Ravindra BagaleCourses & study guides मराठी Track your progress

20. Dynamic Text and Dynamic Colour (Conditional Formatting)

20.4 Text Box with Dynamic Values and Smart Narrative

By Last updated:

Start with a problem

Zoya wants a sentence at the top: This FY, 8 orders brought ₹2,100. – and it must update with slicers.

Explain simply

A text box can include dynamic values: type text, then insert a value from a measure. The value follows the page filters.

Show the data

KPI Value Hand calculation
Total Sales ₹2,100 400+200+300+150+450+250+350+0
Orders 8 301 to 308
Delivered orders 7 all except 308
AOV ₹300 2,100 ÷ 7
% under 10 min 42.9% 3 ÷ 7 (301, 304, 305)
Cancellation rate 12.5% 1 ÷ 8

About this data: This table uses columns: KPI, Value, Hand calculation. This table uses columns: Slicer, Sentence. This table uses columns: Wrong result, Reason, Correction. Values shown are the lesson examples already on this page (not a new dataset).

Fictional sample data. Practice file: visuals_orders_apr_may_2026.csv (source: src/practice/).

Demonstrate

  1. Insert › Text box › type This FY,
  2. Click + Value › type or choose Total Orders › Save.
  3. Continue orders brought › + Value › Total Sales.
  4. Select Nashik in the slicer.

Show the result

Your result should look like this (fictional sample):

Slicer Sentence
None This FY, 8 orders brought ₹2,100.
Nashik This FY, 3 orders brought ₹800.

Explain what happened

Each inserted value is a measure evaluated with the page filters.

Explore further

  • Smart narrative can generate sentences automatically, but check its wording.

Detailed reference for this lesson:

Steps in Power BI – text box with values

  1. Insert › Text box. Type: "This period, total orders were ".
  2. Click + Value on the text box toolbar. In How would you calculate this value? type or pick Total Orders. Set its Format and Name › Save.
  3. Continue typing: " with an average delivery time of ", then + Value › Avg Delivery Time (mins), and " minutes."
  4. The values update with slicers. Format fonts as usual.

Smart narrative / Narrative: Insert › Smart narrative (in newer versions, the Narrative visual, with Copilot where available and enabled). It generates a text summary of the page or visual, with key trends and values. You can edit the text and add your own values with + Value. Always read the generated text before publishing.

A measure-based narrative (full control):

Narrative Text =
"In " & [Selected Cities] & ", " & FORMAT([Total Orders], "#,##0") & " orders were delivered in "
& FORMAT([Avg Delivery Time (mins)], "0.0") & " minutes on average; "
& FORMAT([% Orders Delivered Under 10 Mins], "0.0%") & " arrived within 10 minutes."

Show it in a Card (Callout value) or a Card (new) with the category label off.

Ravindra Bagale's Tip

Friends, many students type a number into a text box and forget to update it next month. Insert dynamic values (measures) into the text box so the sentence updates with the data, and review the text of smart narratives before publishing. Never forget this.

Fix common mistakes

Wrong result Reason Correction
Value shows 2100 without ₹ Measure format not set Format the measure as ₹
+ Value missing Older version Use a card with a text measure
Sentence ignores slicer Interaction off Check Edit interactions

Practise independently

Practice task

What does the sentence show for Kolhapur?

Hints
  • 2 orders.
Solution

This FY, 2 orders brought ₹450.

Think like a professional

One plain sentence often communicates better than three charts. Executives read the top line first.

Ravi Sir's Cards for this lesson

Text box with dynamic values and smart narrative. A one-line summary helps busy managers.Revision card

मराठी cards