Category Archives for Excel Tips & Tricks

Monte Carlo Simulation Formula in Excel – Tutorial and Download

What is Monte Carlo Simulation? Monte Carlo Simulation is a process of using probability curves to determine the likelihood of an outcome.  You may scratch your head here and say…  “Hey Rick, a distribution curve has an array of values.  So how exactly do I determine the likelihood of an outcome?”  And better yet, how do […]

Book Updates, Info Graphics with Excel, Excel Sumo, and more…

Updates First, the updates. Sorry dear readers I’ve been gone for so long. It’s been, well, two years since I started writing my book. I’m now 450+ pages with still a few more chapters to write. Here’s the thing, my book publisher would like me to finish my book–and rightly so! So that’s been taking […]

Info Graphics with Excel

I’m not always the biggest fan of info graphics. Many of the posters-sized info graphics released these days have issues. But lately I’ve also received several requests on how to do info graphics with Excel. Many people don’t know where to start. How Info Graphics are Different Info graphics differ somewhat from your usual dashboard-style […]

Upcoming Live Workshops and Courses in Los Angeles and Cincinnati

I have several great training sessions and workshops coming up. If you’re interested in receiving training for your organization, let me know. Los Angeles, California, August 25-27th Free wine and beer will be served at both classes! Get the Picture: Intro to Data Visualization Tools With Microsoft Excel August 25th, 2014, 7-9pm Whether you’re an […]

Interactive Spreadsheets for Decision Makers

In case you’ve missed it, my 70-minute long free webinar is available on YouTube. I’ll show you how to make three awesome decision tools in under an hour. Feel free to watch and share. And, remember: I can bring this and so much more to your organization! Send me a message at my consulting page […]

Me vs Bill Jelen on the value of Option Explicit

Watch me argue it out with the wise and venerable (but ultimately incorrect) Bill “Mr. Excel” Jelen on the topic of using Option Explicit in your code. I argue for the affirmative (that you should use it) while Bill takes the status quo. Let me know your thoughts.

Generating random qualitative data in a pinch

There are plenty of terrific random data generators for Excel out there. But sometimes you just need some fake data qualitative data without the fuss. For instance, perhaps I want to generate a random list of data points with the values low, medium, or high. A simple method I recommend combines RANDBETWEEN with CHOOSE. Take […]

Excel TV Interview w Chandoo

Hello there. As many of you know, I am work on a side project called Excel TV with my buddies Oz Du Soliel and Rick Grantham. At first, I thought I’d post every episode as they became available. However, I have so much to do during the week, that I already missed posting Episode. In any […]

Excel TV Episode 2: How to become an Excel MVP – with guest Kari Finn

Excel TV: Episode 1

Checkout my new project, Excel TV

Checkout my interview with Rick Grantham, Small Business Champion!

Watch part 1 of my interview with Rick Grantham: Follow this link for the full article.     

Excel Dashboard Course

As you might imagine, I often get approached to promote Excel material. As a general rule, I don’t promote products that I don’t really know anything about. So if I promote something, it’s because I believe in it. Today, I want to recommend the Excel Dashboard Course by Mynda Treacy over at MyOnlineTrainingHub.com. And if […]

Miami Valley XL User Group

Based on the great reception Rob Collie has had in Cleveland, I am attempting to create an XL User Group here in the Miami Valley area. Do you live in our around Dayton, Cincinnati, or Columbus? Would you be interested in attending/hosting an Excel user group in these areas? If so, please send me your […]

Creating a Spreadsheet-Based Wizard

First of all, happy spreadsheet day! It was on this date today that VisiCalc was first shipped to the masses. The rest, as they say, is history. So let’s talk about creating a spreadsheet-based wizard. By “spreadsheet-based,” I mean no Userforms. That’s right. There are many good Excel tutorials out there on developing wizards with […]

Handling Rollover Clicks Without Using the Worksheet_SelectionChange Event

You probably noticed a “bug” while playing around with my Interactive Periodic Table of Elements in Excel. When you click down into the Table of Elements (or really, anywhere on the sheet), one of the chemical classifications will become “selected,” despite your not having clicked on it directly. This happens because I’ve used the ScrollArea […]