Slide Makeover #82: Showing trends as lines, not clustered columns

Slide Makeover #82:

Showing trends as lines,

not clustered columns

Based on Dave Paradi’s ideas at

www.ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com

I’ve recently seen a clustered

column graph used to show the

trend in multiple data series. Here’s

what a client slide looked like …

Call volume in five centers

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Syracuse Lexington Columbus Scranton Wilmington

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And here is how the Globe and

Mail newspaper in Canada used

this type of graph:

A clustered column graph is not a

good way to show trends in

multiple data series.

Call volume in five centers

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Syracuse Lexington Columbus Scranton Wilmington

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Columns force the audience

to mentally connect the

middle of the columns to see

the trend

Call volume in five centers

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Syracuse Lexington Columbus Scranton Wilmington

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The sets of columns are

spread apart, making it

harder to compare between

call centers

When your message is a trend in a

data series, use a line graph. Draw

the line for the audience, don’t

make them draw the line between

the columns.

When you have multiple data

series, use a multiple line graph so

it is easy to compare the trends to

each other.

Finally, trends should have a time

based axis, usually the horizontal

axis. Like this …

All call centers have seen

increasing volumes this year

Syracuse

Lexington

Columbus

Scranton

Wilmington

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The trends are easy to see over

the five month period of time and it

is easy to compare the different

call centers because they are close

to each other.

This is a standard line graph

created in PowerPoint. You can

create in Excel just the same way if

you’d like. Here are a couple of tips.

All call centers have seen

increasing volumes this year

Syracuse

Lexington

Columbus

Scranton

Wilmington

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200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

Jan Feb Mar Apr May

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Place the data on the tick

marks instead of between the

tick marks so the line takes up

the whole width of the graph

All call centers have seen

increasing volumes this year

Syracuse

Lexington

Columbus

Scranton

Wilmington

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

1800

Jan Feb Mar Apr May

Ave

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e c

alls

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Replace the legend with data labels on just

one of the data points. The last data point

works well here, but you can use any data

point if that fits better for your graph. This

article explains how to do this.

Before After

Lessons:

1. Use a line graph instead of a column graph to show a trend

2. Trends should usually have a time based horizontal axis

3. When comparing multiple data series, put the data close to each other

so it is easy to compare

Quick recap:

More makeovers available at www.SlideMakeoverVideos.com

If you would like me to help

your team create presentations

that have a clear message with

focused content and effective

visuals, get in touch:

P: 905-510-4911

E: [email protected]

W: www.ThinkOutsideTheSlide.com