Which visual aid is best used for percentages

Early on I like showing data in multiple forms to allow for individual comfort. Then as the process moves on the correct visual is used. Is this right? It seems high.

I looked at the data to find out and then at all of the age groups. They say a watched pot never boils. This is the percentage breakdown for the most common objects that end up in the emergency room.

About Membership Projects Learning Newsletter. Become a Member Log in. See the donut in action: What Britain Has Eaten the Past Three Decades Use the stacked area chart if you want to show changes over time for several variables.

See the stacked area in action: Baby NameVoyager If you have only a few distinct points in time, you can use the stacked bar chart in the same way you use the stacked area just set the bars vertical. See the Voronoi in action: American Consumers Spend More Money On Cheese than On Computers The Nightingale rose graph or the polar area diagram if you like , coined after its creator, Florence Nightingale, is like a combination of the stacked bar and pie chart.

See the Nightingale in action: The original mortality chart from Florence Nightingale Designers like this one a lot when they want to focus on a single data point. See the everything in action: The Cost of Higher Education There are plenty of other methods to visualize proportions, but all others that come to mind are variants of the above. Jorge Camoes — November 25, at am.

Bernard Lebelle — November 25, at am. Stacey Barr — November 25, at am. Joe Mako — November 25, at am. Jon Peltier — November 25, at am.

Let me second the work of Stephen Few as an excellent source for data presentation guidelines. Richard Careaga — November 25, at pm. Petteri Tuovila — November 26, at am. Timo Luege — November 27, at am. Paul — November 28, at am. Harry Seldon — November 29, at am. Benjamin Wiederkehr — December 1, at pm. Joe Heinowski — December 19, at pm. Become a member. These donut charts are used alongside a proportional area chart showing the perceived corruption in every country in the world.

The donut charts help explain the percentage of the world that is perceived as more vs. Pros : Relies less on area and more on the size of the arc, making them easier to understand at a glance. Offer space to add labels on the inside. Cons : Still difficult to understand with lots of slices, or to understand trends between multiple donut charts. Unlike pie charts and donut charts, where the circular form makes it hard to compare percentages, the stacked bar graph makes this easier.

This interactive visual compares creative routines of famous writers, artists, and musicians. All the creatives had the same number of hours in a day, but this chart shows how differently they used them. Harder to compare segments the more segments there are. However, pictogram charts and proportional area charts are especially powerful for proportions.

When using a pictogram chart for proportions, color some of the icons a different color to represent a portion of the data.

This pictogram chart compares populations of UK countries. They use the area of a shape to represent its size, and then another shape around or within it to compare it to.

The following example from shows the European debt crisis using proportional area charts. Countries are ordered by the size of their GDP and then overlaid with a red block representing the percentage of the GDP that is government debt.

In some cases, the debt completely swallows the GDP. The countries are all extremely easy to compare, being arranged this way. Pros : Can compare lots of datasets easily without needing to rely on labels to get the main idea across.

Cons : It is hard to make these charts very precise and easily interpreted without labels. Icon lists and bubble clouds are commonly used to visualize lists. An icon list is exactly what it sounds like: a list, with each item accompanied by an icon.

In this humorous example , beards are ranked in terms of their trustworthiness. Every beard in the list is accompanied by a simple icon showing the type of beard. Cons : Not ideal for longer lists. Not the most organized way to present a list of data that has some kind of scale. There are multiple kinds of visual aids that can be used in presentations. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and each can make different kinds of presentation stronger. This is the classic presentation format.

This is most useful in educational or informative discussions. One of the key reasons for the success of the long-running television series Mythbusters was in their unapologetically visual style. They did wonders for raising awareness of urban myths and promoting critical thinking, but what fans remember is seeing that cement truck vaporized in an explosion.

In the same way, a smart video element can help carry a presentation forward. As with slideshow software, this requires some setup and equipment, so make sure to use it when you have time and attention.

The introduction phase is a good time to use a video to bring people in to your general topic and showcase your product, as is the body of the presentation.

People have a stronger memory when they have something tangible to carry with them. In the Sales arena, a good handout can be the kind of visual aid that leverages this tendency to your advantage. The classic visual presentation software. Powerpoint is straightforward and robust. You can import visuals, organize slides, and even have a degree of control over animations and transitions.

The main weakness is that everyone is familiar with it, so be aware that clients may be skeptical of it as a professional presentation medium. A single major slide is offered, and the viewer transitions between portions of the slide. By moving back and forth between the big picture and more concrete elements, the presenter helps tie the information together into a coherent whole for the audience. Slideshare is interesting in that it is not used to create visuals in itself. Rather, it allows presenters to embed visuals, links, videos, pdfs, and other material into an easily-accessed location.

Preseria is a useful tool to visually display the organization of a conference or meeting. It is a solid choice in educational presentations aimed at helping people understand the structure of a project or conference. It does lack somewhat in its number of options, however. Visual aids are not only a useful tool during public speaking and presentations, but should be viewed as a necessity to create a lasting impact.

People remember what they can see more than what they can hear. They can engage the audience, open up a dialog, and bring people on board in a way that mere words simply cannot do. Ask us about virtual presentation training, onsite presentation skills training course, executive presentation coaching, or a presentation training seminar in your city.