Optimizing PowerPoint Presentations for YouTube: Font Size and Style for Smartphone Viewing

Creating a PowerPoint presentation for display on YouTube, specifically for viewing on smartphones, requires careful consideration of font size and type to ensure clarity and readability. Here are some guidelines to help you optimize your presentation for your audience.

Minimum Font Size

Title Text

For visibility on smaller screens, your title text should be at least 36-44 points. This ensures that your title is clearly visible even when viewed from a distance or on a small device.

Body Text

Your body text should be at least 24-32 points. This size is generally readable from a distance and on smaller devices, making it easier for viewers to read while scrolling through their feeds on their smartphones.

Best Font Types

Sans-serif fonts are typically more readable on screens and are highly recommended. Some popular choices for a clean and sleek appearance include:

Arial Helvetica Verdana Roboto Open Sans

Additional Tips for Clear Presentation

Contrast

Use high contrast between text and background to ensure that text is easily readable. For example, use dark text on a light background or vice versa.

Spacing

Adequate line spacing (1.5 to 2.0) improves readability and helps the text stand out. This is especially important for maintaining a clean visual appearance and ensuring that each line is distinct and legible.

Keep It Simple

Avoid overly decorative fonts that can be difficult to read, especially at smaller sizes. Use minimal and straightforward design elements to ensure that your presentation is clear and engaging.

Test on Devices

If possible, preview your presentation on a smartphone to ensure that it is legible before finalizing. This step is crucial to ensure that your presentation is effective and engaging for viewers on YouTube, particularly those using smartphones.

Perception and Information Absorption

There is no hard and fast answer to your question about font size and type. Each font can have a different apparent size, and the actual size can vary depending on the settings you choose for your PowerPoint presentation.

Instead of focusing on strict font sizes, focus on perception and how much information people can actually absorb. Make sure the content of your slide is minimal, informative, and essential. People watch YouTube on smartphones in small windows, on a PC in a full-screen window, on ChromeCast, or Apple TV. Plan for the lowest common denominator but still be appealing in other contexts.

You will know you are succeeding if you focus on one idea per slide with minimal distraction. If someone has to pause playback to read your slides, there is far too much information on the slide.

There are many other factors to consider, such as whether your presentation is simply slides set to music, if you are narrating the whole time, or if it cuts from slides to the presenter on camera. All of these change how the information is absorbed by the viewer.

One important rule is to test your video on anyone other than yourself. You know your information inside and out, so you will 'read' it much faster than someone who is trying to digest what you are telling them for the first time.

As Albert Einstein (or possibly someone else) wisely stated, 'If you can't explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.' This quote emphasizes the importance of simplicity and clarity in your presentations.