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.

  • Deciding on how to label column, bar, and line graphs

    On a graph that uses a measurement axis, like column, bar, and line graphs, one question that comes up is how the graph should be labelled. Should you use an axis, use data labels, or use both? The default in Excel and PowerPoint is to have the axis only. In this article I want to…… Continue reading

  • Clearer line graphs; Issue #352 December 7, 2015

    In my book Select Effective Visuals, I discuss that a line graph is the best visual to use when your message is to show the trend in a series of data. I also wrote a newsletter earlier this year on why line graphs are better than column graphs to show trends (click here to read…… Continue reading

  • Change at a pace your audience can handle; Issue #351 November 24, 2015

    Many business professionals have regular presentations they deliver. It could be a bi-weekly project update presentation in engineering, it could be the monthly financial summary to management, it could be weekly call center statistics, or it could be a monthly sales update. If you have been delivering this presentation for a while now, you have…… Continue reading

  • Math errors; Issue #350 November 10, 2015

    What does an audience think when they see a math error on a slide? Do they ignore it and trust the numbers the presenter is discussing? Or do they start to question all the numbers and wonder what other mistakes there might be? My experience is that they start to question the numbers they are…… Continue reading

  • AFP Exchange Magazine article

    Dave’s article in an upcoming AFP Exchange magazine (the monthly magazine published for members of the Association of Financial Professionals) is previewed in this extract. The full article was published in the March 2016 FP&A issue here. Continue reading

  • Column Graphs vs. Bar Charts – When to choose each one

    In my book Select Effective Visuals, I explain that there are many different visuals to use when comparing values in a single data series. The most common visuals are the column graph and the bar chart. They look like each other, just rotated 90 degrees. Does that mean that presenters can choose either one and…… Continue reading

  • Visual documents vs. Presentations; Issue #349 October 27, 2015

    After I published the results from my latest Annoying PowerPoint survey, I got two emails regarding the SlideShare deck that I created to summarize the results. Both emails expressed the same concern that the SlideShare had violated almost every rule I teach about effective presentations. One of the emails asked if it was some sort…… Continue reading

  • Dealing with quad charts; Issue #348 October 13, 2015

    For those of you not familiar with the term “quad chart”, it is a slide divided into four quadrants, as this example from NASA illustrates. (in case you are wondering, yes, that is the Comic Sans font because the template they use says that it should be the default for text in their quad charts)…… Continue reading

  • Re-emergence of donut charts; Issue #347 September 29, 2015

    Many data visualization experts like to rage against pie and donut charts. They make valid points about the mis-use of these charts by some presenters. But as I explained in my book Select Effective Visuals, pie and donut charts can be useful for showing how one segment compares to the total. Donut charts, in particular…… Continue reading

  • Axis or data labels; Issue #346 September 15, 2015

    On a graph that uses a measurement axis, like column, bar, and line graphs, one question that comes up is how the graph should be labelled. The default is to have the axis only. In my workshops I often show how data labels can help the audience more than the axis. One thing you don’t…… Continue reading