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Insight-to-recommendation translator

Converts a raw data finding into a stakeholder-ready recommendation using a headline-first structure: the so-what, the business implication, a specific recommended action, expected impact, confidence level, and the risk…

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Purpose

Turn a single data finding into a decision-ready recommendation narrative — leading with the "so-what," stating the business implication, and prescribing a specific action with expected impact and confidence — so stakeholders can act without decoding the analysis. Solves the recurring problem of analysts reporting what happened when leaders need to know what to do about it.

When to Use

Invoke this skill when the user asks to:

  • Turn a data finding, chart, or metric shift into a stakeholder recommendation
  • Write the "so-what" or executive summary for an analysis
  • Prepare a readout, slide narrative, or decision memo from analysis results
  • Rewrite a technical finding for a non-technical or cross-functional audience
  • Add a recommendation or "next steps" to a report that only describes what happened
  • Draft a Slack/email update that pushes a decision, not just shares a number

Inputs Required

Before starting, collect:

  • The finding: The raw result, metric, trend, or observation (with numbers if available)
  • Audience: Who receives this — executive / cross-functional peers / a specific function (e.g., marketing, product, finance)
  • Decision at stake: What decision or action this finding should inform
  • Supporting evidence: Sample size, time period, data source, or method (for confidence calibration)
  • Business context: The goal, target, or metric this connects to
  • Format target: Slide narrative / decision memo / Slack-or-email update / verbal talking points

If audience is unspecified, default to cross-functional leadership. If confidence inputs (sample size, time period) are missing, note the assumption and flag confidence as "Directional."

Instructions

Step 1: Isolate the "So-What"

Compress the finding into one sentence that states its meaning, not its measurement.

  • Weak (measurement): "Trial-to-paid conversion dropped from 22% to 17% in Q3."
  • Strong (meaning): "One in four trials that used to convert now don't — we're leaving roughly $X on the table each month."
  • Rule: if the sentence could be read off a dashboard, it's not a so-what yet. Push to the consequence.

Step 2: Name the Business Implication

Connect the finding to a metric, goal, or dollar figure the audience already cares about.

  • Translate the finding into the audience's currency: revenue, cost, retention, growth rate, risk, or time.
  • Quantify the implication where possible ("this is ~$X/month" or "at this rate we miss the annual target by Y%").
  • If the audience is a specific function, frame the implication in their terms (finance → margin; product → activation; marketing → CAC).

Step 3: Prescribe a Specific Recommendation

State one primary recommended action — an imperative, not an observation.

  • Format: "Recommend [specific action] by [owner or team] to [expected outcome]."
  • Make it decidable in one meeting — a leader should be able to say yes, no, or "not yet" without a follow-up study.
  • If more than one action is warranted, present a primary recommendation plus at most two secondary options, ranked.
  • Avoid hedging verbs ("consider," "explore," "look into") unless the finding is genuinely exploratory — then say so explicitly.

Step 4: Attach Expected Impact and Confidence

Give the recommendation a size and a certainty.

  • Expected impact: Quantify or bound it ("recover ~$X/month," "lift conversion 2–4 points"). If you can't quantify, state direction and magnitude ("meaningful," "marginal").
  • Confidence level — assign one and justify in a clause:
  • High: Large sample, consistent across segments/time, clear mechanism
  • Moderate: Solid signal but limited sample, short window, or one segment
  • Directional: Early or thin evidence — treat as a hypothesis to test
  • Be honest about confidence; a High-confidence label on thin data destroys trust faster than a modest finding.

Step 5: State the Cost of Inaction

Give the audience a reason this can't wait — or explicitly say it can.

  • One sentence: what continues to happen, compound, or worsen if no action is taken.
  • Tie it to the same currency as the business implication for consistency.

Step 6: Assemble the Recommendation Narrative

Compose the pieces into the headline-first structure — recommendation on top, evidence below, so a skimming reader gets the decision in the first two lines:

  1. Headline (the so-what + recommendation in one or two sentences)
  2. What we found (the finding, briefly, with the number)
  3. Why it matters (business implication)
  4. What we recommend (action + owner)
  5. Expected impact & confidence
  6. Cost of inaction

Calibrate language to the format target: tighten to 3–4 sentences for Slack/email; expand to full sections for a memo; convert to a one-line-per-bullet build for a slide.

Output Format

  • Structure: Headline-first — recommendation and so-what appear before supporting detail
  • Length: 150–350 words (Slack/email at the low end; decision memo at the high end)
  • Format: Structured narrative with bolded section labels; slide format converts sections to build bullets
  • Sections: Headline → What we found → Why it matters → What we recommend → Expected impact & confidence → Cost of inaction
  • Tone: Confident and plain-spoken — an analyst who has already done the thinking and is briefing a decision-maker, not walking through methodology

Quality Checklist

Before delivering output, verify:

  • [ ] The headline leads with meaning and a recommendation — not a metric readout
  • [ ] The business implication is stated in the audience's currency (revenue, cost, retention, risk, time)
  • [ ] The recommendation is a specific imperative with an owner — decidable in one meeting
  • [ ] A confidence level (High / Moderate / Directional) is assigned and justified in a clause
  • [ ] Expected impact is quantified or explicitly bounded, not left vague
  • [ ] Cost of inaction is stated in one sentence tied to the same currency

Notes

  • The single most common failure is stopping at Step 1 — describing the finding without prescribing an action. Always land on a recommendation.
  • Match confidence to evidence, not to how much you want the recommendation to land. A "Directional" label invites the right conversation ("let's test this") rather than false certainty.
  • For executive audiences, the headline and confidence level often carry the whole decision — write those two elements as if they're the only things that get read.
  • When a finding genuinely supports no action yet, the correct recommendation is "hold and monitor, revisit at [trigger]" — state it explicitly rather than manufacturing an action.

How to use this skill

This file is a Claude Code skill in Anthropic's standard format — markdown with YAML frontmatter at the top.

Installing in Claude Code:

  • ~/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads in every session anywhere on your machine (recommended for skills you'll use across multiple projects)
  • <your-project>/.claude/skills/<folder-name>/SKILL.md — auto-loads only when working in that project (recommended for project-specific skills)

Restart Claude Code or open a new session to register.

Using in Claude.ai, ChatGPT, Gemini, or other AI tools:

  1. Drag this file into a new chat, or copy and paste its contents
  2. Send your task or request as your next message — the AI will apply the skill where it fits

For Claude Code skill details: https://docs.anthropic.com/en/docs/claude-code/skills