Working with text is an essential part of creating an effective PowerPoint presentation. The way you format, align, and animate text can have a major impact on the clarity and engagement level of your slides. Here are 5 key tips for working with text effectively in PowerPoint.

1. Choose an Appropriate Font

Choosing the right font is critical for readability and alignment. Here are some best practices:

Use sans serif fonts like Arial, Calibri, or Verdana for slide text. These are easier to read on screens.

Only use 1-2 font styles maximum per presentation. Too many fonts looks unprofessional.
Aim for font sizes of 24pt and higher for body text. Anything smaller strains the eyes.
Use bold fonts sparingly, for example on titles or key points. Overusing bold reduces its emphasis.

Only use text effects like shadow or 3D sparingly. Use instead for minimal visual flair.

Keeping your font choices simple, clean, and consistent creates a polished look for your slides.

2. Align Text Properly

Proper text alignment makes your content easier to quickly scan and digest. Here are some key alignment tips in PowerPoint:

Left align body text. This is the easiest for audiences to read in slides.
Center align titles and subtitles. Centering defines them as headings.
Right align text in tables or figures. This keeps numerical data neatly organized.

Justify align should typically be avoided. The spacing looks uneven on screens.
Use line breaks between ideas for better flow. Packed sentences are hard to read.

With mindful alignment choices, you can craft clean, professional looking slides.

3. Use Concise Text

Using concise text ensures your slides reinforce your talking points rather than compete with them. Here are some tips:

State key ideas in 6 words or less per line. Verbose sentences overload cognitive capacity.
Use fragments and bullet points rather than full sentences. They’re faster to grasp.

Only include 20-30 words max per slide. More and audiences tune out while reading.
Avoid walls of text. Break content into pieces spread across multiple slides instead.

Concise text makes your slides easier for audiences to digest so your verbal message shines through.

4. Animate Text for Emphasis

Animating text draws attention to key ideas and concepts. Use subtle animations judiciously:

Fly in key words as you present them for added oomph.
Fade in bullet points to reveal them one by one as you discuss them.

Use slight builds for words you want to stress, like scale up or brighten effects.
Don’t overdo animations. Use sparingly so they remain impactful. Too many becomes distracting.

Well-placed animations help spotlight your verbal messages during the presentation.

5. Check Formatting Consistency

Inconsistent formatting looks sloppy and reduces overall quality. Be sure to:

Maintain uniform font choices, sizes, and colors across all slides.
Keep alignment consistent – don’t center some titles but left align others, for example.

Check for odd spacing between letters or lines. Tweak as needed for cleanliness.
Ensure properly sized line breaks between paragraphs and list items.

Taking a holistic view of formatting and alignment ensures a polished, professional deck.

Key Takeaways

Working effectively with text is critical for professional PowerPoint slides. Choosing clear, readable fonts, writing concisely, aligning content logically, adding subtle animations, and ensuring formatting consistency gives your text maximum clarity and impact. Mastering these PowerPoint text tips will level up the quality of your next presentation.