changing the font in a pages document?

I have been trying to change the font in a pages document for a while but it doesn't seem to be working. I go to the font bar and make sure that the font I want is selected on the table, and then I hit escape, as I don't see anywhere to save my changes within that tool bar. I'm assuming that that is where my problem is, but I don't know how to fix it. Have yall had any luck with this? Also, I do know that I have to select the text before attempting a font change.