Build a Motion story that plays a chart through time
Anyone who can edit the dashboard · Updated 8 Nov 2026
A Motion story is a deck where one chart plays through time, with captions that narrate what changes. Pick Motion as the page structure of a slide deck. It needs a date column; without one, the Motion card is disabled:
| Motion card shows |
|---|
| "Needs a date field — this dataset doesn't have one." |
Set up a Motion story
- Switch the format to Slides and pick Motion as the page structure.
- Under Design → Format, use the Motion chart picker to pick a chart type. A type that doesn't fit your data shows why, for example "Needs a location column".
- Click the narration on the canvas to open the Motion story panel ("Narration that paces the playhead").
Motion story panel options
| Group | Controls |
|---|---|
| Chart | Bar, Bars, Ranking, Line race, Bubble, Scatter, Map, Globe, Treemap, Surface. Unavailable types say what they need (a date, category, location or number column, or two category columns). |
| Data | Measure (or X axis, Y axis and Size for bubble and scatter), Breakdown and 2nd breakdown. |
| Timeline | Date column, Granularity, Each frame shows (Auto, Running total: everything up to that date, Each period, or Rolling: the last three periods together), and Plays From / To or Full range. It shows how many frames the story has. |
| Storytelling | Follow (one entity, or "Nobody — show everyone"), Start speed (0.5×, 1×, 2×, 4×), Pause on key moments, Same time last year (needs at least a year of data), Camera, Show trails and Show legend (bubble and scatter only), 3D depth, a size control (Small, Medium, Large), and Date label (Automatic, Centre watermark, With narration, Hidden). |
| Events | Add event with an Event date and a short Event text (up to 80 characters), for example "Price change". Delete event removes it. An event outside the story's dates won't show. |
| Narration | Beats. Each beat covers a stretch of time (from and to) and has a caption: what the viewer should watch. Use Add beat, Move beat up, Move beat down and Delete beat. |
The value chips in captions are locked to your data: edit the words, not the numbers.
To share a published Motion story as a video, use Share as video. See Publish and share a dashboard.
Limits
- Motion stories need a date column. Same time last year needs at least a year of data.
- Motion events: up to 80 characters of text.
- A cover isn't offered on Motion boards.
Related
- Edit a slide deck: the other deck types.
- Publish and share a dashboard: Share as video.
- Dashboard chart types: the charts behind the Motion picker.
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