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The Ultimate Font Size Guide for Decks & Presentations

Ah the classic font size debacle. Anyone who has ever made a deck (read: nearly everyone on the planet) has experienced the struggle of choosing the right font sizes for different elements of the deck. 

Set the font size too small and people will complain about readability. Set the font size too large and you can’t get enough information on the slide to communicate your point. 

The classic recommendation is to keep your font size to a minimum of 30pt for any text in your presentation. Or the even more vague suggestion to “make the font big enough so even the person in the back of the room can read it.” These are ok recommendations, but are not the most helpful, especially considering the broad range of use cases for decks these days. 

Fear not! Some simple rules can be used to make sure you are using the right size fonts for the right reasons.

Start With Your Use Case

Decks have become one of the most widely used communication mechanisms across work and life. However, not all decks are used for the same purpose. 

Sometimes you want to throw together a deck to quickly share visual inspiration for a new website design. Sometimes you put together a deck to stand up in front of a room of people to present something inspiring. Sometimes you have to put together a detailed deck sharing the results from your latest project. 

Across these use cases, the decks are sometimes meant to be viewed by an audience while you are speaking over the slides while, other times, the deck is meant to read independently. So first things first, make sure you determine whether the deck you are building is meant for a live presentation or meant for someone to consume on their own.

Font Size Recommendations for Live Presentations

If you are building a deck with the intention of presenting it live, you do need to do some thinking about your audience and the “room” you will be presenting in. To some extent, regardless of whether you are presenting in a physical room, over a web conference, or in a hybrid situation, the same principles apply. 

Titles & Main Headlines

When you are presenting live, sometimes you don’t even need a slide title - you may be using the entire slide to communicate one big point via one sentence or statement. Either way, you want your titles and main points to be large and easy to read. We recommend that these titles and main headlines are at least 60pt font. 

After your titles or main headlines, most of the text in your deck will be “supporting text” that makes up the body of the content. Supporting body text will be the most common, highest volume text in a presentation deck. Typically, we recommend that supporting text for a live presentation is at least 40pt as this is a size that is generally very readable for almost any attendee. 

Captions, Footers, and Labels

Outside of your titles and body, you will also need to use smaller fonts throughout your deck for things like captions, footers, and labels, as well as other key notes. This text is meant to simply be reference text, not the main content of a slide. Even though the readability requirements for this type of text isn’t as important as titles and body, it is still important to use a font size that is reasonably easy to read. We recommend that you use 20pt font size for all captions, footers, and labels in a live presentation deck. 

Font Size Recommendations for Leave Behind Decks 

Not all decks are meant to be consumed in “presentation” format. In fact, one of the most common use cases for decks is for a “leave behind” or a “read ahead” where the content is consumed by an individual asynchronously. If your goal is to build a deck that’s meant to be consumed by someone async, not in a presentation format, the rules around font sizes do change compared to the best practice sizes for live presentations. 

For a leave behind format, the title will typically serve the traditional need of being a short summary of the content on the slide. Slide titles look best when they are positioned in the upper left hand corner of the slide and stay on one line. Sometimes titles will be long and need to go into two lines, but we recommend keeping slide titles relatively short. You have the rest of the slide to provide additional detail, so keep the title very focused. For these use cases, title text can be slightly smaller, around 40pt font. 

When you are building a deck for a leave behind or read ahead use case, you will probably have a lot of body text. The body text will most likely be on every slide and is where the consumers of your deck will spend most of their time. We recommend that supporting body text in leave behind decks is set to 20pt font. This aligns with the best in class web design standards for body text readability, so it is a safe bet. 

In this use case, you can get away with fairly small font size for captions, footers, and labels since you know the reader will be able to zoom in if they need to read small text. Since this text is more reference text and not the main content, you shouldn’t have nearly as much of it in your deck. The best practice here is to make sure the font size for captions, footers, and labels is set to at least 12pt font. 

In Conclusion

Decks are used for many different purposes, ranging from a keynote presentation in front of thousands of people to a read ahead report on the latest marketing campaign. Depending on your use case, you will have very different font size requirements, so it’s most important that you define and understand your use case before you dive into the details on how you should size your fonts.

If you are performing a live presentation, keep your title fonts to 60pt or more, your body text to 40pt or more, and your captions, footers, and labels to 20pt or more. If you are creating a leave behind deck, keep your titles to 40pt or more, your body to 20pt or more, and your captions, footers, and labels to 12pt or more. 

Choosing the right fonts can mean the difference between frustrating an audience and really connecting, so choose wisely! 

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Presentation font size: Dos and don’ts

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It’s no secret that at BrightCarbon we generally recommend keeping text on slides to a minimum . The main reason you need to avoid lots of text in presentations is because it’s virtually impossible to read and listen to someone speaking at the same time. In a presentation, you want to allow the audience to listen to the presenter while looking at an appropriate visual or diagram with minimal words, so that it all comes together seamlessly. Whereas, with documents like reports – while you can create them in PowerPoint – they aren’t presentations; there won’t be anyone talking over them. So you can (and possibly should) have a lot more text.

So, when you are using text in a presentation or document, how do you decide what size it should be? We’ve found there’s no hard-and-fast rule for how big or small text on slides should be. Each presentation has its own unique requirements – it all depends on what you’re using the slides for, what you’re hoping to achieve with them, and how your audience will be viewing them. Accessibility considerations also come into play, as well as readability across different typefaces and devices.

Determining appropriate text size

One way to decide on the right size for your text is to consider the height of each line of text in proportion to the total height of the slide . For example, in a sales or training presentation, the height of the title (per line) should take up approximately 4% of the slide’s total height; headers around 3%; and copy text around 2%.

This principle can be applied to text appearing in other types of presentation, too. For example, in a keynote presentation, the height of the text should take up around 6.5% of the slide’s total height. And in a document or report, aim for the height of the title text to take up around 4% of the slide’s total height; headers around 3%; and copy text around 1.5%.

When deciding on the right font size for a face-to-face presentation, it’s also worth considering how close audience members should be seated to the screen in order to be able to read the text easily. Check out presentation expert Dave Paradi’s table on comfortable viewing distances for text in presentation visuals [1] for more on this.

Our text size recommendations

We called upon our team of designers to determine what size they would make the text in a set of example slides. To create the slides, we used PowerPoint’s default widescreen slide size (19.05cm x 33.86cm, or 7.5”13.33”), and Arial – one of the most commonly used fonts.

The examples covered three different use-cases where text is sometimes used:

• A sales or training presentation. Small amounts of text can be used to point out key features and emphasise value and benefits.
• A keynote presentation. You want the audience to focus on the presenter during a keynote presentation, so the amount of text on each slide should be kept to a minimum. This means any text you do use can be much larger.
• A document or report. Text can generally be slightly smaller in stand-alone, static documents like reports, as readers will jump around the page to find the information they’re looking for.

Based on our team’s responses, we’d make the following recommendations:

Use-case 1: Presentation font size for a sales or training presentation

Top tip : As a general rule, aim to keep the number of different font sizes you use across your presentation to a minimum – ideally, no more than three different sizes per slide. And try to use font sizes consistently. For example, if you’ve used 20pt for headers on one slide, make sure headers on other slides are the same size.

Use-case 2:  Presentation font size for a  keynote presentation

Top tip : If you’re also using text labels or callouts in a keynote presentation, then make sure the font is slightly smaller than the rest of your text – ideally no smaller than 28pt.

Use-case 3: Font size for a document or report

Top tip : It’s also worth using visual hierarchies to help readers navigate documents like these – check out our blog post for tips on how to do this.

Hopefully, our recommendations help you to decide what size text on your slides should be. Remember, every presentation is different and will have its own individual requirements – for guidance on your particular use-case, get in touch and we’ll be happy to look over your slides. And if you want more help with upping your sales presentations’ font game, have a read of our article packed with typography tips and tricks!

[1] PARADI, D. 2008. Comfortable Viewing Distance for Text on Presentation Visuals [online]. Available from: https://thinkoutsidetheslide.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/ViewingDistanceTable16x9.pdf [Accessed 14 November 2022].

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Poster Presentations

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Elements of a Poster

Change size in powerpoint, using the ruler, grid, and guides in powerpoint, more powerpoint training, template resources, font choice, text alignment.

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Your poster should include these elements:

• Author(s), with affiliations and emails

If your poster is a representation of a research study, you will want to include the following sections:

• Introduction or objective
• Conclusions and/or discussion
• Acknowledgements

If your poster is a representation of an event or other kind of project, you may want to forego formal abstract sections in favor of the 5 Ws:

• Who (introduce the author, organization, or community)
• What (what did you do? how did you do it?)
• Where (where did you do it?)
• When (when did it take place?)
• Why (what are the outcomes, implications, or future possibilities?)

To change the size in Powerpoint:

• Go to the Design tab and choose "Slide Size" (it's on the right size of the ribbon)
• Choose "Custom Slide Size"
• Change "Slides sized for:" to "Custom"
• Fill in your desired width and height. 

Click the View tab to see checkboxes that will allow you to turn on the Ruler, Grid, and Guides (click the image below to see a screenshot).

Ruler : Allows you to see the dimensions of your slide. You'll see a vertical and horizontal ruler.

Grid : By default, the gridlines are 1 inch apart. Right click in white space of your poster to get more options for spacing. This enables precise alignment.

Guides : By default, you'll get one horizontal and one vertical guide placed in the center of your poster. Right click on a guide to add more guidelines, or to delete one. You can use Guides to invisibly define columns of your poster, margins, and more. This gives you manual control, alternatively, you can use Smart Guides (see below).

Smart Guides : Powerpoint has a built-in system for showing you alignment as you move objects around. The video below demonstrates what Smart Guides look like.

Once you've got your slide layout set, you'll want to start creating Shapes and Text Boxes. Here are some tips and tricks for working with objects:

• Use Ctrl+D to duplicate any object.
• Then you can format them all at once, identically!
• You can also group them, for easier movement and alignment (right click to see the Group option).

Most posters are landscape (horizontal) orientation. The title/author(s) will be across the top, with 3–4 columns below that contain the rest of the poster elements. Make sure you leave plenty of white space in your design—a poster crammed full of text and images is very difficult to read.

Here is an example of a 2 column poster layout using the 5 Ws for headings (who, what, where, when, and why):

Use the links below to download this template and other similar templates in two sizes: 24x36 and 36x48. These templates include a variety of placeholder elements for photos and figures.

• 2 column Powerpoint template, size 24x36
• 3 column Powerpoint template, size 24x36
• 3 column Powerpoint template, size 36x48
• 4 column Powerpoint template, size 36x48

Below are some additional web resources where you can search for templates. Keep in mind that you may need adjust the size of a template for your own poster. Alternatively, you can use the resources on this page to design your own layout in Powerpoint.

• David Geffen School of Medicine poster templates Although this is labeled for the sciences, the information can be used in many disciplines.
• Penn State poster template
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• The body of your poster should have a minimum 24 point font . Viewers should be able to read your smallest text from a few feet away.
• The title of your poster should have a 50+ font size, depending on the size of your poster and the length of the title.
• Do not use all uppercase letters for the title or body of the poster.
• Avoid using more than 2 or 3 different fonts in one poster.
• Stick with basic fonts like Times New Roman or Georgia for serif, or Arial or Helvetica for sans-serif. Avoid elaborate, difficult-to-read, or cartoon-like fonts.

• In general, left-align your text boxes (with the possible exception of your title and any image captions). Avoid centering the text on your whole poster.
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Ten simple rules for effective presentation slides

Kristen m. naegle.

Biomedical Engineering and the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America

Introduction

The “presentation slide” is the building block of all academic presentations, whether they are journal clubs, thesis committee meetings, short conference talks, or hour-long seminars. A slide is a single page projected on a screen, usually built on the premise of a title, body, and figures or tables and includes both what is shown and what is spoken about that slide. Multiple slides are strung together to tell the larger story of the presentation. While there have been excellent 10 simple rules on giving entire presentations [ 1 , 2 ], there was an absence in the fine details of how to design a slide for optimal effect—such as the design elements that allow slides to convey meaningful information, to keep the audience engaged and informed, and to deliver the information intended and in the time frame allowed. As all research presentations seek to teach, effective slide design borrows from the same principles as effective teaching, including the consideration of cognitive processing your audience is relying on to organize, process, and retain information. This is written for anyone who needs to prepare slides from any length scale and for most purposes of conveying research to broad audiences. The rules are broken into 3 primary areas. Rules 1 to 5 are about optimizing the scope of each slide. Rules 6 to 8 are about principles around designing elements of the slide. Rules 9 to 10 are about preparing for your presentation, with the slides as the central focus of that preparation.

Rule 1: Include only one idea per slide

Each slide should have one central objective to deliver—the main idea or question [ 3 – 5 ]. Often, this means breaking complex ideas down into manageable pieces (see Fig 1 , where “background” information has been split into 2 key concepts). In another example, if you are presenting a complex computational approach in a large flow diagram, introduce it in smaller units, building it up until you finish with the entire diagram. The progressive buildup of complex information means that audiences are prepared to understand the whole picture, once you have dedicated time to each of the parts. You can accomplish the buildup of components in several ways—for example, using presentation software to cover/uncover information. Personally, I choose to create separate slides for each piece of information content I introduce—where the final slide has the entire diagram, and I use cropping or a cover on duplicated slides that come before to hide what I’m not yet ready to include. I use this method in order to ensure that each slide in my deck truly presents one specific idea (the new content) and the amount of the new information on that slide can be described in 1 minute (Rule 2), but it comes with the trade-off—a change to the format of one of the slides in the series often means changes to all slides.

Top left: A background slide that describes the background material on a project from my lab. The slide was created using a PowerPoint Design Template, which had to be modified to increase default text sizes for this figure (i.e., the default text sizes are even worse than shown here). Bottom row: The 2 new slides that break up the content into 2 explicit ideas about the background, using a central graphic. In the first slide, the graphic is an explicit example of the SH2 domain of PI3-kinase interacting with a phosphorylation site (Y754) on the PDGFR to describe the important details of what an SH2 domain and phosphotyrosine ligand are and how they interact. I use that same graphic in the second slide to generalize all binding events and include redundant text to drive home the central message (a lot of possible interactions might occur in the human proteome, more than we can currently measure). Top right highlights which rules were used to move from the original slide to the new slide. Specific changes as highlighted by Rule 7 include increasing contrast by changing the background color, increasing font size, changing to sans serif fonts, and removing all capital text and underlining (using bold to draw attention). PDGFR, platelet-derived growth factor receptor.

Rule 2: Spend only 1 minute per slide

When you present your slide in the talk, it should take 1 minute or less to discuss. This rule is really helpful for planning purposes—a 20-minute presentation should have somewhere around 20 slides. Also, frequently giving your audience new information to feast on helps keep them engaged. During practice, if you find yourself spending more than a minute on a slide, there’s too much for that one slide—it’s time to break up the content into multiple slides or even remove information that is not wholly central to the story you are trying to tell. Reduce, reduce, reduce, until you get to a single message, clearly described, which takes less than 1 minute to present.

Rule 3: Make use of your heading

When each slide conveys only one message, use the heading of that slide to write exactly the message you are trying to deliver. Instead of titling the slide “Results,” try “CTNND1 is central to metastasis” or “False-positive rates are highly sample specific.” Use this landmark signpost to ensure that all the content on that slide is related exactly to the heading and only the heading. Think of the slide heading as the introductory or concluding sentence of a paragraph and the slide content the rest of the paragraph that supports the main point of the paragraph. An audience member should be able to follow along with you in the “paragraph” and come to the same conclusion sentence as your header at the end of the slide.

Rule 4: Include only essential points

While you are speaking, audience members’ eyes and minds will be wandering over your slide. If you have a comment, detail, or figure on a slide, have a plan to explicitly identify and talk about it. If you don’t think it’s important enough to spend time on, then don’t have it on your slide. This is especially important when faculty are present. I often tell students that thesis committee members are like cats: If you put a shiny bauble in front of them, they’ll go after it. Be sure to only put the shiny baubles on slides that you want them to focus on. Putting together a thesis meeting for only faculty is really an exercise in herding cats (if you have cats, you know this is no easy feat). Clear and concise slide design will go a long way in helping you corral those easily distracted faculty members.

Rule 5: Give credit, where credit is due

An exception to Rule 4 is to include proper citations or references to work on your slide. When adding citations, names of other researchers, or other types of credit, use a consistent style and method for adding this information to your slides. Your audience will then be able to easily partition this information from the other content. A common mistake people make is to think “I’ll add that reference later,” but I highly recommend you put the proper reference on the slide at the time you make it, before you forget where it came from. Finally, in certain kinds of presentations, credits can make it clear who did the work. For the faculty members heading labs, it is an effective way to connect your audience with the personnel in the lab who did the work, which is a great career booster for that person. For graduate students, it is an effective way to delineate your contribution to the work, especially in meetings where the goal is to establish your credentials for meeting the rigors of a PhD checkpoint.

Rule 6: Use graphics effectively

As a rule, you should almost never have slides that only contain text. Build your slides around good visualizations. It is a visual presentation after all, and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. However, on the flip side, don’t muddy the point of the slide by putting too many complex graphics on a single slide. A multipanel figure that you might include in a manuscript should often be broken into 1 panel per slide (see Rule 1 ). One way to ensure that you use the graphics effectively is to make a point to introduce the figure and its elements to the audience verbally, especially for data figures. For example, you might say the following: “This graph here shows the measured false-positive rate for an experiment and each point is a replicate of the experiment, the graph demonstrates …” If you have put too much on one slide to present in 1 minute (see Rule 2 ), then the complexity or number of the visualizations is too much for just one slide.

Rule 7: Design to avoid cognitive overload

The type of slide elements, the number of them, and how you present them all impact the ability for the audience to intake, organize, and remember the content. For example, a frequent mistake in slide design is to include full sentences, but reading and verbal processing use the same cognitive channels—therefore, an audience member can either read the slide, listen to you, or do some part of both (each poorly), as a result of cognitive overload [ 4 ]. The visual channel is separate, allowing images/videos to be processed with auditory information without cognitive overload [ 6 ] (Rule 6). As presentations are an exercise in listening, and not reading, do what you can to optimize the ability of the audience to listen. Use words sparingly as “guide posts” to you and the audience about major points of the slide. In fact, you can add short text fragments, redundant with the verbal component of the presentation, which has been shown to improve retention [ 7 ] (see Fig 1 for an example of redundant text that avoids cognitive overload). Be careful in the selection of a slide template to minimize accidentally adding elements that the audience must process, but are unimportant. David JP Phillips argues (and effectively demonstrates in his TEDx talk [ 5 ]) that the human brain can easily interpret 6 elements and more than that requires a 500% increase in human cognition load—so keep the total number of elements on the slide to 6 or less. Finally, in addition to the use of short text, white space, and the effective use of graphics/images, you can improve ease of cognitive processing further by considering color choices and font type and size. Here are a few suggestions for improving the experience for your audience, highlighting the importance of these elements for some specific groups:

• Use high contrast colors and simple backgrounds with low to no color—for persons with dyslexia or visual impairment.
• Use sans serif fonts and large font sizes (including figure legends), avoid italics, underlining (use bold font instead for emphasis), and all capital letters—for persons with dyslexia or visual impairment [ 8 ].
• Use color combinations and palettes that can be understood by those with different forms of color blindness [ 9 ]. There are excellent tools available to identify colors to use and ways to simulate your presentation or figures as they might be seen by a person with color blindness (easily found by a web search).
• In this increasing world of virtual presentation tools, consider practicing your talk with a closed captioning system capture your words. Use this to identify how to improve your speaking pace, volume, and annunciation to improve understanding by all members of your audience, but especially those with a hearing impairment.

Rule 8: Design the slide so that a distracted person gets the main takeaway

It is very difficult to stay focused on a presentation, especially if it is long or if it is part of a longer series of talks at a conference. Audience members may get distracted by an important email, or they may start dreaming of lunch. So, it’s important to look at your slide and ask “If they heard nothing I said, will they understand the key concept of this slide?” The other rules are set up to help with this, including clarity of the single point of the slide (Rule 1), titling it with a major conclusion (Rule 3), and the use of figures (Rule 6) and short text redundant to your verbal description (Rule 7). However, with each slide, step back and ask whether its main conclusion is conveyed, even if someone didn’t hear your accompanying dialog. Importantly, ask if the information on the slide is at the right level of abstraction. For example, do you have too many details about the experiment, which hides the conclusion of the experiment (i.e., breaking Rule 1)? If you are worried about not having enough details, keep a slide at the end of your slide deck (after your conclusions and acknowledgments) with the more detailed information that you can refer to during a question and answer period.

Rule 9: Iteratively improve slide design through practice

Well-designed slides that follow the first 8 rules are intended to help you deliver the message you intend and in the amount of time you intend to deliver it in. The best way to ensure that you nailed slide design for your presentation is to practice, typically a lot. The most important aspects of practicing a new presentation, with an eye toward slide design, are the following 2 key points: (1) practice to ensure that you hit, each time through, the most important points (for example, the text guide posts you left yourself and the title of the slide); and (2) practice to ensure that as you conclude the end of one slide, it leads directly to the next slide. Slide transitions, what you say as you end one slide and begin the next, are important to keeping the flow of the “story.” Practice is when I discover that the order of my presentation is poor or that I left myself too few guideposts to remember what was coming next. Additionally, during practice, the most frequent things I have to improve relate to Rule 2 (the slide takes too long to present, usually because I broke Rule 1, and I’m delivering too much information for one slide), Rule 4 (I have a nonessential detail on the slide), and Rule 5 (I forgot to give a key reference). The very best type of practice is in front of an audience (for example, your lab or peers), where, with fresh perspectives, they can help you identify places for improving slide content, design, and connections across the entirety of your talk.

Rule 10: Design to mitigate the impact of technical disasters

The real presentation almost never goes as we planned in our heads or during our practice. Maybe the speaker before you went over time and now you need to adjust. Maybe the computer the organizer is having you use won’t show your video. Maybe your internet is poor on the day you are giving a virtual presentation at a conference. Technical problems are routinely part of the practice of sharing your work through presentations. Hence, you can design your slides to limit the impact certain kinds of technical disasters create and also prepare alternate approaches. Here are just a few examples of the preparation you can do that will take you a long way toward avoiding a complete fiasco:

• Save your presentation as a PDF—if the version of Keynote or PowerPoint on a host computer cause issues, you still have a functional copy that has a higher guarantee of compatibility.
• In using videos, create a backup slide with screen shots of key results. For example, if I have a video of cell migration, I’ll be sure to have a copy of the start and end of the video, in case the video doesn’t play. Even if the video worked, you can pause on this backup slide and take the time to highlight the key results in words if someone could not see or understand the video.
• Avoid animations, such as figures or text that flash/fly-in/etc. Surveys suggest that no one likes movement in presentations [ 3 , 4 ]. There is likely a cognitive underpinning to the almost universal distaste of pointless animations that relates to the idea proposed by Kosslyn and colleagues that animations are salient perceptual units that captures direct attention [ 4 ]. Although perceptual salience can be used to draw attention to and improve retention of specific points, if you use this approach for unnecessary/unimportant things (like animation of your bullet point text, fly-ins of figures, etc.), then you will distract your audience from the important content. Finally, animations cause additional processing burdens for people with visual impairments [ 10 ] and create opportunities for technical disasters if the software on the host system is not compatible with your planned animation.

Conclusions

These rules are just a start in creating more engaging presentations that increase audience retention of your material. However, there are wonderful resources on continuing on the journey of becoming an amazing public speaker, which includes understanding the psychology and neuroscience behind human perception and learning. For example, as highlighted in Rule 7, David JP Phillips has a wonderful TEDx talk on the subject [ 5 ], and “PowerPoint presentation flaws and failures: A psychological analysis,” by Kosslyn and colleagues is deeply detailed about a number of aspects of human cognition and presentation style [ 4 ]. There are many books on the topic, including the popular “Presentation Zen” by Garr Reynolds [ 11 ]. Finally, although briefly touched on here, the visualization of data is an entire topic of its own that is worth perfecting for both written and oral presentations of work, with fantastic resources like Edward Tufte’s “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information” [ 12 ] or the article “Visualization of Biomedical Data” by O’Donoghue and colleagues [ 13 ].

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the countless presenters, colleagues, students, and mentors from which I have learned a great deal from on effective presentations. Also, a thank you to the wonderful resources published by organizations on how to increase inclusivity. A special thanks to Dr. Jason Papin and Dr. Michael Guertin on early feedback of this editorial.

Funding Statement

The author received no specific funding for this work.

Choosing the Best Font for PowerPoint: 10 Tips & Examples

There’s a fine art to creating a great PowerPont presentation that wows. With so many tricks and features in this little bit of software, it’s more likely to see a bad presentation than a good one (and you don’t want to be that person!)

While there are a lot of factors that contribute to the overall design , choosing a suitable font for PowerPoint is near the top of the list. The audience needs to be able to read the words on the screen with ease, to ensure that your presentation is as effective as possible.

So how do you do it? Where do you start when choosing a font for PowerPoint? We have 10 tips for you with a few examples of PowerPoint slides (and templates) that will impress your audience.

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1. Stick to Fairly Standard Fonts

One of the most fun parts of a design project is getting to sift through fonts and make selections that fit your project. When it comes to PowerPoint, that selection should be pretty limited.

To make the most of your presentation, stick to a standard font to ensure that your presentation will look the same everywhere – and on every computer – you present. If you don’t use a standard font, chances are when you pop the presentation in a new machine, you’ll end up with a jumbled mess of lettering. PowerPoint will try to replace all the fonts it does not recognize with something else.

This can cause readability concerns and even make the presentation look like it’s error-filled (with words that are in odd locations or even missing).

10 standard fonts to try:

2. Incorporate Plenty of Contrast

White and black text is easiest to read. But no type is readable without plenty of contrast between the background and text itself.

Regardless of what font you select, without adequate contrast, readability will be a concern. Opt for light type on a dark background or a light background with dark text.

Consider the environment here as well. Do you plan to show the presentation on a computer monitor or big presentation screen? How these conditions render can impact how much contrast your color choices actually have.

3. Use a Serif and a Sans Serif

Most presentations use two fonts.

• Header font for headlines on each slide.
• Copy or bullet font for supporting text.

You don’t have to use the same font in each location. It’s actually preferred to select two different fonts for these areas of the presentation. For even more impact pair two different fonts, such as a serif and sans serif, so that the font change creates an extra level of contrast and visual interest.

4. Avoid All Caps

When picking a font, stay away from fonts that only include capital letter sets. All caps in presentations have the same effect as all caps in an email. It feels like you are yelling at the audience.

All caps can also be difficult to read if there are more than a couple of words on the screen. Use all caps as sparingly as possible.

5. Stay Away From Scripts and Italics

While scripts, handwriting and novelty typefaces might be pretty, they are often difficult to read. Avoid them in PowerPoint presentations. (There’s usually not enough contrast or size to help them maintain readability from a distance.)

The same is true of italics. Anything you do to a font to add emphasis should make it easier to read. While italics can be a great option online or in print applications, presentations come with a different set of rules. The biggest contributing factor is that text often has to be read from a distance – think about audience members in the back of the room – and any slanting can make that more difficult.

6. Make It Big Enough

One of the biggest issues with fonts in slideshows is often size. How big should the text in a PowerPoint presentation be?

While a lot of that depends on the font you decide to use, there are some guidelines. (These sizes work wonderfully with the 10 fonts options in top No. 1. As well.)

• Minimum font size for main copy and bullets: 18 points
• Preferred font size for main copy and bullets: 24 points
• Preferred font size for headers or titles: 36 to 44 points

Make sure to think about the size of the screen and room as well when planning font sizes. With a smaller screen in a larger space, everything will look smaller than it is. The opposite is true of an oversized screen in a small room. Think Outside the Slide has a great font cheat sheets for a number of different screen sizes.

7. Turn Off Animations

Don’t let all those PowerPoint tricks suck you in. Moving text, zooming words, letters that fly in from the side of the screen – they are all difficult to read. And really distracting.

If you want to use an effect, “Appear” is acceptable. But there’s no need to dazzle the audience with crazy font tricks. All this really does is distract people from what you are really trying to say.

The same mantra that we use with all other design projects applies here as well – KISS or Keep It Simple, Stupid.

8. Plan for Sharing

While many users work with PowerPoint regularly, chances are that you’ll be asked to share your presentation slides for others. This includes posting with tools such as SlideShare, emailing the PowerPoint (or putting it in a drop folder) or sharing via Google Slides.

When it comes to fonts, Google Slides is the most complicating factor because it has a different suite of standard fonts than PC or Mac operating systems. Make sure to test the presentation in this environment if you plan to share and use a Google standard font or make sure to include the font you plan to use in the customization options.

9. Think About the Notes, Too

The part of PowerPoint presentations that is often neglected is the notes section. If you plan to distribute a presentation file to the audience (digitally or via printouts), the font selection for accompanying notes is important.

Use the same typeface as for the main slideshow with related corresponding headers and body and bulleted text. The big difference here is size. Body copy/bulleted information should fall in the range of 9 to 12 points and headers should be 18 to 20 points. This is a comfortable reading size for most documents. (These sizes also help ensure clear printing on standard office machines.)

10. Use Fonts Consistently

You don’t need a huge font library to create great PowerPoint presentations. Having a couple of go-to fonts that you use consistently is enough.

Make sure to use fonts consistently within a document as well. Create a PowerPoint template file so that when you use different levels of bulleting and headers, the sizes, color variations, and fonts change automatically. (Web designers, this is just like using H1 through H6 tags.)

A clear consistent use of fonts makes your presentation about how it looks and how easy (or tough) it may be to read and more about the content therein. (And that’s what it should be about.)

If you don’t feel comfortable making your own PowerPoint presentation template, you can download one to get started. These options might have a more refined look than some of the software defaults (and all of the examples in this article come from these collections).

• 25+ Minimal PowerPoint Templates
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• Presentations

What Are the Best Fonts to Use in PowerPoint PPT Presentations? (Complete 2024 Guide)

If you're giving a PowerPoint presentation, you've got many design decisions to make. One of those decisions is choosing the best fonts for PowerPoint presentations . Typography sets the tone for your presentation and is instrumental in presenting your content.

If you're wondering, " what is the best font for PowerPoint presentations ?" we'll answer that question in this tutorial. We'll survey the best font for PowerPoint designs but leave plenty of room for creative choice.

We'll discuss the best font size and type for PowerPoint presentations. Learn how you can use them to your advantage. You might be surprised how many PowerPoint font options exist. 

Choose the Right Fonts for PowerPoint (Quickstart Guide)

Are you looking for the best PowerPoint fonts, but aren't quite sure how to make the choice? The video below will help you make the choice.

To learn even more about fonts for PowerPoint and other presentations, continue reading the tutorial below.

Jump to content in this section:

The Essentials of Font Selection

The 10 best fonts to use for powerpoint ppt presentations in 2024, how to quickly customize fonts in a premium powerpoint template, templates featuring the best fonts for powerpoint presentations, common powerpoint questions answered (faq), learn more about powerpoint, design a great powerpoint with top typography today.

Fonts for PowerPoint can take many forms. And with thousands of PowerPoint font options, it can be really hard to decide.

What style is right? How should you steer your PPT best font decisions? In this section, I’ll share some quick tips to help you choose the best PowerPoint font for you.

1. Understand the Types of Fonts

When you're choosing the best font for PowerPoint slides, it's key to learn some ground rules of style. And it helps to understand the basic types of fonts that you can choose from. In this section, we'll discuss popular font styles:

First, let's cover serif fonts. Serif fonts, PowerPoint presentation or not, have a more classic feel to them. Serif fonts have brush strokes on the edges of the letters, sometimes called "feet."  These edge strokes are called the serifs. The popular system-installed serif fonts include Garamond, Georgia, and Times New Roman. They can definitely serve as some of the best fonts for presentations.

In 2024, the best font for PowerPoint presentations are sans-serif fonts. These are the modern and smooth typefaces that you'll find in most presentations. Sans means "without," so it's only natural that these fonts lack the edge strokes. The result is smooth, rounded fonts that are popular in modern design.

These two simple categories are useful to describe most fonts. But other choices might be the best font for your PowerPoint presentation. Script and decorative fonts are other unique options. 

They may be right for special purpose presentations.

What is the best font for PowerPoint presentations? The answer is, "it depends." As always, let the content drive your design decisions. But as a general rule, sticking to serif and sans-serif designs helps you stay stylish. And you won't lose the focus of your audience by having text that's too hard to read. 

Formal presentations in ideal environments should opt for serif options. But most presentations should typically use sans-serif fonts. Those decorative PowerPoint options should be used sparingly at most.

2. Choose Font Sizes for Your PowerPoint Presentation

For the best use of PowerPoint fonts, it's crucial to consider your choice of font size. Many PowerPoint users will ask, " what is a good font size for PowerPoint presentations? " In reality, you should vary your font size based on the content that you're presenting. Headlines should always be larger than the supporting points, for example.

My rule of thumb for PowerPoint fonts is to use a size 32 or larger for headlines, with 24 or larger for supporting points. Go much smaller than that, and you're entering "only readable for print outs" territory. 

Font size goes hand-in-hand with the principle of "less is more" on your PowerPoint slides. When you don't have to cram tons of content onto your slide, you can use larger font sizes.

3. Use Font Pairings

Many graphic designers use more than one font when building PowerPoint presentations. Using more than a few fonts is over the top but combining two complementary font choices is a pro design move.

This practice is an art called  font pairing.  The best font for PowerPoint might actually be a  combination  of fonts.

One idea for a font pairing is to use a sophisticated serif font for headlines and titles. Then, use sans-serif fonts for the majority of the body points. This gives you the PPT best font for both kinds of text.

If you use a free font resource like Google Fonts , you'll see pairing suggestions that help you combine fonts that work together well. The key to font pairing is to use the alternate font choices consistently. For example, always reserve headlines for one font in your selection.

4. Select Color and Contrast in Your Font for PowerPoint

Beyond size, style, and pairings, one element of font choice that you can't avoid is color and contrast. You can choose the perfect font and format it correctly, but clashing color schemes disrupt slides.

Keep three essential tips in mind when considering font color and contrast:

• Create contrast . Contrast is important so that your text stands out on the slide and is easy to read. Don't use a dark grey font on a black background, for example. Ensuring proper contrast will make the important content stand out.
• Consider accessibility . Colorblindness is surprisingly common. It's likely that a member of your audience has some form of it and will experience your slides differently. Make sure to choose color schemes that don't interfere with their experience.
• Use colors that fit the scheme . Make sure that you consistently use font colors that are part of your branding guide. Use the color swatches to ensure no variation from one slide to the next.

It’s key to use the best font for presentations to ensure your slides are accessible to everyone. Learn more below:

5. Use Creative Text Effects

So far, we've covered font choice, including style, size, and pairings. We’ve already looked at how to put the best font for PowerPoint onto your slides. But now, you might be wondering about how to be more creative with your style and design.

PowerPoint has plenty of effects to ensure that your text doesn't go unnoticed. You can add animations, shadows, and more. These text effects make your PowerPoint font choices more lively and fun.

The tutorial below is a complete guide to working with text in PowerPoint. Check it out to learn more about adding text as well as advanced effects to make the most of your content:

6. Understand the Power of Custom Fonts

Sure, every device includes standard fonts to choose from. But they're not the best font for PowerPoint designs! When you want to really set your slides apart, consider using custom PowerPoint fonts. These are sleek designs that your audience may have never seen.

Above, I've shared screenshots with custom fonts from Envato Elements. With an Elements subscription , you'll enjoy thousands of custom PowerPoint fonts . You can use each of them in your next presentation. 

Elements includes access to fonts across every category that we highlighted above. They're some of the best font for PowerPoint options. Elements' library has PowerPoint font options that you won't find anywhere else! 

After you discover the best font for presentations, you'll need to add it to PowerPoint. To learn how to install PowerPoint fonts, check out the quick screencast lesson below:

Ready to see options for the best font for presentations?  Now that we’ve covered how to choose the right fonts for your presentation, here are the best fonts to use for your PPT presentations in 2024: 

Calibri is a modern sans-serif font that comes in several weights. It’s a perfect choice for the body text of your presentation.

2. Palatino Linotype

Here’s another stylish serif font that makes a great choice for headings or quote slides in your presentations. 

Roboto features geometric forms with friendly and open curves. It's a modern and clean look that makes it a good choice for your body text.

4. RNS Sanz

With seven weights ranging from Light to Black and small caps, the RNS Sanz is a great choice for any type of presentation. 

5. Playfair Display

Give any presentation a sophisticated and elegant look by using Playfair Display for the headings or quote slides.

6. CA Texteron

The CA Texteron font is a modern serif font with high legibility. Use it for both headings and body text for your presentation. 

Lato has an elegant yet friendly look and feel. It’s a great choice for your body text and a true workhorse as it features multiple weights ranging from thin to black. 

The Arthura font is a premium sans-serif font with a humanist warmth and simple geometric forms. It's one of the best PowerPoint fonts for body copy.

Once you've selected your font for presentation designs, it's time to get to work.  But the best font for PowerPoint slides is just part of the process. Here, we'll show you five key steps to PPT change all fonts options.

We'll demonstrate with the premium Brusher PowerPoint Template from Envato Elements. It's compatible with all of the fonts for PowerPoint techniques you'll see. Download it now to follow along.

1. Choose Your Slides

The first step is to select the slides you’re going to use in your presentation. To do this, switch to Slide Sorter under the View tab.

Then hold Shift and click the slides you don’t want to use. Finally, right-click and select Delete Slide to remove them from the presentation.

2. Add Your Text

To add your content to the presentation, double-click on a text area. Press CTRL+A to select all the text and then start typing in your own content.

3. Change the Body Font

After you've added your content, it’s time to customize the fonts. Start by selecting your body text. Then, in the Home tab, click on the font drop-down menu and select the font you want to use. In this example, I’m using the Calibri font for the body text.

4. Change the Heading Font

To add more flair to your presentation, customize the heading font as well. You can opt for a completely different font or simply use a different weight from the font you used for body text. In this example, I’ve opted to use Palatino Linotype for my headings.

5. Adjust the Font Styles

Lastly, don’t forget to customize the font styles. For example, both Calibri and Palatino Linotype offer different font weights. I’ve chosen to use Calibri Regular for body font and Palatino Linotype Bold for headings.

Aside from weight, you can also customize the font size and even assign a different color to your headings to make them stand out more.

Need help choosing the best PowerPoint fonts? My top recommendation is to use a template that already has the fonts selected. If you can cut the hard work of choosing the best PowerPoint font, you can re-focus on presentation content.

Once again, Envato Elements is your answer. As a member, you'll enjoy unlimited access to thousands of custom PowerPoint templates . Many have the best PowerPoint font designs already built in. And of course, Elements has thousands of custom fonts , too!

Find PowerPoint Templates

When you use custom PowerPoint templates, you outsource the design work. The challenge of choosing the best font for PowerPoint presentations is left to creative designers. They've already built slides that feature good font choices for presentations. Just fill them in with your content, and you'll be finished in no time.

In this section, you'll see templates with the best font for PowerPoint presentations. All are included with a subscription to Elements, the creative service you saw above.

1. Agio PowerPoint Presentation

Agio uses smooth sans-serif font choices throughout. These are among the best fonts for PowerPoint options, since they're extra crisp and clear. 

Nine color schemes are used, each of which is already set up with color-coordinated text. It's an example of using fonts that highlight the content, while staying stylish. Keep Agio in mind as a template with good fonts for presentations PowerPoint.

2. Fashioned Stylist PowerPoint

The Fashioned presentation template also uses popular sans-serif choices. But it also uses variations on typography for an impact.

Notice that many of these slides in the preview use all-caps strings of text to add emphasis to slides. It's a great example of using text effects to enhance slides with bold design.

3. Brutto Real Estate PowerPoint Template

With a major focus on serif fonts, it's no wonder why this template is an ideal fit for the traditional world of real estate. Serif fonts have a classic feel to them, and this template illustrates that perfectly.

This template also features many infographic and business-centric slides. They're perfect for showcasing your business concept. 

4. Brusher PowerPoint Template

Brusher's 120 slides use popular PPT font options that are included for free. It also has modern, custom image masks that can enhance your images. The starkly contrasting black and white color scheme is an excellent example of font contrast. Use Brusher to build a presentation with balanced typography in no time.

We’ve looked at some of the best font for presentation designs for 2024. But you may have some other questions. What else can you do with the best font for presentations? How can PowerPoint work better for you? Here, we’ve gathered answers to five of these common questions.

1. Can I Wrap Text in PowerPoint?

Yes! The best fonts for presentations can be featured as wrapped text. Or you can even curve the text! This adds a cool, dramatic effect very easily. Learn how to do it here:

2. How Do I Animate the Best PowerPoint Fonts?

The Animations tab in PowerPoint is really your best friend here. On it, you can add sleek animation effects.

What’s more: these work with all of your PPT best font favorites . You can even PPT change all fonts to be animated in order to maintain a steady look and feel across your slide deck.

Turn to our full guide for more details:

3. Is a PowerPoint Font Able to Be a Word Cloud Design?

Absolutely. A font for presentation use is perfect for building a PPT word cloud. Word clouds are visuals with words shown in an array of colors, layouts, and sizes.

You can even leverage the best font for presentations in word clouds. These are sure to make an impact. They help you illustrate ideas, and they’re easy to make with your best PowerPoint font choice. Learn more:

4. How Do I Highlight the Best Font for Presentations?

Sometimes, even the best font for PowerPoint needs some help standing out. That’s where highlighting comes in. When you highlight your PPT best font, you’ll see it shaded in a new color of your choice.

The Text Highlight Color button on the home tab controls this. Learn more about it in our highlighting tutorial for PowerPoint:

5. Can I Add Superscripts to Fonts for PowerPoint?

Yes, easily! Superscripts are small numbers that sit above the rest of your text. They’re most commonly used for citations in PowerPoint. Again, they’re quick to add using your favorite font for presentation options. 

Learn how to do it in just sixty seconds here:

Choosing the best font for a PowerPoint presentation is just one part of designing your next slide deck. PowerPoint has so many features that it can be overwhelming to know where to start. But don't worry—PowerPoint can be mastered just like any other app.

If you're still learning PowerPoint, we've got you covered with many helpful resources. The single best starting point is How to Use PowerPoint (Ultimate Tutorial Guide.) This single resource is loaded with tutorials that you can use to improve every aspect of your presentation.

The best fonts for presentations are more powerful with the help of learning resources. For more templates and guides that include PowerPoint design tips, check out the tutorials below:

Typography is a huge part of setting the style of your presentation. The tips in this round-up are helpful to choose custom fonts that fit with your presentation's style. 

Remember to choose a font style (serif or sans-serif) that matches your presentation's tone. Also, use font sizes and weights to bring emphasis to the most essential parts of your presentation.

Turn to Envato Elements for the best PowerPoint font designs available today. With thousands to choose from , it’s easy to find a winning PPT best font for you. And remember to pair it with a stunning best PowerPoint font template , with slide layouts hand-crafted for you.

Get started on your next presentation today. Choose and download your favorite template.

Editorial Note: This post was originally published in June of 2019. It's been revised to make it current, accurate, and up to date by our staff—with special help from Brenda Barron and Andrew Childress . A video has been added by Andrew Childress.

Customer Reviews

How big is the text going to be on the poster.

What size should I make my fonts? When you create a poster, especially for the first time, you may be asking the questions: - Is my font size too small to read? - Is it too big? What size to make the title? - What size to make the body text? The quick answer is that it depends on how much content you want to add to your poster. There is no hard rule, but at the same time, you want your audience to be able to read what you wrote comfortably. On the other hand, you don't want your text to be so big, as if you did not have enough to write. The easiest way to find out is to start creating your poster using the default font sizes we provide on our templates. Then, as you add your content to the template, you will be able to determine if the default font needs to be enlarged or reduced to accommodate your layout. Do not waste time perfecting your layout as you work on your poster. Instead, do it at the end, after adding all your information. It will save you a great deal of time and frustration. It will also let you adjust the font sizes before tweaking everything to perfection. PowerPoint's little-known limitation PowerPoint has a page size limit of 56 inches (142.24 cm). So to create a poster larger than 56 inches, the poster document has to be built at half the size of the final printed poster. For example, a 48x72 poster will be printed from a 24x36 PowerPoint document doubled at printing time. That means that all the text on the original document is also at half the size of the final. So if you want a 24 point font on the poster, it should be set to 12 points. If your document is 56 inches or less, the file will be printed at 100% the original, which means that your fonts will print the same size as they are on the original document. These two charts will keep you from guessing. These two 8.5x11 charts will help you preview how big or small your fonts will appear on your actual poster. If your poster size can fit in a 48x56 inch space, download and print chart A on your desktop printer. Otherwise, download and print chart B. Place the chart of your choice on the wall and look at it from approximately 3 to 4 feet away. The numbers on the chart represent font sizes in both Arial and Times fonts. Sizes of other fonts may vary slightly.

PowerPoint font size reference cards

Download and print these to 8.5x11" pages on your desktop printer.

For posters UNDER 56 inches

CHART A: Use as reference with poster templates that when printed  will not exceed 56 inches (142cm) in either width or height.

For posters OVER 56 inches

CHART B:  Use as reference with poster templates that when printed  will exceed 56 inches (142cm) in either width or height.

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• Guide & How to's

How to present a research paper in PPT: best practices

A research paper presentation is frequently used at conferences and other events where you have a chance to share the results of your research and receive feedback from colleagues. Although it may appear as simple as summarizing the findings, successful examples of research paper presentations show that there is a little bit more to it.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the basic outline and steps to create a good research paper presentation. We’ll also explain what to include and what not to include in your presentation of research paper and share some of the most effective tips you can use to take your slides to the next level.

Research paper PowerPoint presentation outline

Creating a PowerPoint presentation for a research paper involves organizing and summarizing your key findings, methodology, and conclusions in a way that encourages your audience to interact with your work and share their interest in it with others. Here’s a basic research paper outline PowerPoint you can follow:

1. Title (1 slide)

Typically, your title slide should contain the following information:

• Title of the research paper
• Affiliation or institution
• Date of presentation

2. Introduction (1-3 slides)

On this slide of your presentation, briefly introduce the research topic and its significance and state the research question or objective.

3. Research questions or hypothesis (1 slide)

This slide should emphasize the objectives of your research or present the hypothesis.

4. Literature review (1 slide)

Your literature review has to provide context for your research by summarizing relevant literature. Additionally, it should highlight gaps or areas where your research contributes.

5. Methodology and data collection (1-2 slides)

This slide of your research paper PowerPoint has to explain the research design, methods, and procedures. It must also Include details about participants, materials, and data collection and emphasize special equipment you have used in your work.

6. Results (3-5 slides)

On this slide, you must present the results of your data analysis and discuss any trends, patterns, or significant findings. Moreover, you should use charts, graphs, and tables to illustrate data and highlight something novel in your results (if applicable).

7. Conclusion (1 slide)

Your conclusion slide has to summarize the main findings and their implications, as well as discuss the broader impact of your research. Usually, a single statement is enough.

8. Recommendations (1 slide)

If applicable, provide recommendations for future research or actions on this slide.

9. References (1-2 slides)

The references slide is where you list all the sources cited in your research paper.

10. Acknowledgments (1 slide)

On this presentation slide, acknowledge any individuals, organizations, or funding sources that contributed to your research.

11. Appendix (1 slide)

If applicable, include any supplementary materials, such as additional data or detailed charts, in your appendix slide.

The above outline is just a general guideline, so make sure to adjust it based on your specific research paper and the time allotted for the presentation.

Steps to creating a memorable research paper presentation

Creating a PowerPoint presentation for a research paper involves several critical steps needed to convey your findings and engage your audience effectively, and these steps are as follows:

Step 1. Understand your audience:

• Identify the audience for your presentation.
• Tailor your content and level of detail to match the audience’s background and knowledge.

Step 2. Define your key messages:

• Clearly articulate the main messages or findings of your research.
• Identify the key points you want your audience to remember.

Step 3. Design your research paper PPT presentation:

• Use a clean and professional design that complements your research topic.
• Choose readable fonts, consistent formatting, and a limited color palette.
• Opt for PowerPoint presentation services if slide design is not your strong side.

Step 4. Put content on slides:

• Follow the outline above to structure your presentation effectively; include key sections and topics.
• Organize your content logically, following the flow of your research paper.

Step 5. Final check:

• Proofread your slides for typos, errors, and inconsistencies.
• Ensure all visuals are clear, high-quality, and properly labeled.

Step 6. Save and share:

• Save your presentation and ensure compatibility with the equipment you’ll be using.
• If necessary, share a copy of your presentation with the audience.

By following these steps, you can create a well-organized and visually appealing research paper presentation PowerPoint that effectively conveys your research findings to the audience.

What to include and what not to include in your presentation

In addition to the must-know PowerPoint presentation recommendations, which we’ll cover later in this article, consider the following do’s and don’ts when you’re putting together your research paper presentation:

• Focus on the topic.
• Be brief and to the point.
• Attract the audience’s attention and highlight interesting details.
• Use only relevant visuals (maps, charts, pictures, graphs, etc.).
• Use numbers and bullet points to structure the content.
• Make clear statements regarding the essence and results of your research.

Don’ts:

• Don’t write down the whole outline of your paper and nothing else.
• Don’t put long, full sentences on your slides; split them into smaller ones.
• Don’t use distracting patterns, colors, pictures, and other visuals on your slides; the simpler, the better.
• Don’t use too complicated graphs or charts; only the ones that are easy to understand.
• Now that we’ve discussed the basics, let’s move on to the top tips for making a powerful presentation of your research paper.

8 tips on how to make research paper presentation that achieves its goals

You’ve probably been to a presentation where the presenter reads word for word from their PowerPoint outline. Or where the presentation is cluttered, chaotic, or contains too much data. The simple tips below will help you summarize a 10 to 15-page paper for a 15 to 20-minute talk and succeed, so read on!

Tip #1: Less is more

You want to provide enough information to make your audience want to know more. Including details but not too many and avoiding technical jargon, formulas, and long sentences are always good ways to achieve this.

Tip #2: Be professional

Avoid using too many colors, font changes, distracting backgrounds, animations, etc. Bullet points with a few words to highlight the important information are preferable to lengthy paragraphs. Additionally, include slide numbers on all PowerPoint slides except for the title slide, and make sure it is followed by a table of contents, offering a brief overview of the entire research paper.

Tip #3: Strive for balance

PowerPoint slides have limited space, so use it carefully. Typically, one to two points per slide or 5 lines for 5 words in a sentence are enough to present your ideas.

Tip #4: Use proper fonts and text size

The font you use should be easy to read and consistent throughout the slides. You can go with Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, or a combination of these three. An ideal text size is 32 points, while a heading size is 44.

Tip #5: Concentrate on the visual side

A PowerPoint presentation is one of the best tools for presenting information visually. Use graphs instead of tables and topic-relevant illustrations instead of walls of text. Keep your visuals as clean and professional as the content of your presentation.

Tip #6: Practice your delivery

Always go through your presentation when you’re done to ensure a smooth and confident delivery and time yourself to stay within the allotted limit.

Tip #7: Get ready for questions

Anticipate potential questions from your audience and prepare thoughtful responses. Also, be ready to engage in discussions about your research.

Tip #8: Don’t be afraid to utilize professional help

If the mere thought of designing a presentation overwhelms you or you’re pressed for time, consider leveraging professional PowerPoint redesign services . A dedicated design team can transform your content or old presentation into effective slides, ensuring your message is communicated clearly and captivates your audience. This way, you can focus on refining your delivery and preparing for the presentation.

Lastly, remember that even experienced presenters get nervous before delivering research paper PowerPoint presentations in front of the audience. You cannot know everything; some things can be beyond your control, which is completely fine. You are at the event not only to share what you know but also to learn from others. So, no matter what, dress appropriately, look straight into the audience’s eyes, try to speak and move naturally, present your information enthusiastically, and have fun!

If you need help with slide design, get in touch with our dedicated design team and let qualified professionals turn your research findings into a visually appealing, polished presentation that leaves a lasting impression on your audience. Our experienced designers specialize in creating engaging layouts, incorporating compelling graphics, and ensuring a cohesive visual narrative that complements content on any subject.

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Presentation Tip: Choosing the best font size

August 7, 2019, share this post.

One aspect presenters need to consider when designing a presentation is the Font size for the text. How do you decide which size works best for your presentation? There are several factors that can influence the size of the text on the slides, including the space where you’ll be presenting and the number of attendees. If you want your audience to read the text on the screen with ease, go for a bigger size font. Simple right?! Well here are a few tips to consider:

Presentation space

Most of us will know where we are presenting and can find out the size of the room. This might feel silly at first, but when you’re building your slides try connecting up to a projector or widescreen tv, get up from your seat and walk as far back as you can. Try to simulate the live scenario you’re preparing for and imagine you’re an audience member at the very back of the presentation space. Can you read the text? If the answer is no, you need to go BIGGER.

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Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Presentations > Choosing the Right Font For Your PowerPoint Presentation

Choosing the Right Font For Your PowerPoint Presentation

Whether it’s for a professional conference or middle school book report, it’s important to know the best font to use for your PowerPoint presentation . Believe it or not, fonts are a big part of the overall design of your presentation —and they can make a world of difference! Some convey a lighthearted message, while others can show authority, and so on.

In this guide, we’ll take a closer look at:

• The different styles of fonts
• The 5 most popular fonts
• How to embed fonts, and more.

What are the different styles of fonts? Before we get too deep into each font and what looks best, let’s examine font styles and how they’re classified.

• Sans-serif fonts. Most serif fonts are easy to identify because of the tiny flags or projections on the ends of the characters. Serifs make distinguishing a lowercase L from a capital I in print easy.
• Serif fonts. Sans-serif fonts are commonly used in digital media because serifs can make letters difficult to see if an image or screen is low-resolution.
• Script fonts. Script fonts are also known as handwritten fonts because of the looping letters that make them look like cursive or calligraphy. Most people find it difficult to read more than a few sentences in a script font, so they’re best limited to a few words or a single phrase.
• Monospaced fonts. Even when writing by hand, you’ll notice that not all letters take up the same amount of space. Monospaced fonts buck this trend by allotting the same amount of space laterally for all letters, similar to a typewriter.
• Display fonts. Display fonts can also be known as fantasy or decorative fonts. These aren’t typically used for anything besides signage, banners, logos, or other text that’s isolated. Using display fonts for multiple sentences or a full paragraph isn’t a good practice because they can be hard to read or off-putting after a while.

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What are the 5 most popular fonts in presentations and why? A common theme you’ll notice when looking at the best fonts for PowerPoint is that they’re traditionally sans-serif fonts. Why? Well, this style is much easier to read from a distance and won’t feel cramped if letters are bolded. Additionally, the minimalistic style of sans-serif fonts isn’t distracting from the material or the speaker. Let’s look at five fonts that fit the best practices for a winning presentation .

Note: You’ll notice a serif font on this list, but we’ll address it when we get there.

• Roboto. Roboto is a sans-serif font that’s relatively basic, with sharp edges and rounded loops, counters, and bowls (the rounded parts of letters) without going overly bold or too thin. You can be safe using Roboto for just about any presentation.
• Verdana. Despite the font size you choose, not all fonts display the same. Verdana is a larger sans-serif font that can make it easier to display information without taking your font up an extra size.
• Helvetica. A point of differentiation between Helvetica and other sans-serif fonts is the weight toward the top of the letters. The top of every lowercase letter and the midpoint of every capital letter go to a thick midline’s upper edge. For instance, the top of every lowercase letter reaches the same horizontal point as the top of the crossbar on an H. This unique feature makes the Helvetica type look larger and bolder than it really is, which makes it great for headings and titles.
• Tahoma. Tahoma is different from the previous sans-serif fonts in that it is thinner than the others. While Tahoma might not have the same impact for a heading or title as Helvetica, it’s perfect for body text and fitting into smaller spaces without crowding.
• Palatino Linotype. Serif fonts have long been considered a no-no with digital publications, but with the advent of high-resolution computer monitors, tablets, smartphones, and TVs, they’re fine. What’s more, the serifs on Palatino Linotype aren’t incredibly prominent, so they make for a subtle nod to old-style fonts without over-embellishing.

How do you embed fonts in PowerPoint ? If you’re sharing your presentation with a friend, classmate, or colleague, you could be at risk of the fonts you used transferring properly to their device. For example, if you have a font you love using and installed it onto your computer, they might not have the same font. So, if you send your presentation to them, there could be formatting errors as their device defaults to a different font. Keep this from happening by embedding your font in PowerPoint using these easy steps:

• Click the “File” tab.
• Move down to the lower-lefthand corner of the window and click “Options.”
• Click “Save” on the left side of the screen.
• Scroll down to the section titled “Preserve fidelity when sharing this presentation:”
• Click the box next to “Embed fonts in the file.”
• If you or someone else will be using the presentation on a different device, then select the first option, “Embed only the characters used in the presentation (best for reducing file size).” If you or someone else will be editing the presentation on a different device, then select the second option, “Embed all characters (best for editing by other people).”
• Click “OK.”

There you have it! Choosing the best font for PowerPoint doesn’t have to be difficult. The most important part is making sure that the font is easy to read, and sans-serif fonts are usually a good way to go. By the way, it’s always a good idea to get a second set of eyes on your presentation before your big speech—and be sure to practice it a few times to iron out the kinks !

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20 Best Fonts for Presentations In 2024 [PowerPoint or Not]

Written by: Chloe West

Choosing the best font for your presentation can mean the difference between an engaged audience and one that’s confused or distracted. A presentation font needs to be legible, agreeable, and not interfere with the content itself.

But choosing a font isn’t always straightforward.

To save you time and effort, we’ve selected 25 of the best fonts for presentations. This list will help you find the best font for your next presentation, whether you’re using PowerPoint, Google Slides, Keynote or any other tool to create it.

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Choose the font that you like from the list below and see when (and if) you should use it. And the best part? Each of these, and 500 more fonts are available for free in Visme's presentation maker .

Here's a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit Presentation templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more below:

26 Best Fonts for Presentations 

• Archivo Black
• Libre-Baskerville
• Abril Fatface
• League Spartan
• Playfair Display
• DM Serif Display
• Dela Gothic One

Presentation Font #1: Lato

We’ve all seen a million and two presentations using standard fonts like Arial and Times New Roman. Lato often serves as a default font choice in many cases. This sans-serif typeface offers a more contemporary appearance.

Plus, the variety of weights that Lato is available in – from thin to light to bold and more – helps to ramp up this font’s overall appeal.

This font can be used in a variety of different ways, as we’ll see in the presentation templates below.

In this presentation below, we see Lato used as the header font in each slide. It’s paired with a thicker serif font to create a nice balance between the two types of fonts.

Here’s another presentation example using Lato as the main header. Both of these examples are using Lato Light to create a more sleek and modern look in their slide decks.

However, as we see in the above presentation, Lato’s normal and bold weights work perfectly for offsetting the light in various headings and designs.

Lato is a modern and readable font, making it perfect for nearly any type of presentation. However, it works perfectly for conveying your professionalism in a pitch deck as well, like we’ve shown you in these examples.

Presentation Font #2: Roboto

Another great font to use in your presentations is Roboto. Roboto is yet another basic sans serif font that works across a variety of industries and types of presentations .

Roboto is a suitable font to use for your body text, like we see below in this presentation.

All of the main body paragraphs are easy to read in Roboto, as well as professional and well designed.

We see Roboto used again below in this presentation sharing workout apps.

Here, it’s also used as the main font for body copy within the presentation. This just goes to show that this font can be used for nearly any type of presentation as well as any industry.

Roboto also pairs well with many other fonts, whether a serif like Garamond, a sans serif like Gill Sans or a script like Pacifico.

Presentation Font #3: Bentham

Bentham is a stunning serif font that works perfectly as a header font in your business presentations . It’s easy to read and gives your presentation a more traditional look and feel.

We use the Bentham font in our simple presentation theme, as you can see below.

This font can be used as uppercase, title case or even lowercase, whatever fits in best with the rest of your design. In the simple presentation theme, we have over 300 different slide styles to help you put together a unique and beautiful presentation.

Bentham is a free font that you can easily access inside Visme when creating your presentation design. Add letter spacing to create a different effect on your slides.

Pair Bentham with a sans serif font for your body copy like Open Sans (that we’ll cover shortly) or Futura .

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Presentation Font #4: Fira Sans

Fira Sans is a stunning font that is incredibly versatile. In fact, you can utilize Fira Sans as both your header and body font, with another font in the mix to act only as an accent font.

See what we mean in this PowerPoint template below.

While Fira Sans is used in both normal and bold weights for the majority of the slide content, we see a nice serif thrown in as well to offset the single presentation font.

We can see Fira Sans used in multiple ways in this informational presentation template below as well.

This gorgeous sans serif font can be used in bold, italic, underline and more, giving you a wide variety of uses for this one font selection. Give it a try in your next presentation.

Presentation Font #5: Archivo Black

Archivo Black is a bold and strong font that looks powerful in all caps, like in the presentation example below. This font works perfectly on titles in both large and smaller sizes because it has a heavy presence.

In this presentation, Archivo Black is paired with Work Sans, a perfectly agreeable sans serif font that is easy to read in body text and captions.

When deciding what fonts to pair together, take a look at the Font Pairs collection in the left-hand toolbar of the Visme editor. In there, you’ll find hundreds of great pairings to use in your presentations.

Presentation Font #6: Montserrat

Montserrat is a big favorite of ours here at Visme given that a large majority of our own headings across our website are done in this font.

However, it’s one of the top font choices you can use as well for the headings on your PowerPoint slides.

Check out how we’ve used Montserrat as a header in this marketing plan presentation template.

It’s bold and helps your slide titles and headers to stand out to your audience, letting them know exactly what to expect each time you move to a new slide.

Here’s another example where we’ve used Montserrat, but this time we’ve used a thinner version in the header.

This versatile font almost looks like a completely different typeface when you switch up its weight, giving you even more flexibility for using it across your various presentations.

As you can see, Montserrat can be the font to choose when creating a marketing or business plan presentation as it’s both professional and visually appealing.

Montserrat also pairs well with a variety of different fonts. Try a thin sans serif for a nice contrast in your next PowerPoint.

Presentation Font #7:  Open Sans

Open Sans is a commonly used font for body paragraphs in your presentation slides due to its legibility. Because it’s a basic sans serif font, it’s the perfect way to visualize the larger pieces of text you might need to include on a slide.

Here’s a presentation template that showcases Open Sans as the main font for the body copy.

However, Open Sans shouldn’t be discounted as only a paragraph typeface. In fact, you can also use it in professional presentations to help your headings stand out clearly, increasing readability.

Take a look at this stock pitch presentation that uses Open Sans as the large font for the title and headings on each page. We used Open Sans in two different weights, creating a font pair that looks balanced and unique.

If you’re looking for the right font to ensure your presentation is easy to read and digest, Open Sans is a great choice.

Presentation Font #8: Dosis

Dosis is another go-to presentation font for any industry. It’s a fun sans serif font with rounded edges and tall, thin letters, giving it a more futuristic look.

Here’s an example of how an industry focused presentation can use Dosis in – a slide deck for a restaurant’s marketing plan.

In this example, Dosis is used in all caps on the title slide and in the headings on each slide. This template has added a unique design that incorporates a two-color composition that makes the font contrast with the background.

Below, we have another impressive presentation template using Dosis in a similar fashion. It’s paired here with sans serif font Source Sans Pro, providing a modern combination fit for a tech startup pitch deck.

Similarly, we see that Dosis works well in all caps and can be used in a variety of designs in order to make the text stand out that much more.

Presentation Font #9: Libre-Baskerville

Another quality PowerPoint font to consider using in your presentations is Libre-Baskerville. This is a Google font that you can use for free inside many presentation software , Visme included!

Libre-Baskerville is a serif font style that can be paired with a variety of other fonts and color schemes, creating a more traditional look and feel for your presentation.

We use Libre-Baskerville in all caps as headings in our Modern presentation theme. This theme has over 800 different slide designs so you can pick and choose the ones that work best for your presentation needs.

However, this font can also be used in body paragraphs just as easily, as it’s clear and legible and easy to read.

In the presentation template below, we’ve paired Libre-Baskerville with Josefin Sans in the header, creating a classic look and feel for any presentation deck .

Libre Baskerville is a timeless font choice that never goes out of style and adds a sleek touch to any presentation you need to create.

Presentation Font #10: Muli

Muli is a versatile font that looks professional in both headings and body copy. As a sans-serif font, it’s bottom-heavy, so it sits well on the line, giving a sense of control. Its roundness makes it friendly and easy to read.

This presentation uses Muli for the titles in a medium size and a lower size for small headings. The pairing of Muli with Lato works well with the colors and shapes in the rest of the design.

Presentation Font #11: Abril Fatface

If you’re looking for a bolder font that grabs attention, a slab serif like Abril Fatface might be just the font you’re looking for. This could pair nicely with a standard font like Helvetica or Verdana or a thinner serif like Georgia or Palatino.

Check out how we’ve incorporated this bold font into the headings of the below annual report presentation design.

Abril Fatface is a great font for creating eye-catching headlines on your slides, but should only be used with short headings or pieces of text. A bold font like this can be hard to read in paragraphs or longer sentences.

Look at how good this Abril Fatface looks on the 3rd slide of this presentation.

The presentation below also uses Abril Fatface for the headings on each slide. The font has so much personality that it looks beautiful on its own and placed over bold colors.

If you’re looking for a slab serif font alternative, use fonts like Rockwell or a bolded Trocchi in your next Visme or PowerPoint presentation .

You could even look into custom fonts from sites like DaFont and import them into your Visme brand kit .

Presentation Font #12:  KoHo

The next font on our list is KoHo, a unique sans serif font that can be used in more playful presentations. 

Whether you’re creating a presentation for school , a video presentation to play in your office or something else entirely, KoHo can be one of the best fonts to utilize.

We incorporated KoHo into our Creative presentation theme in the various headings of each slide.

This is another one of our massive presentation themes, offering hundreds of slide designs for you to choose from. However, as the name suggests, this one has a more creative and playful feel to it.

If you need to create a pitch deck for investors or a sales presentation for new clients, KoHo and the Creative theme might not be for you. 

However, if you’re embedding a slideshow onto your blog or sharing an informational presentation on SlideShare, KoHo could be a better suited choice to engage your audience.

Presentation Font #13: Helvetica 

Helvetica is a classic sans serif font that has a very loyal fanbase, and for good reason.

As seen most clearly in capitalized texts, the upper half of the texts are quite large when compared to other san serifs fonts. 

This allows the Helvetica fonts to have near-symmetrical proportionality when measuring the upper and lower portions of a text. These proportions make the identification of letters easier at a distance, like in the template example above. 

This fact makes Helvetica a great font to use for headers and titles in live presentations where there may be people “sitting in the back row ” and viewing your presentation from a distance. 

To clearly communicate your main points, be sure to use Helvetica as a bold text on headings and titles.

Presentation Font #14: Cormorant

Cormorant is a sleek and modern serif font.

We like to think of Cormorant as a good alternative for Times New Roman but with a moderate and tasteful change.

With a dynamic range of varying thicknesses, Cormorant appears to have a calligraphic feel and look while still maintaining a sense of professionalism.

While artistic and expressive, Cormorant is still fully legible and usable in a professional environment, as you can see in this presentation template.

Our recommendation is that you choose a font color that is a complementary color to the background. This helps separate the thin portions of the font from the background.

Should the variations in thickness prove too much for your taste, consider dialing back that expression by using Cormorant in its bold format. By thickening up the thinner lines, the variations are less noticeable and may be more suitable for a given context. 

Cormorant is a modern serif font that works well in titles, headings, subtitles for subpoints or paragraphs.

Presentation Font #15: Prompt

Prompt is a geometric sans serif font designed for Latin and Thai languages. Its geometric quality gives it a solid and stable feel that will give your presentation a unique look.

In this modern presentation example, Prompt appears in all titles and subheadings. It’s paired with Montserrat, another san serif with personality. These fonts together do look a bit similar to each other but balance each other out in terms of weight and thickness.

Choose this font specifically if you’re creating a presentation in Thai and need the words to be legible and well-balanced.

Presentation Font #16: League Spartan

League Spartan is a simple sans serif font, that is bold, uniform and minimalistic by nature and is great for headings and titles.

Because it's hefty even with the bold setting turned off, you may want to take extra precautions when using League Spartan for paragraphs or letter bodies. 

League Spartan works great as a header for infographics or cartoon-style presentations, like in the template above. 

The purpose of an infographic is to take difficult or complex information and turn it into easy-to-remember points. The reason that League Spartan works so well with infographics is its simplicity. 

To help set the overall tone of an infographic, you can use a simplified san serif font like League Spartan. A font like this will simplify an important or complex data point and make it feel easy to understand. 

Presentation Font #17: Poppins

Poppins is a versatile and linear san serif font. 

Poppins is linear because of its strong vertical terminals, which are the end of a stroke that is not a serif. This gives the font a sense of weight and vertical authority, making it great for strong, stand-out titles and headers.

Not only is Poppins a wonderful choice for titles and headers, but it also works well for titles, text bodies and subtitles, as you can see in our presentation template below. 

The linear and versatile aspects of Poppins has made this font a favorite in the business and professional world. It feels casual, yet is still very professional.

Presentation Font #18: Playfair Display

What can we say about Playfair Display, other than it’s an incredibly chic and fashionable serif font. 

This font has a strong box feel as most of the characters stay between the baseline and X-height. This means that most of the letters do not dip far below the line, nor do they rise above most of the other letters.

This makes Playfair Display an excellent choice for strong titles and headers, as you can see in our presentation template below.

Many fonts that go after the “box look” fail at being legible from a distance. 

To avoid this problem and make the letters more pronounced, Playfair Display uses a variety of thicknesses in the stem of their letters when compared to the arms and other extensions. 

Playfair display is a classy and elegant font designed to be used as headers or titles. While it can still be used in paragraphs, you may want to limit its usage to shorter portions of your text.

Similarly sized and spaced words written in this style can be disorienting for some readers. So instead, consider using Playfair Display as a font for titles, quotes or various subtitles in your presentation.

Presentation Font #19: Raleway

Raleway is a modern sans serif font that was originally designed to be used as a lightweight font. But after its release and by popular demand, Raleway was given heavier and italicized versions for its fans to use. 

The bold and light versions of this font are extremely versatile and can be used anywhere from bold headers to lighter parts of the body in your presentations, as you can see in our presentation template below.

The italicized version of Raleway has slightly off-centered bowls and shoulders in certain letters. This means that the markings that are not the stem are purposefully written higher or lower than normal. 

This is a subtle artistic flair that does not influence readability. Some people find that swashes actually help increase legibility with these off-centered markings. 

Presentation Font #20: Otama

This type of font pairs well with a solid sans serif like Lato Light. In this presentation example, Otama and Lato Light in all caps work together to create a professional design that stands out and makes a statement.

Presentation Font #21: Lora

Lora is a unique serif font that was made in a contemporary style. 

Drawing its inspiration from calligraphy and traditional fonts, Lora is an excellent balance between an artistic and professional font. 

Lora has very pronounced arches leaping away from the stem of each letter. This gives the font family a more “bubbly” feel to it, while still maintaining a sense of clean professionalism.

To unleash Lora’s true artistic nature, you’ll want to turn on the italics. When italics mode is activated, each letter receives additional swashes, giving it a more hand-written feel.

If you add weight to its default thickness, Lora works well for both titles and headers and when set to its default settings, Lora truly shines as a font in paragraphs and bodies, as you can see in our presentation template below.

Presentation Font #22: Inter

You can use Inter in different weights throughout a presentation or pair it with a versatile font like Lato Light to give the composition a bit of visual variety. The presentation example below uses Inter in mixed-case and Lato Light in all-caps for headings and mixed-case for body text.

Presentation Font #23: Noto Sans

Noto Sans is a basic sans serif font that makes for a great presentation font. Clean and easy to read, it can be used in a variety of different ways from slide to slide.

Take a look at this presentation template below. The main font used throughout the headers and content is Noto Sans, creating a clean and cohesive presentation design.

The above presentation template also uses a script font for the author name on the first slide as well as another sans serif font (Poppins) for some body content.

Having a nice mixture between the two ensures the presentation isn't boring—but it's still clean and uncluttered. Poppins is another font on this list. Try mixing 2-3 different fonts from our recommended fonts to create a stunning presentation design.

Presentation Font #24: Heebo

Heebo is one of the more unique sans serif fonts on our list, but it works perfectly for presentation slide headers. As a thin, tall font, it works better in a larger size than it would for content.

Take a look at how we've used Heebo in this presentation template below. It remains in an all-caps format, typically for headers from slide to slide.

We've also creatively used the font by juxtaposing it atop purple squares, helping to create a design element out of text. Consider how you can do the same thing in your presentations.

Presentation Font #25: DM Serif Display

Our next top font is a beautifully bold serif font. DM Serif Display is a perfect header font for a more traditional presentation design. Serifs tend to seem more old-fashioned, so keep that in mind when creating your next presentation. Maybe a serif will best fit with your audience.

Take a look at this template below to see DM Serif Display in action.

In the above presentation, we've paired this bold serif font with a nice thin sans serif to pull the design together. Sometimes opposites attract and help you to create a beautiful presentation design that your audience will love.

Presentation Font #26: Dela Gothic One

Dela Gothic One is a thick and chunky font with a strong feel. It’s ideal for headings on posters, packaging and in titles on presentations. This font has a lot of power and is best paired with a simple sans serif font or even a classic serif like Garamond for body copy.

For a bolder outcome, use Dela Gothic One in all caps, like we did in the presentation example below. Each slide includes a strong title in Dela Gothic One in a color that contrasts with the background.

Ready to Create Your Next Presentation?

When it comes to fonts for PowerPoint (or any other presentation platform), there are so many options to choose from that it can get overwhelming. But selecting fonts doesn't need to stress you out. Stick to the ones in this list and you’re sure to have a winner.

Whether you use Microsoft PowerPoint , Apple Keynote or Visme, each of these presentation fonts can really bring the best out of your presentation. 

If you want to get even more out of your presentation design and have access to top notch animation, transition and interactivity capabilities, sign up for Visme's free presentation maker today .

If you're racing against the clock, take advantage of Visme’s AI features, like the AI Presentation Maker which takes a text prompt and turns it into a fully designed presentation draft.

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About the Author

Chloe West is the content marketing manager at Visme. Her experience in digital marketing includes everything from social media, blogging, email marketing to graphic design, strategy creation and implementation, and more. During her spare time, she enjoys exploring her home city of Charleston with her son.

Standard Font Size For Papers: A Comprehensive Guide

The standard font size for academic papers is typically 12-point. Still, it’s essential to consider the specific formatting style required (like APA or MLA) and any guidelines from journals or publishers.

Always follow the instructions given by your instructor, institution, or publisher. We will delve into the world of standard font size for papers. We’ve got you covered, from understanding a standard font size to determining the appropriate sizes for headings, subheadings, paragraphs, and tables. Say goodbye to formatting woes and hello to polished and professional-looking papers!

Table of Contents

How To Determine The Standard Font Size For Papers

Determining the standard font size for papers can depend on various factors, including the specific style guide or formatting requirements of the institution or publication you are writing for. Most academic papers are typically written in 12-point font size, such as Times New Roman or Arial.

This standard font size ensures the text is legible and easy to read. However, it is always important to check the specific guidelines provided by your instructor or publisher, as they may have different requirements regarding font size.

Additionally, it is worth noting that some disciplines or journals may have their preferred font sizes, so it is essential to know any specific guidelines that apply to your field of study.

General Rules For Font Size

Following the general rules is essential regarding font size in academic papers. While the standard font size is usually 12 points, it is important to consider any specific guidelines from your instructor or chosen formatting style.

Different academic disciplines may have varying requirements, so it is crucial to consult the appropriate style guide or ask your instructor for their preferred size. Selecting a legible font that is easily read at the chosen size is advisable. Avoid using excessively small or large fonts, negatively impacting readability and overall presentation.

Font Size For Headings And Subheadings

It’s important to ensure they are appropriately sized for readability and professionalism regarding font size for paper headings and subheadings. While the standard font size for papers is typically 12 points, headings and subheadings can range from 14 to 16 points.

It’s crucial to follow the formatting guidelines provided by your instructor or publisher, as different academic disciplines may have specific requirements. Maintaining consistency in font size throughout your paper is key. Using the appropriate font size, you can enhance the overall appearance and legibility of your headings and subheadings, making your paper more organized and user-friendly.

Font Size For Paragraphs

Regarding to paragraphs in academic papers, the font size typically used is 12 points. This standard font size ensures readability and enhances the comprehension of the content. Selecting a font size that doesn’t strain the reader’s eyes or make the text challenging to read is crucial. Avoid using smaller font sizes, as it may lead to eye strain.

On the other hand, using a larger font size may give the impression of unprofessionalism. To maintain consistency and professionalism, it is essential to adhere to the font size guidelines provided by your institution or publisher. Remember, readability plays a vital role in effectively conveying your message.

Font Size For Tables

The standard recommendation is to use a font size of 10 to 12 points when it comes to font size for tables in papers. This ensures that the text within the table remains readable and clear. However, it’s essential to consider the complexity of the table and the amount of information presented.

If your table contains intricate details or small cells, you may need to use a slightly larger font size for readability. Remember to maintain consistency throughout your paper and follow any specific guidelines provided by your instructor or publisher.

Why Is The Standard Font Size Important?

The standard font size is crucial for ensuring readability and consistency in your document. Using standard font size makes it easier for your intended audience to read and understand the content. Additionally, it adds a professional touch to your paper, which is highly valued in academic and professional environments.

How To Set The Standard Font Size For Papers

Setting the standard font size for papers is essential to formatting academic and professional documents. The most commonly used font size for papers is 12 points, as it provides a good balance between readability and conserving space. However, it is always advisable to check the specific guidelines provided by your institution or organization, as they may have their own requirements.

When setting the font size, apply it consistently throughout the document to maintain a professional appearance. Additionally, consider other factors, such as line spacing and margins, to ensure that your paper meets all necessary formatting standards.

Things To Keep In Mind While Setting The Standard Font Size For Papers

While setting the standard font size for papers, several things must be remembered. Firstly, adhering to the guidelines provided by your institution or publication is crucial. These guidelines may have specific requirements or recommendations for font size.

Consider the font’s readability and legibility, making sure it’s easy on the eyes. Opting for a standard font size, such as 12-point, is generally the best choice for easy reading. Use legible font styles like Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, Georgia, or Helvetica.

Adjusting the font size for headings and subheadings can create a visual hierarchy and make your paper more organized. Remember to heed any additional instructions or preferences from your intended audience or instructor. By following these guidelines, you can ensure that your paper looks professional and is easy to read.

Using the standard font size for papers is essential for maintaining consistency and readability in your work. It helps ensure that your content is accessible to readers and meets the expectations of academic or professional requirements.

You can create a well-structured and visually appealing document by following the general rules for font size and setting appropriate sizes for headings, subheadings, paragraphs, and tables. Remember to consider the guidelines provided by your institution or target audience when determining the standard font size for your papers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 11 or 12-point font standard.

The standard font size for papers is typically 12 points, although some institutions may accept 11 points. However, it’s always best to check your specific guidelines.

Is Size 12 Font Too Big?

No, size 12 font is not too big. It is a standard and widely accepted font size that offers readability and ensures the text is easy to read. However, it’s important to always check guidelines or requirements from your instructor or publisher and adjust the font size accordingly.

What Is The Recommended Font Size For Readability In Academic Papers?

The recommended font size for academic papers is typically 12 points, although specific guidelines may vary among scholarly journals. For optimal readability, it is essential to use a legible font like Times New Roman or Arial and ensure proper formatting, including line spacing and margins.

Does The Font Size Vary Based On The Formatting Style?

Yes, the font size can differ depending on the formatting style. APA and MLA styles suggest a font size of 12 points. However, other formatting styles may have their own guidelines, so it’s crucial to refer to the appropriate style guide for accurate recommendations.

How Can I Use The Standard Font Size For Papers?

To use the standard font size for papers, opt for 12-point Times New Roman or Arial. Ensure consistency in your font size throughout the paper. Instead of relying on a larger font, use bold, italics, and underline sparingly for emphasis.

David Egee, the visionary Founder of FontSaga, is renowned for his font expertise and mentorship in online communities. With over 12 years of formal font review experience and study of 400+ fonts, David blends reviews with educational content and scripting skills. Armed with a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design and a Master’s in Typography and Type Design from California State University, David’s journey from freelance lettering artist to font Specialist and then the FontSaga’s inception reflects his commitment to typography excellence.

In the context of font reviews, David specializes in creative typography for logo design and lettering. He aims to provide a diverse range of content and resources to cater to a broad audience. His passion for typography shines through in every aspect of FontSaga, inspiring creativity and fostering a deeper appreciation for the art of lettering and calligraphy.

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What kind of fonts can I use for academic presentation? [closed]

Many videos and documents say that we should use Arial as the font for academic presentation. However, I think Arial is really ugly.

Certainly, there are other fonts suitable for academic presentations. How can I recognise them? Is it just every sans-serif font or what do I need to consider?

• presentation

• 4 This is probably to some extent a matter of taste. But for all things concerning academic design and layout, Edward Tufte is a classical go-to reference. –  henning no longer feeds AI Commented Aug 23, 2021 at 20:40
• 4 If your presentation is not about fonts, any boring font is suitable. –  Anonymous Physicist Commented Aug 23, 2021 at 20:50
• 5 Not Comic Sans. –  Captain Emacs Commented Aug 23, 2021 at 20:53
• 3 One advantage of a hideously ugly font is that you will know if someone swipes your slides and posts them online! ;-) –  Ed V Commented Aug 23, 2021 at 21:21

I take it as given that you won’t use typefaces that are not suitable for an academic setting at all, like a comic or blackletter typeface, i.e., any typeface you that is not suitable for a printed poster either. With those constraints, the main thing to consider is that your typeface must render well on a projector or via screencast. Interestingly, those different settings lead to similar conclusions:

You have to expect that projectors have low resolutions (and no sub-pixel hinting ), which causes intricate details such as most serifs look ugly.

For screencasts, you have to expect that they will be scaled on the viewer’s side, which again causes problems with detailed components such as most serifs and works bests with straight lines and similar.

For this reason, most sans-serif typefaces are well suited for presentations while serif typefaces are not. However you can find exceptions such as organic grotesques, which are sans serif but scale badly and render badly on low resolutions – or slab serifs, which work well with scaling as well as on low resolutions.

• Does anyone know the name of the four example fonts in this answer? (Especially the two "good" examples) –  Caleb Stanford Commented Jan 30, 2022 at 0:56
• 2 @6005: The fonts from top to bottom are: Aakar, Ubuntu, Linux Biolinum and Zilla Slab. However, please note that I chose them for highlighting the aspects relevant to this answer, and not to endorse (or attack) these particular fonts. –  Wrzlprmft ♦ Commented Jan 30, 2022 at 9:35
• Thank you! Understood yes –  Caleb Stanford Commented Jan 30, 2022 at 13:24

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Powerpoint guidelines for presenters.

ARL is strongly committed to providing access to its web content to people with print disabilities. To help us meet our commitment, please follow this checklist when creating PowerPoint slides to be shown at our meetings and subsequently posted on our website.

• Each slide should have a unique title.
• All slides should use a minimum font size of 24 points.
• The document should utilize recommended fonts, e.g., Palatino, Georgia,  Verdana, Tahoma, Arial, and Helvetica.
• If color is used to emphasize the importance of selected text or convey other meaning, an alternate method (such as bold text) should also be used.
• Avoid using flickering, flashing, and animated text.
• All URLs should contain the correct hyperlinks and display the fully qualified URLs (e.g., https://www.arl.org/ not www.arl.org ).
• All active links should resolve to the correct destinations.
• All slide graphics that convey information should have alternative text associated with them. (Right-click the graphic, click “Format object,” click the “Alt Text” pane and enter a brief description of the graphic.)
• Fill in the Document Properties of Author, Title, Subject, Keywords, and Language under the “Summary” and “Custom” tabs. (On a Mac, see File > Properties; on a PC, see File >Info.)

If you would like more information about making PowerPoint presentations fully accessible, please view ARL’s detailed checklist .