Creating Effective TextBased Visual Aids

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Creating Effective Text-Based Visual Aids

• Sponsored by
• CSC 492 Senior Design Course
• Speaking and Writing Across the Curriculum
  Program, NCSU

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Creating Effective Visual Aids

• Sponsored by
• CSC 492 CHE 451
• Campus Writing Speaking Program, NCSU

Adapted from United States Army Logistics
Management College Materials
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Four Guiding Principles

• Introduction
• Brevity Five Five
• Visibility Size Space
• Clarity Consistency
• Content Quantity Quality
• Conclusion

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Brevity 55

• A Maximum Of
• 5 Bullets with 5 Words Each
• 25 Words per Slide

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Visibility

• Big Bold Font
• Consistent Spacing
• Uniform Margins
• Central Positioning of Text

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Color Enhances Visibility

• Warm Colors Emphasize
• Cool Colors De-Emphasize
• Bullets
• Key Words
• Dividing Lines

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Coordinating Text Background

• Cool Background with Warm Text
• Animated Text with Still Background
• No Textured Backgrounds

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Background and Text Considerations for Visibility

• Blue or green text requires a neutral background
• A cool background with warm text is optimal
• Textured backgrounds compete with the text

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Animation Promotes Clarity

• Line by line text animation can help lighten a
  cluttered slide
• Background animation distracts the audience and
  is more likely to elicit negative response

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Consistency Promotes Clarity

• End punctuation can generally be omitted
• Bullet/font size and style should remain
  consistent
• All text in bullet format should have parallel
  structures

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Consistency Promotes Clarity

• From Slide to Slide
• Character Size Style
• Background Layout
• In Bulleted Lists
• No End Punctuation
• Parallel Structures

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Parallel Structures In Lists

• Beginning with the Same Part of Speech
• Distinguishing Between Phrases Sentences

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Beginning With Verbs

• Align project database and Concept Systems
  database
• Improve overall appearance of web interface
• Design and test the customer-ordering module
• --Team 6 Hutchins Auto Supply

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Beginning With Nouns

• Alignment of project database and Concept
  Systems database
• Improvement of overall appearance of web
  interface
• Design and testing of the customer-ordering
  module
• -- Team 6 Hutchins Auto Supply

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Problems in Parallelism
Visibility Is Maintained Through the Use of

• Big Bold Font
• Using Consistent Spacing
• Margins Uniform
• Position Text in Center

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Parallelism in Beginning Words

• Big Bold Font
• Consistent Spacing
• Uniform Margins
• Central Positioning of Text

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Reducing the Number of Words

• Font
• Spacing
• Margins
• Positioning

• Font
• Spacing
• Margins
• Alignment

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Content Quantity Qualityof Information

• Plan Sufficient Slides
• Remember the 55 Rule of Thumb
• Avoid Slides of Categories or Acronyms

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Content Quantity

• Remember the 55 rule of thumb
• Move quickly through slides that convey little
  information or incorporate the content into other
  slides

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Content Presentation

• Single words for points that need no elaboration
  (e.g. software and hardware requirements)
• Phrases as the preferred mode of presentation in
  a bulleted list format
• Sentences, with end punctuation, used
  independently of a bulleted list

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One Pitfall Category Slides

• Benefits to
• Clients
• less wait time
• accurate order filling
• Manager
• order forecasting
• quality control

• Benefits to
• Clients
• Manager

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Another Pitfall Acronym Slides

• EPA
• Environmental Protection Agency

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Another Pitfall
Introduction

• Status of Our Project

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Effective Titles

• Provide a Smooth Transition Between Slides
• Communicate Meaning, Not Just Content
• The Use of Color
• versus
• Color Enhances Visibility

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Considerations For Flow Charts

• Keep Charts Simple
• Animate Them
• Present Detail in Separate Slides
• Provide a Paper Copy

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Considerations For Flow Charts

• Place only key words in the text boxes
• Increase font size to reduce blank space in boxes
• Keep charts simple
• Animate them to illustrate the process flow
• Provide a paper copy during discussion of the
  chart as a last resort

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Sentence Titles

• Guide the audience if the slide is cluttered
• Provide an easy way to introduce a slide
• Communicate meaning and not just content

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Incorporating the Slides into Your Presentation

• Rehearse slide transitions
• Rely on visuals to provide the details when time
  is critical
• Incorporate unfamiliar terms used in your
  presentation into slide content (e.g. GUI)
• Include intro. and conclusion slides

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Speaking With Visual Aids

• Stand to Side of Screen
• Rehearse Slide Transitions
• Enlist Help
• Rely on Visuals
• to provide details
• to reinforce unfamiliar terms

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The Guiding Principles

• Brevity Five Five
• Visibility Size Space
• Clarity Consistency
• Content Quantity Quality

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As You Rehearse, Remember...

• Poor visuals will ruin a good presentation, but
  good visuals cannot rescue a poor presentation.