Add space between paragraphs in Beamer

I had the same problem: blank lines in latex articles produces a clearly separated paragraph, but in Beamer, with the limited space and no indentation, the default new paragraph is does not strikingly separate the paragraphs.

My hack solution was to append the following latex code to the end of the paragraph that should have the space.

\\~\

For example, try inserting this into a Beamer latex file:

\frame{
  This is text that should have a blank line after it. \\~\\
  Here is text following a blank line.
}

I've noticed this too when preparing slides. Rather than have two paragraphs and separate them with vertical space explicitly, I've often used one of the following workarounds:

  • convert each of the paragraphs you want to split to a block-like environment such as theorem, question, answer, etc. That way (in my theme, at least) they get boxed and visually separated.

  • if the two paragraphs are supporting material to the same point, use an itemize enviroment and make each its own \item. Then you get some vertical separation and a visual cue (bullet, triangle, or anything else you want) indicating that these are separate ideas.

Either one of these will make the frame more readable.


I'm not sure exactly what you want, but perhaps you'll find the tex command \vfill to be useful. I often put that between chunks of text so they get spaced out over the slide, which makes the slide easier for the viewer.

My other hint, as a long-time lecturer and audience member, is to use as few words as possible. Use slides for diagrams (in technical talks) or pretty pictures that evoke changing themes (in non-technical talks). Avoid paragraphs, and even sentences. Don't force audience members to decide whether to listen to you or read your material.