Bar Graphs and Presentations

Let’s make business reporting simple again. In the age of information, many of us are experiencing information overload. There is such a thing as gathering and presenting too much data, and the business world struggles to present information in a rich, powerful, and stimulating manner without crossing the information overload threshold. Remember when you were young and just conquering the skill of reading. Sure reading was fun, and our minds processed a lot of information from the words that we read, but didn’t the illustrations in the books have a more lasting affect? The old saying reminds us a picture is worth a thousands words. We can use words to describe a situation, but a picture really encapsulates the ideas we are trying to get across.

We can apply this lesson to the business world. When presenting information to a conference room full of business professionals we are eager to first obtain, and then retain their attention. This can be achieved through pictures. Now, I am not suggesting that you take your doodling and add it to your presentation, but what I am suggesting is that you make better use of custom charts such as bar graphs and bar charts in your presentation.

Bar charts and bar graphs can offer a simple, but meaningful representation of the information you are trying to relay to your audience. Bar graphs can leave a more lasting impression in the minds of your audience members than a slide offering a comparison of quantified data. For instance, when you see a bar chart, what jumps out at you first? For most people the tallest bar is the bar that is noticed first. You might also notice the shortest bar rather quickly as it stands out as well. In all likelihood, as a presenter you are hoping the eyes of your audience members will gravitate to the extreme ends of the spectrum, either the tall bar or the short bar on the bar chart. Now that you have captured the audiences’ attention and directed it towards the information you wanted to discuss, you are free to continue with your presentation.

Or perhaps you want to use your bar graphs in another manner. Rather than emphasize really high sales or really low variable costs, you wish to show an increasing sales trend. In this scenario, your bar chart would represent your monthly sales across a certain time period. Upon presenting the bar chart, it would be clear to the audience that sales had increased substantially each month from January to August. Again, by using bar graphs you have painlessly grabbed the attention of the audience, directed it toward the topic you wanted to discuss and now you can make the points that are important to you.

When using bar graphs in your presentation, be sure to keep a few things in mind. Label the bar chart clearly so the audience doesn’t spend all its time trying to figure out what the bars represent. Make your bar charts vibrant – use strong colors to make bars of interest standout and soft subdued colors to make the other bars less conspicuous. Keep the information represented by the bar graphs as relevant as possible. Just because you have a beautiful bar chart doesn’t mean it should be used in your presentation. If you have created bar charts that will enhance your presentation then incorporate them into the presentation, otherwise leave them alone. Most importantly, be creative with your visualizations and have fun. Your audience will enjoy your presentation more and come away having learned everything you hoped they would.

A Guideline in Creating a PowerPoint Presentation

PowerPoint is one of the most popular slideshow presentation software used by computer users in the world. This program allows you to create presentation slides that could be viewed on any computer. Through the setting in this certain program, you can develop attractive and readable slides for you and for your audience. Here are some valuable steps to help you develop or create attractive slideshow.

First, find the PowerPoint program in your computer system and open it. You will see dialog box after you open the program. Find the option of Blank Presentation and click it.

Second, you have to find a format of AutoLayout. Then you can start working on the layout of the title slides by clicking OK in the large box. Write the title of your presentation here. Then, do the same thing in the smaller box. However, you will write subtitle here instead of the title itself.

Third, you can continue to the next slide. You just need to click the button of Common Tasks toolbar to have the new slide for content. You can choose the layout for the slide by choosing one from some options that you can simply find in the dialog box of AutoLayout. You can keep adding new slides until you can hold all material until for your presentation on them.

Fourth, you can continue to check and edit your work. You can move from a certain slide to another by clicking the button that you can find on the lower-right corner of the PowerPoint window. Move from slide to slide by clicking the button on the lower-right corner of the PowerPoint window. The upward-pointing arrows allow you to take a look at the previous slide, while the downward-pointing arrows will bring you to the next slide.

Fifth, you can save your slides if you have done checking all of them. To save your file, you can click the button File in the menu and choose Save As. You will see dialog box that requires you type a certain name for your slide. The file will be saved to the hard drive of your computer.

Now you are ready to use your slides for your presentation. Preparing anything well before deliver your materials will be perfect to do.

Speeches and Presentations – Guidelines on How to Say it Best

Everyone can find the right words – all it takes is practice and some guidelines to help you structure an effective presentation.

Firstly, and most importantly, start with the end in mind. Set aside enough time to determine your purpose and intention in preparing and presenting your speech. Your purpose may be to entertain, to educate, to inform, to persuade or even a combination of the fore mentioned. A clearly defined purpose is a blueprint or a template that structures a meaningful and focused speech.

Your second step to finding the right words will be to brainstorm the topic by spontaneously writing down your keyword ideas.

The third step is the planning phase. People tend to rush through this important phase, but it is time well spent. Plan your speech here. You may wish to use a mind-map, a flow chart or even a horizontal plot-line to help structure your thoughts. Concentrate on the introduction, the development of the body of your speech and finally the conclusion.

These three phases can be likened to a sausage dog. Picture a sausage dog in your mind.

The head is your introduction. It should introduce your topic, capture your audience’s attention and lead the audience into the purpose of the presentation. Remember, that the sausage dog’s head is relatively small in comparison the rest of its body – so short, pertinent and gripping work well here.

The introduction is followed by the body of your address. A visual reminder is the long body of the sausage dog. This section of your speech should consist of four or five paragraphs that individually develop a different aspect of your speech, but at the same time are all linked to a common purpose – pretty much like the body of our dog.

Finally, the tail – possibly with a twist or a loop? The conclusion should sum up your speech. It may tie up loose ends, finalize an argument or highlight the end of your speech. Either way, your audience should clearly see that this is the end of your speech, just like the tail is the end of our dog!

It is only now that the planning phase is over, that you will choose your words to achieve your initial aim and the purpose of writing your speech.

This is the easy part. There are so many resources out there to help you to find the right words to say it best. The Internet, book stores, friends, magazines and libraries are all invaluable resources at your disposal. Finding the resources is relatively easy, but it is very important that you personalize the content.