Tables by nature are not very glanceable, but we can push them into the glanceable realm. Quite a bold statement, eh? We know the person who said that and who can help with the magic here, pun intended.
Former professional magician Nolan Haims knows how to tell a story regardless of the means. He’s been telling stories for the Moscow Circus, for the theatre, and obviously, for the presentation industry (he’s a PowerPoint MVP). One of Nolan’s specialties is data visualisation and that’s exactly what he talked about at the 2022 Present to Succeed edition – communicating the story of your data in an audience-friendly way.
Watch the session recording to learn about Nolan Haims’ The Better Table Checklist and how to create understandable tables. We’ve gathered some of the key takeaways below.
Avoid colour
Tables are information heavy enough to add more burden to the eye by painting cells in bright colours. When it comes to tables, colour is applied sparsely and used mainly for highlighting. When you need to create contrast, shade with a subtle hand, the pro says. Use the lightest tint of grey if you must, but better focus on increasing the vertical white space or inserting subtle dividers to chunk out the data and make it more readable. Heavy colour fill is just not kind on the eyes.
Remove grid lines
Another step that could improve the readability factor of a table is ditching the grid lines. Again, they can be replaced by more empty space or light grey dividers.
Declutter the characters
What Nolan means by that is for example round numbers where you can, especially bigger than 6-digit numbers. Another thing you can do is remove unit repetition. The audience will know what you’re referring to just by glancing at the first row where you’ve left the respective unit. Having the minimum number of symbols allows the audience to easily jump between columns and rows.
Highlight wisely
We mentioned earlier that colours should be kept for highlighting. Here’s Nolan’s tip – define the outliers and the negatives and maybe put only them in colour? This should be enough to attract the audience’s attention. Still remember that contrasting elements are key for any presentation, right?
Nolan’s checklist for better tables continues in the video. Make sure you don’t miss what he has to say on the ever-going PowerPoint vs Excel debate, or more simply, how to embed tables from Excel into PowerPoint and still be able to edit them.
If you love presenting data creatively and more importantly, understandably, why not consider getting a ticket for the fast-approaching Present to Succeed conference? With the lineup of award-winning industry professionals, there’s always the chance you learn some awesome tips and tricks to help you step up your presentation game.
Join Present to Succeed - the biggest presentation skills conference in the world
Whether you are part of an organization or running a business, how your slides look will always factor in your success. Learn how to become an influential speaker by joining our 20+ industry-leading speakers’ sessions.
Start engaging your audience better and influencing them to embrace your concepts, hire you, or buy your products. Now is the best moment to get your ticket!
Join Present to Succeed - the biggest presentation skills conference in the world
Whether you are part of an organisation or running a business, how your slides look will always factor in your success. Learn how to become an influential speaker by joining our 20+ industry-leading speakers’ sessions.
Start engaging your audience better and learn how to influence them to embrace your concepts, hire you, or buy your products. Get your ticket now!
