — Book a Call​
  For finance leaders who want their entire FP&A team to communicate more clearly, present with confidence, and build stronger business partnerships.
• ​1:1 Coaching With Me​
  A direct, personalised way to work together if you want deeper feedback and support on storytelling, executive presence, or high-stakes communication.

If you're unsure which option fits best, reply to this email. I’ll point you in the right direction.