Standard templates are not optimized for readability. A Word document has standard margins of 1″ on each side. With an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, that’s 6.5″ of text. PowerPoint is even worse. In landscape view, that is 9″ of text.
Newspapers and magazines have been working on layout for years. They use narrow columns so that the eye can quickly read down the column without losing focus. If the line is too long, the reader has to move his/her eye or head back and forth. After a few seconds, the mind loses focus. If the line is too short, then the reader has to go back and forth too much and loses the rhythm.
After little research on Google, I haven’t found any authority on the optimum width for a document. So far, it seems like 50 – 75 characters per line or about 12 words per line is the right width.
What does this mean for documents? For Word documents, set the columns to about 4 inches. That’s a one inch margin on the left and a 3.5 inch margin on the right. Use the extra space for pull outs or graphics. Alternatively, use two columns. For PowerPoint documents, don’t use the full width for text. Ideally, you wouldn’t have more than six or seven words on a slide anyways. If you absolutely need to, only use half the slide and fill the rest with a graphic.
What are your thoughts?