Tutorial 2: Creating Charts & Graphs in Excel

I decided to do my second tutorial blog on excel because I felt I could benefit from learning about more of the functions that were offered while creating spreadsheets. Excel is probably one of the most used tools in my business so I wanted this learning experience for myself as much as for anyone else. However, I hope the following steps for creating an exploding pie chart will be helpful to anyone who reads this blog. All information in this tutorial was learned from the "Microsoft Excel 2010 Bible" and much trial and error on my part.

To begin, you will of course bring up a new excel worksheet and enter the desired data in each cell. My data is fictional and is depicting the different sources used to generate power at a hypothetical power plant. After entering the data you will of course want to format it to look appealing, for example, adding color to the headings to make them stand out, using different fonts, etc. I am not going in to detail on how to perform these functions because this particular blog is to explain how to add charts or graphs to your sheet. Once your data is complete you can begin the steps to add your chart or graph by doing the following:

Step 1:  Click on the "insert" tab at the top left of your computer screen and you will see the options of charts and graphs.

                                   
Step 2:  Select which type of graph or chart you would like to use to give the best visual of the data you are presenting. I selected the "Pie" chart and upon clicking I got a drop down box that further allowed me to select from several different pie charts. I selected the 3-D exploding pie chart.

Step 3:  After selecting your chart type you will have a new box open on your worksheet. Right click in this box and click on the "select data" option.

                                  

       
                                  
Step 4:  Another set of options will appear and you will click on "select data source".  As you can see in this screen shot, you will enter your data range by either typing it in the box or you can highlight the area of data on your worksheet and it will automatically fill it in.

Step 5:  Once you have filled in your data, click OK, and Excel will automatically design and draw out the beautiful chart or graph you have requested. As you see in my next screen shot.

I was thrilled to see how a mere novice that has never tried to create anything like this before was able to easily, in just a few simple steps, create a beautiful, professional looking worksheet that could be proudly presented in any boardroom.