An Overview of Excel Charts

Creating charts in Excel gives you the power to transform numbers into pictures that ultimately tell a story. All too often, charts are created “just because.” But charts can be the basis of decision making in business; effective charts can ultimately express a business’s current situation and future needs. In addition, charts presented and formatted properly can create impact. If done correctly, many charts can tell a story without any additional explanation. Also note, in many cases, less is better. Too much formatting can clutter the chart and deteriorate the intended message.

The interesting thing about Excel users I’ve noticed over the past years is how many of them spend their time. It’s generally broken out into four categories: