Talking about data can be useful, but depicting it with a chart is invaluable.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words and using a pie chart or other form of graph is a great way to show your sales figures or advertising revenue.
However, putting a chart, or multiple charts, in a presentation or report without any explanation would be pointless. It is always better to include a short explanation of the data to put it into context.
There are many different words that can be used to describe changes in data over time.
Verbs to describe a general increase - don't forget to use the past simple form of these verbs when describing the data if it shows what has already happened.
Go up Sales of soup went up between September and October.
Increase Sales of ice cream increased between March and May.
Rise The number of games downloaded rose during the first months of the lockdown.
Climb Interest in online learning has climbed steadily in recent years.
Verbs to describe a general decrease - don't forget to use the past simple form of these verbs when describing the data if it shows what has already happened.
Go down Sales of soup went down between April and May.
Decrease Sales of ice cream decreased between September and November.
Fall The number of retail purchases fell during the lockdown.
Drop Visitor numbers at retail outlets have dropped in recent years.
Verbs to describe a sudden large increase - don't forget to use the past simple form of these verbs when describing the data if it shows what has already happened.
Jump There was a big jump in the number of people working from home.
Shoot up The sales of face masks shot up once the new law took effect.
Rocket The sales of hand sanitiser rocketed from January to February.
Verbs to describe a sudden large decrease - don't forget to use the past simple form of these verbs when describing the data if it shows what has already happened.
Plunge The number of foreign holiday bookings plunged from March.
Plummet The sales of beef plummeted after a health scare.
Quick reference guide:
Remember: choose your verbs carefully.
If there is a general increase or decrease don't use the words to describe big, sudden, changes. Save these words and only use them when dramatic emphasis is required.
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