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Answer to #1
Answer: When designing deck slides, follow these guidelines:
Use short, sentence-style titles, called headlines. Compose each headline as if it were the topic sentence of a paragraph.
Position headlines to the left and use sentence case. Because headlines function as short sentences, graphically treat them like sentences, capitalizing only the first word. Do not center them or capitalize every word, as you would do with the titles in typical presentations. Although the headline functions as a short sentence, no period is required at the end. The only end punctuation that is required is a question mark if the headline is a question.
Develop slide content to support the headline. Be sure that everything on the slide relates to and supports the headline. If you have too much information for one slide, then develop a second slide on the topic.
Leave enough blank space so that your audience can focus their vision. It is better to write a few well-crafted, concise points than to include whole paragraphs on a slide.
Avoid using bullets for all your text. Slide after slide of bullets can make your audience lose attention. Instead, place text in tables or in text boxes arranged to show the relationship between ideas.
Whenever possible, use visuals to develop ideas. Do not rely only on words. Slides are a visual medium, so communicate your message by using graphics as well as words.
Answer to #2
Answer: Organizations use report decks for three main reasons. First, they are used when you need a written report and plan to present that report at a meeting, a report deck can serve both functions. Producing one document instead of two saves time and money. Second, producing that document in presentation software such as PowerPoint increases the chances that people will read the document, and it also facilitates discussion. As Eric Paley, the founder of a venture capital company says, Quick to read and easy to edit collaboratively, slide decks are the most concise way to express an idea for discussion and decision making. Prose is great for one-way conversations, but it falls short for any type of engagement in a group. Finally, compared to word processing software, presentation software gives writers a great deal of control in designing a page. It more easily allows you to place pictures, tables, and graphs in precise locations, page after page.
Answer to #3
Answer: Tables and graphs represent data in different ways. Tables arrange data in columns and rows, allowing you to read down or across to see different relationships. Graphs illustrate the relationship among variables or sets of data as an image or shape drawn in relationship to two axes.
Because they represent data in different ways, tables and graphs have different uses. The table makes it very easy to find exact values. However, the table does not help you see specific patterns and trends. Although the graph does not provide exact values, it highlights trends and relationships by showing the data as a shape. You should choose the form of data graphic that helps your audience most clearly see the important points you want to make about the data.
Answer to #4
Answer: Tufte recommends eliminating all distractions that do not help the audience understand the data. For tables, this means eliminating or minimizing all unnecessary gridlines and borders. For graphics, it means removing anything that exists only for decoration. Like graphs, table should be designed so that audience can easily see the data without any distracting content or format.
Answer to #5
Answer: Although it incorporates some design features, such as headings and bullet points, it does not use more elaborate elements such as borders, multiple columns, call-out boxes, or contrasting fonts. Manuscript-style reports are common in conservative fields, such as banking and accounting. You will also see manuscript style used for internal company reports. Although internal reports must be easy to read, with effective headings and paragraphing, they do not have to be eye-catching. The audience of internal reports typically needs the content and is motivated to read the information.
By contrast, reports that are written for a broader external audience tend to use more design features to motivate the audience to read the report. For example, many organizations produce reports called white papers, which serve as marketing or sales tools. A white paper is a report intended to educate the audienceoften potential customerson a topic that is central to a company's business. Companies publish white papers to build credibility, to establish themselves as experts on a topic, and often to interest the audience in the company's products or services. Because no one is required to read a white paper, the document must entice the audience by the quality of both the content and the visual design.
Answer to #6
Answer: Businesses rely on data to make informed decisions. To support those decisions, graphs must display data ethically and not mislead the audience. Graphs can mislead in many ways. For example, they can manipulate the scale, distort perspective, and show data out of context. Even if graph designers do not intend to be dishonest, they may make design choices that result in bad graphs. As Naomi Robbins, an expert in data visualization, says, The designers of many of the graphs we see daily pay more attention to grabbing the audience's attention than to communicating clearly and accurately. They choose design options that they think look better but are actually graphical mistakes, since they mislead or confuse their readers. Because ethical representation of data is so important, many organizations have developed guides to data ethics.
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