Learn about the best practices for working together with Excel and PowerPoint.
Author: Geetesh Bajaj
Product/Version: All versions of PowerPoint
OS: Windows and Mac
If any two programs were meant to work together in the Microsoft Office suite, they have to be Excel and PowerPoint. Almost everyone who works with Excel has to use PowerPoint to present data and charts to an audience, or even create their business reports in PowerPoint. On the other hand, all PowerPoint charts are essentially created by Excel, even if many of you may not be aware of this fact.
You can benefit so much if you know how to work with both these programs together, but even before you start, there are a few guidelines that will help you not hit a road block. Most of this actually boils down to just one guideline, and that is:
Yes, that's true -- you need to stop thinking of your presentation as an Excel or a PowerPoint file and start thinking about it as a folder instead. There are many advantages in doing so:
Figure 1: Single folder
should contain all the PowerPoint and Excel files that you work with
Other than creating folders, here's a best practice tip that will help you stay organized. Always name your folders logically. You may have your own way of naming folders but we always use this nomenclature:
YYYY MM MMM DD - Project Name
This translates to:
2014 02 Feb 14 - Cash Flow Predictions
2014 04 Apr 22 - Survey Results
This nomenclature helps because it is "sort-friendly" on both Windows and Mac computers – and yes, the month does show up twice to make it easy to be sorted.
Microsoft and the Office logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.