PowerPoint Chart Guidelines

When working with charts, the same rules apply as when working with regular slides: Try to be consistent and keep the font sizes large.  Here are a few additional details:

In General:

• Titles generally include three pieces of information: subject, organization, timeline

• Charts should have a Source footer that indicates the origin of the information.  This may not be the case inside your individual presentation project.  However, you would change this for a chart inserted into a Word document or in a presentation outside the classroom.  Charts in Word documents should not have slide numbers.

Bar Charts:

• Label the bars at the end with amounts and symbols ($, %) when possible.  This negates the need to use gridlines (remove them). This also means you may be able to eliminate some of the detail in the "Y" axis units.

• Label the "Y" axis when possible

• Default PowerPoint Bar Chart

• Preferred PowerPoint Bar Chart

Pie Charts

• Normally, you should arrange the pie slices so the largest pie slice begins at 12:00 o'clock and moves clockwise from largest to smallest.  The exception is a "catch-all" type category (Other) which should come at the end even if it is larger than some of the preceding categories. 

• Normally, you should try to limit the pie slices to eight or fewer. 

• Label the pie slices with both the category name and amount as close as possible to the pie slice.  Use leader lines when necessary.  This negates the need to use legends.

• Be careful with colors.  Most charts if copied will end up being in black and white.  You may need to manually select the colors to insure that they work.  The pie slices tend to show clearer differentiation when the slices are outlined in black.  Click on the pie and from the Home tab go to shape outline.  Select black.

• Default PowerPoint Pie Chart

• Preferred PowerPoint Pie Chart

Setting up Charts.  Some Step by Step Directions. 

The Layout for charts is the “Title and Content” layout.  In the “Title and Content” layout, start by clicking on the chart icon.  Select the style of the chart that you want to use: usually either “column or pie”.  I try to never use the 3D option.  The 3D layout will limit some of your choices.  When you make your choice Microsoft Excel will automatically pop up on your display to the right of the default chart.

In Excel, drag the highlighted blue box from the lower right corner so only the “Series” that you need are selected. If you simply delete the unneeded data points without changing the chart structure, the “zeroed” cells will continue to take up place in the chart.  So, drag the blue box as warranted by your data.  Following the chart example on this site, you should see the following along the x-axis (i.e. years). Replace the words categories with what you want to be shown along the x-axis (2004, 2005, etc.). Under “series” fill in the data that will be measured along the y-axis (i.e. .05, .045, .036).  You can either change the format on the numbers in the spreadsheet or in the PowerPoint slide.  I will tell you how to do it both ways.  If you wish to change the format in the spreadsheet, highlight the cells for the numbers you wish to reformat.  Right click on these cells.  Go to Format cells.  Select the Category for the type of number you are wish to display.  In this example, you want percentage.  No decimal places.  Now you can minimize the Excel spreadsheet. To change the format of the numbers from inside PP, right click on the numbers.  Go to Format at the bottom of the column.  Click on Number and adjust accordingly.

In a Bar chart, you might want to shorten the range of the response options on the “y” axis.  To do this, right click the “Y” axis.  Go to Format Axis.  Change the axis option minimum and maximum options accordingly.  In the example on the site, we want to zoom in on the data so instead of measuring from 0%-6% we are going to measure 3%-6%. For the minimum value, we need “.03”, for the maximum value “.06”. Don’t close out of format axis just yet. Now, select the “number” tab. Select the type of number you want your number to represent on the y-axis. For example, if you need percents, then make that selection.  You may also need to alter the interval on the scale for the “Y” axis.  This is the place to do it.  Done.  Click “close”

On the PP slide, click on both of the boxes that say “Series 1” and delete them by hitting the delete key. Next, click on one of the gridlines on the chart (all three of them will be selected) and hit delete. Then, right click on one of the columns (all of them will be selected) and select “add data labels”. Edit these data labels to however you want them to look in PP and center them above their respective column. For example, make sure the labels are displayed as percents. 

You can also stretch the chart by dragging from the resizing dots on the sides to expand the chart area. 

Finally, under the Layout tab, select the “axis title” icon.  Primary Vertical Axis.  Rotated Title.  Type in the title.  We don’t need to label the x-axis because most people will understand that the variable is years.

Double check to make sure the font is “Times New Roman” and the appropriate size.

These directions are not exhaustive.  Things will come up.  For example, sometimes you may want a number (i.e. Years) to be displayed as “06 07 08 09” instead of “2006 2007 2008 2009”.  The program will try to remove the zeros “6 7 8 9”.  To prevent this from happening, format the cells as text.  In this setting, whatever you type will remain displayed as entered. 

Regardless of whether you are working with Bars or Pies, please add Black shape outlines to your objects.  If working with bars, click on the bars.  From the Home tab, select Shape Outline inside the Drawing area.  Select the Black option.  If working with pie charts, the same directions work.  Click once on the pie.  From the Home tab, select Shape Outline.  Black. You can also adjust the color of the bars either as a group or individually.  To adjust them all, click on the bars once, go to the bucket under the Home tab and make your choice.  To change the color of an individual bar, click that bar a second time.  The same goes for pie charts.  With pie charts, make sure your colors are clearly differentiated. 

Inserting a PowerPoint Slide into a Word Document  

Check out the following chart. 

Russell Corporation Chart in PowerPoint

This chart is ready to be presented as a PowerPoint slide. It has oversized text for visibility, an I.D. footer, and a slide number. I'll refer to this version as the slide version. Now, if you want to insert this chart into a Word document, you must make a number of changes to it.  I'll call this altered slide version the insert version.

First, all the fonts in the slide need to match each other to the greatest extent possible.  There are exceptions.   The footer can be slightly undersized (like a footnote), the title can be slightly bigger (like a heading). Besides size, make sure the type is the same throughout the slide.

Second, the fonts in the chart need to match the font used in the word document in appearance.  They may not be the same "size" but they should look as if they are the same.  Be careful.  Sometimes material in a chart will be bolded.  Take the bolding off to help it match the other text.

Third, the insert version title needs to have a label and a number added to it (usually either Figure, Table, or Exhibit). The title area should also be moved closer to the top of the slide.  This will increase the space available for the chart area.  As you decrease the font size in the title area, you should be able to get more material on each line, so titles that may have taken three lines in a PowerPoint slide may only need two lines in a PowerPoint insert.

Footer and slide number. Take the slide number off the insert version. Alter the I.D. footer so as to make it a Source footer like an in-text parenthetical reference.

Make these changes to the slide version. Save the insert version with a different name.

At this point the PowerPoint slide should look something like this:

PowerPoint slide ready to be inserted into Word

Fourth, open Word and discuss the information in the insert. Inserts do not stand on their own. They go with words. They need to be introduced, discussed, and referred to.

Key Point.  When you refer to an insert, the referral is not the subject of the verb (Figure 1 shows). The referral is in support of information. You should discuss the information and then refer to the figure to support what you just said: (as shown in Figure 1, or see Figure 1).

Fifth, you have discussed the information and referred to the figure by label and #. Now its time to insert the figure. There are several ways to do this. Yet, I recommend the following.  Move your cursor to the point where you want the insert version put into the document. Go to Insert, Object, Create from a File, click on the insert version file and insert it on the page. When the file first is dropped on the page, its a bit undersized.  The default size usually extends from the left margin over about five inches.  Click the insert once. Grab the resizing box in the lower right corner and drag down to the right until you get to the right margin (in the default setting this will be at 6 inches).   Don't drag from the right middle resizing box.  If you do the chart will lose its proportions.  Compare the font size in the Word document with the font size in the PowerPoint insert.  Do they match?  If you feel that they don't match you have a couple of options on fixing them.  You can click on the insert.  Delete it.  Redo the slide and insert it again.  Or, you can work on the chart after it has been inserted.  This is the easy way. 

 To work on the chart after it has been inserted into Word, right click on the object.  Go to Presentation Object.  Edit.  This will allow you to tweak the object while its in the Word file.  When you are finished, click outside the object.  You should return to Word.  Are they right now?  If so you are done.

Here is the look that you want:

Russell Corporation Chart inserted into Word

Practice Charts.  Try your hand building some of these.  PowerPoint Exercise #2