Adding Chart Titles
Viewing tip: Press the 'Play' button, and then the 'Fullscreen' button on the right.
What are these titles good for?
With titles you can easily turn a perplexing or vague chart into an effective illustration of your work.
Even though it is simple to acquire information from a well-designed chart, the lack of titles will easily confuse the unfamiliar reader.
The main chart title prepares readers for what they are about to see, making it obvious the moment they see it.
Axis titles on the other hand provide a background that the user can relate to.
Look for example in the accompanying video. Are those final grades? Are they midterm test grades? It is hard to know until you see the axis title.
Imagine a financial chart missing its titles, many questions can quickly arise: Are these figures listed in 100s, 1,000s, millions, or billions of dollars? Is this money lost or gained? And in what time frame?
If you are inexperienced with excel, chart and axis titles at a first glance may seem like extra fluff that you don’t actually need. Every experienced user will tell you, however, that chart titles are a necessary ingredient of every effective professional presentation.