Microsoft Excel 101

Microsoft Excel 101© L. HONEYMAN 1999-2015

NOTE

This presentation is based on information and experiences in Microsoft Excel 2013. If you are using an earlier version of Excel, such as 2010 or 2007, you may see some differences in the general interface or the available features. The functionality in all these versions however is virtually the same.

The difference in versions may explain why you are seeing something on this presentation that you cannot experience yourself with your version of Microsoft Office.

In this presentation…

In this presentation we will be looking at:

- Making charts

- Calculating sums and averages

- SmartArt

Hope you enjoy learning about the common features of Microsoft Excel

Part 1 - Making Charts

While representing data in text is a common and easy method, charts offer more graphical views of such data. Using the charts function in Excel is an easy feature to use, and there are more features beyond the most commonly used ones.

For this example, we will be using the following data:

Gilbert Glass Profits – Q2 2015

April $11,965

May $10,348

June $10,607

Step 1

Firstly, open up a blank spreadsheet in Excel and copy the data (or your own data) into the top left corner of the document, as seen below:

Step 2

Next, highlight the data and click the ‘Insert’ tab in the Ribbon at the top of the screen.

Step 3You will see that next to the option ‘Recommended Charts’ there are a number of charts that you can choose from. For this type of data, the bar graph is the best way of representing the data in a graphical way. By clicking on this icon, it will bring up a number of different options. These different options are mainly visual changes, but all have the same functionality and appearance. I’m going to click on the first option, as you can see below.

Step 4Now you can see that a chart has appeared on the document. But if the appearance doesn’t move you, go to the ‘Design’ tab under ‘Chart Options’ on the Ribbon and choose between the different colours and formats that are available.

When you are satisfied with the presentation of your chart, you can either save it in Excel or copy it into a Word, Publisher or PowerPoint document, or attach it to a message on Outlook or another mail server.

NOTE: The ‘Chart Options’ tool will only appear when the chart itself is clicked on.

Part 2 - Calculating Sums And Averages

Everyone should have a good understanding of math equations and methods. But Excel takes the hassle of calculating data over and over again with a feature known as ‘AutoSum’. We will be looking at its different features over the course of Part 2.

The data we will be using is the following:

Kilometers Travelled per Day

Monday 356

Tuesday 412

Wednesday 737

Thursday 292

Friday 836

Saturday 526

Step 1

As it was in Part 1, the first thing you need to do is go to Excel and open a blank spreadsheet, the input your data or the example provided in this course.

Step 2

Next, highlight the numbers in the right column ONLY. Make sure that you also label the cell directly below the last number. This is where the result of the sum given will go. In the top-right corner of the screen, you will see an option labeled ‘AutoSum’. Click on the tiny arrow to the right of it, and you will see a list of options for you to use.

Step 3

If you wish to work out the SUM of the provided numbers or your own data, click the ‘Sum’ option.

If you wish to determine the AVERAGE of the provided data, click the ‘Average’ option.

Part 3 - SmartArt

An alternative to developing graphs, as we discovered in Part 1 is a feature called SmartArt. This was introduced in Microsoft Office 2007, so if you have that edition or one released since then, you’ll have it. This is available across the three main Office applications; Word, PowerPoint and of course, Excel. This is an easy feature to use and there are many different templates to use.

The example data for this part of the tutorial will be:

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Step 1

First open a blank Excel spreadsheet. Then click on the ‘Insert’ tab in the Ribbon at the top of the page.

Step 2

In the ‘Insert’ tab, you will see a option called ‘SmartArt’. Give it a click.

Step 3

When you click this option, you will see this dialogue box, with all different templates separated into different sections located on the left.

Step 4

To best represent the data provided, click on the ‘Relationship’ option and click on the following graphical template.

Step 5

The chosen graphic will then appear on your Excel spreadsheet. Using the data provided, we can then enter it into the graphic by the text bar to the left of the graphic.

Step 6

Like graphs, we can make changes to the appearance of the graphic. By clicking on the ‘Format’ option under ‘SmartArt Tools’, we can change the colour, format and more. Remember that the ‘SmartArt Tools’ option will only appear when the SmartArt graphic is clicked.

Conclusion

Thank you for watching this tutorial course on Microsoft Excel. I hope you have learned something out of watching and understanding the different features involved. If you want to let me know of any discrepancies or you have any comments, send them here:

[email protected]

Once again, thanks for watching!