Sharp PG-M10X Operation Manual page 44

Guide to Effective Presentations
Sans-serif
Serif
42
Red
Blue
Green
Black
• Background colors can subconsciously affect the
audience:
Red—increases viewers' pulse and breathing and
encourages risk taking but can also be associated with
financial loss.
Blue—has a calming and conservative affect on the
audience but can also create boredom among corporate
audiences that are often inundated with this background
color.
Green—stimulates interaction.
Black—conveys finality and certainty. Use it as a
transitional color between slides when moving from one
idea to another.
• Foreground colors create a major impact on how well an
audience understands and remembers a message.
• Use one or two bright colors for emphasis.
• Highlight important messages.
• The eye has a difficult time reading certain colored text
on certain colored backgrounds. For example, text and
background colors in red and green, and blue and black
make for difficult viewing.
• Colorblind individuals may find it difficult to distinguish
between red and green, brown and green, and purple
and blue. Avoid using these colors together.
Fonts
• One of the most common mistakes in any type of
presentation visual is the selection of type fonts that are
too small, too thin, or too difficult to read.
• If you are not sure how well a given font will read on a
screen at various sizes, try this: Draw a 6˝ × 8˝ box on a
piece of paper and print out several lines of text inside
the box with your computer printer at 300 or 600 dpi
resolution. Vary the sizes of text to simulate headline,
body and text call-outs for any charts or graphs. Hold
the printout at arm's length. This is how your text will look
on a 4´ (1.2 meters)-wide screen at 10´ (3 meters), on a
7.5´ (2.3 meters)-wide screen at 20´ (6.1 meters) and a
12´ (3.7 meters)-wide screen at 30´ (9.1 meters). If you
cannot read the text easily, you should put less copy on
your visuals or use larger typefaces.
• Design your visuals so that they are visible by the viewer
in the last row.
• Nothing will ruin your presentation faster than misspelled
words. Take the time to proofread and edit your work
before your visuals become a permanent part of your
presentation.
• Mixed case text is easier to read than text which is
displayed in capital letters.
• Another important attribute of fonts is whether any
particular face is serif or sans-serif. Serifs are small,
usually horizontal cross strokes that are added to the
end of a letter's main strokes. Because of their ability to
coax the eye along the line of type, fonts with serifs are
generally acknowledged to be more readable.