Computer Presentations

All presenters are provided a LCD projector. All presenters using projectors can visit the Technology Support Center, Room M109, Marquis Level, when you arrive at Forum. For presenters who have previously arranged to have Internet access during their session they will be provided with connection details in the Technology Support Center.

AIR does NOT provide laptops, zip drives, floppy drives, or USB drives. If you are bringing a Sony Viao SuperSlim notebook, MAC or PDA to the Forum for use in your presentation make sure that you can plug in an external monitor cable directly to your device, or make sure that you bring your port replicator or the separately available video cables. These parts will NOT be supplied by AIR.

Guidelines for Preparing Computer Presentations

Software and Design Guidelines (e.g. using Microsoft PowerPoint)

Use a simple, proportional, sans serif font. Effective choices are arial, helvetica, geneva (Mac); and arial, universe (IBM). Serif (i.e. Times) or other fancy fonts that look great from a laser printer may not be readable from even the best projectors.

Set the smallest font size at 18 points on your slides. Remember larger is better. Using larger fonts will limit the number of words per slide. THIS IS GOOD! A good rule of thumb is to make sure the slide can be read in less than 7 seconds. You should only put more text on the screen when you want the people to read the slide and NOT listen to you. Many in your audience will find it difficult to do both at the same time so use simple words to focus attention on key thoughts. When using graphs or charts remember that the primary purpose is to illustrate what you can't verbalize. Use graphs to show trends, bar charts to compare magnitudes, pie charts to show portions relative to the whole, and diagrams to explain flow and relationships of parts.

Even the most advanced projection systems can be difficult to see at times. Strive for strong contrast between text and backgrounds. When in doubt use either black text on a light background or white text on a black background. Combinations such as red text on a blue background can often be very hard to read when projected. Patterned backgrounds can also be very difficult. (Ambient light affects contrast by turning rich, deep burgundies and hunter greens into pastels. There's also the issue of colorblindness. About 10% or your audience may have difficulty with reds and greens.) Choosing an appropriate text color for a varying background can be a major challenge. If you are not sure, stick with a solid background color.

Save your presentation as a 'PowerPoint Show' (.pps) and your presentation will open straight into screenshow mode. Set to 'LOOP CONTINUOUSLY UNTIL ESC' ('SLIDE SHOW -> SET UP SHOW'). This prevents your presentation dropping out to PowerPoint after the last slide.

If you created your presentation on your desktop computer and plan to transfer it to your portable, you should make sure that you embed your true type fonts into the presentation PRIOR to saving to a 'pps' file. To do this check the 'EMBED TRUE TYPE FONTS' in the 'TOOLS -> OPTIONS ->SAVE' dialog on PP2000/2003. (Remember that different versions of PowerPoint support different set of features. Make sure that when you move your presentation from one machine to another, that everything still looks as you intended.) Place a shortcut of your .pps file on the desktop to enable you to open your presentation with one click without searching for the file.

Once your presentation is open you can hide your first (or any other) screen until you are ready to start by pressing 'B'' to blackout the screen or ('W' to 'whiteout' the screen) then press the 'B' or 'W' again to reveal the screen when you are ready.

Be familiar with key commands to move around in the slide show if your audience asks to return to earlier screens. (To go back one slide, you can press 'page up' without revealing the menu) In show mode type a number then hit 'enter' to go straight to that screen i.e. '1' then 'enter' to go back to the 1st slide. This is particularly useful if you have a large show for multiple speakers - just make a note of the slide number where each one starts - Quick and Efficient. If it's the sort of presentation where jumping around is part of the objective then add hyperlinks as you create, then all you need to do is click on the relevant button or word to go to the desired slide.

In the unforeseeable likelihood that a technology glitch happens, be prepared with having a ''PLAN B'' in hand. Come prepared with backup overhead transparencies in the event of software or hardware failures.

Rehearse your presentation prior to the Forum.

Hardware Considerations

Set your portable computer's monitor resolution no higher than 1024x768. Resolutions above 1024x768 may not be compatible with the LCD projectors available.

Disable screensavers. (click on the desktop, choose 'PROPERTIES' click the 'SCREENSAVER' tab choose 'NONE') Disable power saving features - you really don't need the screen blacking out on you in the middle of your comments, and your presentation software will change slides faster if your hard disk hasn't gone into sleep mode. These can sometimes be disabled by using the 'POWER' and 'DISPLAY' icons in 'CONTROL PANEL'.

If you requested an Internet connection for your presentation, your presentation will have been scheduled in a room with an internet connection; make sure that your computer's network card has an Ethernet port (RJ45 ) or the proper cables /dongle for connection to an RJ45 jack. Please visit the Technology Support Center, Room M109, Marquis Level, when you arrive at Forum, to get AIR provided connectivity details to connect to the Internet.

Final Check

Before leaving for the Forum, project your overheads onto a screen and verify that they can be read easily from 30 feet (100 feet if your presentation will be in a ballroom).

For additional tips on multimedia presentations go to http://www.presentersuniversity.com/