Latest posts

Below are the most recent articles or resources I’ve published. If you are looking for help on a specific topics, it would best to look at the topics in my Articles archive as I have grouped my recent and best articles by topic there.

  • “Torn paper” look for non-zero axis; Issue #436 April 2 2019

    In my Twitter feed I saw a number of well respected data visualization experts liking a recent article by RJ Andrews for the Data Visualization Society. In it he talks about the issue of starting the axis of a graph at a value other than zero. This is a common topic in the dataviz world…… Continue reading

  • FinancialViz Makeover: Comparing multiple characteristics; Issue #435 March 19 2019

    The latest FinancialViz makeover video I posted illustrates a situation we can often find ourselves in. We are comparing items to each other and we want to show multiple characteristics of the items to make our point. In this example from the November 2018 issue of the Globe and Mail Report on Business magazine, the…… Continue reading

  • Matching Excel charts to a PowerPoint color scheme; Issue #434 March 5 2019

    If you create a graph in Excel, how do you get the colors to match the organization’s PowerPoint template? The two most common approaches are: 1) spend time typing in the RGB values for the correct colors into Excel for every graph, or 2) ignore the desire to make the colors match because of the…… Continue reading

  • Showing future differences; Issue #433 February 19 2019

    When we want to show the impact of a proposed change, one of the ways we can do it is to show a line graph of the current state and the proposed state with a shaded area between the two to emphasize the difference. This is much better than the default table of values that…… Continue reading

  • Comparing only one value to a standard; Issue #432 February 5 2019

    When you want to compare values to a standard, such as comparing output in various production plants to the goal, a dashed line on a column graph is a good visual to use. The dashed line runs across the graph and it is easy to see if each column is above or below the goal.…… Continue reading

  • Showing difference with diverging bars; Issue #431 January 22 2019

    To see how well we are doing in the current year, we compare this year’s results to last year’s results and to the budget we set at the start of the year. Too often presenters show a spreadsheet of the numbers and expect the audience to figure out the result. My latest slide makeover video…… Continue reading

  • Showing difference between this year and last year/budget; Slide Makeover #93

    Visually show variances: This Year compared to Last Year and Budget To see how well we are doing this year, we compare this year’s results to last year’s results and to the budget we set at the start of the year. Too often we show a spreadsheet of the numbers and expect the audience to…… Continue reading

  • Ten steps you can take to improve your PowerPoint presentations in 2019; Issue #430 January 8 2019

    It is the start of a new year and people often take this opportunity to consider what changes they will make to improve their lives. In this article I share ten steps you can take to improve your PowerPoint presentations this year. Step 1: Adopt a new philosophy Instead of doing things the way you’ve…… Continue reading

  • Making presentations more accessible; Issue #429 December 11 2018

    Last week I was working with an organization who has a library of graphics that they encourage their staff to use. This gives a consistency to the look of their presentations. Each graphic represents a specific role, service, or element of their business. When I was reviewing the graphics, I noticed that the graphics did…… Continue reading

  • Bar charts with long category labels; Issue #428 November 27 2018

    How do we create graphs with category labels that contain a lot of text? If you are comparing values to each other, a column graph can get tricky since Excel and PowerPoint will turn the text at an angle and cut off labels that are really long. This makes it very hard for the audience…… Continue reading