Before learning these better than pie chart tricks, don’t forget to ask yourself the all important presentation question before you start building your slide.

What’s the point?!

Why did I go to all of the effort to pull this information together?

What do I want someone to understand by seeing this information?

What do I hope someone thinks after I present it to them?

Your slide’s job is to back you up, and to do that it needs to have a point. This is so obvious, so simple and yet so OVERLOOKED !

With that said, let’s dive right in.

And right off the bat, I have to admit that pie charts are my least favorite chart type (by far), but let’s assume for this first episode, that we HAVE to use a pie chart. We aren’t given a choice (it happens).Enter your text here…

What type of chart should I use instead of a pie chart?

I typically prefer column and bar charts, and I explain why in Episode #2 – The Pie Chart Secret Ingredient, as adding it all but forces you to get to a point with your slide.

So, if you are ever stuck with a pie chart, there are two bulletproof rules you can use to help you get to your point, the Rule of Two’s and Going Doughnut.

Pie Chart Rule #1: The Rule Of Two’s

The Rule of Two’s is super simple. It means that when given a pie chart, you’re only allowed to format two pieces of data. That’s it, only two, which forces you to be crystal clear in what you want to talk about.

Step #1: Format the one specific data point in your pie chart that you want to talk about.

Step #2: Combine all of the other categories into a single category.

Step #3: Add a title describing your highlighted portion.

For example, taking the original pie chart we started with on the left, using the Rule of Two’s I might end up with the slide on the right.