Post #3091769
2026-06-03 16:31 UTC
Replies (17)
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@MxVerda@lgbtqia.space 2026-06-04 11:21
@feoh@oldbytes.space I am enraged every time I open a new jar from my stash of Lime Crime (company) Lime Crime (hue) hair dye. Not just because it's been discontinued, but also the text is white on a pastel pink fucking background *and* small! https://poshmark.com/listing/Unicorn-hair-dye-Sour-Candy-64de6b2383cbec93b24fe23f
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@jesper@agda.club 2026-06-03 19:53
@feoh@oldbytes.space In addition, increasing the font size means you can put less text on each slide, which means better slides! (Both because you actually have to think about what you want to put on them, and because it avoids information overload for the audience.)
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@vik@mastodon.nzoss.nz 2026-06-04 02:02
@feoh@oldbytes.space White text on black by preference. For some reason corporate palettes tend to be nigh on illegible!
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@dashdsrdash@tilde.zone 2026-06-03 17:25
@feoh@oldbytes.space Also: put up your whole presentation and notes on a website. Encode the URL into a QR code. Put the QR code in the corner of most slides, and giant-size on your title and final slides (and, of course, in plain text on one or both of those.)
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@bittner@hachyderm.io 2026-06-03 17:17
@feoh@oldbytes.space It's maddening how many presentations include the statement, "I know you probably can't read this from where you're sitting, but..." No!!! If we cannot read it, it does not belong in your presentation.
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@AAKL@infosec.exchange 2026-06-03 17:17
@feoh@oldbytes.space As of February, 2026, "at least 2.2 billion people have a near or distance vision impairment." WHO: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/blindness-and-visual-impairment
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@shansterable@ohai.social 2026-06-03 17:55
@feoh@oldbytes.space Dear everyone.... I wish I could boost this 1,000 times. Someone's "uncomfortably large" is many other people's "oh, now I can read that."
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@Lkdc@dmv.community 2026-06-03 18:35
@feoh@oldbytes.space This principle also applies to ingredient lists on food packaging. When the font is tiny and the color contrast is poor, people with food allergies are endangered.
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@davidfetter@kolektiva.social 2026-06-03 18:53
@feoh@oldbytes.space I have a way better idea. Put words (or anything else) on your slides exactly and only to complement your presentation.* They are not documents and should not be written or read as such. They're stage props. If your audience is reading your slides, you're Doing It Wrong. *You can put more words in your presenter notes, but the audience shouldn't even notice that those exist, so there should only be things like stage directions and speaking prompts.
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@TimWardCam@c.im 2026-06-03 21:47
@feoh@oldbytes.space Also ... name badges. Do NOT make conference participants have to stare at someone's tits from a foot away in order to read their name.
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@dannyman@sfba.social 2026-06-03 22:02
@feoh@oldbytes.space Also restuarants that put the menu on the board ten feet behind the cashier: consider making paper menus available at the start of the line.
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@paul_ipv6@infosec.exchange 2026-06-03 22:02
@feoh@oldbytes.space +1000 it also has the benefit of forcing you to be more succint and concise. a slide should just be reinforcing what you're saying. it shouldn't be tempting us to read lots of text, distracting us away from the speaker. i did dozens of talks with 48pt or larger fonts only.
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@mborus@mastodon.social 2026-06-04 03:03
@feoh@oldbytes.space This. At Europython we try to train speakers about this. (Section on how to show code) https://ep2026.europython.eu/guidelines/ My personal rule of thumb: Check your slides on a small phone - if you can’t read them clearly people watching the live stream won’t be able to either.
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@meltedcheese@c.im 2026-06-04 05:53
@feoh@oldbytes.space P.S.. Your audience can read, or listen, but not both. Choose. P.P.S. If you want the audience to read, use a really big font.
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@radome@hachyderm.io 2026-06-04 09:48
@feoh@oldbytes.space colors and contrast are important too. At the last conference I attended, a presenter used slides with a dark background and some header where a slightly lighter shade of the same dark color. That was a very cool style if you’re reading it in a dark room if front of your high density modern display. But as a slide in a fairly lit room those headers were practically invisible. And I was sitting in the front row. Looked something like this
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@tantramar@zeroes.ca 2026-06-04 10:36
@feoh@oldbytes.space https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=hCTtVTwPk5E
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@patterfloof@meow.social 2026-06-04 10:46
@feoh@oldbytes.space yes, powerpoint or whatever you use probably as well-chosen default sizes & themes if using too many words on a slide: speak them, don't write them. or the old solution - use more slides