- Column: comparing categories with short labels;
- Bar: better when labels are long or numerous;
- Line: trends and volatility over time;
- Pie: shares, with at most five slices;
- Scatter: correlation between two variables;
- Area: totals and composition over time;
- Combo: volume plus ratio together;
- Waterfall: step-by-step increases and decreases;
- Histogram: distribution and concentration.
Polish
Remove unnecessary gridlines and legend entries, start axes at zero unless you say otherwise, and label only the key points.