Excel Essentials for the Real World

Learn New Ways to do Tasks Quicker in Excel. Discover New ways to Boost your Productivity.

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Why Have Over 340,000 Students Decided to Learn Excel from Us?

Every 6 minutes, a new student enrolls in one of our online courses. Here are three reasons why people across the world are coming to us to learn Excel.

Reason 1 – Everyone is Welcomed

No matter your background, no matter your job, no matter your experience level – everyone is welcomed. What is your reason for wanting to learn Excel? Here are the types of people who enroll in our courses.

You’re an Analyst

Whether you’re a data / sales / HR / credit collection or reporting analyst, you’re deep in the data. Swimming in it. Or maybe more like drowning in it. You’re combining files, cleaning up columns, and rolling out reports. Excel has a permanent place on your computer screen.

You’d like to do your job faster. You feel like you’re still using Excel the “old way”. You’d like to impress your boss and colleagues. And how about a pay raise or promotion one day? That’d be nice.

You’re in the right place.

You’re an Accountant

Everybody counts on you to do the counting. You follow tax law like most people follow sports. Without a spreadsheet, you’d be wandering the streets lost.

It’d be nice to get ahead of your work. It’d be fun to try out some of those features you’ve seen inside Excel but haven’t taken for a test drive. And you’d sure as heck like to avoid making those “D’oh!” type Homer Simpson mistakes.

You’re in the right place.

You’re a Project Manager

It’s tough to keep projects within budget, especially when the scope keeps changing. You plan for resources, manage project risks and monitor progress.

Aside from the project management software you’re using, you need a simple tool to keep you organized. A place where you can easily share results with others in an accessible format.

You’re in the right place.

You’re a Consultant

Consultants are the Indiana Jones of the corporate world. Every new project is an adventure. You get to use a multitude of business skills. You learn fast and develop fast. Speed is crucial.

Unfortunately, many consultants spend much of their time normalizing data rather than analyzing it. It’s a competitive world. Once you know how to use the latest tools, you’ll have an advantage.

You’re in the right place.

In addition to these backgrounds, our ranks are filled with lawyers, managers, civil engineers, freelancers and husbands & wives.

You can see how no matter your reason for wanting to learn Excel, you’re in the right place.

We serve so many people from all different backgrounds. Recently we surveyed our audience, and we were blown away by all the different professions.

Word Cloud of our student's professions

Caption: Word Cloud of our student's professions.

What if you’ve been using Excel for many years?

You’ve been using Excel for many years, and you want practical ideas to work more efficiently? You’d like to discover little-known features that have been in hiding?

This course will be a game changer for your job.

"After using Excel since its earliest days, I was curious to see what I could get out of this "Essentials" course. I picked up more than a dozen new ways to do the same things quicker and better. Plus, Leila taught me lots of new features of Excel buried down in the ribbon. The short Power Query introduction was especially helpful in my particular case. But above and beyond all of this, Leila's comfortable, calm and delightful teaching style removed any chance of drudgery I've encountered in other courses. I especially liked the easy to use course environment. I'm strongly recommending this course to others--even experienced Excel users."

- Tom Kossler, Management Consultant

"The best excel course I've done so far. I liked how it started with useful basics which most regular users overlook and moved on to advanced skills quickly. It kept it fresh and interesting and was easy to follow. The challenges helped me revise by encouraging to use the new skills while thinking on my own. I love how succinct and to the point each video is. That made it less daunting to start and easier to find time for learning in a busy day."

- Raminta Dharmavarapu, Financial Accountant

"The combination of watching video's and doing it by training myself is really fantastic and updates my speed of working with Excel. Thank you for the clearly explanations and bright info of front and back of the Excel software. It is EXCELlent!"

- Boudewijn Duyster, Operational Excellence Lead

"This is an excellent course for a newbie or someone who is an intermediate user. As Excel has expanded and grown many features have also expanded and grown. This course helped me catch up and put it all together to bridge my old knowledge with new knowledge about the program."

- Fred Mercado, Vice President of Operations

Reason 2 – We Speak Excel in Plain English*
(Not Robot-talk)

It’s all too common to read a blog article about Excel and think, “What the heck did I just read?”

It sounds gibberish.

Too often, reading Excel training is like reading a technical manual for your home furnace. You’d have to be an engineer to understand it.

That’s not a recipe for success if you’re an everyday person.

Our students love that we talk to them like human beings – no robots. We’re not here to program you. We’re here to teach you.

“Don’t use a five-dollar word when a fifty-cent word will do.” – Mark Twain

Mark Twain makes a good point. Why use a technical word when we can use a simple, everyday word? Rest assured, you won’t find overly-technical or stuffy or pretentious language around here. No way!

You’ll get things explained plain English. No “filler content,” either. You’re a busy person, so we get right to the point.

If you want a real-world, plain-spoken teacher – and not some stuffy academic type – you're in the right place.

*If English is not your first language, that’s okay. We constantly hear from students about how easy it is to follow our lessons – despite their shaky grasp of English. Each lecture includes English captions and you can slow down the speed of the videos if you need to.

Reason 3 – We’re Lazy (in a Good Way)

Here’s a rule with Excel...

If something in Excel feels like it’s harder than it should be, it probably is. That’s another way of saying: There’s always a better way.

When it comes to Excel…

  • There’s always a faster workflow
  • There’s always a way to automate
  • There’s always a simpler formula
  • There’s always a hidden tool you haven’t discovered (that could make your life easier)

Why take five hours to complete a task in Excel when you find a shortcut that lets you complete it in 30 minutes? You may call that lazy. Around here, we call it smart.

These types of time savings may sound like an exaggeration, but it's common for our students to come back and tell us how they’ve saved hours, days, and even months by learning a new Excel technique.

But there is one final reason
so many students choose us (and keep choosing us)

When you join one of our courses, you’re not alone. The old type of online course (waaaay back in 2019) made you wander the lessons like a survivor in The Walking Dead. “Where is everybody” you’d think.

Well, it’s 2023, and the world has changed.

You'll log into our courses and find lively, active discussions. You’ll see our friendly teaching assistants answering questions.

You may not think this is a big deal, but who knows when you might have a question? Who knows what tip you might pick up from another student? Who knows… maybe you’ll be the one chiming in to answer questions, helping your fellow students in the comment section?

Students are demanding more from online courses. When you trust us for your education, you’re not just getting a course -- you’re getting a community.

Learning Excel is a Journey
Your First Destination is This Course

You’re not going to learn Excel overnight. It’s a journey. And every journey begins with the first step.

Want to start things off right? You’re in the right place. This Excel Essentials course is perfect if:

- You are brand-new and want to get comfortable navigating Excel

- You’ve got some experience with Excel, but want to learn some new tips and tricks

- You’re an Excel power user who wants to review the basics

If any of the above apply to you, keep reading, and see how my course can help.

This is Your Captain Speaking – Welcome Aboard!

First off, you’ll have to get used to my Star Trek references. Big Trekkie over here.

Now, doing my best Captain Picard impression… “Welcome aboard!”

My name is Leila Gharani, the captain of this ship. I'm the founder of an education company called XelPlus.

When we first started posting videos to YouTube, we had no idea we’d one day have millions of subscribers. It’s been the thrill of a lifetime and an honor to reach so many people through YouTube.

But while I love our YouTube channel, it’s not everything. Yes, YouTube is great for tips, techniques, and announcing new Excel features. And it’s great because not everyone can afford our courses, so people can still get a ton of value for free (we have over 70 hours of free content on YouTube, and counting).

But it’s inside our courses where the magic happens. Going from YouTube to our online courses is like walking out of the school cafeteria and into a quiet classroom. You’ll leave a loud, distracting environment and enter a place of optimal learning.

Today, I’d like to invite you into a classroom where you’ll learn the Essentials of Excel.

Enroll in Excel Essentials

Take the same courses 45,000+ of others have taken to get started with Excel.

By the end of the course, you'll be able to confidently:

  • Input data and navigate large spreadsheets
  • Apply hacks to get your work done faster
  • Choose the right formula for the job
  • Use hidden features to transform messy data to proper data sets
  • Understand the story your data is trying to tell you
  • Organize, clean, and manage large data sets
  • Create compelling Excel reports
  • Automate repetitive tasks
  • Create flexible reports using Pivot Tables
  • Quickly Import and transform data with new tools

And so much more.

You’ll start with Excel basics to make sure you have a strong grasp of the fundamentals. You’ll get a tour of Excel, learn where to find things in the menus, enter numbers into cells, and even try out a few basic formulas.

You’ll then move on to more advanced topics like conditional formatting, creating charts & graphs, and even get a taste of Power Query (but only if you’re ready).

Important: I don't just cover the purpose of a feature or formula; I show how you can take advantage of it using practical, real-world examples.

Along the way, there will be challenges and quizzes to test your new Excel skills.

"An excellent course for someone who is just starting out using excel, covering many essential aspects of practical real world application. This course is presented by the most engaging instructor you could hope for and covers many useful areas that other excel beginner courses do not. This course cuts straight to the chase and you can start to use the knowledge you gain in this course straight away"

- Mark Vermeeren

"Taking this course has transformed me from an unconfident, basic user of Excel to a more confident, more advanced user of it. I'll certainly be keeping up with more of her work."

- Jay-Ce Heisig

Click the Big Blue Button Below to Get Started

Want to join the course? Your first step is to click the blue button below. That will take you to the checkout page, where you’ll enter your payment details.

Unlike a university course which might charge you $1,000 or more, you can get this entire training and learn Excel while sitting in your comfy sofa, and for only $99 (excl. VAT).

 

Actually, don’t click that button just yet. Before you jet off, I want to explain what happens after payment...

After payment, you’ll be automatically enrolled in our online school. Our online school runs on software called “Teachable.” So, if you see the name Teachable, that’s what it means.

Teachable will send an email to the address you enter on the next page. Inside that email will be a link to your student area.

Now, if you’ve purchased a course from us before, first off – welcome back 👋 . You’ll simply use your existing username and password to access your new Excel Essentials course.

If it’s your first time buying one of our courses, you’ll create a password and then you’ll get access to your new course. Future courses you buy will appear in this same course area.

Okay, let’s recap how to get up and running with Excel Essentials:

✅ You’ll click the button above

✅ You’ll enter your usual details on the next page to complete payment

✅ You’ll receive the email and click the link to login to your course area

Finally, you should see the image below:

You’ll click my face (please be gentle) and after that, you’ll see your entire course curriculum. That’s it! You're ready to dive into the lessons.

Here’s everything that’s included:

Course Curriculum


  🎁 BONUS! Detailed Course Manual
Available in days
days after you enroll

Yes, you get a bunch! It’s a safe bet that if you need help with a topic in Excel, you’ll find it covered in these lessons.

At the same time, this curriculum may intimidate you. Don’t let it. Let me explain...

Three Ways to Fail with this Excel Training


We’ve made it as easy as possible to learn Excel, but dangers still lurk along your path. Don’t fall prey to one of these common Excel pitfalls.

Pitfall #1
Trying to complete the entire course start to finish

Treat this course more like an Encyclopedia (remember those?). You wouldn’t open an Encyclopedia and start reading cover to cover.

Instead, when you log into this course, scroll down the lessons. See what jumps out at you, and dive into whatever looks appealing.

Now, I do recommend going through the two modules (the Intro & Tour of Excel) to get familiar with the basics. But after that, see what strikes your fancy.

Pitfall #2
Not taking your new skills for a test drive

Imagine that for the past month, when you’ve had some time to yourself, you’ve been opening YouTube navigating to your “How to Dance” playlist (you know you’ve had the urge).

The next day, you get a letter in the mail – an invitation to your cousin’s wedding. Time to bust out your new moves!

Sure, it may be a little scary. So maybe you start with something safe. Maybe you just bob your head from left to right. Over time, as you get better & more comfortable, you might throw in a spin move.

It’s the same thing with learning Excel. You’re learning fun new skills – try them out! Before you know it, you’ll have moves like Mick Jagger.

Pitfall #3 – Not Asking for Help

This is a biggie...

Please, if you get stuck, don’t ghost. Are you new to online courses and afraid you’ll have trouble navigating around? Send an email to our support desk asap. We’ll help you out.

Stuck on an Excel formula and can’t figure out why you keep getting errors? Post a comment in our forum. Another student or one of our friendly teaching assistants will come to your rescue.

It’s okay to not know the answer. You’re not supposed to. But it’s not okay to stay silent. Fortunately, we make it fast and easy for you to get help. Just ask.

★★★★★ "Leila has an extraordinary way of breaking down complex formulas to understand how the mechanics actually work so you start to imagine on your own different combinations of formulas to solve complex questions.” Lisa

★★★★★ “The instructor's explanations and referencing real-world situations are just what is needed to understand how these formulas can help you work smarter.” Keith

★★★★★ "It was just what I needed! Definitely a great hands on way for someone with existing excel skills to pick up great "hacks" for excel." Teo

★★★★★ "Lots of tips and techniques. Already using them in my own work!" Alison

★★★★★ "I am really enjoying the course, Leila is a great instructor. Every lesson I learn something useful to improve my day to day with excel." Alisa

Ready to Get Started?

It’s time to finally click that big blue button. See you inside!

 

Find your baseline with our Pre-assessment Test

Once you enroll in the course, you'll have the opportunity to take a pre-assessment test. This way you can assess your current knowledge and check for gaps.

Once you complete the assessment you'll get your score.

👀 Don't worry! Your score is not shared with anyone. This test is only for you and your own progress.

Once you've completed the course, come back to this test and take it again. Note your score and document your progress.

Aside from tracking your progress, the benefit of a pre-assessment test is to help you pay closer attention as you learn.

That's not all, We also have a Post-assessment Test for you!

To make sure you haven't missed important parts, we've added a separate post-assessment test for you.

In case you missed something, we'll tell you which part of the course you need to revisit - like this:

Both tests are optional of course. You can skip them if you'd like.

If you’re on the fence about joining, maybe these awesome bonuses will put you over the edge.

Bonus - Excel Manual

When you enroll, in addition to the videos, you’ll get the entire course as an eBook. Your detailed manual (240 pages)takes you step by step through the course. This way you can read & review when you like. (You'll get this bonus 30 days after enrollment).

You'll also get organized Workbooks to Practice as you go through each Section:


Along the way I will challenge you to apply what you learnt to solve a practical problem:


You'll also get cheat sheets that summarize the most important points for you:

New! Earn CPD Credits

I’m excited to announce this Excel Essentials course is now CPD certified. The Continuing Professional Development is a top global accreditation, trusted by companies and industries worldwide.

When you complete this course, you’ll get a special certificate with the official CPD stamp. You will earn 11 CPD hours with the course.

If CPD credits can help in your career, this is not a course to skip.

Beam Me Up, Scotty!

Jump into the Topic You Need – Fast

I told you I was a Star Trek fan…

Watching the show, I was always in awe of the transporter technology. It blew my mind how they could spot a nearby planet, then instantly transport their team to that exact location.

I want your experience inside our course to be just as instantaneous.

Thanks to a new tool we created here in our XelPlus “laboratory.” Now, when you want to find a topic, you can do so instantly. We’ve gone through every second of every lesson and pulled out the key words & topics.

Then, we created an interactive agenda which allows you to quickly locate exactly what you’re looking for. Once you find your topic, it’s simply a matter of saying “Beam me up!” (not actually required to say this).

Click the link and you’ll instantly be transported to the correct lesson and timestamp.

No more wasting hours searching. Find what you need, then get back to work.

Ready to join? Our big blue button awaits your mouse click.

Get a Certificate of Completion

When you finish the course, you’ll get a certificate of completion. You can send it to your boss, upload to LinkedIn, or just add it to your own person library of learning achievements.

 

Can you afford to not get better at Excel?

It’s not an exaggeration to say getting good at Excel can change your life.

  • It can help you get a job
  • It can help you get a raise or a promotion
  • It can help you better understand your company’s financial situation
  • It can solve difficult problems and make the correct solution obvious

How much longer will you do things the manual way? How much hair will you pull out while you wrestle with formulas? How many more mistakes will the boss tolerate?

Put an end to your Excel frustrations for good. This course will get you up & running with Excel – fast. There is no risk to joining as we have a 30-day guarantee. If you change your mind, no problem. But you owe it to yourself to give it a shot.

Let's summarize all you get:

  • Access to our entire 14-module course (10+ hours of videos)
  • Lifetime access, so you’re never in a rush to complete a lesson
  • The “Beam Me Up Scotty” topic transporter to quickly find what you need
  • Our collection of Excel essential cheat sheets to keep at your desk
  • Practice & Solution Workbooks for each Section
  • A comment section to get your questions answered by our staff (how awesome is that?)
  • Credits for CPD (Continuing Professional Development)
  • English Captions so you can easily follow along each video
  • Quizzes to track how well you understand the concepts
  • Challenges to test your knowledge and give you inspiration
  • Complete eBook to read and reference whenever you need
  • New updates to the course for Office 365 and Office 2021 such as XLOOKUP, FILTER, SORT, UNIQUE and more essential functions you need to know to stay on top of your game.

Hope to see you inside.

Frequently Asked Questions


Is this course only for beginners?

No, this course is not only for beginners. It’s helpful to think of this course as serving three groups of people.

Group 1 - Excel beginners. Yes, this course is the perfect “first stop along the journey” for anyone looking to learn Excel from scratch.

Group 2 – Excel intermediates. You’re comfortable using Excel, but you know you’ve got a long way to go. You know you’re doing things the hard way and want to make life easier. This course is for you.

Group 3 - Excel Ninjas. You’re an Excel power user. You’ve been using Excel daily for years. You know almost all the features, but still, you’d like to review the basics. We respect your humility! There is always something new to learn. This course is the place for you.

When does the course start and finish?

You’ll take this course in your own time. It is a completely self-paced online course – so you decide when you start and when you finish.

How long do I have access to the course?

How does lifetime access sound? After enrolling, you have unlimited access to this course for as long as you like - across any and all devices you own.

What if I am unhappy with the course?

We would never want you to be unhappy! If you are unsatisfied with your purchase, contact us in the first 30 days and we will give you a full refund.

What if I have questions about the lessons? Can I get those answered?

Yes! Most online courses leave you on your own, but not here at XelPlus.

We have a team of helpful teaching assistants (TA’s) ready to answer your questions about each lesson. Below each lesson, you’ll find a comment section where you can ask a question about the topic. Our TA’s will chime in and do their best to help you.

What are the course requirements?

No prior Excel knowledge is needed. We will start from scratch. This course is designed for Excel on Windows (some techniques might not work on Mac). It would be great if you have Excel for Office 365 or Excel 2016 or above.

Who can I contact if I have questions not addressed?

You can contact us at [email protected].

"Excellent Course by a very talented and gifted instructor. Boils down complex subject in easy to learn steps. I did not had to force myself to complete the course. I just kept coming for more. Well done."

- Subhrajyoti Saha

Get started now!