Three Sleeper Fonts that Create Powerful Presentations

Roboto, Raleway, and Avenir are lesser-known fonts that add a bang to your business presentations and also good for accessibility.

Here's an overview of Roboto, Raleway, and Avenir–three less common fonts that will give your reports and presentations an extra “bang!” All three are sans-serif fonts with high x-heights, making them good choices for powerful presentations that overcome accessibility issues.

Fonts and FINESSE

Fonts are critical to overcoming hearing and visual impairments, which affect 8 to 25 percent of senior management. Fonts primarily align with Structure, the first S in FINESSE, and secondarily with Empathy, the first E in FINESSE.

Roboto

Roboto has a high x-height to enhance readability, especially on digital screens. This high x-height makes the lowercase letters appear open and legible, contributing to a modern and user-friendly look.

Roboto is ideal for user interfaces, websites, mobile apps, and any context where clear readability at smaller sizes is needed.

Communicating with FINESSE® and JD Solomon Inc use Roboto as the primary text for images created in Canva.

Raleway

Raleway has a relatively high x-height, though slightly less pronounced than Roboto. This characteristic allows it to maintain readability with a more refined appearance. Roboto is popular for body text and headlines.

Raleway is suitable for headings, branding, more stylish designs, and body text in web design when a slightly more sophisticated look is desired.

Communicating with FINESSE® uses Raleway as one of the primary fonts on the website.

Avenir

Avenir is a modern take on classic sans-serifs, with slight adjustments in stroke weights and proportions that improve readability and versatility. It is a solid choice for print and digital media.

Avenir is frequently used in corporate branding, advertising, signage, and UI design. It can also be used for headlines and body text in reports and presentations.

JD Solomon Inc. uses Avenir as its primary text font.

Three Sleeper Fonts

Roboto, Raleway, and Avenir are three less common fonts that can create powerful presentations that overcome accessibility issues. I use all three.

---

The elements of the FINESSE fishbone diagram® are Frame, Illustrate, Noise reduction, Empathy, Structure, Synergy, and Ethics. Communicating with FINESSE is a not-for-profit community of technical professionals dedicated to being highly effective communicators and facilitators. Learn more about our publications, webinars, and workshops. Join the community for free.

Fundraising Essentials Provide Powerful Lessons for Effective Communication

"Keep it short and be sure to update your sponsor." Good advice for fundraising or technical presentations.

Fundraising seems simple.  Ask a corporation for money, as we read that they “give out money” for various causes.  My personal experience is that this “ask” is difficult, if not overwhelming, especially if you do not know where to start. Through organizational projects with Engineers Without Borders and Outreach Ethiopia, I have learned various approaches and strategies for effective fundraising.

My learnings and how you can use them:

Tie the cause to the company vision and purpose

Corporations are overloaded with requests from their employees, local communities, non-profit organizations etc. daily for funds. Your project must be unique to catch their attention. If you are working on a particular project, make sure you seek out companies who have products related to your project. For example, if you are working on a food-related project, approach companies that are in the food industry since there is a clear connection to your project.

In addition, search for companies who have business ties in your project’s region or location. The corporation’s Public Relations and Community Impact departments are always looking for ways to be a good corporate neighbor or partner in their community.

Minimize your slides

For one of our Engineering Without Borders projects, we prepared 37 slides to make our case to a corporation. We were excited to get an appointment with the VP of their Engineering Department. After receiving feedback from a public affairs professional, we cut the slide deck to a total of seven slides, including the title page! Leaders at the decision-making level are busy with many meetings, and they do not have the patience to go through 37 slides. They just want the main story and immediately want to hear how their business can support your project. After cutting our slide count to 7 and giving a concise presentation, we successfully received $15,000 for our project.

Ask for a specific amount and show how it will be used

When you ask for project funds, make sure to ask for a specific amount and be clear how it will be used. For example, you could ask for $5,000 that will cover the cost of materials. Being specific will help donors understand where and how the money will be used. If you don’t propose an exact amount, the donor may give less than expected, leaving you disappointed. Hence, ask for what you want.  Be prepared to receive more or less money depending on how your project is valued against all the competing projects for the company’s planned giving that year.   

Update each step with your donor

Keep strong relationships with your donors through effective communication. After receiving the funding, follow up with a thank you note. Then, as each step of the project is completed, continue to update the donors on the project progress, so they see their donation “at work.” During the project, take pictures and videos. After the project is complete, make a short video with your team that shows the entire project from inception to completion. At the end of the video, add a thank you to all the donors. Seeing how their money impacted your project, and the community may drive them to donate again for your next project. 

Don’t get disappointed and try, try, try!

The average success rate for a donation request, measured by donor conversion rate, is very low. Don’t get disappointed if you don’t receive any funding from potential donors. Rather, learn from it, adjust your information as needed, and go to the next potential donor. Always ask for feedback and keep in touch with the ones who couldn’t support your project because perhaps they can help with the next one.

Retention Rate

Building relationships with donors who previously supported your projects is essential. According to an article by Bloomerang, a nonprofit donor management software company, states that donor retention is around 40%. This means that 40% of people who previously donated, will donate again to that same cause. This is why networking and staying in touch is so important.

Powerful Fundraising Lessons for Effective Communication

Getting started with fundraising can be overwhelming, especially if you’re not sure where to begin. But with the right approach it doesn’t have to be difficult. As you build your presentation, you will learn effective communications.   The key is to figure out how a company’s contribution will benefit the company and your project in just a few short slides.   Keep it short and be sure to update your sponsor.

---

Anteneh Zewde is a Global Reliability & Maintenance Consultant/Leader at DuPont. He has 25 years of experience in various roles in design & development, reliability, maintenance, manufacturing support, project engineering, and leadership roles along with two patents. He is an active volunteer for Engineers Without Borders (EWB), leading the Eastern Pennsylvania & Delaware region projects across the world. He received the EWB Exceptional Leadership Award in 2022 and DuPont’s Corporate Community Impact Champion Award in 2023. Anteneh graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and from Drexel University with an M.B.A.

2024 Hurricane Season Summary

Three active storms in the Atlantic Basin on October 6 helped defined the 2024 hurricane season.

These are some updates to six insights related to hurricanes in the 2024 season. Risk, reliability, vulnerability, resilience, disaster recovery, climate change, and even public-private partnerships are interwoven through information and perspectives. However, more than anything else, they are hopefully relatable and interesting.

As of October 30, 2024, the storms of this season caused at least 372 fatalities and more than $200 billion in damage. Most of the property damage is due to Helene and Milton. Most of the fatalities are due to Beryl and Helene.

Little Time to Prepare

Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 did major damage to North Carolina

The 2024 hurricane season started off relatively slow. It was further marked by storms that built to cyclone status seemingly just before landfall. Potential Tropical Cyclone 8 did major damage to North Carolina, surprised many, and yet never achieved named status.

Hurricane Debby, Hurricane Francine, and Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight made it three in a row.

Will Late-Forming Storms Characterize the 2024 Hurricane Season?

Here’s Why Atlantic Hurricanes Are Quickly Developing

An unusual string of four in a row.

It normally takes more than two days for a tropical disturbance to jump to a hurricane. Hurricane Helene joined Hurricane Debby, Hurricane Francine, and Potential Tropical Cyclone Eight in an unusual string of four in a row.

Here’s Why Atlantic Hurricanes Are Rapidly Developing in 2024

The Slight Chance Becomes Reality

The Slight Chance Becomes Reality

It’s been over 150 years since a hurricane has moved west to east on a similar track. At least, that was the case when the hurricane formed deep in the Gulf near Mexico.

As I developed the article, I looked at the history and concluded there was a “slight” chance of the storm hitting Tampa. Thirty-six hours later and 48 hours before the storm made landfall, the title of the article was quickly changed to probable.

Hurricane Milton ended up closely following the path of Hurricane Charley when Milton bounced off the Yucatan Peninsula.

The Now Probable Chance that Hurricane Milton Hits the Tampa Area

The Devastation of Hurricane Helene

The Devastation of Hurricane Helene

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis rebuffed those who blame stronger hurricanes on climate change as Florida dealt with the aftermath of Hurricanes Milton and Helene.

On October 10, 2024, DeSantis said, “It is hurricane season. You are going to have tropical weather.”

Good common-sense advice, especially for those trying to make political points less than a week after storm events.

I looked at how the data matters and why the focus should be on disaster recovery.

Don’t Blame the Hurricane Helene Tragedy in North Carolina on Climate Change

Historical Hurricanes with Great Impact

November hurricanes are rare.

Stay vigilant — for the past 200 years, at least one November hurricane has caused significant damage every 50 years.

The November 1925 Florida tropical storm holds the distinction as the deadliest tropical cyclone that did not become a hurricane. The storm made two landfalls, one on the lower Florida Gulf Coast and one in North Carolina.

How a Rare November Hurricane Nearly Changed the American Civil War

Hurricane Models and Flooding

A public-private partnership even became controversial.

A news story tried to blame a public-private partnership agreement on “bad” hurricane forecasts. Similar to climate change, the noise started less than one week after Hurricane Helene responders could assess the damage.

The claim was false on several counts, and the story disappeared. Hurricane models are interesting, and NOAA does a good job with them.

One underappreciated fact is that flooding from extreme rainfall is the deadliest direct cause of tropical cyclone fatalities in the U.S. over the past decade.

Why Blame the Models for the Devastation of Hurricane Helene and Milton?

Trying to Reason with the 2024 Hurricane Season

Yes, "Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season" is a song written and recorded by the great Jimmy Buffet. The 2024 hurricane season is memorable across many states and will continue to be studied. The devastation of Hurricane Helene will impact multiple generations in western North Carolina. Please continue to send your support and prayers.

---

JD Solomon Inc. provides solutions for program development, asset management, and facilitation at the nexus of facilities, infrastructure, and the environment. Sign up for monthly updates related to our firm.

---

JD Solomon has weathered many storms, both on land and at sea.