One of the neat things about the XBox 360 is something called achievements. Every game has them. Some are easy to get, and some are hard. Some are obvious while others are secret. Being awarded an achievement results in an increase in your Gamerscore, and little icons in your profile detail the achievements you've amassed.

These little icons fascinate me. The images in this post are from XBox360achievements.org, and they are all 64x64 pixels – an incredibly small amount of space in which to work. Still some game developers succeed in creating excellent icons to represent their achievements. However, many more fail to do so. Here are some examples of achievement icons.

The Good!

In order, these icons are from Bioshock, GUN, Call of Duty 3, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Need for Spped: Carbon, FlatOut, Quake II, Ghost Recon: AR 2, and Skate.

The Bad...

In order, these icons are from Ninety-Nine Nights, Kameo, Blacksite: Area 51, Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, Championship Manager 2007, NBA Live '06, Final Fantasy XI, Overloard, Jericho, and Tomb Raider Anniversary

A good set of achievement icons will do several things. They fit well together. Images are crisp. They provide some kind of visual clue as to what the achievement criteria is. Most of all, though, they make good use of space. Contrast the top set of icons with the bottom. Can you see how much more cluttered the bottom set is – the designers trying to fit too much information into too small a space. (The Ninety-Nine Nights icon not actually crowded at all. It's a poor resolution image, which it shouldn't be at that small of a size.)

If you are working in PowerPoint, you are working on a canvas that is 720x540 pixels. This is a few more pixels than a standard-definition TV (640x480), and Mac OS X Leopard has icons nearly as large (512x512). Regardless of your computer's monitor size and resolution, these are the constrictions of a PowerPoint slide. More important, though, is that your audience will be viewing these slides on a screen at some distance from where they are sitting.


image by Vicky S on stock.xchng

Even a moderately large screen appears smaller than one's hand from ten to twenty feet away. Your slides, while they appear large on your computer screen – are actually a small canvas, and they should be treated accordingly. Like the XBox 360 achievement icons, cramming too much into the space will make slides that are incomprehensible – resulting in the slides attracting more concentration than the speaker.

Sometimes less in indeed more. And a clear image with minimal text serves better to illustrate your point than a slide crammed with distractions. If your audience can't instantly recognize what's on your slide, I'd wager it's too cluttered.


clutter versus clarity

Respect the space you have, and consider what your slides will look like from twenty feet away – more in many situations. Don't make your audience have to think harder about what's on your slides than what you are saying. Work with the space you have, and avoid over-packing. Your audience's eyes will thank you.

All achievement icons are © their respective holders.

Tags: clutter, readability, design

Over at Presentation Zen, Garr Reynolds writes about Lewis Black going off at TV executives during the Emmys regarding the sheer amount of clutter on the screen these days. Here's a quote from the rant:

"Your job is to tell stories, it's not to tell us in the middle of the story what show is coming on next or which one is premiering two weeks from now! What do you want me to do, stop and get a pencil and write it down? Do you want me to stop watching and prepare myself for the next show?"

(Head over to Presentation Zen for a video of the whole thing.) This reminds of when the wife and I went out to see The Simpsons Movie. At one point during the movie, a mock ad for FOX programming appeared along the bottom of the screen. It recieved knowing laughter from the audience, but I remember hearing some other audience members expressing moments of bafflement – wondering if the studio had in fact resorted to plugging itself during its movies.

Mr. Reynolds goes on to speculate that this visual bombardment reinforces much of the bad PowerPoint design we see in presentations today.

When possible, put more "stuff" in there--more glitter, more boxes of info, more colors, more, more, more. Is this where "bad PowerPoint" comes from? Do we say to ourselves "Well, if CNN (FOX, MSNBC, etc.) does it I guess more text and lines and boxes, more logos and 3-D graphics in assorted colors must be how it's done. That's how serious presenters with serious tools do it," we say.

The same is true of several websites. The main content seems to take a back seat to the self-referencing links and advertisements splattered across the page. I took these screenshots of a couple popular websites and blacked out everything that wasn't article content.

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The noise ratio on these pages is very high. Contrast this to a couple of (in my opinion) good blogs: Daring Fireball and Cabel's Blog.

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On both of these pages, there is much more signal than noise. Daring Fireball has two ads and a simple menu while Cabel's Blog has no ads. Both sites feature very clean layouts and priority is given to content – a practice that I think respects the reader more than those corporate sites.

As Mr. Reynolds points out, these same principles apply to our slides. We can follow a traditional corporate approach to our visuals that contains a lot of clutter that overwhelms our audience with graphics and information, or we can take a simpler, more basic approach. Here are a couple of mockups based off Apple's recent fourth-quarter quarter financial results.



The first slide indeed has more information on it, but is that information presented effectively? It is conventional, but does it respect your audience? It took me a lot longer to create that first mockup, but I think the second is actually the better slide. It presents the most important fact clearly and succinctly. The touch of humor adds a human element without detracting from the overall package or insulting the audience's intelligence. It allows your audience to focus on you after the snapshot of information rather than forcing them to concentrate on deciphering small text among competing visuals.

Whatever your medium of communication, simpler is almost always better. Reduce the clutter. Eliminate visual noise, and allow the main focus of your content to shine through.

Tags: clutter, readability, examples

We've touched on this issue in a couple of other posts. The size of your font is important if you care about the readability of your slides (and if you don't care, slides become pointless). Your audience does not see your slides from the same vantage point you view them from while preparing them. Something that looks perfectly readable sitting right in front of your display may be difficult for others to see sitting several feet away – even with an enlarged canvas.



In this slide, the title font is 48 points. The bullet text is 26 points. I don't think anyone would be particularly annoyed at me for creating a slide like this. In fact, it may just be ignored because it will be hard to read from a distance. Insisting on thought-mapping in complete sentences will almost always create a cramped slide. If I were to increase the font size of my bullet points here, the text at the bottom would completely disappear.

Consider this approach instead.

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On these slides, the text is between 74 and 144 points. All of this can potentially be contained on one slide by building text out as you are finished and in as you get there, or you can split these into separate slides, and the visual flow will remain just as seamless. Instead of complete sentences, key words and facts are highlighted, and very few words are on each slide – allowing the audience to focus on what's most important and allowing you room to place the text and avoid clutter.

Clear and concise text creates a better experience for your audience. Don't feel obligated to load your slides with text. Pick out important words or figures and let your narration fill in the context. After all, your slides are supposed to be supplementing what you say rather than supplanting you. Guy Kawasaki suggests always using 30-point fonts of bigger in your presentation. If you find yourself dropping below 30 points in order to fit more text, stop. Reevaluate what you have on the slide. Reduce the quantity of words and focus on what is most important, allowing for larger and more readable text.

Larger, more direct text will create a better impact and will therefore better reinforce your message. Bullets and sentences are bland and predictable. Text can be a powerful tool, so use it effectively. You might find your presentations the better for it.

Tags: text, readability

One of the tougher questions I get when helping someone assemble a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation is this: "Which background (or theme) should I use?"



Every presentation is different, and, as such, each has a unique style and feel. The backgrounds you choose should be appropriate for that feel and act as a suitable backdrop for your content. Okay, that's a vague answer – here are some guidelines I like to follow.

Avoid Distracting Backgrounds

The background should not be so colorful or busy that it distracts from the material you are presenting. You want your audience to focus on content – not the cool image that serves as the backdrop. Compare these two approaches:

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Remember, first and foremost, your slides are there to reinforce your material. A distracting background will not help with that goal.

Don't Be a Cookie

Some themes (especially those in PowerPoint) are just plain overused. Try to avoid backgrounds that look stale and stereotypical. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: don't let PowerPoint tell you how your slides should look. You take charge of the appearance of your slides. Sometimes, this means you should build your slides from scratch, and this includes picking your own background.

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The first slide was created using a standard PowerPoint template. The second started as a blank slide, and I chose elements that seemed to best reinforce my message. (By the way, all of those points on the first slide are included on the second, but they are revealed with built images rather than text.) Does the second slide take more time and effort to create than the first? Yes, but the results are worth it.

It's Okay to Change

You don't have to keep the exact same background behind every single slide. Again, here is an example from some slides I'm working on regarding Christianity and environmental responsibility.

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As the slides move away from the theme of creation, I abandon the star-field that acts as a backdrop to the previous slide and replace it with a grassy field. Other slides will have other backdrops. Yes, in many of my presentations, the backdrop remains consistent, but it does not have to be that way. In fact, sometimes it is appropriate to change backgrounds as the content in your slides evolves from premise to conclusion or through different sections.

Give Yourself Room

I bend this guideline from time to time, but I've seen space on slides misused often enough to mention it: Don't create a slide that constrains your space. In Keynote, for example, most default themes give you an 800x600 or 1024x768 canvass. Don't use a layout that restricts this space.

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Sometimes you may want to create a frame for your material, which will cut down a little on space, but you don't want a slide that is completely restrictive in its proportions. I've seen slides like this first example a few times, and they are never effective visual communication. Constricting backgrounds only lead to cluttered slides.

My Picks + Conclusion

In closing, here are some Keynote themes I tend to build my presentations around. I find they make good themes in and of themselves while also lending themselves to flexibility and customization.



It's almost become a mantra here to say that your slides should be uniquely you, and the theme or backdrop you choose for your slides is part of that process. If you can avoid some common pitfalls many stumble into when choosing backgrounds for your slides, your audience will notice at some level. It may be subtle, but it goes a long way toward making your presentation as effective as it can be.

Tags: themes, backgrounds, graphics, readability

Dearest laser pointer, how do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways ...

In many business and technical presentations (as well as in the education field) it is not unusual to see someone whip out a laser pointer during his of her presentation to highlight important details on the slides. Somehow, if the important points are not already clear enough, this tiny shaking red dot is supposed to bring clarity to the situation.

The simple fact of the matter is this: if you prepared your slides well, you will never – and I mean never – need to use a laser pointer. Never.

Why do we even use those little things? Do we really think they are effective at highlighting points, or do we just feel more professional holding it? Like bulleted slides, does the pointer create a sense of security and comfort when we are presenting? I don't know. I've never used one, but I've seen them plenty of times and have played "find the dot" during many presentations – even some given at church!

Like slides, we have come to use the pointer as a crutch. Our slides are not clear, so we use the red dot to light the way – separating important bullets and charts from the filler we put in so we don't look unprepared.

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The above are two slides that we might feel merit the use of a laser pointer. There is a ton of information on each slide, and we want to make sure our audience knows exactly what the most important facts on each slide are. However, instead of using a pointer, what if we just simplified our approach?

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Stripping out the unnecessary makes it easier to emphasize the vital information. In this case, the most important facts include how much laptops are outpacing desktops by and the reasons consumers are choosing laptops over desktops. (By the way, these figures are completely made up, so don't cite them elsewhere.)

Still, there might be times that we feel the inspiration to highlight something that seems earth-shattering to us. In this case, during my talk, I might decide to draw my audience's attention to the fact that many modern laptops are perceived to be every bit as capable as desktops. At this point, a handy little utility called OmniDazzle comes to my rescue.



Using a designated keystroke, OmniDazzle creates a spotlight effect (or one of several other effects) in the cursor location, enabling me to highlight this text much more effectively than if I began waving a red pinpoint around. Alternatively, if I had this point planned out, I could have created a similar effect from within Keynote without needing to resort to an additional application.

Laser pointers are wholly unnecessary. They don't help you clarify your points; they can be difficult for the audience to see; and they are often symptomatic of slides that are too cluttered to begin with. Before you think to pack that pointer, rethink your slides and how you can simplify them.

Bonus: While I was working on this post, I found this article on KeynoteUser that has a ton of great tips on how to avoid using pointers. Go check it out!

Tags: conventions, clutter, readability

Slides are often misused as a guided outline for note-taking or as a substitute for our own notes. As presenters, we let our slides become a crutch, and, instead of our slides providing a visual reinforcement for our topic, we let them simply spell out exactly what we are saying word-for-word.

Below is a slide from a Intel business presentation. Now, I don't know the exact context of this slide, but it does provide a nice example of some of the traps we fall into when creating our own slides – creating walls of unreadable and overly detailed text.


Behold the wall of text.

Now I don't know about you, but I can't read those bullet points without really straining my eyes, and I imagine that anyone sitting in an auditorium or conference room would have the same problem. The slide is just overloaded with text, and I can just hear the presenter saying exactly what is on the slide verbatim.

How can we approach this differently? In this case, I think adding slides will actually help. I'm going to take a part of the second bullet point, and turn it into two independent slides. The first will introduce the Core 2 Duo processor, and the second slide will reinforce the fact that these processors are shipping ahead of schedule. (That struck me as an important point.)

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The initial build shows the logo for Core 2 Duo, and the presenter can extoll the benefits of this advancement. Perhaps even some highlights appear next to the image. Then those highlights fade away, and the Core 2 Duo Extreme appears. Core 2 Duo may disappear, and highlights of the Extreme edition can appear to the left.

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The second slide shows a desktop calendar with the date of July 27. That's when the Core 2 Duo was supposed to begin shipping. The date fades out, and the slide reveals that Intel is ahead of schedule.

While far less detailed, this second set of slides succeeds at visual communication where the initial slide fails. Our slides do not have to serve as subtitles to our voices. Remember, slides are supplementary visuals to the presentation. They are not your notes. They are not the handout, and they are most certainly not the presentation itself You are the presentation. Your slides should serve to support you, not supplant you.

Tags: text, readability, examples, makeover, clutter

I'm sure many of you attend congregations with slide presentation abilities, and, along with these capabilities, you probably have slides running through the preacher's sermon. The sermon presentation can be a very different beast from a professional presentation, but some of the same principles apply. Here are some things to think about if you are planning a presentation to go with a sermon.

Do Follow the 10-20-30 Rule. If you don't know what I'm talking about: 10 slides, 20 minutes, 30-point font. If you are presenting a standard sermon, you should be able to fit everything in right around 10 slides. My longest slide presentation for a sermon comes in at 14 slides. My shortest has only six. Most sermons will break the twenty-minute mark, but you should definitely try to avoid breaking that thirty-minute mark. Finally, any text smaller than 30-points gets hard to read.

Do Use (Some) Built Text. Your average sermon will have numerous scripture references. Pick those scriptures most relevant to your point, and cite them on the slide. This can be helpful for those following along and for those taking notes. Have those scriptures appear as you get to them so the audience does not get ahead of you and disengage.

Do Use Images. I don't mean clip art here. Use quality images that reinforce your point, that create emotional impact associated with the topic.

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The first slide uses clip art and a business theme. Number two uses a stock image and an organic theme.

Do Use Themes. Choose a nice background for your slides. Don't make it busy or the color too bold– a simple texture should do – and avoid "business" themes. Use a background that has a natural feel about it. Textured paper or light stone should do.

Don't Overuse Transitions. Stick mostly with simple fades and dissolves. Save big transitions for big points, such as your summation. Too much animation will distract the congregation, and the message will become secondary to the show.

Don't Write Out Scripture. This is an easy one to fall into. If you have some words you want to pull out of a scripture, build those words onto a slide as you get to them in your reading. Don't just paste the entire scripture up there and highlight the words.

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The first has a lot of visual distractions. The second is much clearer on the main points.

I've seen preachers have three or more slides straight containing one long scripture reading. First, this practice creates walls of text that just get unreadable. Second, by the time you get through all the slides, the congregation has forgotten what was highlighted on the first slide. Build in the key words. Your point will be stronger for it.

Don't Use "Cool" Fonts. You want the congregation to be able to read the text you do put on your slides. Avoid neat-looking fonts that obscure legibility (and remember kids: 30-points or higher).

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The first makes me want to get my eyes checked. The second is much clearer.

Finally, be prepared to slip your slides in amidst other slides the congregation may be using – for standard announcements, song service, etc. When I occasionally preached at a congregation that used slides like these (and I wanted to use Keynote for my slides), I would replicate the standard-use slides, so my computer could be used for the entire service. Otherwise, I would switch to PowerPoint for the day. If you do want to use different software than the congregation traditionally uses, make it seamless. Don't put someone in a situation where they have to try and switch computers mid-service.

Hopefully these tips help those of you that present slides along with your sermons. Remember, if you are taking the time to make slides, then it is worth doing those slides well. Churches deserve good presenters as well!

Tags: 10-20-30, readability, eye candy, themes, sermons

Conventional wisdom places quite a bit of text on slides. Even I catch myself transferring my outlined notes to my slides pretty much word for word occasionally. The result is mundane slides that contain walls of text. Your audience ends up reading more than listening. This is standard practice, I believe, for two big reasons:

• We don't want to leave anything important out of our slides.
• It makes printing a handout simple.

Sometimes, though, too much text can get in the way and take away from your message. Look at these two slides below. They are virtually identical, but they use their text very differently to get the point across:

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Which slide stirs your curiosity more? Which feels more impacting? The same important statistic is represented on each slide. In the first, it is surrounded by a bunch of other stuff making a complete sentence. Furthermore, it is likely that two or three additional points will accompany this point, relegating it to near obscurity by the time the clicking is done.

In the second, the stat is naked and unhidden. No one will question the point of this slide. Additionally, the second slide requires you to fill in the context and additional information. You have not relegated yourself to unimportance with this slide, nor will your audience be able to skim the information and zone out. This slide provides a fact, and you are there to fill in the rest of the information.

In general, I advise against using complete sentences on your slides. Sometimes it is necessary, but look for those cases when single words or short phrases can get the point across more concisely. Along this same vein, avoid paragraphs of text. The proverbial "Wall of Words" does not make for good slide layout and may become frustrating for those trying to pay attention to you while taking in all the information on your slides. In the case of text, less is more, and simpler is smarter.

Tags: conventions, readability, text

Text color can be a tricky thing in presentations. We want to be somewhat color-coordinated when we assemble our slides, but sometimes we create text that blends in with those slides as a result. It's not unusual to see, for example, darker blue text on a light blue background. In the images below, the first picture is the theme default for text color in Apple Keynote's Watercolor theme. In the second image, I've merely changed the text to black.





Sitting at your computer, the first example picture is not so bad, but imagine trying to read it in the back of a 400-seat auditorium or even the back of a standard classroom. See, contrast is important.

Unfortunately, we can sometimes make grievous errors in regards to contrast. Take a look at the next two examples:





The background is darker in these examples, and the text definitely contrasts the background in our first picture. I don't know about you, but that hurts my eyes, though. I've seen this more in PowerPoint than in Keynote, but it can be fixed by simply changing the text to a neutral color – white in this case.

In general, black and white are the best choices when putting text on slides. Yes, color is nice on occasion. My slides on attachment use colored text in small doses as do two of my sermon presentations. However, when playing with color, it can be easy to make your slides harder to read. When in doubt, use black on light backgrounds and white on dark, plain and simple.

Tags: colors, readability

As noted in my last update, I've uploaded a new version of my crusty old presentation on Reactive Attachment Disorder. The RAD presentation was given long before I began studying presentation design or discovered the blog Presentation Zen, and it is a fine example of average (read: poor) presentation design.

The original presentation was 29 slides long, and some slides had up to eight bullet points on them. I can't even begin to count how many bullet points there were in that original slideshow. The new presentation is only 14 slides, and, while there is still a lot of reading in some areas, the text has been simplified and streamlined in many slides.

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These two slides above have the same purpose. They demonstrate an attachment theory grouping of children into three categories. This presentation focuses on the second – detached – and the behaviors associated with that group. In the revised slide, imagery is much more important to the message. Notice how the faces compliment the headings above them. The middle image fades blue while the other two go out of focus, reinforcing the emphasis of this presentation.

I went on to outright omit several slides in the previous presentation that went into detail about the other categories. That information distracts from the focus. Unnecessary or peripheral information should never be included on your slides.

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The points made on the first slide are summarized on the new slide. (This in turn allowed me to combine two slides into one slide for the revision.) When inserting text points onto a slide, look for redundancies and restatements. How can your points be made more succinctly? With the new slide, I can still say everything I did with the first, but the visual emphasizes a simplified view of the whole message.

It's worth noting that, because the "bullets" do not match my words exactly, I chose to build each column in as a group rather than by point. In most cases, though, you don't want your points to ever get ahead of you.

As far as other differences go:

• Slide numbers were removed. Never number your slides.
  
  
• The background was simplified, and no pre-made slide designs were used.
  
  
• Text color is now used sparingly, and color in general is very regulated. Many images are grayscale or tinted blue. The only full-color picture comes on the last slide.
  
  
• It is now impossible for me to use my slides as a crutch and just read off of them.

Understanding RAD is the result of discovering that there is no one absolute way to prepare presentations. The original is exactly what someone might expect to see during a "typical" PowerPoint lecture. However, I hope that revising the slides will provide a fresher, more engaging experience when I give this presentation agan. Presentations don't have to settle for average. Challenge yourself when creating your slides, and see how you can improve your presentation.

Tags: makeover, readability, slide count, examples

Earlier today, Macintalk posted an article regarding web browser performance on Mac OS X. The write-up is an interesting read, and you can find it right here. I couldn't help but notice that their graphs were created using Keynote's excellent Storyboard theme. However, one of the graphs distracted me, and I've reproduced it here.



This theme makes liberal use of Keynote's high quality shadows, and the shadows are enabled by default when you insert a table like the one seen above. It looks very pleasing, but a serious issue comes up when one tries to read the text below the graph. The shadow is obscuring the text. Now, Macintalk is not entirely to blame here. The author was not preparing an actual presentation, and this is the default location for the shadow.

Still, if I was going to present this at a technology conference or tradeshow, I would not want these shadows getting in the way of making my point. Fortunately, the solution is very easy. Using Keynote's Inspector palette, I can simply disable the shadow, or I can change its placement. Additionally, setting the text below the graph to bold will make it easier to read since it is smaller than 30 points.

In the image below, I tried to replicate the Macintalk slide as best I could quickly, and I made two changes. First, I set the text below the graph to bold. Second, I altered the shadow – decreasing its offset and changing the angel. The result?



Our table is still very attractive, and now everyone can read our text. We could still make some tweaks, but those two easy adjustments make the slide much more readable (and, if I worked for the OmniGroup, that would make me a very happy camper).

The basic lesson is this: Form is important in giving a presentation. Good slides make a good impact. However, do not let the aesthetic touches get in the way of your slides conveying your intended meaning. Look for confusing graphics and obscured text, and, if you find troublesome spots, simply fix them. After all, you don't want you audience squinting as the result of overshadowed text.

Tags: eye candy, readability, makeover, examples, text, clutter