When preparing a pitch deck for investors, every design choice carries weight—none more so than your choice of typography. Typography is more than just selecting fonts; it’s about using type to communicate effectively, clearly, and with intention. For an investor pitch deck, where your primary goal is to convey a compelling message quickly and persuasively, typography must enhance—not distract from—your story. In this article, we’ll explore typography best practices that help ensure your pitch deck communicates clearly, professionally, and confidently.
The Role of Typography in a Pitch Deck
Typography plays a crucial role in setting the tone of your presentation. It influences how your audience perceives your brand, processes your content, and retains your message. For pitch decks, where attention spans are short and clarity is essential, typography must be deliberate and functional.
Investors skim through dozens, sometimes hundreds, of decks weekly. A well-structured pitch deck with clear and readable typography gives you an immediate advantage. It communicates that you understand the importance of good design and value your audience’s time.
1. Choose Readable, Professional Fonts
The first rule of effective pitch deck typography is choosing the right typeface. While there are thousands of fonts to choose from, not all are suitable for business presentations.
Sans-serif fonts such as Helvetica, Arial, Open Sans, Roboto, and Lato are commonly used in pitch decks due to their clean and modern appearance. These fonts lack the decorative “feet” of serif fonts, making them more readable on screens.
Avoid overly stylized or novelty fonts that may look artistic but are hard to read. These include script fonts, handwritten styles, or anything that mimics calligraphy. Remember: clarity beats creativity in typography choices for a pitch deck.
If you want to introduce a unique visual identity, consider using a custom font sparingly—perhaps only for headings or your company name. Pair it with a neutral, legible font for body text to maintain readability.
2. Limit Your Font Choices
A common mistake in pitch decks is using too many different fonts. This creates visual chaos and reduces the cohesiveness of your presentation.
Stick to two font families at most—one for headings and one for body text. A good pairing creates visual hierarchy and allows the reader to differentiate between content types quickly.
For example, you might use Montserrat for headings and Roboto for body text. These fonts complement each other well and maintain a clean, professional aesthetic.
3. Establish a Clear Visual Hierarchy
Typography should guide the reader’s eye through the content in a logical flow. A strong visual hierarchy ensures that your most important messages stand out, while supporting information is easy to digest.
Here are some ways to build hierarchy using typography:
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Font size: Make headings larger than subheadings, and subheadings larger than body text.
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Font weight: Use bold for emphasis on titles or key data points.
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Color: A contrasting color for headings can help them stand out, but be cautious not to overuse bright or distracting colors.
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Capitalization and spacing: Use uppercase letters sparingly, usually only for short headings or labels. Proper line spacing (also known as leading) helps maintain readability.
Each slide should clearly signal what’s most important and where the viewer should focus first.
4. Be Consistent with Text Styles
Consistency in typography helps build trust and makes your pitch deck feel polished and professional. Inconsistent font sizes, weights, or alignments can be distracting and signal a lack of attention to detail.
Define and stick to text styles throughout the deck. For example:
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Slide titles: Montserrat, 36pt, Bold
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Subheadings: Montserrat, 24pt, Regular
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Body text: Roboto, 16pt, Regular
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Captions or data labels: Roboto, 12pt, Light
Apply the same formatting to each section. You can even create a style guide for your pitch deck to ensure consistency across every slide.
5. Mind Your Font Sizes
One of the most important aspects of typography in a pitch deck is legibility, especially if you’re presenting to a room or sharing a screen over a video call.
Avoid small font sizes—nothing below 16pt for body text. For headings, 28pt to 44pt is a good range, depending on your layout. Subheadings and other supplementary text can fall between 18pt and 24pt.
Test your slides at a distance or on a projector to make sure all text is readable. Remember, if your audience can’t read it easily, your message is lost.
6. Use Adequate Line Spacing and Letter Spacing
Crowded text is hard to read. Make your pitch deck more digestible by adjusting line spacing (leading) and letter spacing (tracking or kerning).
As a rule of thumb:
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Line spacing: 1.2x to 1.5x the font size for body text.
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Letter spacing: Avoid cramming letters too tightly, especially in headings.
Good spacing creates breathing room around your content and makes it easier for your audience to absorb information quickly.
7. Align Text Properly
Alignment plays a critical role in how your typography is perceived. Left-aligned text is the most readable for Western audiences because it follows the natural reading direction.
Avoid using center or justified alignment for body text, as it can create awkward spacing and reduce readability. However, centering can work well for slide titles or short statements that stand alone.
Ensure your text is consistently aligned across all slides—this small detail goes a long way in maintaining visual harmony.
8. Use Text to Complement Visuals, Not Compete with Them
Your investor pitch deck should be visually engaging, and that means balancing text with images, icons, and charts. Avoid overcrowding slides with paragraphs of text.
Use typography strategically:
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Bullet points for key ideas
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Short phrases instead of full sentences
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Highlighted keywords to draw attention
Let your slides support your verbal narrative, not replace it. Typography should aid comprehension, not overwhelm the viewer.
9. Color Contrast Is Crucial
Text must be legible against the background. This is where contrast comes in. High contrast between text and background improves readability and accessibility.
For example:
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Dark text on a light background (e.g., black on white)
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Light text on a dark background (e.g., white on navy)
Avoid placing text over busy images unless you add a semi-transparent overlay or use a contrasting text box. Also, be mindful of color-blind users—use text styles and weights, not just color, to convey emphasis.
10. Typography and Branding
Your pitch deck is a reflection of your startup’s brand. Typography is one of the most powerful elements in shaping that identity.
If your startup has a brand guideline, incorporate the brand fonts into your investor pitch deck—while still ensuring they meet all the readability and accessibility standards discussed above.
Fonts, colors, and spacing all communicate tone. For example, a fintech startup might use a modern, sleek typeface to reflect trust and professionalism. A lifestyle brand might opt for softer, rounder fonts that convey friendliness and creativity.
Just make sure your branding aligns with your message and your audience’s expectations.
11. Test Across Devices and Formats
A well-designed pitch deck should work seamlessly across different formats: laptops, tablets, projectors, and even PDFs emailed to investors.
Always test your typography choices on multiple devices. What looks sharp on a MacBook might look crowded or blurry on a tablet. Fonts may also render differently across platforms.
If you’re sharing the deck as a PDF, embed your fonts to prevent formatting issues. Many design programs like PowerPoint, Keynote, and Adobe InDesign offer this option.
12. Avoid All Caps in Long Text Blocks
All caps can be useful for short headings or labels but become hard to read in longer paragraphs. This is because uppercase letters lack the variation in shape that helps our eyes distinguish between words quickly.
Use all caps sparingly and only where necessary—for instance, section titles or callouts. For body text, sentence or title case is far more readable.
13. Don’t Rely on Typography Alone for Emphasis
It’s tempting to use bold or italic text to emphasize your points, but avoid overusing these features. If everything is bold, nothing stands out.
Instead, use emphasis strategically and combine it with other techniques—like color, size, or spacing—to create a hierarchy that’s easy to scan.
For example, emphasize a key financial figure by making it bold and slightly larger. Use a subtle highlight or background shape to draw the eye to a quote or testimonial.
14. Use Slide Templates and Master Styles
If you’re using PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote, take advantage of master slides and templates. Set your typography rules here—fonts, sizes, spacing—so that each new slide follows the same structure.
This saves time and ensures consistency, especially if you’re collaborating with a team or revising the deck frequently.
Templates also help align typography with the overall design structure of the deck, including grid systems and margins.
15. Prioritize Simplicity Over Decoration
When in doubt, simplify. The best typography in pitch decks doesn’t draw attention to itself. It works quietly in the background to support your story.
Avoid over-decorating your slides with drop shadows, word art, gradients, or elaborate animations. Stick to clean, purposeful type.
Remember, your investor pitch deck is not a poster or an art project—it’s a communication tool.
Final Thoughts
Strong typography is the foundation of clear, persuasive communication in a pitch deck. It helps investors understand your value proposition, digest key data, and remember your message—all of which are critical to securing funding.
By focusing on readability, consistency, hierarchy, and brand alignment, you can craft a visually professional investor pitch deck that enhances your narrative and engages your audience.
Typography may seem like a small design detail, but when executed well, it can be the difference between a compelling presentation and one that gets lost in the shuffle.
