Goodwill Community Foundation creating
opportunities for a better life
data in PowerPoint sometimes a chart is
just what you need to show the meaning
behind the numbers in this video we're
going to look at some of the different
types of charts and also some ways that
you can customize them to best represent
your data column charts are good
all-around charts they work with many
different types of data whereas line
charts are best for showing trends over
time pie charts are unique because they
let you see your data in proportion
instead of on a graph we also have the
bar chart which is basically just a
column chart turned on its side and
finally area charts which are similar to
line charts except the areas under the
lines are filled in to create a chart go
to the insert tab then click the chart
command and a list of choices will
appear I think I'll start with something
in the column category this one looks
nice and simple click OK and then
something interesting happens PowerPoint
will open a spreadsheet similar to what
you'll find in Excel where you can start
entering your data all you have to do is
type your information over the
placeholder text and PowerPoint will
update the chart in your presentation
see how it works now we just need to
our sales figures we're going to be
covering the last five years from 2008
to 2012 anything you want to include in
your chart has to be inside this little
blue box but don't worry it'll expand
automatically as you continue to type
next to save some time we're going to
copy and paste the rest of the data from
an existing worksheet in Excel this
option is great if you already have your
data recorded elsewhere all you have to
do is go to the worksheet in Excel and
copy the data you want to use next go
back to your presentation and paste it
here by pressing ctrl V on your keyboard
and PowerPoint will update the chart
automatically when you're done click the
X to close the spreadsheet window you
can also give your chart a title if you
want to go back to the check
changes or Corrections click the Edit
data command on the design tab and the
window will open again charts are
designed to help you illustrate your
point just like illustrations in a book
therefore things like color layout and
chart type really do matter for example
right now the columns are grouped by
genre but I'm more interested in taking
a look at trends over time that means we
need to group the data by year instead
luckily we don't have to start over just
make sure you have the Edit data window
open you can move it if you need to then
click the chart to select it next click
the command that says switch row /
column and that's all it takes
see how the chart has been rearranged
basically the years and the genres have
switched places you can always
experiment with this to see which option
is going to work best if you want to try
a different chart altogether click the
change chart type command on the far
right of the tab then pick something
else from the dialog box I think I'll go
with a line chart this time line charts
work
for data like this for example we can
see right away that sci-fi and fantasy
had an unusually good year in 2008 and
also that romance novels are starting to
catch up in sales if you want you can
change the chart style to give your
chart a different look as you can see
you have several different options to
choose from you can also change the
chart layout itself just go to the quick
layout command and make a selection from
the menu not all of these options will
work for the data you're working with
just keep going until you find something
you like why don't we go with something
like this you can make further
adjustments using the chart elements
shortcut just look for the button with
the plus sign here you can add or remove
elements from your chart depending on
your preferences or you can click the
arrow to the right to access even more
options charts are a great choice for
presenting numerical data in PowerPoint
and also enhancing your presentations
with so many design options to choose
from you can achieve exactly the look
you want
you