Make your Excel formula bar larger!

By Kenny Chew on August 25 2009

Presenting a financial model

Let me layout the scene for you. You have a room full of executives, directors, and managers. You are presenting your model on a projector screen using a laptop. The CFO then says “Can you show me the formula you used to calculate that line?” Chances are that everybody in the room is now squinting their eyes to see what the content of the small formula bar is. The issue is that it is easy to zoom into the an area on the spreadsheet itself using zoom% but when it comes to making the Excel formula bar larger then you need to know this tip! Here is what I would do:

1. Acknowledge and confirm the cell that we are going to pause and take a look at.
2. Explain it verbally without looking at the exact formula
3. When that is understood, then slowly walk through the formula in the formula bar itself
4. This can be assisted by using “F2″ and the “Trace Precedants” features

To solve the issue of formula bar size increase this area and the font take the following steps.

Tools → Options → General → Standard Font → Size

Note: you will have to restart Excel for it to take effect.

6 tips for a smooth modelling presentation

• Prepare the screen and model for presentation before turning up for the meeting
• Have a good idea for the order in which you will walk through the model
• Don’t spend too long looking at the model itself, just use it as a catalyst
• Avoid talking to the screen, talk to the people in the room
• Don’t scroll around too quickly
• Remember to save any important changes in a new version

Good luck in that Boardroom!

Comments