Due to Rolf G. Winter; published in Physics Today,
April 1991, page 134. Winter was pleased to acknowledge the help of many
colleagues who, by their example, contributed to these guidelines.
Write to within 1 mm of the edge so that is is easy to let either the
screen of the projector cut off some material. The audience will pay more
attention if it is forced to guess.
Use pale, transparent colors. Pale green is particularly good; it can
seldom be read from beyond the second row.
Color that is used consistently makes things too easy to follow and
causes somnolence. Change color erratically within each equation. The
audience may be inspired to credit with lines of reasoning that never
occurred to you.
Data points in graphs must be indistinguishable from flyspecks. You
can then decide on the spot, so to speak, whether to claim agreement or
disagreement with theory. Such decisions should be made after one senses
the mood of the audience.
Before the talk, project your transparencies in a room similar to
the one that will be used. If anything can be deciphered with the aid
of opera glasses from the middle of the room, write smaller.
Plan the time for each transparency. A useful formula is
4 PI
t(seconds) = -------------------------------------
exp( number of eqs. on transparency )
If your are offered the insult of being scheduled in a small room,
have the projector placed low so that it must be angled upward toward
the screen. The importance of your talk is then made manifest by the
keystone-shaped illuminated region, and some of the area will necessarily
be out of focus.
Obscure. You may try to stand so as to block the view of the
screen, but there will usuually be some who can see. It is more
effective to stand very close to the projector and intercept about a third
of the light with your shoulder. Point to things directly on the
transparency with as blun an instrument as is available. Your finger
can be effective, but a blackboard eraser is superior.
Make it clear that your are a perpetually jet-setting speaker who
doesn't think the present audience is worth much preparation. Your
transparencies should be smudged and scratched, and some should be out of
order. Emphasize that they have been written at 30.000 feet. ''Let's
see what's on the next one'' is always a useful insult. Mumble something
about having used this stuff for the principal talk at the Belgrade summary
of the Tokyo Conference, and about having been too busy to sort it out since.
Bring a very large stack of transparencies, on any subject, that you
do not show during the talk itself. If anyone asks a question at the end,
furhter impertinence can be headed off by showing 17 of them.