You
can have the best product or service or idea but unless
you can communicate that fact, you have nothing. It doesn't
matter whether you are working for a Fortune 500 company
or are a lone entrepreneur, you must be able to express
your ideas effectively.
Good
communication-to many people-simply means being clear and
concise. Granted, this is an important part. However, how
you present the information to your audience is just as
important as what you present. In other words, the crisper,
cleaner, sharper and more professional your correspondence
and reports look, the better you look.
Astute
business people have always sought to make their documents
more visually appealing. Up until the late 1800s, they employed
people who excelled in penmanship to convey their messages.
In the early 1900s the manual typewriter came into general
use, and progressive companies immediately adopted it to
improve the quality of their documents. Other companies
eventually followed suit.
After
the second World War electric and later electronic typewriters
with single strike ribbons were hailed as the best way to
upgrade appearance. In the late 70s the dot matrix printer
took over but was quickly replaced, in the 80s, by the laser
printer, which made a business' correspondence look even
more professional.
What's
next in the evolution to upgrade the appearance of our communications?
This decade's improvement centers around colour printers.
They are becoming more and more affordable, faster and capable.
No
one can dispute the fact that a report highlighted with
colour looks better than one that's just black and white.
Colour ensures your document will be read. And, if you are
delivering complex information, colour can organize a page
or a section and draw a reader's interest to critical details.
Likewise,
if you give a presentation assisted by colour transparencies
or slides your audience will be more attentive, and they
will better understand and remember your data.
Why
is this? Well, according to research, 1) people are twice
as likely to read colour materials as they are black and
white ones, and 2) speakers who use colour overheads are
perceived as better prepared, more enthusiastic and more
professional. One more plus, studies show that audiences
are more likely to be swayed by a presenter who uses colour
overheads.
Another
proven fact-coloured presentation visuals make meetings
more productive. Apparently, the visuals focus people's
attention and help them grasp ideas and concepts more quickly
so they can reach consensus and a decision faster.
Like
anything, though, you can go overboard with colour and irritate
your audiences. Here are a few simple rules to help you
make the best use of your colour printer.
- Use
colour on only 25 percent or less of your page-any more
and you'll lose the impact.
- Place
colour on the headings, rule markings, logos and chart
labels. Keep the body of the text black.
- Be
consistent. Make headings all one colour. You could choose
a second colour for sub-heads, but don't mix and match.
- Remember
that large areas of really bright colours can be overpowering,
while small areas of light colours can be overlooked.
- Be
careful with your colour choices. Yellow and red are creative,
energizing colours but don't use red for figures-it has
a negative connotation. Be careful using red and green
together. Colour-blind people see both as muddy brown.
If you want to put people at ease, use darker more subdued
colours.
- Don't
print photos, especially of people, in one colour. Either
go to the expense of full colour or leave them black and
white. Some browns might work if you want an old-time
sepia effect, but blue people look cold, green people
sickly, and purple people weird.
- If
you are working with slides and want to use a dark background,
use light-coloured text such as white or yellow. Light
blue is hard to read.
To
sum up, colour enhances your professional image and increases
the chances of your ideas being read, understood and acted
upon. And that's good news for you and for your company's
bottom line. Colour is the new frontier in the communications
evolution. Embrace colour to highlight your company's future.
