About choosing fonts for presentations

Consider the following points when you choose fonts:

• The font you choose will affect how your message is received. Choose a more serious font like Times New Roman for conservative audiences or serious messages; choose a "fun" font like Comic Sans MS for a lighthearted message.
• Serif fonts— such as Times New Roman and Bookman— are easier to read for large amounts of text, but sans serif fonts— such as Arial and Verdana— are cleaner and tend to make better titles and headlines.
• When designing for online slide viewing, use fonts that look good online. The Verdana, Tahoma, and Bookman fonts are designed specifically for online viewing. Arial and Times New Roman also work well.
• You should contrast font colors sharply with the background to ensure readability. Use bold and italic for emphasis only— heavy use diminishes their effectiveness.
• Each font has a personality, so consistency is important. If you change fonts frequently, you might not be presenting a consistent message to your audience. Try to use no more than three to four different fonts in a presentation.