On infrequent occasions I take my show on the road and offer classes on advanced charting techniques. If I am taking part in an Excel User Conference, for example, I will usually offer a couple classes. There are two classes in particular that I like to present, and that participants rate highly:

• Advanced Charting Techniques
• Excel Charting with VBA

I’ve presented these two classes at the April 2007 Excel User Conference in Atlantic City, and again at the October 2007 Excel User Conference in St Louis. The 2008 Atlantic City Excel User Conference will be in September, and I’m planning to do it again.

These are half-day classes: outlines are provided below. Participants in each class receive a handout and a CD with lots of example workbooks. If the participants bring a laptop to class, they can work on the examples with me, which provides for better retention of the material.

Advanced Charting Techniques

• Intro and Review of Best Practices
  • Evolution and current state of charting
  • Data guidelines
  • Chart Wizard
  • Chart types, style, formatting
• Combination Charts
  • Custom chart types
  • Dummy series
  • Reference lines
  • Customized labels
  • Gantt charts, Stock charts, Panel charts
• Dynamic Charts
  • Charts that react to expanding data ranges
  • Interactive charts: chart by combo box, check box, etc.
• Axis Tricks
  • Axis types
  • Custom axis scales and gridlines
  • Broken axis scales
• Advanced Formatting
  • Conditional formatting in charts
  • Error bars
  • Custom markers and fills
• Charting Across Applications
  • Insert charts into PowerPoint or Word

Excel Charting with VBA

• VBIDE - Visual Basic Integrated Development Environment
  • Visual Basic Elements
  • Project Explorer, Properties Window, Object Browser, Immediate Window “Debug Window”
  • VBE Options
• Recording Macros
• Cleaning up Recorded Macros
• Errors in Recorded Macros
• Error Trapping
• Simple User Interface Elements
• User Forms: Advanced User Interface
• Variables
• The Chart’s Object Model
• VB Structural Elements
  • For-Next and For-Each Loops
  • Do and Do-While Loops
  • Select Case
• Chart-Specific Coding Considerations
• Modular Code: Subs and Functions
• VBA Programming Tools
• VBA for Charting Across Applications

Other Presentations

In addition to the classes above, I’ve given similar half-day classes and shorter seminars (1-2 hours) on a variety of topics:

• General Excel Tips and Tricks
• Pivot Tables
• Working over Multiple Office Applications
• Functions and Formulas
• VBA Tricks and Tips

If you would like this type of specialized training, contact me to discuss the details.