Adding curved text to your Google Slides presentations can make your titles and headings stand out. Curved text helps guide the viewer’s eye and adds visual interest to your slides.

In this blog post, you’ll learn several methods for curving text in Google Slides, including using the arc text box tool and applying text rotation. We’ll also cover tips for formatting curved text to optimize readability.

Benefits of Curving Text in Presentations

Before we dive into the how-to, let’s look at some of the reasons you may want to curve text in your next Google Slides presentation:

Directs focus – Curved text naturally draws the viewer’s gaze, making it ideal for slide titles and section headers. This helps reinforce the organization of your content.
Adds visual interest – Simple and subtle curved text gives presentations a more dynamic, professional look compared to plain straight text.
Stands out from standard text – Curving certain lines of text, like quotes, makes them pop out and appear more prominent.

Guides flow – Subtly curving body text can help direct the flow of information for readers.

How to Curve Text Using the Arc Tool

The easiest way to curve text in Google Slides is by using the arc text box tool. Here are the basic steps:

Select the text box tool from the toolbar and choose the arc option.

Click and drag your mouse on the slide to draw an arched text box.
Release the mouse and then type or paste your text inside the box. It will automatically curve to fit.

Tips for formatting arc text boxes:

Resize and rotate the arc to achieve different shapes and curvature direction
Reduce the arc angle for subtler curving
Center align your text or justify it

Play with font styles and sizes – larger fonts over 20 pt tend to look best

Curving Text by Adding Rotation

If you want to curve text that’s already in a standard text box, you can add curvature through text rotation:

Select the text you want to curve.

Click the circular arrow icon in the toolbar to open text rotation options.
Choose either vertical or horizontal rotation modes.
Rotate the text in increments between -90 to 90 degrees, clicking apply after each adjustment.

Formatting tips for rotated text:

Angle text rotation around 45 degrees for visible, but moderate curving
Use larger font sizes over 18 pt so text remains clear when rotated

Short 1-3 word phrases tend to curve best using this method

Best Practices for Readability

When curving text, especially body text, keep readability in mind:

Use subtle curvature and avoid bending text beyond 45 degrees

Increase font size and decrease curvature amount for small arcs
Limit curved text to short headings and phrases
Avoid curving numerous lines of body text which strains readability

Consider alternating curved and non-curved lines
Left align rotated text to keep the end-line consistent

Enhancing Curved Text with Styles and Effects

Finally, apply styling to your curved text to make it stand out:

Shadows – Layering shadows behind the text adds depth
3D effects – Add bevels and 3D rotation for extra dimension
Underline/Strikethrough – Draws attention along the curve

Borders and outlines – Outline the text to make it pop
Bright colors – Vibrant fills make curved text more eye-catching

Take time to experiment with the curvature tools to find what works best for your presentation content. Subtle, sparing use of curved text often has the greatest visual impact.

Conclusion

Adding curvature to your text is an easy way make titles and phrases stand out in your Google Slides presentations. Use the built-in arc text box tool or rotate existing text boxes to create appealing curves. Keep readability in mind when formatting curved text – go for short lines, larger fonts, and moderate angles.

Enhancing curved text with styles, effects, and graphical elements helps the text stand out while complementing your presentation’s overall visual theme.