Written communication is visual too!
When you communicate using written words, is it only the words you select that matter?? I would argue that it isn’t just what you write, the font you select also plays a role.? Paragraphs, sentences, words, and letters are shapes.? How we combine all of these plus the type of font used and the layout format creates complex shapes.? And like looking at anything, our minds take in some visual aesthetics easier than others.??
If your goal is for the viewer of your writing (the reader) to easily consume the information, then presenting it in a manner that lessens the processing time from seeing to understanding is key.? This is something I often think about when preparing a lecture, presentation, report, or spreadsheet.? How can I streamline the presentation of words and numbers so that the reader doesn’t have to slow down to understand the layout?? I’m sure we’ve all experienced… first I have to understand how they are presenting the info before I can even read it.? I just had this experience when trying to assemble a new bed for my son.
So here are some tips:
Font Style:? Think about your reader.? Do they have vision struggles?? Nothing worse than when I get a document with a challenging-to-read font while I’m wearing my glasses.? Ugh!? It can actually give me a headache when reading.? The safe bet is to select a simple font that isn’t condensed.
Save the fancy fonts for titles and subtitles
领英推荐
Font Size: A document can be more engaging when you use more than 1 font size.? It can also help to construct a hierarchy of information to help the reader organize it quickly.? Think title, subtitles/section titles, and text.? Notice the rule of 3!? More than 3 types or sizes of font can create more work for the mind to process.
How can you use these tips the next time you are writing with the intent of someone else reading it?? Or better yet, do it for yourself.? Even when I’m just typing up notes for myself (like the 3 versions I wrote for this LinkedIn post), I use the simple title-subtitle-text tips I’m sharing here.? I know it makes it easier for me to reference the information in the file at a later date.? I do it for myself.? It feels good to be kind to how I consume information.
I’d love to hear how you can use this.? Or what annoys you when you review documents created by others???
Mine is using a font designed for titles as the main text font.? I don’t even try to read it.? To help my students understand the importance of font selection, I will give 2 students the exact same text to read aloud.? One is in a clear and readable font and the other is in a font designed for titles.? Then we time each of them.? It is so obvious which is easier.??I love a good demonstration!
Follow me to get more tips on how you can levelup the work you are already doing. I'm sharing simple and easy to implement tips on LinkedIn this month. Or see my post about the rule of 3.