Presentation Phase Checklist

And the point of all this data is...?

This checklist covers tasks your should perform, or options you should consider, AFTER you have defined the views you plan to use, but BEFORE you create the tab sequence that will convert your file into a final presentation. Most of the tasks in this phase are documented in the Reports & Presentations chapter of the User Guide.

Unlike previous phases, the Presentation phase takes a minimalist, 'zero-based' approach to file configuration, i.e. the bias is that everything should be hidden unless it is needed on a specific tab to make a specific point or enable a particular end-user interaction. Working with the most useful view configurations created in the previous phase, the objective of this phase is to create a multi-tabbed presentation where each tab is addressed to a specific issue with a specific message supported by the data. In this phase the philosophy is 'less is more' to simplify the audience experience, but with credibility-building granular detail always only one click away. 

Presentation Checklist:

At this point your file consists of view-specific tabs and perhaps some other tabs created in previous phases. Starting with the most useful view-specific tabs, you will now create multi-view versions of each tab, combining efffective views/data subsets and re-naming the tabs to focus on messages and user groups. Don't be afraid to create many different new tabs, each focused on specific user groups and points to be made, rather than trying to put too much on one or two tabs. The objective is to create a file that opens and navigates just like a slide presentation.

5-00 Add titles and annotations - add titles and annotations to each tab, styling and sizing the text and adjusting spacing between views, using the commands available from the Main Toolbar: Layout > View Spacing, Titles, and Annotations  

5-00 Select & Edit layout modes - choose the Layout mode you wish to apply to each tab in your file, making edits to the default modes, or adding new modes of your own.

5-00 Select & Edit Styles - use default styles suited to each Layout mode, or create a new Style to match your corporate standards.

5-00 Specify tab toolbar defaults - set the tab-specific visibility of various toolbars and other on-screen tab navigation and filtering aids.

5-00 Hide user options in drop-downs - the filed (column) options available to the end user should be reuded to the minimun useful set by toggling the Show' option revealed by clicking on the spanner/wrench on each drop-down header.  Toggle the 'All' option to hide the filed from all drop-downs on th same tab.  This operation is tab-specific.

Note: any of the experimental view-specific visualisation tabs created in the previous Visualisation phase can now be deleted in favour of new, message-oriented tabs in the presentation.

Order tabs, commit all changes & save - make sure that your desired opening tab is open, then commit all changes using Main Toolbar: Tab > Commit changes for all  and File > Save (Ctrl+S) the file, preserving the link to the source data and merge history if required.