>(snip of a lot of good stuff)
>>>>[snip] The current trend is white
>>lettering on navy blue or black backgrounds, and the room so dark you
>>can't see to take notes.
>>>>Karen
>>>The reason for this is probably because this is supposed to be the
>easiest to read. (Someone from Eastman Kodak told me once (8 years ago)
>that they weren't allowed to use anything else but white on polar blue,
>because Kodak decided this was easiest to read (and they made the polar
>blue film!). I know the PI in the lab I'm visiting in insists that all
>his grad students and postdocs use black backgrounds-I think they're
>awful, but he thinks they're "slick", and it allows him to put their
>slides into his talk and have them all the same background. Point
>being-sometimes the presenter has no choice. I'm not defending bad
>slides, just some factors that go into decisions to use a given
>background.
>>Someone who uses Powerpoint, but not the templates!
>>>>>*****************************************************
>Julia Frugoli
>Dartmouth College
> Actually, the artists in our dept. say that white on very dark grounds is
difficult to read - light, passing through a white "hole", spreads.
Therefore, unless the lettering is _exactly_ the correct size and
thickness, the letters may be quite difficult to read.
A pet peeve I've not seen mentioned (forgive me if it has been - I've been
skimming e-mail notes as a break between reading exams!) is when someone's
first line is "can I have the first slide please". I really think that an
introduction that is general enough to draw in members of the audience
unfamiliar with the work, and specific enough to allow one to know what the
main point is and why it is important, is really necessary. Particularly
at a meeting where the audience members may be starved, worried about their
own presentation, well fed and sleepy, wondering how they will get to talk
to XX and if they will make a good impression, etc. As one prof. told me
ages ago, tell them what you will tell them, tell them, then tell them what
you told them. It sounds horrible, but it really works and later the
audience will remember what you told them!
Linden (now back to exams)
______________________
Linden Higgins
Department of Zoology
University of Texas
Austin, TX 78712
telephone: (512) 471-6905 FAX (512) 471-9651
linden at mail.utexas.edu
