What's the best way to use graphs during a PowerPoint presentation, you've heard me talk about this theme of two separate PowerPoints one that you're projecting, one that you're handing out or emailing it. Again, it's about how people actually use things in a particular environment. If you're in a room, listening to someone speak and there's a screen 1015 2050 feet away and you glance up, you're not going to sort of get out of your chair and look at the key of what every single element on a chart might mean. If someone's handing you a piece of paper, it's really interesting, you might turn look at it. So you've got to simplify if you're going to put a chart that you're projecting My advice is focus on just two relationships and one main variable you want people to focus on if profits have gone down 50% in the last 18 months, Let's just focus on where you were 18 months ago where you are today, or if it's doubled in the last six months.

Let's show where we were then show where we are now where people can clearly see a doubling and then explain the one most significant reason why. The problem many people have is they want to show a chart that shows monthly revenues every month for the last three years and do all sorts of color codes and all sorts of text. And that just isn't how people process information. Looking at a screen while someone else is turning the page. Keep that complex graph. For the email for the handout.

The one that you're showing needs to be simplified rule of thumb I use no more than two relationships and focus on one one main idea that you want them to Take away from that chart.