power point sales slide improvement

Make thisSales Chart

Rock

Use owl wisdom:

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YoY GROWTH IN SALES

A VP of Sales wants management to back his sales plan. He presents a chart that shows an expected increase in revenue.

Picture by Engin Erdogan

Generally, he would show something like this:

A VP of Sales wants management to back his sales plan. He presents a chart that shows an expected increase in revenue.

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YoY GROWTH IN SALES

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YoY GROWTH IN SALES

Not too inspiring, is it?

Allow me and my buddies to explain how to improve this slide. We are that clever!

Let’s break it down to three points:

TitleLayou

tColor

s

Title

The title shouldn’t describe what the viewer sees on the slide; it should reflect the main takeaway.

This would be the point you want the audience to remember the most.

YoY GROWTH IN SALES

Perhaps an annual change in sales can represent a roadmap to success?

YoY GROWTH IN SALES

Now that’s powerful!(ah…and enlarge the fonts of course).

The road to $20M (in $M)

Layout

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Simplicity contributes

to engagement

Make charts that are easy to understand by eliminating clutter and reducing noise

So…

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Remove GridlinesGridlines are a nuisance. They create a “dirty” and distracting background making information more difficult to comprehend.

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Ditch 3D!3D is proven to be less effective and more difficult to read than 2D.

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Put Data Next to Bar ChartThe eye needs to shift back and forth to associate the axis with the chart’s height. Now that’s annoying!

Drag picture to placeholder or click icon to add

Drag picture to placeholder or click icon to add

1 - Remove Gridlines

Drag picture to placeholder or click icon to add

1 - Remove Gridlines

2 - Ditch 3D!

1 - Remove Gridlines

2 - Ditch 3D!

3 – Place Data Near Bars

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The road to $20M (in $M)

Color

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The road to $20M (in $M)Create Good Contrast!

The chart and background are not sufficiently contrasted causing poor readability.

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The road to $20M (in $M)

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The road to $20M (in $M)Separate Past and

FutureActual sales figures and the projected ones should be colored differently.

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The road to $20M (in $M)

Now if you really want to WOW them

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The road to $20M (in $M)

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The road to $20M (in $M)

Before After

See the difference?

Before After

Picture by Engin Erdogan

Thank you!

Chen Sirkis

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