Precision in Exhibits: What Verbs to Use for Chart Trends and YoY QoQ Notation Style Guide

Step 1: Build a precise verb taxonomy for chart trends

Clear trend language begins with a disciplined verb taxonomy. Think in directional categories—up, down, flat, mixed/inflection, and velocity—and choose verbs that convey not only the direction but also the strength and character of movement. The goal is to make a reader “see” the line in words. Avoid vague evaluative verbs like “improves,” “weakens,” or “performs,” which signal judgment but not motion; they fail to indicate whether a metric went up, down, or stayed flat. Replace them with directional verbs calibrated by magnitude and duration.

• Upward movement: use verbs that scale from gentle to forceful. At the light end, “edges up,” “ticks up,” or “nudges higher” suggest small, possibly brief gains. In the middle, “rises,” “climbs,” and “advances” imply clear, sustained upward motion. For sharp, notable jumps, choose “jumps,” “leaps,” or “surges,” which connote strong acceleration and substantial magnitude.
• Downward movement: mirror the same gradation. “Edges down,” “eases,” or “dips” indicate slight declines. “Falls,” “drops,” and “declines” mark more material decreases. For steep or extended slides, “plunges,” “sinks,” or “slumps” communicate severity and persistence.
• Flat or stabilized periods: when a series consolidates, signal the absence of meaningful drift. “Holds steady,” “stabilizes,” “levels off,” “plateaus,” and “remains flat” describe equilibrium. These verbs are especially useful after a volatile phase to show that movement has ceased or stayed within a narrow band.
• Mixed or inflection behavior: highlight change in direction or a turning point. “Reverses,” “turns,” and “inflects” indicate a pivot from prior direction. Where the line alternates within a range, “oscillates,” “whipsaws,” or “chops sideways” convey variability without net trend. Use these with caution and only when the plot genuinely shows a direction change or alternating pattern.
• Velocity and acceleration: sometimes the speed of movement matters more than the absolute direction. “Accelerates” and “decelerates” describe the rate of change: growth that is still positive but slowing “decelerates,” while negative growth that becomes less negative “moderates.” Verbs like “re-accelerates,” “loses momentum,” and “gathers pace” situate the trend within a dynamic context of changing speed.

Match verbs to magnitude, duration, and certainty. A brief, noisy tick is not a “surge,” and a multi-quarter climb is not a mere “uptick.” If data volatility is high, temper verbs with adverbs that communicate confidence and scale: “modestly rises,” “sharply drops,” “broadly stabilizes.” Reserve the strongest verbs for moves that are both large and sustained, validated by the plotted data. This calibrated approach keeps narrative tone aligned with evidence and avoids overstatement.

Step 2: Apply quantitative thresholds to choose verbs

A taxonomy gains power when linked to numeric heuristics. While thresholds vary by metric and industry, setting approximate bands helps maintain consistency across exhibits. Define ranges for percent change and percentage-point (pp) change and tie them to verb strength. For example, in many business contexts for quarterly or annual comparisons:

• Light movement: about 0–2% change (or 0–0.3 pp for rates or margins). Verbs: “edges up/down,” “ticks up/down,” “nudges,” “eases,” or “dips.”
• Moderate movement: roughly 2–5% change (or 0.3–1.0 pp). Verbs: “rises,” “climbs,” “falls,” “drops,” “declines.” Modifiers: “moderately,” “steadily,” as appropriate.
• Strong movement: above ~5% change (or >1.0 pp). Verbs: “surges,” “jumps,” “leaps,” “plunges,” “sinks,” “slumps.” Consider modifiers like “sharply,” “significantly,” or “materially” when the move exceeds typical volatility.

Choose thresholds that reflect the scale and noise of the specific series. A 1 pp move in a low-margin business can be newsworthy, while the same 1 pp move in a volatile interest rate may be routine. Use historical variability and the y-axis scale of your chart as context. Align verb intensity with how the change compares to normal fluctuations.

Differentiate percent change from percentage-point change. Percent change refers to relative change against a base value (e.g., revenue grows 10%). Percentage-point change refers to absolute movement in rates or percentages (e.g., margin expands by 0.8 pp, not 0.8%). A margin moving from 12.0% to 13.5% is a 1.5 percentage-point increase; calling this “+1.5%” is incorrect and misleading. Use “pp” exclusively for differences between two percentages.

Embed YoY and QoQ to place movement in time. Year over year (YoY) compares the current period to the same period a year earlier; quarter over quarter (QoQ) compares consecutive quarters. Tightly combine direction + magnitude + timing for compact captions: “Revenue climbs 4% YoY,” “Gross margin expands 0.9 pp QoQ,” “Active users decelerate to +2% YoY.” When growth remains positive but slows, explicitly signal deceleration: “growth decelerates to +2% YoY from +5%.” When contraction eases, show moderation: “decline moderates to –3% YoY from –8%.” This phrasing accurately reflects the velocity dimension.

Use numeric context to justify strong verbs. A single-quarter spike may earn “jumps” if it surpasses both the moderate range and normal volatility; a multi-quarter climb that stays in the moderate band but is steady may merit “climbs steadily.” Where seasonality is strong, prefer YoY comparisons for direction verbs, and reserve QoQ for intra-year momentum with a note on seasonality if needed.

Step 3: Set notation standards for YoY, QoQ, and pp within exhibit elements

Consistency across titles, captions, callouts, footnotes, and sources makes exhibits authoritative and scannable. Adopt a style guide and apply it rigorously.

• Title style: write concise, descriptive titles in present tense to reflect what the exhibit shows now. Include the key metric and the core directional message. Example structure: “[Metric] [directional verb] [magnitude] [YoY/QoQ]” or “[Metric] [state]” when emphasizing stability or acceleration. Keep capitalization consistent and avoid punctuation clutter; reserve colons only when they improve clarity.
• Caption structure: in one compact line, encode direction, magnitude, period, and comparison baseline. Sequence elements consistently: Directional verb + magnitude + unit (+ YoY/QoQ) + brief qualifier as needed (e.g., “seasonally adjusted,” “ex-FX”). Use pp when comparing percentages; use % for relative change in count, value, or index. Maintain a consistent sign convention: use “+” only when needed for clarity; otherwise, positive numbers can appear without a plus sign, while negatives carry a “–”.
• Abbreviation rules: standardize to “YoY” and “QoQ” without periods; “pp” in lowercase for percentage points; “bps” for basis points if your audience expects fixed-income notation (1 pp = 100 bps). Write months as three-letter abbreviations when space is constrained. Avoid mixing “Y/Y” or “Q/Q”; pick one form and stick to it.
• Number formatting: use one decimal place for pp changes when precision matters (e.g., 0.8 pp), and zero or one decimal for % changes depending on volatility and readability (e.g., 4% or 4.3%). Use thin spaces or commas for thousands separators consistently; avoid switching mid-report. Align decimals in tables and keep units in headers.
• Callout phrasing: callouts should summarize the most decision-relevant movement with the calibrated verb and time frame. Example template: “Q2 margin expands 0.6 pp QoQ.” Keep them brief and avoid duplicating the entire caption; they should amplify, not repeat.
• Footnote conventions: reserve footnotes for definitions, adjustments, and data handling choices. Typical items include currency normalization, seasonality adjustments, rounding policy, and definitions of metrics (e.g., what counts as an “active user”). Start with “Notes:” and number only if multiple notes are present. If there is a methodological caveat that affects interpretation, flag it here rather than in the title.
• Source lines: place a “Source:” line beneath footnotes, naming the data origin and the extraction date if relevant. Use one consistent format throughout the document. When combining sources, separate with semicolons and ensure naming is consistent with prior exhibits.

Reference figures and tables precisely in text and captions. Use “Figure X” and “Table Y” labels that match the numbering in the body. When describing a figure, align verbs with the plotted movement: if Figure 3 shows a pronounced and sustained increase, write “Figure 3: Revenue climbs 6% YoY,” not “Revenue improves.” Cross-references should be exact and consistent so readers can navigate quickly.

Step 4: Practice with micro-revisions and consolidate with a checklist

Improving exhibit language often means tightening captions and aligning them with your taxonomy and notation rules. The objective is to move from vague, evaluative phrasing to precise, directional statements that encode direction, magnitude, and time frame. For an uptrend, choose a verb that reflects the size and persistence of the increase; for a downtrend, mirror that with the appropriate intensity; for margin or rate moves, use pp to avoid confusion with percent change. Ensure YoY or QoQ is included to anchor the comparison period and that any acceleration or deceleration is made explicit when relevant.

When revising, start by reading the chart carefully: identify the net direction, approximate magnitude, and whether the move is steady or volatile. Then pick a verb whose strength matches the magnitude and duration. Add a short modifier only if it improves clarity. Next, insert the numeric magnitude with the correct unit (% vs. pp). Choose YoY or QoQ based on whether seasonality would distort a quarter-over-quarter comparison. Finally, consider whether velocity matters. If growth remains positive but is slowing, prioritize “decelerates” or “slows to.” If a contraction is easing, “moderates to” can be more accurate than repeating a down-verb.

Keep your exhibit elements harmonized. The title sets the central message; the caption encodes the full data point; callouts highlight key inflection or extremes; footnotes disclose methods; the source line documents provenance. Maintain parallel structure across exhibits so readers can parse them quickly without relearning your format. That consistency builds trust and reduces interpretive friction, particularly for executive readers and analytical audiences who scan many charts rapidly.

A quick-reference checklist helps enforce discipline:

• Directional verb selected from taxonomy (up/down/flat/mixed/velocity) and calibrated to magnitude and duration.
• Magnitude expressed with correct unit: % for relative change; pp for differences between percentages or rates.
• Timing stated succinctly: YoY or QoQ, chosen with awareness of seasonality and the analytic purpose.
• Modifiers used sparingly to convey intensity or confidence (“modestly,” “sharply,” “broadly”).
• Title in present tense and concise; caption compact and complete; callouts brief and aligned; footnotes and source lines standardized.
• Figure/Table labels consistent and referenced accurately in text.
• Number formatting consistent: decimals, separators, and sign conventions.
• Language avoids vague evaluatives (“improves,” “performs better”) in favor of directional clarity.

Common pitfalls to avoid include mismatching units (writing “+2% margin” when you mean “+2 pp”), overstating movement with strong verbs for marginal changes, and mixing YoY and QoQ within the same caption without clarity. Another frequent error is describing deceleration as a decline when growth remains positive; “growth decelerates to 2%” is not the same as “growth declines 2%.” Finally, be careful with composite metrics and indexes: define them in footnotes, and ensure your verbs describe the plotted behavior rather than a separate idea from the text.

By combining a calibrated verb taxonomy, numeric thresholds tailored to your series, and a consistent notation style for YoY, QoQ, and pp, you create exhibits that communicate quickly and precisely. Readers will grasp not just the direction of change, but its size, timing, and momentum—all the elements decision-makers need to interpret trends with confidence.