Two weeks ago my newsletter focused on the massive changes we have all been going through due to the need to socially distance and so many people now working from home instead of an office. Today I want to share some resources and tips for those who have moved their presentations to a virtual platform…
Category: Newsletter Archives
Special COVID-19 update; Issue #461 March 31 2020
Since the last newsletter two weeks ago, so much has changed. Non-essential businesses are closed, we are asked to stay at home, and so many people have started working from home (something I’ve done for over twenty years). I hope that you and your family are following the guidance of local health authorities and staying…
Creating area graphs with Charticulator; Issue #460 March 17, 2020
What can you do if you want to create a chart but the values you have differ by an order of magnitude or more? If you use the standard column or bar graph, you risk the smaller values being virtually invisible because the chart is scaled to show the large values. In my customized workshops…
Creating non-standard shapes; Issue #459 March 3, 2020
In a previous newsletter I showed how using semi-transparent shapes to show categories or groups of items can help explain a complex diagram or image. In the example, I used rectangles because the groups of items were located neatly beside each other. What if the items you want to group are not in a neat…
Scaling values for related data series; Issue #458 February 18 2020
It is not uncommon that to communicate a message you need to show two or three related data series. It is relatively easy to create a single graph that has all the data series shown. The challenge comes when you have values in the data series that are different by an order of magnitude or…
Test slides when using video wall; Issue #457 February 4 2020
As more conference rooms move from using projectors to using monitors to display presentations, an issue is coming up in larger rooms. While a single large monitor will work in a small to medium sized room, it is too small for a medium to large sized room. To create a larger display, organizations install a…
Excel file name affects linking to PowerPoint; Issue #456 January 21 2020
In this newsletter I shared how one single character in an Excel file name caused linked cells and graphs in PowerPoint to fail. This is an article that I originally posted in my CreateExcelCharts sub-site here.
PowerPoint Presentation Best Practices Audit; Issue #455 January 7 2020
The start of a new year is a common time to evaluate where you are and what you want to improve to make this year better than the previous year. If you are looking to make more effective PowerPoint presentations in 2020, I suggest you start with my Effective PowerPoint Presentation Audit. In this audit…
Showing key phrases in social media posts; Issue #454 December 10 2019
As social media becomes more important in organizations, you may want to include social media posts in presentations and highlight key words or phrases. This can be a compliment you want to use to congratulate a team on an event or it could be a complaint that highlights a larger issue that needs to be addressed.…
The “last mile” in data analysis; Issue #453 November 12 2019
The “last mile” is a term that refers to delivering service all the way to the customer’s home, not just close by. It has been a significant challenge for companies like Amazon who deliver packages to people’s homes and for providers of high-speed internet. It is relatively easy to get a truckload of packages to…