Hi Anonymous,

theoretically they could both be fine, but option a. is safer as gives you time to be better organized. In general, you can proceed as follows.

1. Ask for one minute of time to structure your thoughts.
2. Summarize what the graph is about. Read in particular the graph title (often forgot), the axes and the legend.
3. Restate the main question you have to answer. Many people don’t spend the time to clarify the specific question they have to answer; consequently, they end answering the wrong one. Don’t be one of them and be sure to restate what is the main insight you have to derive
4. Provide an analysis related to the question. Once you have the graph crystal clear as for the content, then, and only then, you can move to an analysis of how the graph can answer to the question you have restated.
5. Provide a conclusion for the graph that answers the original question. Again, very often people simply state what the graph is about, without providing any conclusion. A great candidate will provide a connection between the analysis done and the previous question formulated, with a clear summary of the whole analysis
6. Present the next steps to follow based on such a conclusion. As a final step, a great candidate will present what can be done as additional steps to help further the client on the particular question raised.

Best,

Francesco

(editiert)