10 Font Tips for Presenters

The first point and most important about using fonts in presentations is to make sure that there is sharp contrast between the color of the fonts on the slide and the color of the slide background. Little contrast = Little readability.

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Stick to fonts that are common to every computer. No matter how fabulous you think your font looks, if the displaying computer doesn’t have it installed, another font will be substituted – often skewing the look of your text on the slide.

• With this in mind, choose a font that is suitable for the tone of your presentation. If it is for a group of dentists, select simple fonts. If your presentation is aimed at small children, then this is a time when you can use a “funky” font. However if this font is not installed on the presenting computer, make sure to embed the true type fonts into your presentation. This will increase the file size of your presentation, but at least your fonts will appear as you intended.

Be consistent. Stick to two, or at most, three fonts for the whole presentation. Use the slide master before you start entering text to establish the chosen fonts on the slides. This avoids having to change each slide individually.

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Serif fonts are the ones with little tails or “curly-ques” attached to each letter. Times New Roman is an example of a serif font. These types of fonts are easiest to read on slides with more text –- (More text on slides is something to avoid if at all possible when making a PowerPoint presentation). Newspapers and magazines use serif fonts for the text in the articles as they are easier to read.

Sans serif fonts are fonts that look more like “stick letters”. Plain and simple. These fonts are great for headings on your slides. Examples of sans serif fonts are Arial, Tahoma and Verdana.

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Avoid using all capital letters – even for headings. All caps are perceived as SHOUTING, and the words are more difficult to read.

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Choose a different font for the headlines and the bullet points. This makes text slides a little bit more interesting. Bold the text whenever possible so that it is easily readable at the back of the room.

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Avoid script type fonts -- always. These fonts are hard to read at the best of times. In a darkened room, and especially at the back of the room, they are almost impossible to decipher.

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Avoid italics unless it is to make a point – and then make sure to bold the text for emphasis. Italics pose the same problems as script type fonts – they are often hard to read.

Don’t use anything smaller than an 18 point font – and preferably a 24 point as the minimum size. Not only will this larger sized font fill up your slide so there is not so much empty space, it will also limit your text. Too much text on a slide is evidence that you are a novice at making presentations.

Note - Not all fonts sizes are the same. A 24 point font might be fine in Arial, but will be smaller in Times New Roman.

Use the “dim text” feature for bullet points. This places the emphasis on the current issue and brings it to the forefront while you are making your point.

How to Use the Dim Text Feature in PowerPoint