Not long ago, before personal computers became ubiquitous, most people didn’t even know the word “font.” Which is interesting, considering that fonts have been around for hundreds of years. The word “font,” in fact, derives from the old French word fondre, meaning “to melt.” 
 
Yes, melt. As in molten metal. Made in a foundry, hence “font.” 
 
Here at Copel Communications, we’ve been in this business for a long time. Not hundreds of years, thank you, but we did actually get our start in printing, and used to purchase fonts, wrapped in wax paper, and sometimes still warm, from a type foundry. (Read the details in this post, titled, not too surprisingly, “We Bought Fonts at a Foundry.”)
 
So where are we going with all this? Like jingles (another great blog post topic), fonts have fallen in prominence recently. They’ve been overshadowed by flashy effects, say, in Flash. Or by trendy/unreadable page layout (we’re talking to you, Wired). 
 
All of that is sad. When PCs and desktop publishing first hit the market, America fell into an exciting new love affair with fonts. It was when the word itself permeated the popular vocabulary. It was the first time that everyday people saw the beauty, variety, and sheer power of fonts. It was a thrill to simply write a Word doc, and then “Select all” and see how it looked in different fonts. 
 
But then what happened? The torrid affair morphed into staid marriage. Today, we take fonts for granted. They’re an afterthought. They don’t get much love. Because we know they’ll just be there, silently doing their job. 
 
Don’t let that happen. 
 
A little more French for you
 
If you’re a real font geek, you’ll know a lot of the nomenclature that’s used to describe a typeface or the characters within it. By the way, the term “leading” (pronounced “ledding,” not “leeding”), which refers to the amount of vertical white space between subsequent lines of text, derives from the fact that lines of text were originally separated by thin strips of, well, lead!
 
You probably know that there are, broadly, two types (no pun intended) of typefaces: Serif and sans serif. A serif is merely that little flourish that completes a stroke; think of the "feet" at the base of a capital letter “T.” And while “serif” comes from the Dutch schreef, for “dash, line” the sans in “sans serif” is very much French; it simply means “without,” as in, “without serif.” And the final “s” is silent; “sans” rhymes with “John.” 
 
So what do you do with them?
 
Interestingly—and because of the computer revolution—fonts apply to a lot more than graphic or printed layouts. Which is great! You can, and should, employ them to enhance the mood and power of virtually anything you create that has words in it: correspondence, PowerPoint decks, video titles, motion graphics, you name it. 
 
There are, unfortunately, a few notable exceptions: Web pages and email. We couldn’t, for example, select a favorite font for this article; we’re limited to the default fonts on the web page where it resides (whether it’s our own site, Copel Communications, or LinkedIn, or wherever), as well as how you’ve set your own browser, and the device on which you’re reading it, e.g.,desktop, laptop, phone, tablet, etc. The same constraints apply to email. 
 
That said, certain rules apply—and, just like any rules, they can be creatively broken when appropriate. The rules—tradition—dictate that you use serif fonts for body copy, and sans serif fonts for headlines. Modern sensibilities take another step: our world of social media has now equated ALL CAPS with SHOUTING, which you can use, or avoid, as you see fit. 
 
Then there are the decorative fonts (think of stencil type, round-hand script, or fonts evocative of the Old West or neon signs, whatever) that can really add impact—or, conversely, really look amateurish if over-used or (often) set in all-caps. For those, we like to choose them the way we choose stock photos: Create a little folder. Scroll through your (safe-to-assume) huge list of fonts, and drag the “contenders” into that folder. If you’re on a Mac, and you come across a really “hot” one, give it a “hot” label—such as a red tag—in the Finder. 
 
Once you finish all your scrolling, look at the folder of finalists. Again, if you’re on a Mac, instruct the Finder window to “Sort by Tag,” and all the “hottest” ones will rise to the surface. This is a way to quickly go from hundreds of choices to the vital few. 
 
Once you’ve chosen your fonts (and for many assignments, you’ll want to use numerous members of that font’s family, e.g.,Italic, Demibold, Black, etc.), treat them with love. Finesse the letterspacing to best showcase its beauty, while maximizing its readability. It may seem like you’re spinning your wheels, adjusting the kerning of, say, individual letters in a headline. But you’re not. There’s an ineffable power that comes from a perfectly-set block of type. Your audience will never think: “Wow! Great letterspacing!” But they will be moved by the power of what you’re saying, without even thinking about the font. It’s like the musical score in a movie: At its very best, you never even “hear” it. Same with fonts: Done right, your audience doesn’t “see” them. But boy are they ever moved by them. 
 
Need help with that next creative assignment? Our skills go way beyond picking fonts—but, as this article should make clear, we’re passionate about every element. Contact us now to discuss your next assignment. 

What do you and Jeff Bezos have in common?
 
Okay, how do we leap from “PowerPoint” to “Jeff Bezos”? And what do you have in common with him? 
 
(Aside from your vast wealth, that is.) 
 
We’re going to cover all of that, here. All these planets orbit the same star. And, true to the theme of these articles, this isn’t about art or touchy-feely vibes. It’s about helping your business make more money. A lot of times, your foot in the door is a PowerPoint deck. It has to kill. 
 
So let’s deconstruct the challenge, and walk you through the important aspects of attaining that goal. 
 
Think like a mystery writer
 
You probably know this already: Great mystery writers all approach their craft backward. It’s the easiest, most logical way to go about it. They start with the ending. “Whodunnit.” They concoct the crime, they know who committed it and why, and then they work to cover up those tracks and introduce new characters with varying motives that make them appear suspicious, too.
 
Mystery writers could craft great PowerPoint decks. Because your challenge here, is the same. Start with the ending. What is it you want to accomplish? 

• Is this an introductory, get-to-know-you meeting? 

 

• Is this a presentation of findings? 

 

• Is it a presentation of a challenge that needs to be addressed—with you being the one who should get paid to address it? 

 
In other words, when your presentation is over, what do you want your audience to do? That’s the “ending” you need to work backward from. 
 
Structure is everything
 
All great works have great structure. A building, a play, a form of government. Your PowerPoint is no different. 
 
Not all finished works make their structure readily apparent; you don’t think of a summer blockbuster movie as having a three-act structure, but they usually do. It helps the writers to craft the story. But there’s no need, in that medium, for them to flash a big title card at the audience that says, say, “ACT TWO.” The story just moves along. 
 
You can do your PowerPoint that way. But more often than not, you’ll want the structure exposed, Bauhaus-like, for all the world to see. Why? It’s because of one safe assumption you can make when you craft it: Your audience is time-constrained, and can’t wait for you to make your point and wrap it up. So if you have a structure, and make it clear, the audience will be encouraged to stay on board, since they’ll have their expectations properly set from the beginning. 
 
Tactically, this translates to 1) figuring out your outline; 2) making the whole deck follow that outline, with actual chapter headings on appropriate slides (the analog of “ACT TWO”); and 3) creating an intro slide, right up front, which gives the audience an outline of the entire presentation.
 
Go for drama
 
Here’s where we’ll channel Jeff Bezos. He once said, in an interview, that he hates PowerPoint presentations. He insightfully noted that they’re easy for the presenter, but hard for the audience.
 
Think about that. It’s a spot-on commentary. It’s relatively easy for the presenter to “puke” tons of info into a PowerPoint deck; that doesn’t mean that anyone viewing it will understand it. We’ve been handed slide decks that have literally taken us hours to read; it’s like someone just took a huge Word doc, and copied-and-pasted their way into PowerPoint. 
 
Don’t do that. 
 
In fact, do the opposite. Go for minimalism. You don’t “show” a PowerPoint deck like you do a video, as a standalone piece. It’s not foreground; you’re the foreground! Don’t forget that. The slides are your background. Your projector can crap out at the last second, and you should still be able to make your presentation, based on your notes, just fine.
 
So what you want the PowerPoint to do is to underscore your most important points. And use it dramatically. If you’re following best practice by keeping your slides as terse as possible, then you can have fun with them, and keep the audience engaged at the same time. Imagine, for example, a slide that reads: 
 
            “And do you know what the survey revealed?” 
 
It’s a page-turner, by its very nature. You can milk the pause, and the suspense, to your benefit. Just imagine: An audience that enjoys a PowerPoint preso! 
 
A few more PowerPoint pointers
 
Here are some other things to keep in mind as you craft that PowerPoint deck: 

• Start in Word. Don’t get bogged down in fonts, templates, or stock photos. Craft your basic content first, without the distractions. You can pretty it up later. 

 

• Stay in sync. There’s nothing worse for an audience than seeing a screen full of bullet points while you say something else than what they’re trying to quickly read. Keep your bullets brief. Craft the slides so that new bullets get added, click-by-click.

 

• Consider secondary distribution. We’ve talked all about your being in the room when you present. But lots of times, you’ll need to email a copy of the slide deck to your client afterward, so they can share it with others. In that case, you can still keep your slides terse, but make sure the “speaker notes” are complete and provide the same level of detail as your live oral commentary. 

 
Don’t go it alone
 
We know all these tricks because we employ them, all the time, on our clients’ behalf. Why? Because they’re smart enough to keep focused on higher-value activities. You can, too. Simply contact us today, and we’ll help you with that next presentation challenge.