This book covers all the basics that is ever required by a beginner Excel user. You will learn how to
- create and save a workbook
- enter and edit data
- format your worksheet
- insert and edit a formula, or use one from the formula list
- create charts from your data
- add graphics to your worksheet
- present your worksheet the way you want it for printing
- password-protect your workbook

Some of the more advanced functions covered in this book include:
- creating Scenarios (i.e. sensitivity analysis). For example, you may wish to know what is the impact on your loan repayment, for different levels of interest rate
- using Smart Tags to retrieve information such as stock quotes from a website into your Excel spreadsheet
- using the List function to manage a small database such as an address book
- creating Macros to automatically perform a series of common actions
- setting up Speech Recognition to use Dictation Mode

The best thing about Teach Yourself Visually: Microsoft Excel is that you don't have to read through long-winded explanations just to learn a simple function. Every page contains colourful screenshots and illustrations to help you visualise what is where and how to do it. Because the instructions are visual and colourfully presented, your learning process is accelerated with minimal chance of confusion and misunderstanding. For once, adult learning could actually be fun!

A picture tells a thousand words. So here is a snapshot of how a typical page in the book looks like.

All the spreadsheet examples illustrated in this book are available for downloading from the author's website. So you could actually experiment with the examples and learn by doing.

This book is also littered with heaps of very useful hints and shortcuts that some seasoned Excel users may not even know! I have been using Microsoft Excel for over 10 years and I certainly learnt a few new things!

If you have been wanting to learn the basics of Microsoft Excel but were procrastinating about how hard it could be, this book is the solution to your problem. It doesn't matter if you are a teenager or a 60 year-old grandparent, learning from this book is fun and easy!