In visual communication, one of the first concepts to come to terms with is the use of symbols. Scott McCloud in his book, Understanding Comics, gives one of the best explanations of “visual iconography” that I’ve yet to encounter. (While it’s primary focus is on comics, Understanding Comics is actually more about visual, pictorial communication and I recommend it to anyone who communicates through pictures, uses PowerPoint, etc.)

Pictures versus Symbols

The difference between a picture and a symbol is that a picture shows what actually is, while a symbol has stripped the image down to it’s bare minimum. In essence, the symbol conveys the same meaning as the picture, the idea, but all the other details have been eliminated. It’s the difference between the two images below.

[Image credits: picture - thefixer, symbol - thenounproject.com]

DC Metro Map

Another example of this concept I ran across is here. Take a minute to open that link and study the two maps of the DC Metro System. The one on the right is a geographically correct map showing where each of the Metro lines actually go. The other is the simplified (and geographically inaccurate) map of the same system that hangs in every Metro station in DC. Why use such an inaccurate map as the official map? Because the Metro system designers wisely realized that their passengers did not need to know exactly where they were going. They only needed to understand the idea of what was going on. The needed to know which train to take to get to their desired stop and the simplified map is much easier to understand and use for that purpose. So by showing them something technically inaccurate, they got the idea across much more efficiently and simply.

The Nashville Interstate Sign System

A few weeks ago, I went to a Pecha Kucha Night in Nashville. One of the speakers that night spoke on a design he came up with for improving the interstate signage in and around Nashville (which is abysmal at present). His idea is pretty ingenious in my mind and was one of my favorite talks that evening. It involves sacrificing complete accuracy (which this system currently provides) in favor of the idea (which would be much easier to use). See which one seems better to you. You can watch the whole talk below (which only takes 6:40 seconds since it’s a Pecha Kucha).

My point is that often when presenting information we can sometimes strive to be completely accurate, which is good, except when it gets in the way of conveying our message. Sometimes it’s better to sacrifice a few details in order to help your audience get the most important idea. If you’re a detail-oriented person (you know who you are), it would probably be a good idea to think a bit about just how much detail is needed to get your audience to the place you want them to go.

P.S. – The title isn’t a mis-type. It’s actually a reference to one my father’s sayings that he uses all the time to describe overly-detail-oriented people. In describing a person like that he says, “You’ve heard of someone who can’t see the forrest for the trees? Well he can’t see the tree for the leaves.”

Paul Rand, the legendary graphic designer, once said, “Without contrast, you’re dead.” Today I’m gonna share with you a very, very simple technique for making sure that your slides have enough contrast and your audience will be able to read the text.

The trouble with full-bleed images

Garr Reynolds and many other presentation experts recommend using full-bleed images (i.e. – images that completely fill your slides) and I concur. If you do use full-bleed images and want to include text as well, it’s necessary to overlay your text on top of the background image. It’s crucial in these situations to find a font color with high enough contrast to the background image that the text will be legible. Sometimes it’s possible to find an image with plenty of whitespace or areas where text will sit nicely. With other images, though, you may struggle to find a font color that will stand out over a complicated background.

To provide the contrast needed for my text to be visible in these situations, I usually place a semi-transparent shape behind the text box. This is a very simple thing to do and it may seem obvious, but if you’ve never thought of it before it can be eye-opening. It makes a huge difference.

An Example

Suppose that you want to use the image below as your full-bleed background.

[Image Credit: Bob Gutowski]

You might be able to place some small text in either of the upper two corners, but if you’re placing a quote or some longer portion of text on the image, it might be tricky.

Choosing a good font color

You probably want to choose a font color that goes well with the image, like a dark brown or dark blue. If your have software with a color-picker, it’s good to select a color that already appears in the image. You can also use a tool like Adobe Kuler‘s Create > From an Image option to find colors that go together well with your image.

Even if you use black or white, the two colors with the highest amount of contrast, the text still won’t really be readable on this background (see below).

But look what happens when you place some color behind the text box.

In each of these examples the text shows up very well and is very readable.

Another option

There’s often more than one way to skin a cat and this is no exception. Another way to achieve a similar effect is to set the ‘fill’ attributes for your text box. This essentially adds a background color to your text box and will wind up looking very similar to the effect above. The major difference is that you cannot control the precise size of the text box. For example, if you have two text boxes that you want to place a single shape behind, there’s no way to do this using fills and you’ll have to use the background shape method I just discussed. But if your layout only calls for a single text box, this is a perfectly acceptable alternative.

Transparency is your friend

I’d also encourage you to use transparency. You can place a solid shape behind your text, but I think transparency looks better because it doesn’t completely obscure the background image. There’s really no magic bullet for how much transparency to use, so just toy around with it until you find something that you like that still provides sufficient contrast between the shape and the text.

This little tip may seem very, very simple and that’s because it is. But I’m always surprised by how many presenters don’t use it. Remember Mr. Rand’s admonition about contrast and make sure your audience gets the message.

Unless your presentations are really bad, you probably won’t ever have people come to you and ask you to make your presentations better. Constructive criticism is something that very few people are comfortable giving unsolicited. And there’s good reason for that. It can feel presumptuous or even downright rude to give advice to someone who hasn’t asked for it.

If you speak regularly, getting good, candid feedback can be one of the most helpful and productive things you can do to make sure your skills are improving.

Here are a couple ideas for helping you get good feedback when you speak.

1. Ask someone to come to your presentation specifically to evaluate you.

This can be either someone who knows a lot about pubic speaking or someone who is just a typical audience member. It’s good to get feedback from both. Whichever you choose, give the individual some kind of rubric to evaluate you by. What do you want him or her to focus on? Your slides? Your body language? Your voice quality? This will help the evaluator know specifically what kind of feedback you are looking for and will give them a starting place for their evaluation.

2. Record yourself.

Preferably on video, though you can benefit from audio recording as well. But don’t just watch the video yourself. Find someone whose opinion you respect and ask them to watch it and tell you what they thought. You can even ask two or three people to do the same.

Be aware however of the time you’re asking someone to spend on this. If it’s an hour long talk you’re giving realize that to ask someone to evaluate it is no small task. You may want to offer some sort of compensation (not necessarily monetary) in exchange for that person’s time and expertise. Maybe send a box of girl scout cookies along with the video with instructions not to eat the cookies until they’ve done the evaluation. If a few days go by and you haven’t heard back, send an email and simply ask, “Did you eat the cookies yet?” (Full disclosure: I stole this cookie idea from Randy Pausch’s excellent book, The Last Lecture.)

3. Ask your audience to take a survey.

This might be more of a stretch, but if you want, you can ask people to fill out a survey for your speech. Google Docs allows you to build forms online for free. You can build a good evaluation survey and then place the URL to your survey on the last slide of your presentation or on the handout you distribute. Invite anyone and everyone who hears you speak to take a few minutes when they get home to go fill out your survey to let you know how you did. (It’s probably best if the URL you distribute isn’t too long. You can use a URL shortening service like tinyurl.com to shorten longer URLs so your evaluators will have an easier time finding you. You might also consider converting your URL to a QR code that would allow your audience to open and take your survey right on their smartphone as soon as the presentation ends.)

A few weeks ago I watched a documentary about the special effects giant, Industrial Light & Magic. At one point, one of the people they interviewed about working there started talking about one of the smaller teams within ILM in which each team member is encouraged to be completely honest in sharing their opinions of how the project is going. He said something to the effect of, “…and when people are honest about what they think, the work is better.”

Every team working on any product ought to have this attitude. I want the people around me to be honest, in a tactful way, so that we can all be better. So that the end product is better.

But sadly, that’s not the way it usually works. It’s hard to get people to share what they really think.

Why is that?

I think most people are honest by nature. I don’t think humans are naturally deceptive. So something must be causing us to fail to be honest. It seems then that the first step to creating an environment where honesty is valued is to eliminate the things that prevent it from happening naturally.

So, I started brainstorming a list of  things that need to be removed in order for honesty to be present.  I came up with three:

1. Freedom from bullying – they need to feel safe that their words won’t cause repercussions or retaliation.
2. Freedom from busy work – they need to really care about the success of the project or product we’re working on.
3. Freedom from apathy – they need to feel that the person or persons they’re being honest with will actually do something with the information they’re sharing.

What else? Can you think of something I’ve missed?

Hopefully identifying what hinders honesty is the first step to creating an environment that fosters it.

Zappos is a service company that happens to sell shoes online.

Starbucks is a service company that happens to sell (expensive) coffee.

Apple is a service company that happens to sell computers, phones, and mp3 players.

Disney is a service company that happens run an animation studio.

All of these companies have developed incredibly loyal customers because they view themselves as servants. They’re all phenomenal at putting the customer first. They make their customers feel important. Lots of companies claim to do that but few actually do. These ones do and people love them for it.

If you’re a presenter or a slide designer you’re also in the service industry. You’re a servant who happens to create presentations. The audience isn’t there for you. You’re there for your audience. It’s your job to help them realize their importance. To inform them. To help them understand. To give them something, change something in their minds that will benefit them in the end.

Once you’ve figured that out, you have all the answers. What should you do in any given situation? Whatever’s best for the audience. Spend a few more hours on slides because it will help the audience understand more quickly. Rehearse a few more times so you won’t distract your audience by you stumbling over your words. Research your topic thoroughly so you can give the audience the latest and most accurate information possible.

The future belongs to the servants.

The question isn’t whether or not you’ll choose to be a servant. You’re already a servant whether you like it or not. The question is: How will you act now that you’ve realized it?