How To Outline Text in Google Slides in 2 Minutes

Adding outlines to text in Google Slides is an easy way to make key points stand out in your presentation. With just a few clicks, you can apply stylish outlines to titles, subtitles, quotes, and more. This simple formatting trick makes text pop off the slide, directing your audience’s attention to the most important ideas you want to convey.

In this simple, step-by-step guide, you’ll learn how to add outlines around text in Google Slides in only 2 minutes. Whether you want to highlight a inspirational quote or make a section header grab interest, outlines add visual emphasis exactly where you want it.

Why Use Outlined Text in Google Slides

Before we dig into the easy how-to, let’s look at some of the top reasons to use outlined text in your next Google Slides presentation:

  • Draws attention – Outlines make text stand out, immediately directing your audience’s gaze. This allows you to highlight key ideas, quotes, and titles that you really want to emphasize in your talk.
  • Looks professional – The clean, sharp lines of outlined text give a polished, professional look to your slides. This subtle touch makes content appear well-designed and thoughtfully composed.
  • Guides the narrative – Outlined text can help you visually walk your audience through key themes, topics, or sections. The outlines almost serve as visual cues guiding viewers from one important idea to the next.
  • Breaks up word-heavy slides – Large blocks of text can make slides feel cluttered or boring. A few outlined words, quotes, or titles spaced throughout the content makes every slide feel cleaner and easier to digest.
  • Memorable impact – If you outline just a few choice words or phrases per slide, they stay etched in the audience’s memory long after the presentation ends. Less is more when it comes to outlined text.

Now that you know why outlined text rocks, let’s look at how to add this nifty formatting in Google Slides super fast.

Step-by-Step Guide to Outlining Text

Without further ado, here is an easy, 2-minute step-by-step tutorial on outlining text in Google Slides:

1. Select the Text to Outline

  • Open your presentation in Google Slides and navigate to the slide you want to edit.
  • Using your cursor, click and drag to highlight the text you want to outline. You can select a single word, full sentence, multiple paragraphs – whatever content you want to make stand out.

2. Open the Text Formatting Menu

  • With your text selected, look in the toolbar at the top of the screen for the text formatting menu. This has options like font style, size, color, alignment, spacing, etc.
  • Click the small down arrow to the right side of this toolbar to open a dropdown menu.

3. Click “Text Outline”

  • In the text formatting dropdown menu, click the option called “Text Outline.”
  • This is typically the bottom option in the menu. Clicking it will automatically add a black outline to the selected text.

4. Customize Outline Color and Weight

  • If you want to customize the outline color or thickness, click back into the text formatting dropdown menu.
  • You should now see outline-specific formatting options for changing color and adjusting outline weight (thickness of the lines).
  • Play around with different settings to see which outlined style you like best!

And that’s seriously all there is to it! With this simple 4-step process, you can start adding outlines to text elements in Google Slides in just 2 minutes flat.

Outlining Text Like a Pro

Now that you know how to add basic outlines, let’s go over some pro tips for using outlined text effectively:

  • Use sparingly – The more text you outline on each slide, the less impact it makes. Stick to one or two key words/phrases per slide for maximum emphasis.
  • Pair with other formatting – Outlines look great combined with bold, italic, underline, font variations, text boxes, etc. Layer on other formatting for even more focus.
  • Experiment with colors – Fiddle with different outline hues than basic black. Bright accent colors make excellent contrasts against dark slide backgrounds.
  • Highlight meaningful quotes – Outlining inspiring quotes, testimonials or key statistics makes them pop right off the slide.
  • Use large fonts – Bigger text means thicker, more visible outlines. And the oversized fonts themselves catch viewers’ eyes. It’s a double whammy!
  • Match company branding – If presenting for work, pick outline colors that align with existing brand guidelines. Or talk to marketing about adding an outlined text style to the official branding palette!

Quick Recap and Key Takeaways

Let’s recap what we learned today:

  • Outlined text helps key ideas stand out, guides the presentation narrative, and boosts engagement
  • It only takes 2 minutes to add stylish outlines in Google Slides
  • Simply select text, open formatting toolbar, click “Text Outline”, customize appearance
  • Use outlines sparingly for maximum impact
  • Layer outlines with other formatting for added emphasis
  • Experiment with colors that pop against slide background

The next time you create a Google Slides presentation, remember this easy way to direct your audience’s attention exactly where you want it. Outlined text offers serious wow-factor with just a few simple clicks!