When you create a visualization, you know exactly what you intend to show with that particular combination of data, color, and customization. Unfortunately, the person who will consume your visualization in a template might not fully understand what you intended to convey. Thankfully, you can add notes to visualizations to give the end user a little bit of guidance on what the visualization represents and on how best to use it in a sales pitch.

Notes have a 300-character limit, so be concise. Also, be aware that notes will appear in the Notes section of the generated PowerPoint; if a user shares that PowerPoint file with a client, your notes will be visible.

To add a note to a visualization, click the gear icon on the visualization, and then click Add Notes.

Adding a note to a visualization to help the end user understand how to interpret the visualization

Use the Add Notes option to add a note to your visualization (click to enlarge)

In the following example, the visualization creator felt like the map might be a little difficult to understand since it had several shape layers. She added a note to guide the person who would ultimately see this visualization after creating a presentation from a template (and therefore, who would have no context behind how or why this visualization was created):

A visualization note on a map

A visualization note can provide context and guidance for the user (click to enlarge)

Anyone who generates a presentation from a template and finds visualization notes can hover over the note and take the following actions:

  • Hide the note -- Prevent it from being shown on the presentation if it's being shared online. Even if the note is hidden on the presentation, it still appears in the Notes section of the generated PowerPoint.
  • Edit the note -- Change the content of the note. This is useful if the end user wants to leave the note but make it geared toward the client he or she is pitching.
  • Remove the note -- Remove the note from the presentation and from the generated PowerPoint.
Last Updated: 8/4/2018, 4:57:10 PM