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How to Select and Use Fonts on
Presentation Slides
By
Dave Paradi, MBA, author of "The
Visual Slide Revolution" and
"102 Tips to Communicate More
Effectively Using PowerPoint"
One
of the key choices you make when developing your presentation slides is
what fonts to use and how to use them. Here are some guidelines to help
you use
fonts effectively in your next presentation.
Font
Categories
There are three basic categories of fonts:
Serif, Sans-Serif and Script.
Here is a description of each font category, some examples of each and
when each
should be use.
Serif – A serif font is one that has serifs or
the extra tails on the
end of each letter. The most popular serif font is Times Roman, others
include
Bookman, Century, Garamond, Lucida and Palatino. Research shows that
serif fonts are harder to read when projected, so if you are going to
use aserif font, only use if for a title font where the text
will be larger.
Sans-Serif – A sans-serif font does not the serifs or extra
pieces at the
ends of the letters. The most popular sans-serif font is Arial, others
include
Calibri, Century Gothic, Helvetica, Lucida Sans, Tahoma and Verdana. A
sans-serif font is
easier to read, so it is best used for either title or body text on a
slide so that the
viewer
can quickly read the point and return their attention to the speaker.
Script – A script font is one that tries to emulate
handwriting. Some
script fonts are Brush Script, Edwardian Script, Freestyle Script,
French
Script, Papyrus and Vivaldi. A script font is quite hard to read and
should not
usually be used on a slide since the viewer will spend too much time
trying to
read the words and not be able to focus on the message.
Font
Sizes
The question of how big of a font should be
used on a slide so the text is easy to read is a question that can only
truly be answered with "It depends." It depends on the size
of the screen and the size of the room. I've done the
research and created a table that explains how to know if the font size
you have selected will be big enough for the room and screen you are
using. You can download the table here. While that
is the full and correct answer, I know you'd like a simple answer that
will work with most room situations. Here are some guidelines
for font
sizes that will almost always work well:
Title Font – between 36 and 44 point
Body Font – between 24 and 32 point
Font
Effects
One way to make words stand out is to use
font effects, such as these:
Bold – makes the lines of the font thicker. It is not always
easy to distinguish bold from regular weight fonts when projected, so
use with caution.
Underline – places a line under the word. This was acceptable
until the Internet age came, because today most people assume an
underline simply means that the words are a hyperlink and they do not
place any extra importance on those words.
Italic – slants the tops of the letters of the font to the
right. An
italic font is harder to read, so it should be used sparingly to
emphasize
words.
Shadow – places a dark gray shadow of each letter behind the
letter
slightly to the right and slightly below the letter. A shadow is a poor
choice
to emphasize a word because it is so hard to actually see the shadow in
many
cases.
All Caps – the word is typed in all capital letters. In the
past, this was
an acceptable way to emphasize a word, but today all capital words are
considered to be shouting at the person and will not be viewed
favorably.
Word Art – this feature allows you to distort the letters of
the font in a
variety of ways. Unfortunately many of these effects end up looking
amateur and
should be used with caution.
Highlighting – this may be the most effective way to
emphasize words and is done by placing a colored rectangle behind the
text box which creates the same effect as a highlighter has on a
printed page. Creating this technique was part of a "how-to"
webinar I did (full
details here).
Bullet
Points
Using bullet points on a slide is a great way
to present the key ideas
during a presentation. When selecting a bullet to use, consider these
ideas:
Bullet Character – The most popular choices are a filled
circle, filled
square, open circle, hyphen and arrow. The characters with a large
portion of
the character filled are easier to see by the audience and are
preferred. You
can select a graphic as a bullet, but make sure that it does not
detract from
the slide by drawing too much attention away from the words on the
slide.
Bullet Size – Try to select a bullet size slightly smaller
than the font
of the text so it does not overpower the text itself.
Bullet Spacing – make sure that there is sufficient space
between the
bullet and the first letter of the text so that the first word is
readable.
By
selecting and using fonts effectively on your presentation slides, you
can
increase the impact of your message.
Are
you looking for a customized workshop where your
staff can learn the exact techniques to communicate more effectively
using persuasive PowerPoint presentations? Here's what Vic
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