Did you know that you can use the same data to communicate different messages, depending on how you arrange (or plot) your data in a chart? For example, depending on what is most important to your audience, you might choose to emphasize a comparison of sales by month, or use the same worksheet data to highlight monthly sales trends by state.

One of the quickest ways to shift the focus of a chart is to change the way data is plotted along the x-axis: by rows or by columns. The Excel Chart Wizard makes it easy for you to specify how you want the data arranged to begin with, and later, the Source Data command enables you to swap the row and column data in the finished chart. The demo shows you how.

How to do it (text version):

• Change the way data is plotted in a chart
• Clarify and emphasize data in an Excel chart

Online training:

• Charts I: How to create a chart
• Charts II: Choose the right chart type
• Charts III: Create a professional-looking chart

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