No matter what area of an organization you work in, you are likely involved in projects. They may be called initiatives or some other term, but they have a clear goal, specific deliverables, and tasks that need to be done to complete the project. You will have to report on your progress to a steering…
Author: Dave Paradi
Dave Paradi has over twenty-two years of experience delivering customized training workshops to help business professionals improve their presentations. He has written ten books and over 600 articles on the topic of effective presentations and his ideas have appeared in publications around the world. His focus is on helping corporate professionals visually communicate the messages in their data so they don't overwhelm and confuse executives. Dave is one of fewer than ten people in North America recognized by Microsoft with the Most Valuable Professional Award for his contributions to the Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams communities. His articles and videos on virtual presenting have been viewed over 4.8 million times and liked over 17,000 times on YouTube.
Process/sequence diagrams with many steps; Issue #415 May 29, 2018
Sometimes you may have to discuss a process or sequence that has many steps. It is a good idea to show a process using a sequence diagram such as a shapes and arrow diagram. The challenge when you have many steps is fitting them all on the slide. Here is an example based on a…
FinancialViz Makeover: Putting comparisons side-by-side
Launch of FinancialViz.com; Issue #414 May 15, 2018
Too often financial results or analysis are reported using spreadsheets or paragraphs of text. I have worked for a number of years helping professionals in finance, treasury, and other areas use visuals to effectively communicate important messages. Often the most impactful part of my customized workshops or conference sessions are the real-world examples I show.…
1.5-day workshop for Utility (May 9-10, 2019, Lincoln, NE)
Customized 1.5-day workshop for professionals and management covering planning a presentation, focusing the message, and creating effective visuals. The session includes slide makeovers of their own slides to reinforce the ideas. The last part of the session is hands-on practice creating the effective visuals they saw earlier in the session.
Comparing growth in Sales and Expense categories over time; Slide Makeover #92
Use an index line graph to compare trends in different data series using a common starting point
FinancialViz: Comparing Revenue & Profit in lines of business
This makeover shows a way to compare the revenue and profit from multiple lines of business
Capitalization of Headlines; Issue #413 May 1, 2018
After my customized workshops, one of the key take-aways people say they will implement is to write headlines for their slides instead of titles. A headline is a summary of the key message you want the audience to understand from this slide. It forces you to be clear on that message and restricts you to…
MNAFP Conference (April 30, 2019, Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN)
At the Minnesota Association for Financial Professionals Conference I will be delivering a session titled FinancialViz: Visually communicate financial results and analysis. You can see all of the conference sessions and register here.
Comparing Revenue components to previous year; Slide Makeover #91
Use a “steps to a total” graph instead of a spreadsheet to explain the components of total revenue