Excel is still the most widely used tool in business, often paired with tools like Power BI for data reporting and dashboards. The problem however, is that most people learn it as a list of functions instead of a clear analytics workflow.

In this beginner-friendly class, you’ll learn Excel through a practical data analytics process, from cleaning messy datasets to building pivot tables and charts that answer real questions. Instead of memorizing random formulas, this course focuses on the 80/20 of Excel — the small set of skills and analytical logic that carry over across real datasets and use cases.

In a follow-up course, we’ll extend this workflow by using Power BI to turn these insights into interactive dashboards for business intelligence. (Planned for April 2026 — follow to get notified.)

What You Will Learn

In this class, you will learn how to:

Navigate Excel confidently (workbooks, worksheets, ribbon, cell references)
Use essential Excel functions like SUM, AVERAGE, MIN/MAX, TRIM, and CONCAT
Apply filters correctly and avoid common issues like blank rows breaking datasets
Perform Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) to understand what your data represents
Clean real-world data (remove blanks, duplicates, text issues, incorrect data types, outliers)
Connect multiple sheets using VLOOKUP, INDEX-MATCH, and XLOOKUP
Build pivot tables to summarize and analyze data efficiently
Create pivot charts to visualize insights clearly
Apply a simple Logic Framework so your thinking and assumptions are easy to follow

Why You Should Take This Class

Excel is used across many fields, but knowing formulas alone isn’t enough. What matters is how you approach a problem, structure your analysis, and make sense of the data in front of you.

These skills are useful for:

Job interviews and technical assessments
Early-career and day-to-day analytical work
School projects and reporting
Managing and tracking information for your own projects or creative work
Building confidence with data so Excel feels less overwhelming

I’ve used Excel across multiple roles since 2016 and have taught it to hundreds of learners. This class is built around the 80/20 principle — focusing on the skills that consistently matter in real Excel work.

Who This Class Is For

This class is designed for:

Beginners who have never used Excel before
Intermediate users who want a clearer, more structured way to work with data

No prior Excel or data analytics experience is required.
(The class is taught on a Mac, and Windows shortcut equivalents are included.)

Materials & Resources

To complete this class, you’ll need:

Microsoft Excel (Mac or Windows)
The downloadable practice dataset provided in the Resources section

A second screen or split-screen setup is helpful but optional.

Raghvendra Soni

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