About Excel Training

Excel training prepares all levels of users.

Learning how to use Microsoft Excel, which is essentially a spreadsheet program, typically involves instruction and hands-on practice. Microsoft provides free comprehensive courses online as well as demos, practices exercises, quick reference cards and tests. You can register and pay for live classes listed on the Microsoft Learning Training catalog. In addition, Microsoft also offers classroom training through authorized partners, such as community colleges. You can locate training centers in your area by using the Microsoft Learning Class Locator website. Business professionals can find a learning solution that meets their learning objectives and schedules.

Getting Started with Excel

Overview training typically teaches you to accomplish everyday tasks such as creating a workbook, entering text and numbers as well as adding rows and columns. Learning how to enter simple formulas prepares you to perform mathematical equations to add, subtract, multiply and divide. Using cell references in this program allows you to automatically update results if values change. Your next step usually involves learning how to use functions to add values, calculate averages and find certain values in a range.

Learning About Charts

Once you master the basics, you'll learn to create charts to organize and analyze data. Using column, line, bar or pie charts makes analyzing and presenting data much easier and allows you to show comparisons and patterns to better understand data trends. Developing expertise in modifying charts also helps you use Excel effectively. Training materials typically provide examples and define terminology used in creating axis and label charts.

Working with Reports

As you develop skill in working with data, you can incorporate a PivotTable report to analyze and summarize data. PivotTable reports help you view data in different ways to determine details such as which salesman sold the most products in a quarter. Filtering the data allows you to view just a portion of the information, making it easier to make decisions. Working with practice examples prepares you for generating your own reports with your company data.

Sharing Data

Learning to share worksheets with others so that teams can collaborate involves practicing such tasks as exporting an Excel data to a Sharepoint list, using Excel Services and managing permissions. Training typically presents concepts and practical advice for implementing in a team environment.

Using with Office Applications

Advanced Excel training involves using Excel with other Microsoft Office applications. For example, learning how to paste an Excel worksheet selection into a PowerPoint presentation as a Microsoft Office Excel worksheet object enhances productivity by allowing the same data to be used in multiple places. Practice exercises, examples and job aids help you learn to maximize your Excel skills.

References

• Microsoft Office Online: What's new in Microsoft Office Excel 2007
• Microsoft Office Online: Excel 2007 training courses

Resources

• Microsoft Learning: Locate Training Centers and Classes Near You