Microsoft Excel: Themes, Objects, and Graphics

Name: Microsoft Excel: Themes, Objects, and Graphics
Author: Bob Akbar

Learning when to use the proper visual representation of data

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Course: On-Demand

Hello, my name is Bob Akbar, and in these lessons, you will learn themes, objects, and graphics. Then we'll conclude of data in column charts, inserting objects and themes, and graphs. Let's get started. As we will notice, we have a couple of data tables here. We have totals, median, maximum, minimum, as well as our data chart. And we want to display the results, however, we want to give something a little more visually pleasing and easier to understand for our presentation here. So we're going to highlight the table that we want. We're going to go to Insert. You will notice, there's a bunch of recommended charts to pick from, as well as manual charts. We are looking at the column or bar charts, which are the most easy to interpret. Some of the other options you have are two dimensional and three dimensional lines, stack lines, sunbursts, and we are going to do our bar chart first. A two dimensional chart is the typical. Now if you notice, as we do this, it does give us a preview of what the chart is going to look like underneath. My preference is a simple, simple chart of a clustered columns chart. And here we are. Excel is kind enough to give us the sales, the person, and the dollar amounts. Now there are a few options that we can add to this, and I recommend that we take the time to explore and see which one of these is proper for you. So we can add on the plus, and we can add the axes or we can put titles. So let's do that one first. And all you have to do is just click inside the box and you can edit what the title is. So we are going to do salesperson and amount. And there we are. Now we have the amounts in there. What if we wanted to change the title of the whole chart? Same thing. And there we are. Sales total for each salesperson. Once the chart is done, you see the four-way arrow, just like any other Microsoft Office product. You can click on it, hold your mouse button, and move your chart around. You will notice on the right hand side, there is something that popped in that gives us fills and borders. And you can play with these, especially if you're using different mediums for displaying this, whether it's a laptop screen or a projector, you will have different ways that this will appear on the screen. And this is a good place when you're practicing it prior to the demonstration, you actually get this up on the screen and you change your dash types, your compound types, your colors, and so forth. So you can see exactly what things look like. And you can see, there's all different kinds of fill. Once again, it is highly recommended that you do this prior to the presentation, depending on if you're showing it in a laptop screen or on a projector and in different rooms, because these are the settings that will make the difference for brightness and transparency and so forth. Thank you for watching. Stay tuned for the next lesson, where I will show you how to insert objects and themes.

Intermediate Provider : Bob Akbar 3 Lessons · 12m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

Have you ever been stuck in a boring presentation or received a file that was long, boring, and difficult to understand the purpose of? This happens frequently, especially when data is involved. After all, these are just numbers on a sheet. The more data there is, the more it tends to be confusing or lacking purpose. Even when summary tables are shown, what do they mean? Most users miss the opportunity to properly present their data and analytics to their audience.

When you learn the proper methods to use themes for your tables, you will have taken the first step towards a more professional presentation. Data in raw format is nothing more than a long list of items. It does not give your audience a proper understanding of the analytics. By knowing which types of visual representations make sense to an audience, then you are able to define your results clearly to your audience. Not only will you appreciate them understanding your hard work, but they will also appreciate your presentation skills with Excel.

What You'll Learn

Identify data and column charts in Excel
Define objects and insert them into your spreadsheets
Recognize the use and customization of themes for your tables
Recognize graphs and their related options
Apply visual representations that help an audience understand your data

Key Takeaways

Data in raw format is just a long list of items and does not give an audience a proper understanding of the analytics.
Using themes for your tables is the first step toward a more professional presentation of your data.
Choosing the right types of visual representations lets you define your results clearly to your audience.
Properly presenting data and analytics helps an audience appreciate both the work and your Excel presentation skills.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will this course teach me to do in Excel?

It teaches you to identify data and column charts, define objects, recognize the use and customization of themes, and recognize graphs and their related options.

Who is this course for?

It is for Excel users who want to move beyond raw data lists and present their data and analytics more professionally so their audience can clearly understand the results.

What topics or lessons are covered?

The course covers Data in Column Chart, Inserting Objects, and Graphs.

What skills will I build?

You will build skills in Microsoft Excel, spreadsheets, data presentation, data visualization, information visualization, and visual analytics.

Why does the course emphasize themes and visual representations?

Because data in raw format is just a long list of items; using themes and the right visual representations lets you define your results clearly and present your data more professionally to an audience.