Some writers toss charts and graphs into their documents like raisins and bananas into their cereal, simply because they find them easy and fun to create with their software.
 
Use the following checklist to cull unnecessary graphics from your documents:
 
--Does the chart or graph emphasize trivial or irrelevant information?
--Can the information be included in another graphic without cluttering it?
--Does the information confuse rather than clarify?
--Has the information already been included simply and emphatically in the text?
 
More is NOT better.
 
 
© Dianna Booher, Booher Consultants, Inc.
Author of 42 books (Simon & Schuster/Pocket, Warner, and McGraw-Hill), Dianna Booher, CSP, CPAE, delivers programs on communication and life-balance issues. Her latest books: Speak with Confidence, Your Signature Life, Your Signature Work, E-Writing, and Communicate with Confidence. For more information, visit www.booher.com or call 800-342-6621.