Choosing the Best Fonts for Your PowerPoint Presentations

When you are putting together a PowerPoint presentation, you can’t overlook the importance of choosing the correct font.Because fonts come in a myriad of shapes, sizes, and styles, they can either facilitate or interfere with what you are trying to communicate. In the early days of advertising, before the advent of the computer, graphic and print professionals referred to fonts as “typefaces”. Thinking back about that word makes me smile, because fonts are indeed like faces. There are so many out there, and each one conveys a certain feeling or personality. Some of them shout, like Helvetica Extra Bold Condensed. Some of them whisper, like Gill Sans Light. There are even some that look masculine and feminine. Think of a beautiful script-like font such as Edwardian Script. Great for announcing a wedding but terrible for selling a product. The serif fonts (serifs are the little flourishes on the ends of letters) have a personality all their own. Think of the serifs like eyelashes on a face. They help to express an idea or emotion. They can complement the serious nature of a financial statement, or the levity of someone’s quote. The bottom line is, when you are in PowerPoint and creating your all important presentation, don’t view your font choice as just a “no brainer” and pick arial because it’s one of the first ones in the drop-down menu. Think about the “personality” of the presentation you’re planning to give, and choose the right “face” or font to convey your message. You can actually choose two fonts, one for headlines, and one for body copy. Just make sure they go well together and that you use them consistently on each slide. Finally, make sure your font is large enough so that it is legible from the distance it will be viewed.