best font style and size for powerpoint presentation

FontSquirrel is a popular site offering thousands of free fonts for commercial use. If standard fonts just aren’t cutting it for your presentation, there are some excellent resources for free, high-quality fonts on the web. If you’re presenting to a room full of finance execs, using a swirly, decorative font isn’t likely to earn you much respect. For example, one sans serif font for all your headers, and a serif font for the rest.ĭifferent fonts appeal to different people, so keep your audience in mind when scrolling down the font list. Stick to a maximum of 3 fonts throughout your presentation – preferably 2. Use contrasting colours or place colour bars behind text to maximise readability. Presenters often layer text with other elements on their slides, such as full image backgrounds. Audience members sitting at the back of the room won’t appreciate having to squint at 12pt text, and they’re definitely less likely to remember your message. Things to keep in mind when choosing a PowerPoint font for your presentation:ĭepending on how your slides will be presented, the general rule for presentation content is the bigger the better.

Serif fonts (with curly bits) such as Times New Roman are great for body text and will make text-heavy slides more readable. Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, and Verdana are just a few of them. Sans serif fonts (the ones without curly bits) are usually the best choice for headers. Never use a display font for text smaller than 14pt. Similarly, ‘quirky’ fonts such as Comic Sans are more appropriate for material aimed at children than corporate presentations.ĭisplay fonts such as Forte and Stencil should be used sparingly, for example as large headers. Handwriting-style fonts such as Mistral and Viner Hand – while fun in some situations – can make your slides look unprofessional as well as being virtually impossible to read from a distance. When it comes to many PowerPoint presentations functional is more important than fancy, and some of the most standard-looking fonts are also the best at making your slides look clean and professional.Īn added bonus is that standard fonts are installed on most computers, so there’s no risk of your presentation not displaying correctly on other machines. The first mistake a lot of people make when choosing their PowerPoint font is looking for something ‘cool’, and many users are quick to write off fonts like Arial for being boring. And not just from an aesthetic perspective. Typography is an integral part of design, and it plays a big role in the effectiveness of your PowerPoint presentations.

Using the right Powerpoint font can have a positive impact on your audience’s understanding of your message, and their reaction to it.

Best font style and size for powerpoint presentation