Graphics Deli
Making Readable Slides and Overheads
Ok, I have a talk tomorrow. I guess I should prepare it. Naaaa! I have a whole 3 hour plane ride to do it. I know I've got some transparencies and markers somewhere around here. A HAH! Here's one. Well, it's a little scratched and there is only one, but I do have 15 different colored markers. I can put my whole talk on 1 slide, and that way I won't have to fiddle around changing slides during my talk. This is great! I'll just shove it in here next my lap top. . . oops, bent a corner there, well it will flatten out.
Does this sound familiar?
When someone asks you to give a talk, how important are your visuals? Is it something you dread doing? Do you put it off forever and resort to good old fashioned hand scrawled transparencies? There is so much out there today in visual aids to help make talks easier and better. Do not be afraid. They are here to help you, not to make your life miserable.
What good are they anyway?
Overheads and slides are used as an outline for your talk. They help explain points and show things YOU are talking about. They help you and your audience focus on the main points of your talk, and keep everyone on track.
What they aren't
They are not supposed to be your whole talk. If your slides say everything you do, then why are YOU there? People came to hear you talk not read. There is nothing worse than watching someone read their slides to an audience. Unless of course their audience is illiterate (a bad assumption). Let's assume most of your audience can read. That being the case, let them read your slides, not you.
How to use slides effectively
Use slides as what they are visual aids. The key here is aids. They help your talk along doing what you voice cannot. Use them only to show something that would be difficult using speech alone. Photos, charts, graphs, diagrams, major points, are all good examples of using slides wisely.
What does a good slide look like
At first they might be hard to recognize, since there are so few out there, but you have probably come across at least a few. 
- Good slides stand out.
- They are easily readable
- They are simple and colorful (not overly colorful)
- Come right to the point.
- They DO something.
- They have nice big titles
- Clean easy to read fonts
- They have continuity
- They use a format or at least look like they belong together
- Not too much text is crammed on one slide
So how do you make a good slide or overhead?
As stated above, start with an outline. Finish the whole outline, and then break it up into slides at logical points. Don't worry about color, or format or anything. The content is just as important as how they look. Don't try to cramp too much on one. If the font gets too small, it will be unreadable. The larger your audience, the larger your fonts should be, because people in the back of the room will be further away. Also how long the image will appear to your audience should dictate how much should be on it. They can't listen to you and read your visuals at the same time.
Beyond Text
Slides and overheads do not always have to be text, charts, and diagrams. Originally slides where photos. Why not use some in your presentation if appropriate? They add excitement, color and usually can portray an object or location better than text. Overheads
can also be photos. The quality varies from high to low depending on the method used. E-6 8x10 transparencies have the quality of 35mm slides and a steep price tag too. Color copier overheads are cheaper, but the quality is not as good. Scanning an image and printing it to a high quality color printer loaded with transparencies is another method. This takes more work, and file sizes are usually large.
Creating 35mm Slides
Slides today are mainly created on the computer in programs like Persuasion, PowerPoint, FrameMaker and PageMaker. These programs provide uniform templates and sizes for slides and overheads. It is very important to use the correct aspect ratio for the intended output. Always print out a final set of slides on a printer to check for errors and to give to the facility imaging the slides. This helps them to spot potential problems and lets them know what the slides should look like. Files are then shipped to a film recorder for processing. This can take varying amounts of time depending on the file size and complexity of the images. Add in the film developing time which usually takes 24 hours or more, and you can see that it requires advanced planning. Also add in time for errors and problems. film recorders all do not always return what you thought you gave it because because they us postscript interpreters that may be different than what you are used to.
For more information on having your slides digitally imaged, please check out Ken Mohnkern's web page for more hints and proceedures. Ken runs this service for SCS. There is also a new 35mm film recorder located in Smith Hall. Please contact Mary Jo Dowling for information on its use.
Creating Overheads
Even though overheads are passe technology wise, they are still widely used. They are cheap, fast, changeable and readily available. They are also an interactive medium. You can add levels to them or write on them while giving your talk. Overheads just like slides, should be neat, clean and limited in text. Since most overheads are 8 1/2 x 11, people tend to treat them like pieces of paper, and fill them totally up. This is a bad approach. Your audience will send too much time reading, and none listening to you. Also overheads are usually shown in less than ideal situations. The lights are usually still on, the projector close to the screen, and the image is usually keystoned. This all adds up to poor readability. So bigger is still better. Even when hand writing on the slide later, this should be kept in mind.
Pick the correct transparency material for your output device. There are different ones for laserwriters, high-speed b&w copiers, color copiers, ink jet printers, thermal imagers and of course write-ons. Watch out for finger prints, scratches and dirt marks. They look even worse on a big screen.
Yes, color is good. Too much color is worse than none at all. So start out in B&W only first, and when you are done, add color as accents only and to emphasize points. Keep in mind that just because you have 16, or millions of colors at hand, you don't have to use them. A few simple colors used wisely will look much better. Use color to clarify, group things together, accent, or distinguish. Don't use color because you can. Keep the contrast high. It is sometimes a good idea to view your slides on a monochrome monitor to see if the contrast between foreground and background is high enough. Some colors make better backgrounds than others. Most people feel that dark backgrounds with light text are easier to read in a darkened room. Background colors like black, dark blue, dark burgundy, dark gray, and dark green are good choices. Text choices of white, yellow, and other light pastel colors work well. Be careful of using bright intense colors, they tend to vibrate and are also hard to read.
Getting ready for your big talk
Once your slides or overheads are finished and your talk is written, it is time to make sure you are ready.- Organize your slides or overheads into the correct order.
- If you are using slides, place them correctly in a slide tray and test them out. Take the whole slide tray with you and use it instead of trying to use the one provided. This makes setup and breakdown time faster. There is also less chance of loss or mistake this way.
- Make sure the equipment you are using is ready and in working order.
- Focus with a test slide/overhead before you begin.
- Make sure you have a pointer ready and that your markers are in working order if you plan to write on your overheads.
- Become familiar with the controls of the equipment. Remember you will be working in the dark later.
- Know where the room light switches are and what they control. Try out different lighting schemes to see which works best.
- Have a backup plan. If your equipment fails, would you fail?
- Bring copies of your talk slides if someone would like a set of them. You know if you promise them later, you probably won't follow through with it.
Good Luck!
Mary Jo Dowling, Art Director,
The Graphics Deli
The Robotics Institute
Carnegie Mellon University