Hi there,

Welcome to Advanced Excel & Dashboards Masterclass, Australia 2012. Thank you so much for enrolling in to this program.

Preparatory Material for the Dashboard Masterclass

In order to enjoy our masterclass & benefit from it, you need to go thru certain basic lessons and refresh your knowledge. In this page, you will find all the preparatory material neatly structured.

And if you are not yet enrolled, Click here to join our Masterclass.

Your Next Steps

1. Bookmark or save a link to this page.
2. Go thru the resources in this page and complete each task before your training date.

Training Task 1: Refresh your Excel knowledge (2 hours)

If you have been using Excel for a while or you are a newbie, chances are there are areas of Excel you are not familiar with. So I have created 10 short videos (each less than 10 minutes) to give you thorough overview of all aspects of Excel.

• Your task: Watch the Excel for Beginners video
• Duration: 2 hours
• Comments: Feel free to skip any portion or video if you are familiar with the topic.

Training Task 2: Everyday Excel Formulas (2 hours)

Dashboards, Workbook models or any complex Excel based application involves using Formulas. In this preparatory task, I want you to be familiarized with various important Excel formulas. This section is broken in to 2 parts: Compulsory & Optional. Please read all the articles in the compulsory section. Go thru the optional section if you are curious to learn more.

Compulsory reading:

• Excel IF formula
• VLOOKUP Formula – comprehensive guide
• SUMIFS formula
• SUMPRODUCT formula

Optional reading:

• Excel Formulas – 51 formulas explained in plain English
• Excel Formula Forensics
• Excel Array Formulas
• Examples on SUMPRODUCT, SUMIFS, OFFSET.

Training Task 3: Conditional Formatting Introduction (1 hour)

Conditional formatting plays a critical role in data analysis & visualization. With new & powerful conditional formatting features introduced in Excel 2007 & 2010, you can do a lot with few clicks. Please read these resources to get introduced to the conditional formatting.

Your task:

• Introduction to Conditional formatting
• Compare 2 lists using conditional formatting
• Using Conditional formatting in Excel 2010
• 5 Conditional formatting tips

Training Task 4: Introduction to VBA & Excel Macros (2 hours)

Excel VBA & Macros are a great way to enhance Excel dashboards and automate various aspects of your work. Go thru these resources & learn as much as you can before attending our Masterclass.

Your task:

• Introduction to Excel VBA & Macros – 5 part tutorial
• Introduction to programming
• Example Macros & VBA Code

Training Task 5: Sales Dashboard Examples (2 hours)

Before you attend the Masterclass, I want to tickle your curiosity and show you what is possible. So here are 32 Dashboard examples made by our readers in a dashboard contest. You will be learning several of these techniques and ideas in our masterclass.

Your task:

1. Go thru Sales Dashboards page
2. Download a few example files
3. Examine the dashboard. Try to understand as much as you can.
4. If you are curious, find more examples in Excel Dashboards page.

Training Task 6: Using Excel Productively (2 hours)

If you want to do awesome things with Excel, then you must learn how to use Excel better. In this section, I want to share a few resources that can boost your Excel productivity. Go thru them and learn as much as you can before the Masterclass.

Your task:

• Excel Keyboard Shortcuts – Comprehensive guide
• 10 tips to make better Excel worksheets
• How to use Paste Special & Go to special
• How to use double click to save time in Excel
• Excel Quick Tips

All the best

All the best in completing these preparatory tasks. I am very eager to meet you in Australia this Autumn and discuss all things Excel with you 🙂

And if you are not yet enrolled, Click here to join our Masterclass.