Effective Visual Presentations – Guidelines for Faculty

Principles of Design
Rhythm -the pattern created by repeating varied elements.
Unity -the relationship among the elements so that they look like they belong
together.
Balance -the equal distribution of visual weight in a formal (symmetrical) or informal
asymmetrical or diagonal) orientation.
Emphasis -the attention drawn to a single element.
Simplicity -the presentation of fewer elements, limited verbal content, simple lettering,
and bold drawing.

Guidelines for Legibility and Readability

Legibility is the speed and ease with which individual letters can be recognized.

Readability is the speed and ease with which words can be read; readability is dependent upon
legibility.

Select a readable letter style from one of two broad categories of typeface:

SERIF: letters that have brackets, hooks, feet, and thick and thin parts. Serif is
generally thought to be traditional, reliable, solid, and elegant. (Fonts such as this
GARAMOND illustrate serif typeface or Times New Roman.)

SANS SERIF: letters that have no serifs - no hooks, feet, or thick or thin
parts. Sans serif typeface conveys an image that is modern, clean,
scientific and fashionable, (Fonts such as this ARIAL illustrate sans serif
type face.)

Make spaces between letters look equal (proportional spacing).

Separate lines of text with adequate “white space.”

Use all CAPITAL LETTERS for short titles; use Capital and lower case letters for titles
of six or more words.

Guidelines for Designing Text Only Slides

1. Use horizontal as opposed to vertical orientation for slides
2. Use no more than four to six lines of text (no more than 10 lines total, including spaces) per
slide
3. Limit each line to 30 characters (including spaces)
4. Use phrases rather than sentences
5. Use upper and lower case letters (except for titles as described above)
6. Use legible and readable type face (do not use a typewriter) and a font size of 12 point or
greater
7. Use bullets or numbers for lists
8. Allow the same amount of space at the top and bottom of each slide
9. Use color, bold face, italics, or large size type for emphasis (not underlining)
10. Use a dark background color (blue) with a light color for text (white)
11. Avoid the use of commercial indications (logos) on slides

Acceptable Formats for Faculty Presentations

Please make sure your material has been edited, proofed and is complete with all graphics
already embedded in the document or presentation. We cannot edit your material or add graphics
for you.

Acceptable File Formats and Style Guidelines:

• Microsoft PowerPoint (Versions 97, 2000, XP for Windows)
• Slide size - Use the default slide size of 7.5x 10 landscape.
• Maximum Slide Number- Please submit 25 slides per speaker.
• Gradients/Templates - Do not use complex gradients or templates with dark colors
or animations in your presentation file. These drastically increase file size and cause
prolonged redraw and download times when viewed on a computer. Some gradients
and templates are not suitable for preparing printed materials because they will show
up as solid black when printed. Do a test print to make sure your slides will look
correct when printed.
• Fonts - only use common fonts like Arial, Times New Roman, or Helvetica, etc.
This will alleviate any font problems on other computers.
• Animations, movies and sound - Because your PowerPoint slides will be converted
to PDF format, any audio, video or animations will not be included. Do not embed
any of these objects in your presentation.
• Links to email addresses and Websites - We encourage the inclusion of active
hyperlinks to both faculty email addresses and the URLs of Websites where
supplemental information can be found.
• Title slide - Create a title slide for your presentation with the title and author(s).
• Test prints - Do a test print to make sure your slides look correct when printed. For
handouts, PowerPoint slide files will be printed as 3 slides per page with lines for
taking notes. If your presentation does not print to handout format, please create a
handout version i.e. black and white.