Document Design

There are many factors that make or break a presentation, where the most important factor is document design. According to Putnis & Petelin (1996) it is important to take into account of the reader's expectation on the document in the genre used so that the readers will be able to have a smooth transaction of information when being passed to them. Often, verbal content and document design is not valued highly by writers which McKenzie (cited in Putnis & Petelin, 1996, p. 241) stressed that the appropriate use of text and graphic according to the context is important as it helps information to be more accessible to the readers.

Taking example of slides from my group presentation, I'll elaborate on what is a good PowerPoint presentation and how to improve it.

Graphic aids is important in a document as it helps the readers to understand and relate the information quickly (Reep, 2006). But, the PowerPoint slide can also be improved as the proportion (Reep, 2006) of the document is unbalanced. The size of the images in the slides is bigger than the main point which attracts the readers to the image instead of the texts and this will result in the lost of the main point. 

As Schriver (1997) stated, visuals are not always helpful as it might be confusing to some readers when they need to concentrate on text and the image simultaneously. Readers also will have a weak understanding on the text due to the striking picture. Therefore, this silde can be improved with the size of the image being reduced and the colourful image being replaced with a less eye catching one.

As seen from the image above, this PowerPoint slide is text heavy although broken down into phrases. It can be improved by using key phrases, simplifying and limiting the number of words used in the slide as it makes the slide looks less text heavy and the readers will be able to read the presentation easily (Russell). Key phrases will attract the readers easily compared to full sentences as they easily perceive and understand the information much faster when looking at them (Bernhardt, 1986).

Therefore, a good document design always consists of understanding the readers mind according to the genre of the document, using key phrases and also appropriate visual aids and typography.

References

1. Bernhardt, Stephen A. 1986, 'Seeing The Text', College Composition and Communication, vol 37, no. 1, p. 66-78.

2. Marquez, Zane L., How to Make Good PowerPoint Presentation, EzineArticles.com, viewed 5th April 2011, <http://ezinearticles.com/?How-to-Make-a-Good-PowerPoint-Presentation&id=4313178>.

3. Putnis, Peter & Petelin, Roslyn 1996, 'Chapter 7: Writing to communicate', in Professional Communication: Principles and Applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney, p. 223-263. 

4. Reep, Diana C. 2006, ‘Chapter 4: Principles of Document Design,’ in Technical Writing, 6th ed., Pearson Edu, Inc., New York, p.173-190.

5. Russell, Wendy, 10 Tips for Creating Successful Business, About.com, viewed 5th April 2011, <http://presentationsoft.about.com/od/powerpointinbusiness/tp/bus_pres_tips.htm>.

6. Shriver, Karen A. 1997, 'Chapter 6: The interplay of words and pictures', Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Publication, New York, p. 361-441.