What is the best font for a presentation?

One you can read from the back of the room: tall lowercase letters, generous widths and even strokes. By those measures Inter leads, its x-height 54.6% of the em and its letters 53.6% wide; Open Sans and Poppins come next.

How do I add fonts to Google Slides?

In the font menu choose More fonts, search for the font and select it, and it joins the menu. All 16 are Google Fonts families, and Google says most of its families can be added this way.

How do I keep my fonts in a PowerPoint I send?

Embed them: in PowerPoint choose File, Options, Save and tick Embed fonts in the file, and Microsoft’s help has the rest. Every licence here allows a font to be embedded in a document, so the file opens in the same fonts on another computer.

Should slides use a serif or a sans serif?

Either, if the letters are big, wide and even, but few serifs pass that test: of the 49 fonts that do, 4 are serifs, and 2 of the 4 shown are slabs, whose serifs are as heavy as their strokes.

Are these fonts free for work presentations?

Yes, for talks, client decks and sales pitches alike: all 16 come under the SIL Open Font License. Embedding them in the deck you send is allowed too.

Best fonts for presentations

Slides are read from across a room, so their fonts need big lowercase letters, generous widths, strokes without hairlines and a bold for titles. Inter, Open Sans, Poppins and Plus Jakarta Sans pass all of that by our measures, and every pick is in Google Slides; for PowerPoint, install the font and embed it.

Pass the rule: 49 of 2,035; of all the fonts we measured
Shown: 16; the most used first, one of a family
Commercial use: 16 of 16; every licence here allows it
In Google Docs: 16 of 16; most likely, under More fonts; Slides too

01 / The picks

16 fonts for slides

A plain sans serif or serif with an x-height of 53% of the em or more, a width of 50% or more, contrast of 1.5 : 1 or less, a bold or heavier, and in Google Slides.

Sans serifs

45 pass · 12 shown

Set the first 6 in your own words

Serifs

4 pass · 4 shown

Set these 4 in your own words

02 / Apps

Slides and PowerPoint

Where each pick already works, and how to take it with you.

Google Slides
All 16 picks are Google Fonts families, so Google Slides most likely has them: open the font menu, choose More fonts and search for the name.
PowerPoint
None is one of Microsoft 365’s cloud fonts, so install the font first, then in PowerPoint choose File, Options, Save and tick Embed fonts in the file: the deck then shows its fonts on a computer without them. Microsoft’s help lists the versions that can, Mac ones included.

03 / Questions

Presentation fonts, answered

What is the best font for a presentation?: One you can read from the back of the room: tall lowercase letters, generous widths and even strokes. By those measures Inter leads, its x-height 54.6% of the em and its letters 53.6% wide; Open Sans and Poppins come next.
How do I add fonts to Google Slides?: In the font menu choose More fonts, search for the font and select it, and it joins the menu. All 16 are Google Fonts families, and Google says most of its families can be added this way.
How do I keep my fonts in a PowerPoint I send?: Embed them: in PowerPoint choose File, Options, Save and tick Embed fonts in the file, and Microsoft’s help has the rest. Every licence here allows a font to be embedded in a document, so the file opens in the same fonts on another computer.
Should slides use a serif or a sans serif?: Either, if the letters are big, wide and even, but few serifs pass that test: of the 49 fonts that do, 4 are serifs, and 2 of the 4 shown are slabs, whose serifs are as heavy as their strokes.
Are these fonts free for work presentations?: Yes, for talks, client decks and sales pitches alike: all 16 come under the SIL Open Font License. Embedding them in the deck you send is allowed too.