Category: slide makeovers

Graph Makeover by Andy Arrow

February 15, 2012 | By | 1 Comment

This is a great graph makeover by presentation designer Andy Arrow. The ideas expressed in this video are the foundational stuff of great graphs.   Some main principles 1. Clarify the graph’s main message in the title 2. Take what’s important and move it higher on the slide 3. Use colors to highlight what’s important [...]

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Table Makeover: How Do I Avoid that Checkerboard Effect?

January 9, 2012 | By | 3 Comments

It’s easy to create tables in PowerPoint. But it takes some thought and design skills to create a really attractive and effective table. In this blog article, I want to show you some principles for creating better tables. This post was inspired by instructional designer Craig Hadden at Remote Possibilities, who asked for my comments on [...]

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Graph Makeover – Chart of the Day, How Email Use is Changing

December 7, 2011 | By | 3 Comments

The measure of a chart is how quickly it conveys the message while being visually pleasing. Conveying the message is, of course, the main point of the chart. Visually pleasing is also important because it enhances your credibility. Here’s the Chart of the Day from Silicon Alley Insider. As an educational exercise, let’s critique this [...]

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Graph Makeover – Great Graphs Don’t Just Happen

November 29, 2011 | By | 6 Comments

Here’s a terrific post at the Forbes.com blog by Naomi Robbins, using a graph makeover to show that great graphs require thought; they don’t just happen.  I loved Naomi’s advice, but I saw room for additional improvement. As an educational exercise to help you build your data visualization muscles, I offer below my suggestions. First, here is the original graph, used [...]

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Slide Makeover – John Boehner’s Debt Ceiling Deck

August 3, 2011 | By | 5 Comments

The U.S. voted to increase the debt ceiling and now John Boehner’s PowerPoint deck, explaining the plan, is already drawing traffic tickets from the PowerPoint vigilantes online. Infractions so far: use of bullet points, use of a blue background and no pictures. Actually, the deck has a lot going for it. There’s nothing wrong with [...]

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