Tips on making good slides

What Font size should you use?

• You can estimate how your slide will appear by looking at your computer screen from the right distance.
• Use the equation: Distance from the computer screen = (distance to the back row/ auditorium screen height)x(computer screen height)
• An average auditorium screen is 6 feet high. The distance to the last row of seats 36 feet. Suppose your computer screen is 8 inches high. In this case
• Distance from the computer screen = (36/6)*8 = 48 inches = 4 feet
• Click here to see what a good font size and line thickness to use.
• For most talks, the minimum font size is about 24 (about 42 characters across and 14 lines down) and the minimum line thickness is about .01 to 02 inches.

What Font type should you use?

For sentences use Serif.  For example:

• Why? Because these fonts make it easier to bind the letters into words
• Often good to bold and double space.

However most slides should aviod sentences and paragraps and instead use point form.

Thus most  slides use Sans Serif. For example:

• Why? Because these fonts are simpler.

Color

If you use a dark background, use very light colors for lines and text.

If you use a light background, use very dark colors for lines and text.

Use color effectively.

• Use bright colors for the few most important elements.
• Use dull colors (black, brown) for things that should be unobtrusive.

Do not forget to add labels. You may forget to mention what the lines mean or your listener may not have been listening.