Before the inception of Microsoft PowerPoint in our organizations, data visualization and presentation were quite a tough undertaking. But once people realized Microsoft PowerPoint’s usefulness, it has been a mainstay in creating data visualization and presentations. The only problem that most organizations face with PowerPoint presentations is how to make the most of a PowerPoint slide.
Creating a PowerPoint presentation can be quite challenging, even more so when dealing with an Excel spreadsheet. Therefore, this post is designed to help you learn how you can make the most of PowerPoint charting. However, first, you must learn what charts and graphs are and how to use charts and graphs in your presentation.
What Are Charts and Graphs?
Charts and graphs are mainly designed to enable you to communicate your data on a slide as they give your audience the meaning behind the numbers. Also, charts and graphs make explaining and understanding trends and comparisons much easier. A good example of these charts is the Gantt chart; a bar chart used to illustrate a project’s schedule. Gantt charts have been around for quite a while and were named after their popularizer, Henry Gantt.
How To Use Charts and Graphs in Your PowerPoint Presentation
As you now know, Microsoft PowerPoint is the best option for creating PowerPoint presentations given its abundance of data visualization tools like pie charts and bar charts. In addition, it has data labels. With such an abundance of options, the Microsoft PowerPoint app allows you to create a Gantt chart and an organizational chart. So, here’s how you can use charts and graphs in your PowerPoint presentation.
- Open your PowerPoint file
- Click on the insert tab at the top of the Microsoft PowerPoint window and right-click to select the chart.
- Once on the chart tab, you can click on the chart type of your choice given the options available. The chart options include pie charts, bar charts, column charts, and stock charts.
- Once you have chosen the chart type of your choice, a worksheet will appear from where you’ll replace the placeholder data with your data. The worksheet might be an excel chart, excel spreadsheet, or multiple excel documents, or it might be google slides with excel data
- When editing the information, you can use the chart elements button to hide, format, and show details like data labels and axis titles. These details are located in the top right corner of the chart. To change the style and color of the chart, use the chart styles button. The design tab also presents you with other options.
How To Make the Most of PowerPoint Charting
Currently, data visualization is the way to go when creating any organizational chart. Therefore, when you are creating any organization charts, it’s imperative that you maximize the luxuries offered to you by both the charts and graphs availed to you by Microsoft PowerPoint. Here are some measures you can take to ensure you get the most out of PowerPoint charts.
Avoid Complexity and Reduce Clutter
When creating an organizational chart or any PowerPoint presentation, you must always avoid clattering and making the chart more complex. Charts are designed to be data visualization; therefore, they should be easy to read and understand. So, always avoid using decorative clip art, use consistent labeling, colors and, if possible, you can eliminate the vertical axis all together
Optimize And Organize Your Data
Before you begin creating charts or graphs, always ensure that your data is organized and sorted. You can do this in an Excel file or Google slides.
Use The Colors Strategically
Since graphs and charts are data visualization tools, you should ensure that your PowerPoint presentation is visible. This begins by using your colors strategically by choosing visible and bright colors.
Be Creative
Microsoft PowerPoint gives you a wide variety of chart types you can pick from, so don’t just stick to a single chart type for the whole PowerPoint presentation; switch it up. Also, creating an organization chart on a PowerPoint slide offers you the chance to customize your graphs and charts, so don’t be afraid to explore your creativity genes
Always State the Obvious
When creating org charts, always ensure that the data it represents reflects excel data or google slides. This is helpful since it makes it easier for your audience to grasp whatever it is that you are presenting to them.
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