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Do you know that fonts have a personality of their own?
The PowerPoint font you use gives your readers a feel for your message. Your fonts convey the level of formality in our message. They show the level of emphasis you want to put on certain elements of your message.
Using the right font type makes the right impression in your audience’s mind. This article explores the different types of font personalities and where each type fits in your slides.
Take a look at these two title sentences:
Can you sense the conflict between the words and the feelings they evoke?
The words ‘Business strategy’ portray a picture of formality in your mind. The flowery font contradicts your expectation. The same is the case with ‘Rocking Fun party’. The formal font contradicts your natural expectation of fun and energy conveyed by the words.
How to choose the right PowerPoint font to reflect the spirit of your presentation?
The answer is to understand the typical personality traits of the various fonts, so that you can use the right one to communicate your thoughts clearly.
Broadly, fonts can be classified into 4 personality types. For easy recall, I want you to visualize the fonts in their attire.
The four font personality types:
Fonts in business suits:
Examples of this font type are –Impact, Franklin Gothic Heavy, Arial Black, Gill Sans Ultra Bold etc.
They look heavy and formal. They are ideal for use on your slide titles. They automatically assume the kind of importance your titles deserve to have. They are also quite legible when read from a distance.
Fonts in regular office wear:
Examples of this font type are –Calibri, Franklin Gothic Medium, Myriad Pro, Lucida Sans Unicode etc.
They are easy to read in a sentence. They are naturally suited for the body text of your slides. They allow space to emphasize certain words in your sentences that deserve special attention.
Fonts with emphasis:
Examples of this font type are –Arial Rounded MT Bold, Franklin Gothic Demi Cond, Minion Pro Cond, Lucida Console etc.
They are thicker than the usual fonts, but not so bold that they hijack the entire attention. You can use them to highlight certain key elements or ideas on your slides. However, if you want to emphasize certain words in a sentence, it is advisable to use bold, italic etc. in the same font, instead of using a different font.
Fonts in party wear or casual wear:
The casual fonts resemble hand scripts. Examples are: Mistral, Comic Sans, Bradley Hand etc.
The party type fonts have a bling feel you can’t miss. Examples are: Broadway, Frankfurter Venetian TT, Magneto etc.
Use casual fonts to convey any informal message in your internal communications. Use party fonts strictly for entertainment. Use them on your party posters and not on your business slides.
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The number of fonts you may use in a slide:
It is always advisable to use two font types on your slide. The title and the body text should be in different fonts (preferably from different font families) to ensure message clarity. Using the same font family like Arial Bold for title and Arial for body text – may not show as much contrast as you want.
PowerPoint Font size:
The body text should be minimum 24 for easy readability. The title should be bigger than 36. Of course, the size of your font depends on the type of font you use. For example, if you use Arial Narrow, you may need to increase the font size to compensate for the compactness of the font.
Color of your font:
Keep the font in a contrasting color to the PowerPoint background. It is a good idea to keep the background light and the font color dark. We use white background with black fonts in our presentations. It has never failed us so far.
How readable are the colors?
Summary of font tips:
Choosing the right font type adds to the clarity of your message. Understanding the font personalities of will help you choose the right PowerPoint font for your presentations. Ensure that your fonts are legible from the last row.
