Same data, different stories: How to manipulate the graphs to support your narrative

Know that feeling when you're trying to create a narrative and support it with data, but data doesn't play along? We’ve all been there, tweaking our graphs a little bit - stretching here, bending there… massaging the data to support our story and emphasize the trend... without lying of course. Manipulative graphs are 100% accurate but misleading. They show true data but go through some “tweaking” to better support the story being told. In this post, I’ll teach you the dark art of manipulating your graphs without losing too much credibility. And if you’re on the receiving end, this post will help you spot dishonest graphs immediately, so nobody could fool you with those cheap tricks. Spreadsheets and reports lovers - this post is for you! Data trimming They say trimming split ends can make your hair look healthier. It's the same with graphs. For example, if your sales are slowing down, you can drop the most recent 1-2 months. If someone asks, you can always say y