Public Speaking

(Marvins-Underground-K-12) #1

176 CHAPTER 13^ Presentation Aids



  1. Repetition:^29 Select a theme and use the same elements (fonts, colors, and so on)
    throughout your visuals. Use one font for all your titles. Do likewise for the
    subtitle and text fonts. And limit yourself to a couple of complementary fonts such
    as Candara and Candara bold.^30

  2. Contrast: Add visual interest by adding color or formatting for contrast. For
    instance, centering the title, underlining the subtitle, and bulleting the points can
    help your audience better see the relationships among ideas. Using boldfaced
    formatting makes letters show up better on slides. And attributes such as italicizing
    can highlight and emphasize specific ideas, but use these features sparingly, or the
    impact will be lost.

  3. Spacing: Balance your material across the entire visual, but leave plenty of negative
    (unfilled) space. Many designers recommend the “rule of thirds.” Divide your
    visual into thirds horizontally and then vertically. You’ll end up with nine areas of
    the same size. Place important elements along the lines or on the places where they
    intersect. For additional information and many excellent examples, do an Internet
    search for “rule of thirds PowerPoint.”


Choose a Readable Font


Whether you create your visuals on poster board or use a computer program, readability
should be your primary concern, so choose a font your audience can read easily. Here
are some ideas to help you choose among the hundreds of available fonts:


  1. Use title case (Capitalize the First Letter of Major Words) or sentence case
    (Capitalize only the words you’d capitalize in a sentence), and avoid all capital
    letters.

  2. One type of font is not necessarily better than another, but research shows that
    readers prefer serif fonts (with cross lines at the top and bottom of letters) for
    handouts^31 and that sans serif fonts (with no cross lines) work well on slides.

  3. It goes without saying that letters should be large enough to be visible and that
    titles and first-level material should be larger than second-level material.
    For more information, search the Internet for “personality of fonts.” For example,
    fonts are seen as stable (Arial), polite (Cambria), rigid (impact), and so on.^32 A British
    psychologist called the font Georgia “individual, sophisticated, with a curviness that
    suggests a little bit of rocker chick.”^33 Fonts with rounded O’s and tails are “friendly”
    but more angular fonts are “cold.” Cities, celebrities, and politicians select fonts. For
    instance, both the city of Seattle and President Obama chose Gotham as their signature
    font.^34
    Evaluate the effectiveness of each of these student-designed slides. Figure 13.4 is for
    a speech on the history of art therapy, Figure 13.5 is on traditional Chinese weddings,
    and Figure 13.6 is on nuclear fusion. What suggestions, if any, would you give each
    student?


Use Color for Emphasis


Color adds interest and emphasis and attracts and holds attention. However, carefully
plan your color scheme because colors have cultural connotations. For example: red can
be a good emphasis color, but it is “culturally loaded.” In the United States it symbol-
izes anger (“seeing red”) or danger (being “in the red”); in China, it symbolizes luck and
celebration; in India, it is associated with purity. Red is the most common color found
on national flags. Blue may be the “safest” global color. In the United States, it symbol-
izes stability (“true blue”). In China, it connotes immortality; the Jewish faith associates
it with holiness.^35

serif fonts a font with cross
lines at the top and bottom
of letters


sans serif fonts a simple
font with no cross lines on
each letter


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