Good communication-to many people-simply means being clear and concise. Granted, this is an important part. However, how you present the information to your audience is just as important as what you present. In other words, the crisper, cleaner, sharper and more professional your correspondence and reports look, the better you look.

Astute business people have always sought to make their documents more visually appealing. Up until the late 1800s, they employed people who excelled in penmanship to convey their messages. In the early 1900s the manual typewriter came into general use, and progressive companies immediately adopted it to improve the quality of their documents. Other companies eventually followed suit.

After the Second World War electric and later electronic typewriters with single strike ribbons were hailed as the best way to upgrade appearance. In the late 70s the dot matrix printer took over but was quickly replaced, in the 80s, by the laser printer, which made a business' correspondence look even more professional.

What's next in the evolution to upgrade the appearance of our communications? This decade's improvement centers around colour printers. They are becoming more and more affordable, faster and capable.

No one can dispute the fact that a report highlighted with colour looks better than one that's just black and white. Colour ensures your document will be read. And, if you are delivering complex information, colour can organize a page or a section and draw a reader's interest to critical details.

Likewise, if you give a presentation assisted by colour transparencies or slides your audience will be more attentive, and they will better understand and remember your data.

Why is this? Well, according to research, 1) people are twice as likely to read colour materials as they are black and white ones, and 2) speakers who use colour overheads are perceived as better prepared, more enthusiastic and more professional. One more plus, studies show that audiences are more likely to be swayed by a presenter who uses colour overheads.

Another proven fact-coloured presentation visuals make meetings more productive. Apparently, the visuals focus people's attention and help them grasp ideas and concepts more quickly so they can reach consensus and a decision faster.

Like anything, though, you can go overboard with colour and irritate your audiences. Here are a few simple rules to help you make the best use of your colour printer.

1. Use colour on only 25 percent or less of your page-any more and you'll lose
the impact.

2. Place colour on the headings, rule markings, logos and chart labels. Keep the body of the text black.

3. Be consistent. Make headings all one colour. You could choose a second colour for sub-heads, but don't mix and match.

4. Remember that large areas of really bright colours can be overpowering, while small areas of light colours can be overlooked.

5. Be careful with your colour choices. Yellow and red are creative, energizing colours but don't use red for figures-it has a negative connotation. Be careful using red and green together. Colour-blind people see both as muddy brown. If you want to put people at ease, use darker more subdued colours.

6. Don't print photos, especially of people, in one colour. Either go to the expense of full colour or leave them black and white. Some browns might work if you want an old-time sepia effect, but blue people look cold, green people sickly, and purple people weird.

7. If you are working with slides and want to use a dark background, use light-coloured text such as white or yellow. Light blue is hard to read.

To sum up, colour enhances your professional image and increases the chances of your ideas being read, understood and acted upon. And that's good news for you and for your company's bottom line. Colour is the new frontier in the communications evolution. Embrace colour to highlight your company's future.