I’ve had to rely at times on silence and on talking quick / Defending myself with nothing but my walking stick. —Buck65

Here are nine easy tips that will help you communicate better at your next conference.

Figure A Can you read me now?

Dan Grigsby’s presentation at RubyFringe was an intentional example of this. All the titles were at the top, with humorous stock photos below.

Keep it in the top third, if possible.

Figure B Takahashi-san frowns on your tiny fonts

Giles Bowkett is such an entertaining speaker that people once skipped the first 20 minutes of lunch to hear the remainder of his presentation at RubyFringe (which involved more than 400 slides).

He also used only the typefaces included with Mac OS X, including Futura Condensed Medium and Condensed ExtraBold, which work really well in bright colors on black. So even if you don’t choose to buy a single typeface, you can assemble a great-looking presentation.

• Giles Bowkett Videos – Start 5 minutes in to see the slides.

Figure C Working well and looking good

It’s easy with either:

Copy as RTF – A Te