Category: PowerPoint

Finding How-to’s for PowerPoint

When I present my PowerPoint training, I am often asked where people can find additional tips and help for creating their PowerPoint presentations. Here is a website to add to your resource list.

Dave Paradi has created a great list of PowerPoint resources, including videos, FAQ’s, technical help experts and support.

Enjoy!

3D can distort the truth – using graphs in PowerPoint

Here is a simple exercise for you:

Have a look at this slide, and decide which slice of the pie is the largest. You will probably agree that it is either the red or the orange slice (Apple or RIM). OK, now decide what percentage of the pie Apple and RIM hold.

Slide1

Of the people that I have shown this slide to, most have guessed that either

  1. Apple is larger or
  2. RIM is larger, but not by much

Everybody was surprised to see that RIM (39%) is almost double the size of Apple (20%) – everybody was fooled by the distortion created by the 3D effect on the graph.

Have a look at this slide. Now, it is quite clear that RIM is much bigger. So, when using 3D in your presentations, please have a careful look at the slides and check that you are not distorting the truth.

Slide2

Note: the above data is not real data – it was just used to illustrate my point.

A picture speaks 1000 words – using graphs in PowerPoint

Sometimes we need to present complex data in our PowerPoint presentations. There are two ways to do this.

  1. Confuse your audience with the data
  2. Simplify the data into an easy to understand format

One of the easiest ways to turn data into a simplified format is to convert tables of raw data into clear graphs.

Have a look at the below table which contains one month of exchange rate figures.

Exchangeratetable

What does the table tell you? Unless you are very used to looking at that sort of data, not much. Can you see the trends? How about the peaks and troughs?

Now, have a look at this picture.

Exchangerategraph

Now what do you see? Does it look a bit more simple? Is it less overwhelming? Does it give you a better idea of what the data is really doing? Remember that it is exactly the same data, just presented differently.

Converting any table of data into a graph is a very effective manner to simplify it, and to make it more accessible to your audience. Here are four tips for creating a graph:

  1. Make the data and lines clear and easy to read
  2. Minimize use of 3D – it can clutter the graph
  3. Only show data that is relevant – don’t display loads of data lines
  4. Clearly hi light points of interest (eg the max and min values above)

Of course, the usual rules still apply – make sure that your slides are clear and easy to read. Let’s look at this last slide.

Exchangeratebad

Spot the problems:

  1. The axis labels are too small to read
  2. The 3D does not add to the graph
  3. The graph line is difficult to read
  4. The graph is bunched up in the top of the screen – the bottom is wasted real-estate

Please – don’t ever create a graph like that!

Remember – make your slides as clear and simple as possible!