Excel Bites

Excel Bites...the podcast that delivers bite-sized Excel learning. Each episode focuses on a specific feature to help you get more from your spreadsheets

Excel Bites is an audio podcast. Each episode is around the 10 minute mark (some are shorter and some are longer) and it's just me, Mike Thomas, talking about 1 specific feature in Excel. In terms of who Excel Bites is for, I’d say Excel users who are at beginner-to-intermediate level. Although some of the topics are advanced (Power Query and Macros for example), the way that I explain the topics, the way that I break them down into manageable chunks means that hopefully even the most non-technical Excel newbie will benefit from listening.

To listen to an episode of the podcast, click on the episode title below...

Excel Bites 010: The Data Model

If you’ve ever needed to build a Pivot Table from multiple tables at once without resorting to a tangle of VLOOKUPs to merge everything first, Power Pivot and the Data Model is the feature you’ve been missing. In this episode, Mike explains what the Data Model is, why it exists, and how Power Pivot fits into the picture.

Excel Bites 009: Automation

Automation in Excel sounds technical but at its core, it’s simply about getting Excel to handle your repetitive tasks so you don’t have to. In this episode, Mike breaks down three approaches: Macros, VBA, and Office Scripts. If there’s a task you do every week that never changes, this episode will convince you it’s worth automating.

Excel Bites 008: Power Query

Power Query is one of Excel’s most useful features and one of its most overlooked. If you regularly work with data that needs importing, cleaning, or restructuring, this episode is essential listening. If you’ve been copying, pasting, and manually tidying data week after week, Power Query is the feature that will change how you work.

Excel Bites 007: Pivot Tables

If you’ve ever been handed a spreadsheet with thousands of rows and asked to produce a summary report, you’ll know the sinking feeling that comes with it. Pivot Tables are Excel’s answer to that problem and in this episode, Mike shows just how quick and powerful they really are.

Excel Bites 005: Formatting

Formatting isn’t just about making spreadsheets look nice. It’s about communication. It’s what transforms a sea of raw data into something people can actually read, analyse, and act on. In this episode, Mike covers the essential formatting skills every Excel user needs,

Excel Bites 004: Functions

Functions are pre-programmed formulas. Whether you need to calculate working days between dates, figure out loan repayments, or just understand why your formula keeps throwing error messages, this episode gives you the practical knowledge to approach functions with confidence rather than confusion.

Excel Bites 003: Formulas

In this beginner-friendly episode, Mike covers the essentials: how to build basic formulas using cell references, why formulas are better than typing answers directly, and the mathematical operators you’ll use most often.