Research Triangle Park Evaluators (RTP Evaluators) is an affiliate of the American Evaluation Association for evaluators, researchers, and social scientists in North Carolina’s research triangle. Learn more on their blog and through their LinkedIn page.

This workshop is hosted by RTP Evaluators but is open to everyone, both members and non-members. Join us in Durham, North Carolina!

Workshop Agenda

Visualizing data through charts, tables, and diagrams helps you deliver bite-sized information that viewers will understand at a glance and retain for the long run. During this hands-on workshop, we’ll focus on practical considerations: designing with stakeholders’ information needs front and center, using readily available software like Microsoft Excel, and thinking through a dozen chart types—dot plots, small multiples, heat maps, and more—that can be applied to your own research and evaluation projects.

During this 4-hour workshop, we’ll walk through a step-by-step data visualization design process:

• Introduction to Data Visualization: Key Players, Latest Trends, Skills Needed
• Who’s My Audience? Numeracy Level, Time, Interest, Information Needs
• How Will I Share My Charts? Reports, Visual Executive Summaries, In-Person Presentations, Meeting Handouts, Slidedocs, Dashboards, Infographics
• Which Chart is Best for My Data? Pros and Cons of 30+ Essential Charts and Chart Choosing Tips
• Which Tool is Best? Strengths of the Big 3: Excel, Tableau, R
• Which Formatting Edits Are Needed? Each section begins with a discussion followed by hands-on practice. For example, after the color section, we practice choosing custom color palettes and applying those RGB codes to our graphs.
  • Removing Clutter: Borders, Grid Lines, Tick Marks
  • Telling a Story with Text: Titles, Subtitles, Annotations
  • Effective Labeling: Direct Labeling, Using Labels Sparingly
  • Color: Custom Palettes, Action Colors, Colorblindness
• Advanced Chart Construction in Microsoft Excel: Strategies for building chart types that aren’t traditionally available in Excel, like small multiples bar charts, panel charts, and dot plots.

After the workshop, you’ll be able to apply both the big-picture critical thinking skills and the detailed technical skills to your own datasets.
 

Skills You’ll Gain

You’ll practice tweaking Excel’s default settings, for example, to order your graphs from greatest to least rather than alphabetically. You’ll also learn to produce advanced visualizations within Excel, like the heat table shown below.

What to Bring

This workshop is highly interactive. Please bring laptops and power cords. The instructor will be demonstrating techniques on a PC with Excel 2013.

Snacks and beverages are provided; please bring a bag lunch or eat lunch prior to the workshop.
 

Kudos for the Hands-On Data Visualization Workshops

“This was the best workshop we’ve ever had at our organization.”

“It was wonderful working with you on the workshop; you did such a great job!”

“Thank you so much! It was a great workshop, and I’ve been able to apply many of your strategies and tips. I look forward to learning and improving even more!”

“I just wanted to let you know how pleased I was with staff response from today’s training. Thank you so much. We are very excited to apply everything we’ve learned. I will, for sure, send you before and after reports. We’ll be in touch.”

“Great mix of hands on + discussion/lecture.”

“Highly recommended for statisticians and data analysts.”

“I wanted to thank you for the training. It was very helpful for my staff and we have heard nothing but positive remarks about you and the content.”

“I wanted to thank you again for coming sharing your knowledge and resources with our evaluation and ‘data-interested’ community. You are so very generous with your resources and I feel confident that the participants benefited greatly from your ideas and techniques.”

“Excellent session – very hands-on! Ann was an excellent presenter.”

“I want to say thank you for the wonderful workshop you gave in Indy last week. There were so many helpful techniques that I can’t wait to share with my colleagues.”

“Great presenter! Excellent visuals (of course) and explanation of concepts.”
 

Learn More

Download a brochure or contact me.
 

Registration

Darn, we’re sold out! As of April 3, the workshop has reached a full capacity of 45 attendees.

Check www.annkemery.com/events for additional workshops and webinars in your area, or contact me to discuss a customized workshop just for your team.