Best Font Size Chart for Presentation Slide: Font Size Selection for a Presentation in a Large Hall

Can the person sitting in last row view text of your presentation slide clearly? Find out here

pptwork March 25, 2020

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Best Font Size Chart for Presentation Slide Font Size Selection for a Presentation in a Large Hall

When choosing a font size, you should consider the size of the screen that you will make your presentation in and how far the audience will be from the screen. Moreover, the best font style with the right font size provides the maximum clarity in a presentation slide designed in either keynote or in PowerPoint.

Another thing that you should know is that different fonts come in different sizes. For example, Times New Roman tends to be smaller in size than Arial. Size also depends on text design factors like italics, colors and bold.

Which is the best font size for your PowerPoint presentation?

There is no easy answer to this question. So what can we consider to be the minimum font size? Most articles offer advice that the smallest font size is between 18 points and 36 points. The answer is however very simple. The smallest font size should be one that can be read by the person seated farthest from the screen. There is however a formula that was invented by Dave Paradi to evaluate the best font size. This formula has been arrived at based on road signs in the US that are designed for the average eye vision.

The Best Font Size for Maximum Viewing Distance for a 4:3 Screen

Assumptions

The projected image will cover the full length of the screen
Same visual acuity as the one for highway road signs is used which is 20/40
The screen has a 4:3 ratio of width and height

How to use the table for Font Size?

Choose the row that is the same with the width of your screen
Choose the column that is the same with your minimal text size
Where the row and column intersect, that is the furthest distance that the person at the back should be seated.
For example, if you have a 48-inch screen and the text is of 24 sizes, then the furthest person should be seated 36 feet from the screen.

Font Size Chat in Points for a Presentation Slide with aspect ratio 4:3
Font Size	44	40	36	32	28	24	18
120	153	140	127	114	102	89	64
96	122	112	102	92	81	71	51
84	107	98	89	80	71	62	44
72	92	84	76	69	61	53	38
60	76	70	64	57	51	44	32
48	61	56	51	46	41	36	25
36	46	42	38	34	31	27	19

The Best Font Size for Maximum Viewing Distance for a 16:9 Screen

Assumptions

The projected image will cover the full length of the screen
Same visual acuity as the one for highway road signs is used which is 20/40
The screen has a 4:3 ratio of width and height

How to use this Font Size table?

Choose the row that is the same with the width of your screen
Choose the column that is the same with your minimal text size
Where the row and column intersect, that is the furthest distance that the person at the back should be seated.

For example, if you have a 42-inch screen and the text is of 28 sizes, then the furthest person should be seated 23 feet from the screen.

Font size in points

Font Size Chat in Points for a Presentation Slide with aspect ratio 16:9
Font Size	44	40	36	32	28	24	18
80	66	61	55	50	44	39	28
72	60	55	50	45	40	35	25
60	50	46	41	37	33	29	21
52	43	40	36	32	29	25	18
47	39	36	32	29	26	23	16
42	35	32	29	26	23	20	15
36	30	27	25	22	20	18	12
32	27	24	22	20	18	15	11
27	22	21	19	17	15	12	9
22	18	17	15	14	12	11	8
19	16	14	13	12	11	9	7
15	12	11	10	9	8	7	5

8H Rule of Font Size Selection:

There is also another formula for font size selection that is known as the 8H rule. This one compares the font height to the size of the screen available.

In as much as these formulas exist, there are very few people who use them. As such, it is important to have recommendations that can work anytime. If you do not know the size of the screen and the exact distance of the audience, then you should follow the guidelines below: