Excel 2016 - Introduction to Charts

Overview: Excel 2016 - Introduction to Charts

This concise, instruction-focused overview highlights the core learning and practical value of the Excel 2016 charts guide. Written to help you create clearer, more persuasive data visualizations, the guide emphasizes hands-on techniques for choosing chart types, configuring chart elements, and applying formatting and filters to communicate insights effectively. The material balances step-by-step procedures with design best practices so you can move from basic charts to modern visual forms introduced in Excel 2016.

Learning outcomes

• Identify which chart types best match different data stories and reporting goals.
• Insert and edit charts quickly using Recommended Charts and Insert tools.
• Customize chart elements: titles, axis labels, legends, data labels, and gridlines for clarity.
• Apply built-in layouts, styles, and formatting shortcuts to produce professional visuals fast.
• Use chart filters and data selection to focus audience attention and reduce clutter.
• Explore advanced Excel 2016 visuals such as Treemap, Sunburst, Waterfall, Histogram, Pareto, and Box & Whisker to handle hierarchical or distribution data.

What the guide covers and why it matters

The guide demystifies how Excel maps raw tables into meaningful visuals. Rather than a list of menus, it explains the practical reasoning behind each choice: when to compare categories with column or bar charts, when to show trends with line charts, and when proportions call for pie or stacked visuals. It also presents newer chart types that expand analytical storytelling. Treemap and Sunburst charts reveal hierarchical structure, Waterfall charts expose incremental gains and losses, and histograms and Pareto charts support distribution and prioritization analyses. Understanding these options helps you select visuals that match the question you want your data to answer.

Key techniques and tips

Beyond selecting a chart type, the guide focuses on techniques that improve comprehension and aesthetic consistency. You will learn to craft concise titles, label axes for context, format series for contrast and accessibility, and position legends and annotations for quick interpretation. Practical tips include using the on-chart Chart Elements and Chart Styles controls for rapid edits, saving custom chart templates, and leveraging Recommended Charts for fast prototypes. The guide also highlights using Chart Filters to simplify complex displays by hiding or showing series and categories without altering source data.

Who should use this guide

This material is aimed at beginner to intermediate Excel users who create reports, dashboards, or classroom materials and want to improve data communication. Typical users include business analysts, students, educators, project leads, and financial staff who benefit from clearer visuals when presenting findings or making recommendations. Familiarity with basic Excel worksheets is helpful but not required; the guide builds practical skills through examples and clear instructions.

How to use the guide effectively

Follow the guide with a sample workbook open and practice each step. Start by testing Recommended Charts on a small dataset to see Excel's suggestions, then insert charts manually to learn structure and behavior. Experiment with switching rows and columns, adding data labels, and applying pre-defined styles to observe their impact. When working with larger datasets, use Chart Filters to isolate the most relevant series for your audience.

Suggested mini-projects to build skill

• Comparison dashboard: Create column and line charts that compare monthly sales across products, add axis titles and legends, and apply consistent styles for a clean slide-ready visual.
• Hierarchical analysis: Use a Treemap or Sunburst to display category and subcategory contributions, then add labels and color rules to highlight top performers.
• Change analysis: Build a Waterfall chart to trace changes in a budget or profit statement, and annotate steps that drive the biggest shifts.
• Distribution review: Generate histograms and Pareto charts to examine frequency and prioritize causes, then use Box & Whisker to surface outliers.

Why this guide helps you

Practical and design-aware, the guide reduces the time it takes to produce informative charts and increases their impact. By combining procedural steps with decision-making guidance, it equips you to create visuals that support clearer analysis and better decisions. For users aiming to present reliable, attractive charts with Excel 2016, this guide is a focused resource to develop repeatable, professional workflows.

Attribution

Based on instructional material from Kennesaw State University, the guide focuses on practical charting workflows and modern Excel 2016 chart types to strengthen data presentation skills.