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Make Your
Data Speak
Creating Actionable Data
through Excel For Non-Technical
Professionals
―
Alex Kolokolov
MAKE YOUR DATA SPEAK

CREATING ACTIONABLE DATA THROUGH

EXCEL FOR NON-TECHNICAL
PROFESSIONALS

Alex Kolokolov
Make Your Data Speak: Creating Actionable Data through Excel For
Non-Technical Professionals

Alex Kolokolov
Batumi, Georgia

ISBN-13 (pbk): 978-1-4842-8941-9 ISBN-13 (electronic): 978-1-4842-8942-6

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-8942-6

Copyright © 2023 by Alex Kolokolov

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the
whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting,
reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other
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computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter
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trademark symbol with every occurrence of a trademarked name, logo, or image we use
the names, logos, and images only in an editorial fashion and to the benefit of the trademark
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The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar terms,
even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of opinion as to
whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights.
While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the
date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any
legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no
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Printed on acid-free paper
Contents
About the Author v
About the Technical Reviewer vii
From the Author ix
Three Stories That Made Me Write This Book xiii

Chapter 1: Data Preparation 1

Chapter 2: Dashboard Assembling 41
Chapter 3: Anatomy of Diagrams 59
Chapter 4: Final Design 99
Chapter 5: Corporate Identity 147
Chapter 6: Data Visualization Rules 179
How to Improve the Data-Driven Culture in Your Organization 247

Index 253
About the Author
Alex Kolokolov is an expert in the business intelligence systems implemen-
tation and the development of information panels for managers – dashboards.
He is the CEO and founder of the Institute of Business Intelligence, a consult-
ing company specializing in building corporate reporting systems, and author
of the training “Make Your Data Speak.”
Over 12 years of practice, Alex has set up hundreds of management reports
in production, banks, and trading companies; he’s worked with software from
Microsoft, Qlik, Tableau, and IBM. Based on this experience, he described
universal rules for visualization and working with the requirements of busi-
ness customers.
About the Technical
Reviewer
Naveed Ahmed Janvekar is a Senior Applied Scientist in the United States.
He works on solving fraud and abuse problems on ecommerce platforms that
impact millions of customers in the United States and other parts of the
world using machine learning and deep learning. He has more than eight years
of expertise in the machine learning space, which includes classification algo-
rithms, clustering algorithms, graph modeling, BERT, and so on. He has a mas-
ter's degree in Information Science from the University of Texas at Dallas and
graduated top of his class and was awarded as scholar of high distinction and
inducted in the prestigious International Honor Society Beta Gamma Sigma.
He has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electronics and Communication
from India. He has worked with influential firms such as Amazon, Fidelity
Investments, and KPMG. In his current role, he is researching on identifying
novel fraud and abuse vectors on ecommerce platforms and using active learn-
ing to improve machine learning model performance.
From the Author
My name is Alex Kolokolov. I have been involved in corporate reporting auto-
mation projects since 2009. My company is called the Institute of Business
Intelligence and specializes in two areas: (1) the implementation of business
intelligence systems and (2) training in working with data and visualization.
Over the past years, I have been able to work with industrial holdings, metal-
lurgical plants, banks, state corporations, and international FMCG companies.
They are united by a common problem: there is a lot of data, but little under-
standable information. Every year, new IT systems and analytical divisions
appear, but at the strategic level, companies do not see any benefit from this.
Businesses need data visualization turning a stream of numbers into visual
information, which helps to quickly grasp the essence and make an informed
decision. It looks like a beautiful presentation, but allows you to click on the
desired indicator and find out the details down to the initial data. This is called
an interactive dashboard.
It turned out that to get such a dashboard, it is not enough to buy a BI system.
All these programs are just constructors in which everything needs to be
invented from scratch.
An analogy with oratory is appropriate here. The attention of colleagues at
meetings is won by a speaker with a beautiful and understandable presenta-
tion, and not with a bunch of bulky tables, even with useful calculations.
I want your reports to be clear and eloquent when the data speak the lan-
guage of business. This skill will definitely help to clearly and convincingly
convey Information to clients, colleagues, or managers. That’s why I wrote
this book.

Who Is This Book For?

Every report has two audiences. The first is the analysts who collect data and
make calculations. The second is the consumers of this information, the man-
agers who make decisions based on the collected data.
This book is suitable for both, but it is written in such a way that everything
is clear to business users, even without technical knowledge. I presented the
material in simple “human” language – just as I explain in my trainings and
MBA programs in business schools.
x From the Author

My goal is to show managers with different professional backgrounds how to

“tame” data visualization, set a task to develop a dashboard, and control the
quality so that the business gets a decision-making tool.

How to Read the Book

The first five chapters are about step-by-step building a dashboard based on
data on wage fund expenses. In fact, it is not so difficult to write 200 pages
about it. It’s just that in this step-by-step case, I included all the popular mis-
takes and difficulties that are encountered when working in Excel. And I
shared life hacks on how to solve or prevent these problems in a few clicks,
thereby saving time and nerves.
I tried to make the practical part a visual cheat sheet, and not just instructions
for pressing buttons in Excel. Therefore, the actions are divided into steps
with illustrations, and something is designed in the form of short checklists.
The QR codes at the end of some parts will direct into related video tutorials
so you can get more information. Someone likes to read more, it is more
convenient for other people to watch – you got two in one.
The final part of the book is about the rules of visualization. I am not trying
to say something new here. Rather, I tried to sort through the answer to the
eternal question of beginners about how to choose diagrams.
To do this, I took the most popular visual elements as examples and com-
pared them with data analysis types. Such schemes are called chart-choosers,
and many have been invented. I don’t like any – they are quite complex and
hard to remember. My “invention” in this part of the book was only the “visu-
alization compass”: I hope it will help you choose the right diagrams for
your task.
Usually, in training materials, theory comes first, and only then practice. I did
it differently, focusing on my coaching experience. It shows that a skill is
acquired better when you first do it, and then you systematize the acquired
knowledge with the help of theory.

This Book Is Not About Excel

No matter how much artificial intelligence, robotics, and other latest tech-
nologies are discussed, business decisions are still made by people. Often this
has to be done in conditions of lack of information, when there is a lot of data,
but there are few useful conclusions from them. And Excel, as a basic tool for
most, should be mastered at least to solve this problem.
 From the Author xi

I’m not a fan of Excel, but it’s still used even in large corporations, and you
can’t ignore this. It just so happened: we all love him, hate him, and cannot do
without him.
For me personally, Excel is valuable in that you can test a hypothesis right in
the source data file and sketch out a draft of a future dashboard or presenta-
tion in half an hour. A handy tool for managers and a foundation of digital skills
for top managers.
I would say this: no, this book is not about Excel. All principles, rules, and
techniques are relevant for working in any BI system. If you know them, then
even your first dashboard in BI will do better than beginners usually do.
Three Stories That
Made Me Write This
Book
Among my clients, there are dozens of companies and hundreds of their
employees. Among my students, there are thousands of people with different
backgrounds. All of them come to me with problems and tasks, many of them
tell interesting stories.
Over the years, stories about the complexities of working with data and visu-
alization have accumulated so much that they formed the basis of this book. I
will tell three such stories. They are about many executives, analysts, and
managers. And if the book makes the work of at least one of them easier, I
will know that I have invested time and energy in it for good reason.

S tory 1. How George from the Ministry

Made a Summary Report
George heads the development department in one of the ministries. Usually
he does not write reports – subordinates do. But sometimes he has to answer
for the quality of the data and their presentation himself.
It was in this situation that George found himself when he had to prepare a
report on the status of the implementation of a target program for a deputy
minister. To do this, it was necessary to collect data from subordinate organi-
zations and demonstrate in an understandable way the situation as a whole.

Problem: There Is Data, There Is No Clarity

At first glance, it was not difficult – the program consisted of a list of projects,
activities, milestones with deadlines, and planned results. But it was necessary
to take into account a nuance: projects can have different sources of funding
and one project can relate to several targeted programs.
xiv Three Stories That Made Me Write This Book

All subordinate organizations sent Excel reports on their projects. Some of

them added columns with event statuses, others colored rows by status, third
ones wrote about the reasons for deviations in the comments to the cell.
Each organization’s report showed that everything was supposedly under
control, but the overall progress of the program remained unclear. The task
of George was to show

• What projects are not being implemented, lagging behind

the planned deadlines
• Where is the problem in financing, where are the sources
changing
• Which of the responsible persons is not coping
• Which projects were agreed to be postponed
The desired report did not require a beautiful presentation: a table with reli-
able data would be enough. But there was a lot of data, and it was not easy to
collect them into one whole. A concise summary report was required to
provide details on each project.
George already knew that this is called a dashboard – he took one of my
courses. He even roughly imagined how such a dashboard should look like.
But he had absolutely no idea how to fit all the necessary information into it
and structure the data. And it was impossible to entrust the task to someone
else, because he had to answer personally to the deputy minister.

How to Show Everything at Once?

After suffering in attempts to reduce heterogeneous tables into a single array,
George came to me for a consultation. He looked, frankly, not the best way:
I didn’t sleep for two days. There are 4 days until the meeting with the Deputy
Minister, and my report is not ready yet. Help me to make a form for collecting data
from departments. Everyone sends a report, as it suits him, I’ve been trying to put
them together all night, but nothing comes out!
I don’t even need beauty on the dashboard. The main thing is that the data con-
verge with each other and can be filtered according to the characteristics of projects.
We discussed what conclusions he wants to convey, what counter-questions
may arise, what filters are needed to show the details. As a result, we drew a
sketch of the dashboard and compiled a list of fields for a flat table. We took
ten lines from the old report and converted it to a new format. We tested it
and realized that we need to add a couple more features to the data collec-
tion form.
 Three Stories That Made Me Write This Book xv

As a result, George received a template and gave the task to his subordinates
to fill out on time clearly according to the specified form. He even managed
to analyze and propose to the deputy minister a new scheme for managing the
target program. And when, on the last day, two departments sent “the most
recent correct data,” he just loaded them into a template – nothing had to
be redone.

 an’t Delegate? You’ll Have to Learn How

C
to Work with Data
Managers, and even more so top managers, do not collect and process data
every day. For them, analytics is not a profession or a hobby, but a regular
necessity. Especially when the data is confidential or requires personal atten-
tion. It is impossible to simply entrust this to a subordinate, because you need
to draw conclusions yourself.
That’s why I started this book with the part about data preparation. You don’t
have to keep all the Excel functions in mind. When such a task arises, you will
open this visual guide, remember the principle of operation, and find which
button to press. And while others will confer for a week and agree on the
format of data presentation, prepare a dashboard in a couple of hours and find
insights for strategic decisions.

S tory 2. How Analyst Michael Brought

the Director the “Aircraft Control Panel”
When we met, Michael had been working for an energy sales company for six
years. He said that the management appreciates his technical skills, but...
understands very little of everything he does. Mike even liked it: the fact that
no one else will be able to do such a job is not bad for self-esteem.

An Hour and a Half to Explain the Report

He prepared weekly reports for the commercial director. The director com-
plained that he did not understand anything, asked millions of questions on
“translation from analytical language to human” and hinted that it would be
nice to learn how to make beautiful presentations.
“What is more important to you??” Michael was angry. “I spent three days on
these calculations, I give you a full calculation, and do you need pictures?!”
“Mike, well, we’ve been sitting on this for an hour and a half,” the director
complained. “And so every week. There shouldn’t be such a thing that every
table has to be explained for so long, do you understand?”
xvi Three Stories That Made Me Write This Book

Usually everyone left with their own opinion. The director says that Michael
is boring, and Mike says that the director is stupid.

“Make It Clear and Come Back Tomorrow”

The last straw was the factor analysis for the past quarter. There doesn’t seem
to be anything to reproach Mike with — he worked day and night to make it
on time. He came to the meeting exhausted, but he managed to.
It was important to take into account dozens of factors and get a conclusion
on what affects the financial result of the company. Here is the amount of
productive supply, the dynamics of changes in the amount of released energy,
weather factors, and many, many more things.
Wanting to please the commercial director, this time Mikhail decided not to
limit himself to numbers, so he added textual explanations of cause-and-effect
relationships as well as graphs and diagrams.
As usual, he brought the result to Excel. It turned out to be a huge matrix:
tables, diagrams, graphs, buttons for recalculations. It all looked like an air-
plane control panel for professional pilots.
Mike felt that the commercial director probably wouldn’t figure it out. This
means that he will have to spend an hour and a half explaining again. But there
was no time left for “beauty guidance.” The meeting went something like this:
“Look, this time I made a dashboard, as you asked, with visualization!”
“Mike, tomorrow I have to take this to the CEO. What am I going to tell him?
He’s going to ask questions, and I don’t understand anything here. Make it
clear and come back in the morning. This is your main goal now, I need a
result tomorrow.”

Beautiful Is More Expensive

There was no miracle in the morning, the boss still had to delve into all the
details. After sitting together for another two hours, they made a short ver-
sion in the form of a presentation, but it was still impossible to do without
large tables. However they learned that the skill of business visualization can
be obtained. Then the director sent Michael to my training, where we met.
Analysts often say that all this visualization is only decoration. If we have reli-
able metrics, then we can draw conclusions even from the table. This is true
for the one who collected and calculated this data himself. But for a manager
who sees them for the first time, it is important to switch quickly, understand
where the problems are, and draw conclusions. And proper visualization
accelerates the process of perception, helps to solve this problem.
 Three Stories That Made Me Write This Book xvii

Like Michael, many analysts are so keen on calculations that there is no time
left for design. But this is necessary for business, because it helps to quickly
understand the essence and make decisions. And business appreciates it
very much.
To simplify this task for techies, I wrote a book in the form of clear instruc-
tions with clear checklists. There is no need to break your head and spend
long hours on creative searches. Following the best practices, each analyst will
be able to make his dashboard look like a designer worked on it.

S tory 3. How HR Irene Struggled

with Digital Illiteracy
Irene is HR director of a construction company. The head office is located in
one of the Manhattan business centers and branches operate in the regions.
Irene came to me with something like this problem: everyone has digitized
processes in production and sales, dashboards with analytics are set up, and in
her directorate “no one needs anything.”
HR specialists are located in regional offices with salaries “not above average,”
and their motivation is the same. They don’t know how to work with data,
and they don’t want to learn.

Not All Employees Are Equally Useful

Subordinates really did not have much interest in work, nor digital literacy.
The reports were made without diligence, not for understanding how to
increase labor productivity or optimize the budget fund.
Moreover, mistakes were constantly made in the reports. Then they delete a
row that seems unnecessary, then they rename the column or add something
from themselves. For example, one day in the report card, one person entered
the number of employees as “7 in the morning.” Of course, this broke not
only the numeric format of the cell, but also a bunch of formulas and calcula-
tions related to it.

“I Didn’t Know You Could Do This in Excel”

We decided to gather all employees in New York and conduct full-time train-
ing on working with data. At the training, I saw their faded eyes and unwilling-
ness to change something in their work. But many really just didn’t understand
what the management wanted from them, why they filled out new tables from
month to month.
xviii Three Stories That Made Me Write This Book

When everyone saw that their reports were becoming part of the dashboard
for the board of directors, the perception changed. Employees began to show
interest and offer ideas on what other metrics to add, what conclusions can
be drawn from them.
Of course, questions began to arise where to get the data. Part is in ERP, but
they are unloaded badly. Part of it is assembled manually, but each branch does
it in its own format. I have shown how these tasks can be solved on Excel
pivot tables.
As a result, the training participants were divided into two groups. Some,
more advanced, started setting up report templates. And others (of which
there were more) finally understood how to keep records correctly so that
their colleagues could continue to do analytics.
“I didn’t know that you could do this in Excel,” said an HR specialist from
Pittsfield. “I saw similar reports from salesmen, but I thought it was worth
millions. And now I can make a beautiful report for the head myself, and also
have time to write an explanatory note with conclusions to it.”

Digital Talent Pool

A month after the training, I asked Irene how things were going with digitaliza-
tion. She answered honestly, that many, after leaving their region, found them-
selves caught in the routine. But, on the other hand, an active group of six
people appeared, who systematize reports in their branches and develop new
standards.
Now they are not sending her a mountain of tables, but all ready conclusions
and suggestions, comments on deviations. And for this, they receive an addi-
tional bonus. By the end of the quarter, they plan to replicate the reporting
system to other, more passive branches.
Some of the employees did not want to grow, and someone no longer became
a performer, but a reliable adviser for their manager. Irene formed a team of
like-minded people around her and gave them motivation for career growth.
Of course, this book is not enough to implement the digital transformation of
the company. It’s not about strategy or artificial intelligence. But if the major-
ity of office employees read it and apply simple rules in their work, then the
overall corporate culture will grow seriously. And there will no longer be a
gap between advanced managers in Manhattan and “mere mortals” in
branches.
If visualization and dashboards are already the standard of work for you, then
share this book with your colleagues. And then they will start speaking the
same language with you faster, and team efficiency will increase.
 Three Stories That Made Me Write This Book xix

Conclusion
These three stories are united by one common situation. The customer has
an image of the result, the dashboard itself, but he does not know how to
clearly set the task. The performer, the owner of the data is waiting for a clear
statement and does not guess what solutions to offer. Because he does not
know how it happens differently, from which side to approach the analyti-
cal task.
Managers, analysts, middle managers – many people face difficulties in cor-
rectly submitting data. I wrote this book so that you can get rid of them as
easily and quickly as possible with the help of techniques and practices
approved by dozens of my clients and thousands of students.
Approaches to working with data and visualization rules are the same for
Excel and for any BI system. I am giving instructions for Excel, because it
remains the most common program for working with reports that any analyst
and manager has to deal with.
Don’t be surprised that the book starts with practice, and theory goes at the
end. Everyone has heard the theory one way or another, but stumbled on its
application. Therefore, I will take you through the end-to-end case of creating
a dashboard – from raw data to advanced design. To do this, I supplemented
the book with QR codes and links to video tutorials. They describe the work
in even more detail, and the book will be at your fingertips as a synopsis with
illustrations.
You will see that all this is not so difficult, sometimes even fascinating, feel
your freedom of action and be able to go beyond my checklists by studying
the visualization rules in the last part. And also continue to learn useful
life hacks.
Remember that you should not draw a diagram just because you know how
to do it! It is important to convey the meaning of the data and make the right
decision.
Have a good reading and practice at the computer!
 CHAPTER

Data
Preparation
Reports in the usual tables prepared manually are not suitable for building
dashboards. The information in them is arranged conveniently and
understandable for human perception, but isn’t suitable for machine processing.
Therefore, dealing with data is the first step before developing a dashboard.
In this part of the book, I will tell you what to pay attention to when analyzing
the initial data and show you how to prepare them properly, so that the
interactive dashboard is automatically updated.

© Alex Kolokolov 2023

A. Kolokolov, Make Your Data Speak,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4842-8942-6_1
2 Chapter 1 | Data Preparation

1.1 What’s Wrong with the Initial Data

A common problem: employees make reports in a way that is convenient for
them without thinking about how others will work with this data later. We
get tables that are difficult to understand: with auxiliary calculation columns,
comments, and color highlights. Sometimes it is a ready-made report from
the Enterprise Resource Planning accounting system, which then “grows”
with notes and groupings.
It is convenient for the author of such a table to work with it: to enter data
into a new column, drag down the formula, check the calculation results on
the next sheet. But the problem is not even that it is not obvious to everyone
else –– such data cannot be loaded into the pivot tables which are the basis
for a dashboard we make.
Let’s look at not the worst example – a table with data on staff costs.

• In the rows of the table, there are expense items

and divisions, as well as subtotals for them. They are
highlighted in color, but technically inside column A,
these categories are indistinguishable.

• To the right in the columns, there are the months in

the merged cells, and below them is the Target/Actual
grouping. That is, we have a two-level “table header.”

It is really convenient to enter data into such a matrix structure. Especially if

you need to add a number to a cell and forget about it. But we are thinking a
few steps ahead: how to set up a report template that will be automatically
updated when new data is added.
 Make Your Data Speak 3

Solution: The original matrix table needs to be transformed into the so-called
“flat” format.

“Human-readable” format “Machine-readable” format

Five categories of data in columns and rows: Each category is in a separate column:
• In the columns – month, target, and actual 1. Division name
values 2. Staff costs items
• In the rows – the division name and the cost 3. Month
item
4. Target values
5. Actual values

If you enter data manually, it will add routine work: for each row with a
numeric indicator, you need to repeat the categories (division, article, month).
And the compact matrix will turn into hundreds and thousands of rows.
The good news is that if you download the initial data from the database, then
any information system allows you to do it in the same “flat format.”

How to Convert Data to a Flat Table

A flat table with initial data should contain

• A row of headings with category names

• Five columns by number of categories
• Non-repeating data in rows

Rows shouldn’t have empty cells: division, expense item, and month should be
specified for each row.
4 Chapter 1 | Data Preparation

There are several ways to convert the initial data into a flat table: by manually
copying data into the desired cells and by using macros or Power Pivot
techniques.
Let’s start with manual data copying: this method will take a little time, but for
a new user, it’s easier than the others.

■■ Tip! If you are a beginner in Excel, then before starting work, make a copy of the worksheet
with data so that you can always clarify the original information.

Step 1. Column A in the initial table contains two categories of data:

“Division” and “Expense item.” In a flat table, they should be in different
columns. Here’s how to separate them.
a) Add a new column to the left of column A. Method 1, the simplest: select
column A, open the context menu with the right mouse button, select
“Insert.” Method 2: put the cursor on any cell in column A, in the menu on
the “Home” tab, select the “Insert...” button in the “Cells” section and the
“Insert Sheet Columns” button in the submenu.
b) Drag the values of cells that contain the names of divisions into a new
column. To do this, select the cells, bring the cursor to the border of this
block and move it to a new location.
c) Fill down empty values in the new column with the names of divisions for
the rows in which the expense items remain.
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Contrasted expressions or comparisons, 20, XVII.;
comparison, short, 21, 1;
so-that, rather-than, etc., 21, 2;
as, than, 21, 3;
first expression negative, the other affirmative, 21, 4.
Consequently, 9, IV.
Copy, definition of, 104.
Correction in proof to be disregarded, 109, IX.
Cousin, when to commence with a capital, 63, 2, 3; 90, 2; 96, 2.
Crooked words in proof, 110, XII.

D
Dagger, double dagger, uses of, 53, VI.
Dash, 34-38;
additional punctuation marks, 38, 1, 2.
Days of the month, 60, VI.;
spring, summer, etc., 61, Rem.
Dates, 22, Rem.
Deity, the, 63, X.;
difference among writers, 63, 1;
First Cause, etc., 64, 2;
King of kings, etc., 64, 3;
eternal, divine, etc., 64, 4;
pronouns, 64, 5; 65, 6;
god, goddess, deity, 65, 7.
Democrat, 60, V.
Dependent clauses, 6, II.;
definition of, 7, 1;
omission of comma, 7, 2.
Devil, 59, 3.
Diæresis, 50, 4.
Diphthongs, how indicated in proof, 110, XIV.
Direct question, 31, I.
Direct quotation. See Quotation.
Divine, 64, 4.
Division of words, 50, III.;
where to divide a word, 51, 1.
Divisions of sentences, 23, I.; 25, Gen. Rem.
Divisions of a statement, 69, XVII.;
how readily recognized, 70, 1;
usage of some writers, 70, 2;
sentences broken off to attract attention, 70, 3.

E
East, when to commence with a capital, 59, 1.
Ellipsis, marks of, 52, III.
Emotion, strong, 32, I.;
unusual degree, 32, Rem.
Emphasis, words repeated for, 17, 3;
use of the dash to give prominence, 37, Gen. Rem.; 35, 1.
Enumeration of particulars, 27, III.;
particulars preceded by a colon, 27, 1;
not introduced by thus, following, etc., 27, 2;
particulars preceded by a semicolon, 27, 3;
comma and dash sometimes used, 28, 4.
Envelopes, addressed, 77;
with special request, 78;
with stamp, 78.
Esq., 74, 3.
Eternal, referring to the Deity, 64, 4.
Example, punctuation of words preceding, 24, Rem.;
first word of, 66, 4.
Exclamation point, 32, 33;
inclosed within parenthetical marks, 40, 3.
Expressions, inverted, 12, VI.;
two brief, 19, 2;
contrasted, 20, XVII.;
complete in themselves, 23, II.; 28, Gen. Rem.;
series of, 24, III.;
negative and affirmative, 21, 4;
at the end of sentences, 22, XIX.;
equivalent to sentences, 57, 2.

F
Father, when to commence with a capital, 63, 2, 3.
Federalist, 60, V.
Figures omitted, 36, IV.;
Arabic, 22, XVIII.
Finally, 9, IV.
First Cause, First Principle, 64, 2;
Father of mercies, Father of spirits, 64, 3.
First word in a sentence, 57, I.;
in expressions numbered, 69, XVII.;
after a period, 57, 3.
Following, 27, III., 2.
Foreign words, 43, 2.
Forms of address, 78-82.
Friend, when to commence with a capital, 63, 3; 90, 2; 96, 2.

G
General remarks, 28, 37, 110.
God, 63, 64;
goddess, 65, 7;
God of hosts, 64, 3.
Gospel, 61, 3.
Greeting. See Introductory words.

H
Handbills, use of capitals in, 62, 3.
Heading of letters, 83;
definition, 83;
punctuation, 84;
large cities, 85;
a small town or village, 86;
hotels, 86;
seminaries or colleges, 86;
position, 86.
Heaven and hell, 59, 3.
Heavenly, applied to the Deity, 64, 4.
Hers, 48, 3.
Hesitation, how indicated, 34, I.
His, Him, referring to the Deity, 64, 5.
His Excellency, 76, 5; 62, IX.;
address of envelope, 80.
Hon., 75, 4; 62, IX.
However, 9, IV.
Hyphen, the, 49-51;
connecting several words, 49, 2;
omitted, 49, 3;
doubt as to the use, 49, 5.
I
I, 68, XV.
If, 7, 1.
Indeed, 9, IV.
Independent clauses, 6, I.;
definition of, 6, 1;
comma omitted, 6, 2;
separation by a semicolon, 6, 3.
Infinite One, 64, 2.
In short, in fact, in reality, 9, IV.
Interjections, 32, II.;
exclamation point at the end of a sentence, 33, 1, 2.
Interrogation point, 31, I.;
inclosed in parenthetical marks, 40, 2.
Introductory words of letters, definition, 90;
punctuation, 91;
position, 91;
forms of salutation, 92;
salutations to young ladies, 93;
to married ladies, 94.
Introductory remarks, 5, 73.
Inverted expressions, 12, VI.;
explanation, 12, 1;
omission of comma, 12, 2.
Inverted letter in proof, 107, IV.
Italics, how indicated, 53, V.; 107, VI.;
words from a foreign language, 43, 2;
written with or without a capital, 60, Rem.
Its, 48, 3.
K
King of kings, 64, 3.

L
Leaders, 53, IV.
Letters or figures omitted, 36, IV.;
3-9 equivalent to, 37, Rem.
Letters omitted, 47, I.;
the apostrophe, 47, Rem.
Letters, care in writing, some facts, 73.
Letter-forms, 71-100.
List of abbreviations, 29, 30; 30, 7.
LL. D., 30, 5; 75, 3.
Logical subject, 19, XVI.;
definition of, 20, 1;
custom of some writers, 20, 2.
Long sentences, 25, I.
Lord of lords, 64, 3.

M
Madame, 93, 94.
Marks of parenthesis, 39, 40;
additional marks, 39, 1;
dashes, 37, V.;
comma, 40, 4.
Mark of attention in proof, 110, XV.
Members of sentences, 25, Gen. Rem.
Miscellaneous marks, 52, 53.
Miss, 74, 1; 93.
Months and days, names of, 60, VI.;
autumn, spring, etc., 61, Rem.
More—than, 21, 2.
Moreover, 9, IV.

N
Name, person’s, 16, 2, d.;
abbreviated, 30, 2; 74, 2; 96, Rem.
period used after name, 29, Rem.
See Signature.
Namely, 9, IV.; 35, 2.
Nations, names of, 59, IV.;
Italics and Italicized, 60, Rem.
Negative expressions, 21, 4.
Nevertheless, 9, IV.
Nor, 6, 1.
Not, contrasted expressions, 21, 4.
North, when to commence with a capital, 59, 1.
Nouns in apposition, 15, 16. See Words.
Numeral figures, 22, XVIII.;
dates, 22, Rem.

O
O, 68, XV.;
not followed by an exclamation point, 32, II.
Of which, 9, 3;
of course, 9, IV.
Omitted, letters or figures, 36, IV.; 47, I.
Omissions, how indicated, 52, II.;
in proof, 106, III.
Or, 6, 1; 18, 2.
Ours, 48, 3.

P
Pages, numbering of, 30, 4.
Paragraphs, quoted, 46, IV.;
sign of, 53, VI.;
in proof, 108, VIII.
Parallel lines, 53, VI.
Parenthesis, 39, I.;
additional marks, 39, 1, a, b, c;
comma and dash often preferred, 37, V.; 40, 4;
doubtful assertion, 40, 2;
irony or contempt, 40, 3.
Parenthetical words and phrases, 9, IV.;
definition of, 10, 1;
when commas are omitted, 10, 2;
parenthetical words and adverbs, 10, 3.
Parenthetical expressions, 11, V.;
distinction between parenthetical expressions and
parenthetical words, 11, 1, a, b;
when commas are omitted, 11, 2.
Parties, names of, 60, V.
See Sects.
Participial clauses, 14, IX.;
sign of, 14, Rem.
Perhaps, 9, IV.
Period, indicates what, 3;
uses of, 29, 30.
Persons and places, names of, 58, III.;
North, South, etc., 59, 1;
words derived from names of persons, 59, 2;
Satan, devil, 59, 3.
Person or thing addressed, 13, VIII.;
strong emotion, 14, Rem.
Personification, 67, XIV.
Phrases and clauses, 18, XV.;
definition of a phrase, 19, 1;
of a clause, 5;
when commas are omitted, 19, 2;
words and phrases in a series, 19, 3;
parenthetical phrases, 9, 10.
Poetry, first word of each line, 58, II.
Political parties, 60, V.
Possession, 47, II.;
singular of nouns, 47, 1;
plural of nouns, 48, 2;
ours, yours, etc., 48, 3.
Prefixes, 50, II.;
definition of, 50, 1;
vowel and consonant 50, 2;
vice-president, etc., 50, 3;
when to use the diæresis, 50, 4.
Prince of life, Prince of kings, 64, 3.
Projecting leads in proof, 110, XIII.
Pronouns referring to the Deity, 64, 5; 65, 6.
Proof-reading, 101-114;
its importance, 102;
preparation of manuscript, 102, 103;
copy, proof-sheet, revise, 104;
wrong letters and punctuation marks, 105, I.;
 wrong words, 106, II.;
omissions, 106, III.;
inverted letter, 107, IV.;
strike out, 107, V.;
capitals and italics, 107, VI.;
spacing, 108, VII.;
paragraphs, 108, VIII.;
correction to be disregarded, 109, IX.;
broken letters, 109, X.;
transpose, 109, XI.;
crooked words, 110, XII.;
projecting leads, 110, XIII.;
diphthongs, 110, XIV.;
mark of attention, 100, XV.;
Gen. Rem., 110.
Proof-sheet, definition of, 104;
specimen proof, 111, 112;
corrected proof, 113, 114.
Punctuation, its importance, iii., iv.;
how to teach it, iv., v.;
principal punctuation marks, 3;
other marks, 4;
punctuation marks, why used, 3, 4.

Q
Question, direct, 31, I.;
question and answer in the same paragraph, 36, 3.
Quotation, short, 12, VII.;
long, 13, 5; 26, II.; 27, 1;
expressions resembling a quotation, 13, 1;
introduced by that, 13, 2; 65, 1;
single words quoted, 13, 3; 65, 2; 66, 3;
quotation divided, 13, 4;
quotation in the middle of a sentence, 27, 2;
quotation within a quotation, 45, 1; 46, 2;
 parts of a quotation omitted, 46, IV., 2;
first word of a quotation, 65, XI.;
examples as illustrations, 24, Rem.; 66, 4.
Quotation marks, 43-46;
direct quotation, 43, I.;
exact words not given, 43, 1;
words from a foreign language, 43, 2;
quotation followed by a comma, semicolon, colon, period,
44, 4;
by an exclamation or interrogation point, 44, 5, 6;
titles of books, 44, II.;
quotation within a quotation, 45, III.;
paragraphs, 46, IV.
Quoted passage, 41, I.

R
Republican, Radical, 60, V.
Rather—than, 21, 2.
Reference marks, 53, VI.
References, 68, XVI.;
volume and chapter, 69, 1;
to the Bible, 69, 3;
volume and page sufficient, 69, 2.
Relative clauses, 7, III.;
commas when used, 7, III., 1;
when omitted, 7, III., 2;
introduced by who, etc., 8, 1;
exceptions, 8, 2, 3.
Reporter, remarks by, 41, 2.
Resolutions, 66, XII.;
Resolved and That, 66, Rem.
Revise, definition of, 104.
S
Salutations. See Introductory words.
Scriptures, sacred writings, 61, 3.
Sects, names of, 60, V.;
Republican, etc., 60, 1, 2;
Church, 60, 3.
Section mark, 53, VI.
Semicolon, 23-25;
indicates distant relationship, 3, 4;
often preferred to a colon, 28;
semicolon and comma, 25.
Sentence, definition of, 5; 57, 1;
long sentences, 23, I.;
members of, 23, II.; 25, Gen. Rem.; 28, Gen. Rem.;
complete sentences, 29, I.;
broken sentences, 34, I.;
first word of, 57, I.;
expressions equivalent to a sentence, 57, 2;
word following a period, 57, 3;
word following an interrogation or an exclamation, 58, 4.
Series of words, 17, XIV.;
commas, when not used, 17, XIV., 1;
when used, 18, XIV., 2, 3;
last word preceding a single word, 18, 1;
two words connected by or, 18, 2;
series of phrases and clauses, 18, XV.;
of expressions, 24, III.
Short quotations. See Quotations.
Signatures, 29, Rem.; 97, 98.
Since, 7, 1.
Sister, when to commence with a capital, 63, 2; 90, 2; 96, 2.
Sir, 63, 3.
Son of man, 64, 3.
So—that, so—as, 21, 2.
South, 59, 1.
Spacing in proof, 108, VII.
Specimen proof, 111, 112.
Special words, capitalization of, 66, 67.
Spring, summer, 61, Rem.
Stamp, 78.
Star, reference mark, 53, VI.
Strike out in proof, 107, V.
Strong emotion, 32, I.;
unusual emotion, 32, Rem.
Subject, logical, 19, XVI.;
definition of, 20, 1;
subject of statement or quotation, 35, III.;
definition of, 36, 1;
author, 36, 2;
question and answer, 36, 3;
as, thus, etc., 36, 4.
Summary of letter-forms, 98-100.
Supreme Being, 64, 2;
Son of man, 64, 3.

T
Titles, annexed, 16, 3;
of essays, orations, etc., 29, Rem.; 61, 2;
of books, 44, II.; 61, VII.;
of magazines, 45, 1, 2;
of persons, 62, IX.;
sacred writings, 61, 3.
Title-pages, 62, VIII.;
first word of a chapter, 62, 2;
handbills and advertisements, 62, 3.
Than, 21, 3.
That, 8, 1; 13, 2;
quotation introduced by that, 65, 1;
in resolutions, 66, Rem.
That is, 35, 2.
Theirs, 48, 3.
Therefore, 9, IV.
Thus, this, these, 27, III.; 27, 2; 36, 4.
To-day, to-night, to-morrow, 49, 4.
Too, 10, 3.
Transpose in proof, 109, XI.

U
Until, 7, 1.
Unconnected words, 16, XIII.,
comma, when used, 17, 1, 3;
when not used, 17, 2.
Uncle, when to commence with a capital, 63, 2, 3; 90, 2; 96, 2.

V
Verb omitted, 15, X.;
main clauses separated by a semicolon, 15, 1;
comma omitted, 15, 2.
Vice-president, 50, 3.

W
What, 8, 1.
When, 7, 1.
Words, parenthetical, 9, IV.;
in apposition, 15, XI.;
unconnected, 16, XIII.;
series of, 17, XIV.;
repeated for emphasis, 17, 3; 35, 3;
two connected by or, 18, 2;
words and phrases in a series, 19, 3;
from a foreign language, 43, 2;
compound, 49, I.;
division of, 50, III.;
repeated, 52, I.;
special, 66, XIII.
Words personified, 67, XIV.;
caution, 68, Rem.
Wrong letters and punctuation marks in proof, 105, I.;
wrong words, 106, II.

Y
Yours, 48, 3.
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