Why we should treat Excel more like PowerPoint?

You should start treating Excel more like Powerpoint.

Here's why...Excel has 90% of the visual design features that you use in PPT. You can layer shapes, images, text, metrics and visualizations together to create almost all of the same visual effects and designs that you see in a slide deck.

But for some reason people aren't taught how to use these features and it can be a big missed opportunity. Your Excel worksheet doesn't need to be boring tables with clunky bar charts, it can be so much more.

It's not just an opportunity to make things look great. You can use those design tools to make your data more engaging or give critical context to help your viewers understand your narrative. You can even make your spreadsheets match the brand guidelines used across all your other documents and materials. It can be used to lend credibility or guide someone's focus. It's a skill that can instantly differentiate your work.