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Use Text and Graphics for Impact
The clarity and visual appeal of your presentation is crucial. How well it can be seen and how well it looks are functions of the combined use of the graphics, the presentation equipment and the environment.
If in doubt about your ability to properly use graphics, color, or type style, select and stick to one of the pre-designed templates that are included with most presentation software.
Graphics include everything from symbols to cartoons to border designs to full-color photographs. They not only help deliver the message, they tell an audience a lot about you and your company. Are you sophisticated and well prepared? Or, are you a low-rent, last minute kind of operation? The keys to graphic design are balance and clarity.
- Keep the design clean and the effects simple.
- Keep backgrounds consistent and subtle.
- Use only quality clip art, and use it sparingly.
- Check all graphics on the projection system, especially gradient effects, to see how they will look.
- Use the chart style that is appropriate for the data.
- Use no more than four colors on one chart.
- For bullet charts use one thought per line, 5 to 6 words per line, 5 to 6 lines per slide.
Color is one of the most influential and powerful media elements. The effective use of color involves more than picking pleasant hues. Color psychology techniques can contribute to the persuasion process by adding emphasis, reducing anxiety, instilling credibility and creating excitement.
- Colors may look different when projected. Check them.
- Light colors on dark backgrounds attract the eye.
- Use color cues to imply relationships.
- Limit the number of colors on a single screen image.
- Establish a color scheme at the beginning and stick with it.
- Bright colors make small objects and thin lines stand out.
The emotions of color (see samples) vary according to the context of the message and culture of the audience.
- Red = stop, alert, life, revolution, passion
- Orange/yellow = optimism, warmth, wisdom, caution
- White = innocence, hopeful, day, truth, clean, new
- Black = night, gravity, importance, solemn, mortality
- Green = growth, youth, health, fertility, proceed
- Purple = regal, spirituality, sophisticated, nostalgia
- Gray = integrity, maturity, neutrality, discretion
- Blue = dignity, trust, stability, day, devotion, justice
Type can be both graphical and textual. Even the simplest word processing and presentation programs offer a dizzying array of fonts. Choosing the right font, style and size may seem like nothing more than picking what looks good, but in reality, fonts have a profound conscious and subconscious impact on your audience.
- Pick a font that fits the message.
- Don't use more than three fonts in a presentation.
- Don't overuse boldface, italic or all caps.
- In general, don't use a font size smaller than 18 points.
- Headlines should be in the range of 35-45 points.
- Sans serif fonts, such as Helvetica, are easier to read when projected.
To determine if the type will be readable when projected, step back about 5-6 feet from your monitor. If you can read it, it should work when projected. Try it by reading the lines below from six feet away.
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