What are the key steps to create a waterfall presentation in PowerPoint?

A waterfall chart is a great tool to display the cumulative effect of sequential positive or negative values, which can be beneficial for various business presentations. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create a waterfall presentation in PowerPoint:

1. Set Up Your Data: Start by organizing your data in Microsoft Excel. This should include your initial value, the various positive or negative changes, and the final value.
2. Create a Stacked Column Chart: Copy your data from Excel, then go to the “Insert” tab in PowerPoint, click on “Chart”, and select “Stacked Column”. Paste your data into the Excel sheet that appears.
3. Adjust Your Data: For each of your changes, you’ll need two values – the “spacer” and the actual change. The spacer will be the cumulative total of all values up to that point, and the actual change will be the value of that change.
4. Format the Chart: Click on the chart, then go to the “Format” tab that appears. Remove the outline and fill from the spacer bars so they’re invisible, leaving only the actual change bars visible. This will give the appearance of floating columns.
5. Edit Your Axis: To make the chart easier to read, you can adjust the axis labels to better fit your data.
6. Add Data Labels: For a more detailed view, you can add data labels to each of your change bars. To do this, click on a bar, right-click, and then select “Add Data Label”. Repeat this process for each bar.
7. Final Touches: To complete your chart, you might want to add a title, adjust the color of the bars, or tweak other formatting settings to your liking.

Creating a waterfall presentation can take some time and attention to detail, but the end result is a powerful visual tool that can greatly enhance your business presentations.