Fun With Fonts

Admit it. You’ve been holding your breath for a week to read what I have to say about PowerPoint fonts.

Truth is, I know this topic….although important…isn’t very interesting. So I’ll start with some PowerPoint comedy. Check out this video of stand-up comic Don McMillan making fun of bad PowerPoint presentations. It’s kind of scary that there is enough universal PowerPoint badness to fill a comedy routine, no?

Now, on to fonts.

Back in the old days, they used the term “typeface,” not “font.” (I vaguely remember a college professor shaming me in front of the class for using the wrong term). In the printing world, they still care about the difference, but for most of us, font is the word used to describe the “look” or “design” of the text we use in documents or presentations. You know them….Times, Arial, Tahoma, etc.

My general approach to fonts is that they should go unnoticed by the audience. No one will (or should) say “Wow. That guy’s fonts were excellent.” But if I make bad font choices, they will (and should) make fun of me.

There are a couple of websites worth checking out…Microsoft’s “Which Font to Use” page and MasterViews’ tip sheet. They’re pretty similar.

Unlike some of my tips on PowerPoint design, I tend to fall inline with most “expert opinions” about font usage. My suggestions on fonts fall into three categories: font choice, size and consistency. I didn’t mention color because my opinion is so simple. If you use a dark slide, use white text. If you use a light slide, use black.

Font Choice
The general rule is that serif fonts, like Times, are best for large blocks of text that the audience will have to read. Sanserif fonts, like Arial, are best for small text blocks, headlines, labels, etc.

I tend to agree with that general rule, but you know what I think about large blocks of text…I try to not use them unless I have to. And if your 25 slide presentation only has one long block of text, a different font will look out of place.

I’ve been using Arial (or you can use Tahoma or Verdana) in most of my recent presentations. Even for blocks of text. It’s clean, simple, looks good in charts, looks good over black and, just as importantly, is found on every computer known to man. So my preference is to keep it simple and compatible.

One last word on font choice…if you are trying to convey professionalism, I strongly recommend avoiding any font that your grandmother or children would consider “cute.” Handwriting fonts, marker felt fonts and “party” fonts should be saved for family reunion or birthday party invitations.

Size Does Matter
Take two steps away from your computer. If you have to squint to read, so will your audience.

Not every slide needs a title. But for those that do, I go big (50 pt), especially if I have other text on the slide. If the title stands alone or with a photo and no other text, I go a bit smaller (as low as 32 pt). A lot of this has to do with your font choice (sanserif can go smaller) and color choice (white text on black can go smaller than black text on white).

If I have to use bullets, I try to never go smaller than 30 pt. If I can’t fit my whole bullet at that size, my bullet is probably too long. PowerPoint is no help here. If I keep typing, PowerPoint automatically makes the font smaller as if to say “Keep typing, the audience isn’t asleep yet.”

Headline writers at the NY Times have a minimum size limit and a defined amount of space. And they work within those parameters every day. We can, too.

Consistency
Whatever choices you make, stick with them. All charts should have the same font choice, size, color, etc. All titles should be the same. All photo captions should be the same. Inconsistency draws attention to your font choice and away from your message.

Again, PowerPoint doesn’t help here. Though it allows for standard formatting throughout a whole presentation, its tendency to automatically downsize the text to make it fit is pretty annoying.

So that’s it on fonts. In the next post, we’ll look at audience handouts as effective leave-behind material.