For script writing:

• Google documents:  similar to Microsoft Word and easy for joint editing.  Stores on your Google Drive
• Open Office: Mirrors a lot of the functionality of Office, but is run by a group of open coders.  Colors don’t always translate well!
• Pages:  Part of iWork, Apple’s answer to Microsoft Office.  Is more affordable and you can export your documents to Microsoft products. ~$20 in the US
• Notes: a function on iPads and iPhones that you can export in email
• Email:  it’s not pretty, but it spell checks.  Be sure to send the email to yourself!

Slide design:

• Google documents: They have a slide function with very limited capabilities, but better than nothing!
• Keynote: Cheaper than Microsoft Office, only works on Mac.  Has some functionality that you can’t get in PowerPoint, lacks a few other features, but only features that a PowerPoint Pro would miss.  Runs videos more smoothly.  Preferred format in many design circles.  Has an export to PowerPoint function, but slides need to be checked.
• Open Office: Mirrors a lot of the functionality of Office, but is run by a group of open coders.  Colors don’t always translate well!  Limited number of functions.  Your documents need to be double checked in PowerPoint later.
• SlideRocket: More functionality than Google documents.  Is also a great platform for giving presentations online both live and recorded.  There are fremium and premium tiers with different functionalities.  Closest option to PowerPoint without purchasing PowerPoint outright.  Worth an exploration in it’s own right!  You can export to PowerPoint or to a .pdf.  Also a stand-alone document to be run offline, but that requires the premium membership.
• Prezi:  It’s also got fremium and premium options.  It’s meant to be used in more of a motion-graphic sort of manner, but it does have a function where you can export your slides by stops.  Limited fonts and templates at this point in time (but full customization is coming in the future!)  If connected online, you can use Youtube and Vimeo videos directly without having to download.  The best Prezis have centralized metaphors, which doesn’t work for all audiences. You can’t export to PowerPoint but you can download as a .pdf for those situations when you really need a printed presentation. More here.
• slid.es:  Similar look and feel to Keynote, but with less customization unless you are a CSS coder, at which point it’s VERY customizable   You have to show these either online or pay the $7 a month subscription fee to share offline in their own software.  You can save to .pdf.  Really meant for online sharing, lots of links into social media.  It’s still in it’s earlier days of development and is really promising.
• Hire someone:  You can always go old school and just hand write it all out or work with a designer.

Do you have any other ideas?

Clarity:

Hierarchy of titles is clear.  The overall message of the page (the top line that says “message or topic title…”) is the largest and boldest.  These titles should be placed in the same spot form page to page in printed or projected decks, except in rare cases where each and every page is heavily and well designed by a presentation designer.

The sub-title, sometimes referred to as a major, is the second largest text on the page.  Sub-titles or typically used to title data charts or columns on a page.

All data-points should be labeled consistently so readers have an easier time reading your chart.

White space is important!  Make sure there is consistent white space around all of your objects so your readers can see your chart items more clearly.  If objects are too close together, nothing is legible.

Follow your guidelines.  A great way to ensure consistent white space is to create a grid, like the red lines on the sample chart.  You’ll see that all text is lined up along a certain margin, Nothing goes outside of the main box, etc.  A more advanced designer will likely have a more advanced grid for all titles, sub titles, measures, stickers, source notes, columns, etc.

Credibility:

All data sources should be noted in a consistent location throughout your pages.

You should scale your chart.  Are your data points in millions?  billions?  inches? Euros?  Make it clear.

If you have more than one chart on a page and those charts should be compared, make sure they have the same scale.  Charts with different scales can be confusing to your audience.

According to Merriam Webster, an opportunity is:

1. A favorable juncture of circumstances
2. A good chance for advancement or progress

Some ideas for possible visuals that could be used to show opportunity include:

• An empty seat in the front row of a very full auditorium/concert venue, etc.
• An empty parking space in a very full parking lot
• An empty piece of paper with a beautiful writing utensil
• Beautiful road ahead
• A gold platter with an envelope on it
• A beautifully wrapped box being handed over in a gloved hand
• A spread of cooking ingredients and amazing cooking ware
• A few roads coming together, showing possible directions that are all wonderful but for different reasons
• A wedding proposal
• Stairs going up with a red carpet rolled out on them
• Ramp up into a beautiful location: building, space ship, ball room, etc.
• An empty and high quality form of transportation: private plane, bus, camper, car, bicycle, etc.
• A set of keys to: a car, castle, house, office, etc.
• Doors with prizes behind them, like on a game show

Do you have any other ideas to add to the list?

According to Merriam-Webster, the definition of innovation is:

1.  The introduction of something new

2.  A new idea, method, or device

In business circles, it also tends to mean a new way of looking at things or a way of predicting what people will want/need in the future.  So, with these definitions in mind, here is a possible list of visuals for innovation that have not been done to death:

• Prism, for prismatic thinking (a huge favorite of Thomas Edison)
• A turned hat (to indicate looking in a new direction)
• Glasses with interesting lenses
• Children’s art supplies (from an age when everything was new)
• A present (something new)
• Different kind of light bulb, LED or something more creative looking like with solar powered elements (Incandescent has been done to death)
• Crystal ball, tarot cards, runes (tools of a psychic)
• Someone in a crowd who’s wearing something different/more fashionable so they stand out
• Young person in a crowd full of older people
• Someone sitting in an old environment, like a 1800s Wild West town, but is decked out in the latest clothing and with the latest technology
• Showing the evolution of something, other than a person.  Could be a technology, unique plant, etc.
• Showing the progression of a way of thinking from a socio-political perspective: women’s in the workplace, gay marriage, minority rights, mixed race groups, etc.
• Having someone/or a physical representation of an idea being introduced to a group (could be a robot, etc)
• Demonstration of pieces of something that normally would fit together, fitting together in a new way (puzzle pieces being flipped so the flat sides are against each other instead, square peg fitting in well into a round hole in a way that’s beautiful, etc)

Do you have any other ideas you’d like to share?

When selecting that font, you’ll want to make sure that it’s a font that can be rendered on both Macs and PCs, typically with a .ttf file extension (though some .otfs work on both as well).  Either way, you’ll have to test them.  Some fonts render perfectly in Adobe products, but get altered in Microsoft products.

If you’re looking for a nice cheap or free place to source fonts, I’d suggest Google fonts or try one of the font foundry sites, like fonts.com or fontgarden.com and look around for free fonts.  Make sure you’re getting the desktop versions.  There are different technical concerns between desktop and web fonts.  Remember, whatever font you use, also needs to be on every machine that will be opening your file.  So, be sure to purchase licenses of your fonts for everyone working on your new template.

Once you’ve downloaded your fonts, install them.  For Macs, it’s simple, you’ll just open the font file and click on the lower right “Install font” button.  For PCs, it’s also simple.  Here are the steps:

1. Put the font file somewhere that’s easy to find, like your desktop
2. Go to your Start menu, then into your Control Panel
3. From Control Panel, open the “fonts” folder
4. Drag the font file from the easy to find place form step one into the “Font Folder”

In both cases, you will need to log out of PowerPoint and restart it for the fonts to load.  In rare cases, you’ll need to restart your machine (usually you don’t).

For on-screen, it’s wise to use sans-serif (meaning the simpler fonts or as an old co-worker said, sans-feet) fonts.  They are easier to read on screen (ex. Calibri vs. serif font Times New Roman).  If your documents will only be printed, you have more flexibility.

Happy font using!

It’s a great idea to use a killer page, also known as an anchor chart, when you don’t want to bring in a huge PowerPoint deck.  You may only want to discuss one or two concepts.

These pages are especially helpful if you leave an interactive element to the page, such as boxes to check off during an interview, boxes to fill in, etc.

Sometimes more than one killer page is needed for a discussion.  That’s fine, but don’t go for more than 3 or 4, that could feel like overkill to your audience.  Especially since conversations around killer pages tend to be quite intense.

Check it out:

Solvate Chart Design Part 2 click here!

But what is leadership, really?  Good leaders inspire other to follow, they have contagious energy, and a vision.  They’re good at managing the small and large tasks and can direct those that follow them in the right direction for the big picture.  With this description in mind, here is a list of ideas for alternatives to the white man in a suit:

• various hats of leaders (Naval Officer, Police Chief, Master Chef, etc)
• Beautiful sky on the horizon (to indicate vision)
• Beautiful road or path forward
• Ants following each other (to indicate teamwork and momentum)
• Director on a movie set
• Conductor at a symphony
• School teacher with students
• Historical and Business figures that inspire (MLK, Jr, JFK, Roosevelt, Ghandi, Mother Teresa, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, etc)
• Lead animal in a pack/brood, etc (lions, wolves, etc)
• Characters from fiction displaying desired qualities of leadership (Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Shakespeare, Robin Hood, Super Heroes, etc)
• Corner office (showing the top)
• Someone leading a group of people walking (political or otherwise)
• Someone giving a speech in front of a large crowd

Do you have any other ideas?

Metaphors for balance and metaphors for unbalance:

• Carpenters Level
• A seesaw
• Flight instruments
• Liquid in something
• Piles of paper in 2 different in/out bins
• 2 people holding same/different amounts of something
• Boxes/other containers next to each other holding similar or different amounts of items
• Someone’s body being lopsided somehow
• A car that isn’t perfectly level, tail light out, etc
• Someone walking unsteadily
• Animal missing a leg, etc
• Someone’s hair that isn’t even  next to someone with the same cut that is
• Someone with a disheveled appearance (shoes falling off, skirt in panty hose, etc)
• Something very rich an elegant next to something in poor condition/cheap looking
• A hand being held out that is very steady
• Someone doing balanced yoga poses (like tree pose)
• Balance beam, maybe with someone on it

Can you think of more?  Please add them to the comments!

Alas, the problem is that people frequently stick to whatever the first metaphor they think of is.  In the case of growth that trees.  A slightly more advance version of this extremely played out metaphor is:  seeds to trees.  This is fine for a more literal audience or an audience where a metaphor is pushing communications boundaries in the first place.  But, for an audience that is more sophisticated, trees for growth just isn’t going to cut it!  So, in the interest of a more interesting metaphorical world, I’ve put together a list of other metaphors for growth beyond trees.  if you have other ideas to add, please comment!  And realize that not all of these metaphors work for every audience.  Always spot check your metaphors!

• Stores opening
• Bigger pants
• A tape measure
• Moving boxes or a moving truck
• Something related to spiritual enlightenment (Buddha, New Age rainbows)
• Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
• Building materials (pile of bricks, tools, lumber, etc)
• Larger hard-drives or server rooms ( more data)
• Baby diapers or other baby gear
• Kittens, puppies, or other small cute animals
• Progression of the aging and enlargement of a person/animal/etc throughout the presentation
• Buildings expanding in a city or around a city
• Multiple icons that keep multiplying:  bunnies, people, cars, boxes, etc.
• Phone ringing off the hook, email box stuffed, millions of Facebook likes (something to indicate overwhelming amounts of communication)
• Showing something that is filled beyond capacity:  tree limb with too many birds on it, car full of too many clowns, shoe that’s too small, etc
• Fat over the edge of a pair of pants
• A woman with insanely long hair, like Rapunzel
• A room filled to the brim with whatever is growing:  paper orders, baseballs, hand bag sales, etc
• Nicer and nicer cars or other premium items throughout the presentation (more wealth, more opportunity to buy nice things)
• Zygotes or eggs
• Crib or other empty bed/space indicating that someone or something is coming
• Empty warehouses, empty shelves, empty storage space
• Fish too big for bowl, other animal too big for cage

Can you think of more?