Presentations in Action - Jerry Weissman [27]
As you read in Chapter 26, “Blame the Penmanship, Not the Pen,” the ideal model for the relationship between slides and the presenter is that of television news broadcasts. In that medium, the graphics that accompany any story consist of a simple impressionistic image and very few words of text. The words in the text are usually all-caps as a headline, leaving the newscaster to provide the details of the story. In newspapers and magazines, headlines are often in all-caps, and the body text is in initial caps. Initial caps, as in the illuminated first letter of ancient manuscripts, signal the beginning of a long read.
Headlines are intended to capture attention, and all-caps demands attention. The two most ubiquitous and important attention-demanding signs in the world are “STOP” and “EXIT.” However, because all-caps are more difficult to read than initial caps, if you decide to use them in the text in your presentations, keep that text to four or five words, at a maximum.
Therefore, whether you use all-caps or initial caps—the ultimate choice is individual taste—be sure to default to the headline approach. Do as the television news anchors do: Provide the body text to the headline on the presentation screen.
34. A Case for Case II: Serif or Sans: Font Design in Presentations
All the typeface fonts available to your presentation graphics fall into two major categories:
• Serif, in which the letters have decorative hooks at the ends of the strokes. The most common serif fonts are , , and .
• Sans serif, in which the letters have only straight or round strokes, with no decorative flourishes. The most common sans serif fonts are , , and .
The little hooks in serif font make text easier to read because they enable a reader’s eyes to distinguish individual letters. Please note the feeling in your eyes in the serif and sans serif versions of the same sentence:
See the difference? Does that mean that serif is preferable? Not necessarily. First and foremost—as always—consider the Less Is More principle for presentations. The differential in fonts is diminished when you reduce a sentence to a headline, as all text in all presentations must be treated. A headline uses only key words, primarily verbs and nouns, with very few articles, conjunctions, prepositions, and adjectives, the parts of speech that form a complete sentence. Please note the headline version of the previous sentence in both serif and sans serif:
The four-word headline conveys the same basic information as the earlier nine-word sentence, and the brevity reduces the difference between the serif and sans-serif versions. Each version of the headline is easy to see and grasp.
In a presentation, the presenter would discuss the fox’s quickness and the hen’s laziness. In a document, which must stand alone, the descriptive adjectives and the articles are necessary for narrative clarity. For visual clarity, however, serif fonts make the full sentences easier to read.
Another factor to consider in choosing between serif and sans serif is popular usage. In the previous chapter you read about two of the most ubiquitous and important attention-demanding signs in the world: and , each of which is composed in sans serif.
Finally, consider personal taste and the Latin phrase De gustibus non est disputandum—that is, “There is no argument about taste.”
35. What Color Is Your PowerPoint?: Contrast Counts
The previous chapter about serif and sans serif font concluded with the Latin phrase De gustibus non est disputandum, or, “There is no argument about taste.” The phrase is even more applicable, if not indisputable, when it comes to color choice. Well, almost indisputable,