Part 6: Data With Charts/Graphs

One of the most important things to consider when using charts in Excel is that they are intended to be used for communicating an idea to an audience. Your audience can be reading your charts in a written document or listening to you in a live presentation.

In fact, Excel charts are often imported or pasted into Word documents or PowerPoint slides, which serve this very purpose of communicating ideas to an audience. The thing to keep in mind is that if a chart is confusing – if the data isn;t simplified and makes easy visual sense, the chart won’t communicate well at all, but be a space waster. Know what you need your audience to visualize, and what your data is capable of expressing properly, in choosing chart/graph formats.

Although there are no rules set in stone for using specific charts for certain data types, some chart types are designed to communicate certain messages better than others. Excel has a recommended Chart/Graph part of the process to help you visualize how the data you have to work with can appear. This section explores numerous charts that can be used for a variety of purposes.