A dominant trend in the presentation world is the insertion of data from excel sheets directly into presentation slides. Using tables and spreadsheets in presentation slides is not that uncommon. It is much better to use visuals instead of a table. You can explain numbers to the audience while showing them a table, but it will be difficult for many people to visualize that information. Many people use charts and graphs in their presentations for this reason.

Taking Graphs and Charts to Another Level

Using graphs is better than using tables. It is better to use a pie chart instead of showing percentages, and a line chart is ideal for showing changing trends. But, there is a way to take your graphs and charts one step further by using animation.

When you present a graph in a PowerPoint slide, the whole thing appears all at once. You can make portions of a graph appear as you start talking about them.

How Animated Graphs Might Appear

In case of a pie chart, you can make each wedge appear as you discuss it. You can also choose to make wedges appear in a group. For a line chart, you can choose to make trends appear in the order that you want to mention them to the audience. In case of a column graph, you may choose to make the columns appear one after another.

Some Tips on using the Animation Feature in PowerPoint

When you’re using the animation feature, try to keep things simple. Don’t use strange colors or fancy movement unless you have a very good reason. For most people and presentations, simple effects are more than enough. You can make great looking animated graphs using nothing more than the wipe and appear features. Make sure to build your graphs using the animation feature the way you want them to appear.

Plan the presentation and how you’re going to present the information. The animations should sync with your presentation style, making your message easier to clearly comprehend. Here are some articles on Motion path animation and Exit animations that you might want to look at.

Note: Animated presentations are not very suitable for web presentation platforms. In many cases, the animation might not appear clearly for some people watching a live online presentation.

Image Courtesy:

[CC BY 0] via pixabay