When faced with a great deal of statistical information, many people may find it hard to focus; they suffer from MEGO ("My eyes glaze over").  However, most people in this culture also find statistics very convincing as a form of support for ideas.  So, as a speaker, how can you take advantage of the usefulness of statistics without putting your audience to sleep?  Graphs provide a positive solution.

There are three types of graphs you may choose from in deciding how to present your information:  bar graphs, line graphs,  and pie graphs.  Each type has particular strengths.

Bar/Column Graphs - Bar graphs are useful in making comparisons.  If you want to show differing levels for two or more entities, a simple bar graph is probably your best choice.  Be careful about trying to compare more than 5 entities on a single graph, though; the graph may become too complicated to be effective.  

A sample of an effective column graph follows.  (The data on fat grams is made up, by the way.)

Line Graphs - Line graphs can be used to show trends over time.  If you want to show growth or change in an entity for several months or years, a line graph will present a visual map of the changes.   A sample line graph follows (Sadly, these data are real.  The data are from Newsweek, November 25, 2002).

Pie Graphs - Pie graphs are used to show how different elements come together to make a whole.  Each "slice" of the pie graph represents a percentage of the whole, giving an audience a visual image of the relative size of the different "slices."  A sample pie graph follows (again, these data are fictional).

The charts above were all created using Microsoft Excel.