The short version
- Good presentation fonts have open letter shapes, a large x height and clear differences between similar characters such as I, l and 1.
- On a 1920×1080 slide, body text below about 48 pixels, or 24 points in PowerPoint's default 16:9 size, gets hard to read from the back of a room.
- Most decks need one sans serif in two or three weights, or a display face for titles paired with a plain sans for everything else.
- Fonts that are not installed on the presenting computer are replaced, so embed them, use a web font in Google Slides, or present from a PDF.
- The fastest legibility test is to view a slide at a quarter of its size: if you can still read it, the back row can.
On this page
The best presentation fonts are plain sans serifs with open shapes and a tall x height, such as Inter, Source Sans 3, IBM Plex Sans or Atkinson Hyperlegible, set much larger than feels natural on a laptop. On a 16:9 slide of 1920×1080 pixels, keep body text at 48 pixels or more (24 points in PowerPoint's default slide size) and titles around 88 to 112 pixels. Use one family, or one title face with one body face. Everything else in this guide is about keeping those choices readable when the room is big and the projector is dim.
What makes a font work on a slide
Slide text is read quickly, from a distance, while someone is talking. A presentation font has to be recognised at a glance rather than admired. Four qualities matter more than style.
- A large x height, so lower case letters stay big relative to the point size.
- Open counters and apertures, so e, a and c don't close up into blobs on a soft projector.
- Distinct look-alikes: capital I, lower case l and the number 1 should not be the same stroke.
- Sturdy weights: a regular that holds up when light bleeds around it, and a bold that is clearly bolder.
Thin, condensed, script and very high contrast serif faces fail most of these at once. They can look beautiful on your screen and dissolve on a wall. Keep them for a single title word if you must use them at all. Serif vs sans serif explains the trade in more depth.
Presentation font sizes for 16:9 slides
Point sizes mean different things in different apps, because each starts from a different slide size. Pixels on a 1920×1080 canvas are the reliable measure. In PowerPoint's default 16:9 slide, which is 13.33 inches wide, one point equals two pixels at 1920 wide, so the conversion is easy.
Pixels at 1920×1080
PowerPoint points
Notes
Pixels at 1920×1080
PowerPoint points
Notes
Pixels at 1920×1080
PowerPoint points
Notes
Pixels at 1920×1080
PowerPoint points
Notes
Pixels at 1920×1080
PowerPoint points
Notes
Pixels at 1920×1080
PowerPoint points
Notes
Keep line spacing a little looser than in print, around 1.2 to 1.3 for body text, and short lines: six to ten words per line is plenty at these sizes. Line height and line length explains why.
Slides 16:9 1920×1080
1920 × 1080
Slides 4:3 1600×1200
1600 × 1200
Font pairings for presentations
A deck needs less variety than a website. One family in regular, semibold and bold is often enough. If you want more character, give titles a display face and keep everything else in a plain sans. All of these are free on Google Fonts, which also means they work in Google Slides without installing anything.
Body
Feels
Body
Feels
Body
Feels
Feels
Body
Feels
Body
Feels
For more combinations, see Google Fonts pairings and the reasoning behind them in font pairing.
Contrast, colour and the projector problem
Projectors lift blacks to grey and flatten colour, especially in a bright room. Pale grey body text and mid tone colour on colour, which look subtle on a laptop, can disappear. Aim well past the minimum: dark text on a light ground or light text on a deep ground, with strong contrast everywhere the words sit. Colour contrast and accessibility has the ratios.
Background running straight through the words: fine on a laptop, risky on a washed out projector.
The same slide with a calmer, higher contrast area behind the words. This survives a bright room.
Gradiently handles this for you on a gradient slide: the Mark moves its calmest, best contrasting region behind the words, and Auto ink picks light or dark type line by line. Its pages work as a deck at Slides 16:9 or 4:3, so a title slide and a stat slide share the same background without you fighting it.
Avoid missing fonts on the day
A font that isn't installed on the presenting computer is silently replaced, usually with something wider, which breaks line endings and pushes text off slides. Plan for the computer you will actually present from.
Avoid
- Assuming the venue laptop has your fonts
- Thin weights below 300 for any text
- Body text below 48 px to fit more in
- Three or more font families in one deck
- Grey text on a mid tone background
Do
- Embed fonts, use Google Fonts in Slides, or bring a PDF
- Regular and above for body, bold for emphasis
- Split a crowded slide into two
- One family, or one title face and one body face
- Strong contrast tested on a real projector
How to test a slide from the back row
- 1
Shrink it to a quarter
View the slide at 25% zoom, or as a thumbnail in the slide sorter. If the body text is still readable, it will read from the back of most rooms.
- 2
Stand three metres from your laptop
A full screen slide on a laptop seen from three metres is close to the view from the back of a meeting room.
- 3
Turn the brightness down
Halve your screen brightness to imitate a projector. Low contrast text shows itself immediately.
- 4
Count the words
If a slide needs more than about 30 words, the extra words belong in your speaker notes or a handout.
For the backgrounds behind all this type, see presentation backgrounds, and for investor decks, pitch deck design.
Questions people ask
What is the best font for a presentation?
A plain sans serif with open shapes and a tall x height, such as Inter, Source Sans 3, IBM Plex Sans or Atkinson Hyperlegible. Clarity matters more than personality on a slide.
What font size should I use in PowerPoint?
On the default 16:9 slide, use at least 24 points for body text and around 44 to 56 points for slide titles. Sources and footnotes can drop to 14 to 16 points.
Should I use serif or sans serif fonts for slides?
Use a sans serif for body text, because it holds up better at a distance and on projectors. A sturdy serif display face can work for large titles.
How many fonts should a presentation use?
One or two. A single family in a few weights is the safest; a display face for titles plus a sans for body adds character without clutter.
Why did my fonts change when I presented on another computer?
The other computer didn't have the fonts installed, so it substituted others. Embed the fonts, use Google Fonts in Google Slides, or present from a PDF.
Written by Gradiently
The team behind Gradiently, a design tool built around Marks: living gradients that make everything you design look like yours.
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