{"id":22891,"date":"2011-07-20T09:33:14","date_gmt":"2011-07-20T14:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/?p=22891"},"modified":"2011-07-20T09:33:14","modified_gmt":"2011-07-20T14:33:14","slug":"powerpoint-tips-creating-charts-that-keep-your-audience-awake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pcmatic.com\/blog\/powerpoint-tips-creating-charts-that-keep-your-audience-awake\/","title":{"rendered":"PowerPoint Tips: Creating Charts that Keep Your Audience Awake"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Ellen Finkelstein<\/p>\n

Graphs (called charts in PowerPoint) are an important part of many presentations, especially ones with financial data. In this tip, I include the basics for creating a readable, effective graph.<\/p>\n

For a special technique, read another tip, ” Push PowerPoint charting options to the limit<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

First, some basic steps:<\/p>\n

  • 1.<\/b> Make sure that your data is not too complex. Often, you can split one chart into two to make the point more clearly.<\/li>\n
  • 2.<\/b> Choose the right chart type! Data that is appropriate for a column chart usually doesn’t work with a pie chart, and vice versa.<\/li>\n
  • 3.<\/b> It’s often useful to add an arrow or callout to the chart to point out important data or trends.<\/li>\n

    Know that PowerPoint’s default formatting is never acceptable. That’s right, never. So you might as well learn how to change the formatting. Here you see the default chart using the blank template in PowerPoint 2003.<\/p>\n

    \"\"
    \n
    <\/p>\n

    Here are the problems:<\/p>\n