Regarding choosing the right chart -check out this nifty (and free) tool: http://chartchooser.com. This little web-app gives you downloadable examples of chart types based on what you’re trying to show (i.e. comparison, trend, relationship, etc.) Unfortunately, it currently only supports XLS and PPT, but I’m willing to bet you can use the SlideRocket importer to work around that little hurdle.

Regarding color selection for charting – when you are using color in your graphs to represent data, there are three types of color schemes to consider:
• Sequential when you are ordering values from low to high.
• Divergent when the values are ordered and there is a critical mid-point (e.g. an
average or zero).
• Categorical when data falls into distinct groups (e.g. countries) and therefore requires contrast between adjacent colors.

You can find more in depth information on charting best practices (including color usage, typography, font selection, labeling, etc.) in the pdf: Creating Dashboards People Love to Use – Part 3: Information Design. You can get it here (starting around page 7): http://www.juiceanalytics.com/registration/dashboard_design/ (registration required).

I’m not familiar with the term “build.” Does that mean animating a slide so each element of the chart or diagram is added individually?

By the way, I found this post through @blano on Twitter