Carefully prepared visuals can make your report or presentation more interesting. But even more important, pictures are an effective way to communicate with the diverse audiences that are common in today's business environment. Moreover, in the numbers-oriented world of work, people rely heavily on trend lines, distribution curves, and percentages. Once you have selected the information that you will include in your report, you must identify which points to illustrate visually. Once you have identified which points require visual support, you must pare down your selection. Your goal is to achieve a reasonable balance between verbal and visual information. The ideal blend depends on the nature of your subject. Another factor to consider when deciding on the number and types of visuals to include in a report is your production schedule.
Once you've selected which points to illustrate visually, your next step is to select the type of visual that will present your data most clearly and effectively to your audience. Keep in mind that most visuals are not interchangeable. Some types of visuals depict certain kinds of data better than others: To present detailed, exact values, use tables. To illustrate trends over time, use a line chart or a bar chart. To show frequency or distribution, use a pie chart, segmented bar chart, or area chart. To compare one item with another, use a bar chart. To compare one part with the whole, use a pie chart. To show correlations, use a line chart, a bar chart, or a scatter (dot) chart. To show geographic relationships, use a map. To illustrate a process or a procedure, use a flowchart or a diagram.
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