Audio-Visual Guidance
It is essential that all presenters read and follow the advice in these notes
- Presentations should be on CD, USB memory stick or 3.5” floppy disk - (STRICTLY NO LAPTOPS).
- Slides must be in Powerpoint. The presentation computers will support Windows XP and Office XP only. Any other software application requirements must be specifically arranged prior to the conference
- Presentations must be in a PC readable format (if generated on a MAC please put ‘.ppt’ at the end of the presentation title, eg SmithPres becomes SmithPres.ppt).
Production and Preparation
Aspect Ratio :
- Always use Landscape Format (i.e. wider than tall) when creating slides - most conference sets and installations use this format of screen.
- If Portrait format information must be displayed show it full height within a landscape slide and/or split the information over two slides.
- Currently, for direct projection of computer images, a screen resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels should be considered a maximum.
Fonts
- Use large, clear typefaces and consider 18pt the absolute minimum font size, smaller will almost certainly be unreadable.
- Try to use a 'standard' font, some of the more esoteric typefaces do not project well. The use of non standard fonts can also create problems. If the font is not available on the host computer at the conference centre it will be automatically substituted by another, which will very often disrupt the slide layout.
Layout & Content
- Try to be succinct. Text slides should contain key points to reinforce and illustrate your spoken message.
- Use double spacing between lines.
- Use contrasting colours for backgrounds and type - yellow type on a dark blue background is a good example.
Charts & Graphs
- Again try to keep these simple, bold and clear.
- Keeping the legend and values within the guidelines for font sizes as above may give a rough guide as to how much information the graph can contain and remain viewable.
Scanned Images
- Images for use in PowerPoint presentations should not be scanned at too high a resolution. For most practical purposes a resolution of 72dpi is satisfactory for projection. Scanning at higher rates produces very large files which can be slow at loading and restrict the portability of the presentation. Saving the images as Bitmaps (.BMP) produces the largest file sizes, try using the JPEG or other compatible file types for more compact presentations.
Movie Clips
- NB If there are movie clips included in your presentation you MUST bring the original movie files as well as the Powerpoint file otherwise your movie clips will not run. Please ensure that they run in standard player software such as Windows Media Player.
Checking your slides
- As a guide to the clarity of your slides under conference conditions sit back from your monitor and view your presentation. If you are using a 14" monitor the equivalent viewing distance for the back row of an SO' auditorium with an 8' x 6' projection screen is around 12'. If you are struggling to read your slides at this distance then a significant proportion of your audience may also be missing the information.
For further information contact:
Association of Coloproctology of GB & Ireland@ The Royal College of Surgeons of England 35-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields London WC2A 3PE
Tel: +44 (0)20 7973 0307
Fax: +44 (0)20 7430 9235 Email: acpgbi@asgbi.org.uk
© copyright ACPGBI 2006-7
