Guidelines for Speakers and Chairs

General Presentation Guidelines
Guidelines for PowerPoint Presentations
Guidelines for Chairpersons
Question & Answer Session Procedures

General Presentation Guidelines

Preview Facilities

The Speaker Preview Room will open at 07:30hrs each day of the conference and presentations should be handed in here the afternoon before for morning presentations and between 08:00 and 12:00 for an afternoon session the same day. Speakers who are presenting on the first morning of the conference need to check into the Speaker Preview Room at 08:00hrs that morning.
The Speaker Preview room is equipped with PCs running PowerPoint 2007, Office & Photoshop, and supported by PowerPoint technicians. PLEASE NOTE THAT WINDOWS VISTA WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE.

Presentations may be transferred via USB device, CD-R, DVD or ZIP [250 & 100].

Additional PC’s may be available for rehearsal.

Facilities to preview and present with 35mm slides, video tape, DVD or OHT are available by prior arrangement only.

During busy periods, if your session is more than one day ahead, you may be asked to return at a mutually convenient time.

If speakers have any doubts about procedures, always seek advice from the technical staff within the Speaker Preview room.

Presentation Facilities

• Projection facilities for PowerPoint are available in ALL session halls.
  
  
• Speakers will not be permitted to use their own laptops for their presentations, as there will be insufficient time between papers to connect and disconnect individual computers: speakers must use the supplied computer hardware.
  
  
• The presentation will be saved to the show computer during check-in at the preview room.
  
  
• A 19’’ relay monitor will be situated on the floor next to the lectern to view the presentation and a remote automatic cue for slide advance with forward, backward and black out will be provided.
  
  
• A technician or stage manager will be available in the Speaker Preview room to assist with any final enquiries, please attend at least 15 minutes prior to the session start.

Guidelines for PowerPoint Presentations

• To clearly identify your presentation, please save it with your given & family name as part of the file name i.e. jane_smith.ppt.; with any additional information required following EG: john_smith_paper2.ppt
  
  
• Please ensure your first slide is a title slide stating - your name, presentation title and affiliation.
  
  
• Please choose the “On screen show” output within the “slide set up” menu when creating your presentation: this option will be checked by the preview technician and may alter the formatting or layout of your slides.
  
  
• Video files used in the presentation should be saved to the same storage media as the main .ppt file.

• Video files will be set up to play once the slide forward button is pressed by the presenter. The speaker preview technicians will ensure that the videos are all working properly.

• Non-standard codecs used to render and playback video files should also be included with the presentation.
  
  
• Inserted image files - the final display resolution will be 1024 x 768 pixels, therefore it is unnecessary to insert graphics at a higher resolution, as it will not enhance the image, and may slow down the loading of slides during the presentation.
  
  
• Graphics, written or tabular material must be of adequate size to be clearly visible to all delegates, even at the back of the hall. In general, it should not exceed 5-6 lines of bold print containing 6 - 7 words per line. If a larger amount of information needs to be presented, it should be split into several slides.
  
  
• Keep your material simple.
  
  
• Essential information should be large and bold.
  
  
• Slides are easier to read when there is a high contrast between the text and the background (e.g. white/yellow letters on a black/dark blue/dark green background). Avoid using black text.
  
  
• Line graphs and simple drawings are more effective than tables of figures.
  
  
• Keep slide transitions simple and consistent.
  

Guidelines for Chairpersons

Session Hall Set-up

Each session hall is equipped with a screen, a speaker’s lectern with remote control and a tribunal table, which can accommodate chairpersons and speakers if required for panel discussions.

The tribunal table is equipped with a 19’’ relay monitor and fixed microphones to enable chairpersons to co-ordinate introductions and proceedings without having to stand at the lectern.

A complement of AV technicians are provided within each session hall to operate the equipment provided and assist with other logistical arrangements.

Fixed audience microphones are provided in the aisles for question and answer sessions.

Question & Answer Session Procedures

• Please outline question and answer procedures to the audience as part of your introductory remarks.
  
  
• Fixed numbered stand microphones will be situated at strategic points in the aisles; delegates should be asked to go to these in order to ask questions.
  
  
• The chairperson should take questions by calling the appropriate microphone number. It essential that the number is announced in order to allow the sound technician to activate the appropriate microphone.
  
  
• Please ask the audience member to give their name, followed by their institution and country before asking their question.
  
  
• Audience members should be discouraged from asking questions without the aid of microphones, as the question may not be heard clearly in parts of the hall. If this does happen, then the chairperson should repeat the question to ensure that it has been clearly understood.
  
  
• There will be an opportunity to discuss all procedures with the Technicians prior to the start of each session or by visiting the Speaker Preview room.