On-site Oral Presentation Guidelines

Presentation Formats l Slide Design Considerations l Audiovisual Equipment l Uploading Your Presentation

Presentation Formats

We recommend PowerPoint for all users but can accept Adobe PDFs.  If you plan to use something else, please send an email to cstech@optica.org in advance of the meeting so that our IT staff can ensure your presentation will work properly.

The “pack and go” feature of PowerPoint may also be useful if there are video or sound files associated with the presentation. This can be done in PowerPoint by selecting File/Pack and Go. It will create a single compressed file, which will contain all the video and sound files. Once transferred to the meeting room computer, it can be unpacked in Powerpoint.

All video files should be .mp4 saved as H.264 format, so they will run properly on the computers provided. Presentations should be reviewed once transferred to the meeting room computer to be certain the fonts are displayed correctly.

Slide Design Considerations

• The projector ratio is 16:9.
• Make your presentation substantive, not commercial. Limit the use of company/product names. Focus on technical content. Avoid animation or flashy graphics that add no useful information.
• Corporate logos must not distract from content.
• Do not include proprietary or copyrighted material in presentations.
• Use a minimal slide typeface of 24 point and a sans serif typeface such as Helvetica or Arial.
• Avoid using more than 3 colors and types of fonts. Use color for emphasis only. White or yellow lettering on a blue background is attractive and easy to read. Avoid red and green text. Be considerate of those that are colorblind.
• Avoid using more than 3 styles of slide transitions or animations.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Due to licensing restrictions, the use of music in presentations, including video presentations, is prohibited.

Audiovisual Equipment

Each session room will contain the following audiovisual equipment:

• Laptop computer with Windows 10 and MS Office 2019 and Adobe PDF reader
• Podium microphone
• Data projector for computer presentations
• Wireless slide advancer
• Laser pointer
• Screen
• Speaker timer

Uploading Your Presentation

Deadline to Upload: by 07:00 on Day of Presentation

All on-site presenters are required to upload their presentations onto the computer of their assigned presentation room no later than 07:00 on the day or their presentation. Presenters may visit their presentation room during breaks that are longer than 30 minutes or after the sessions have concluded for the day to upload their presentation. (30 minutes prior to each session is reserved for ensuring a smooth hybrid experience.) You should review your presentation in advance of uploading to the computer to make sure all fonts appear as expected and all sound/video clips are working properly. Save your file on a flash drive for easy transfer to the presentation room computer. A folder for each day of the meeting will be pre-loaded on the computer. Your presentation should be saved in the appropriate day’s folder by your presentation ID.  Please make sure you have all power, video and networking adapters. 

A room monitor and audiovidual (AV) person will be in every meeting room no later than 15 minutes prior to the session to provide instructions on pulling up your presentation in the computer at the podium to ensure a smooth integration of on-site and remote speakers and participants. Be sure to arrive to your session no later than 15 minutes before the session start time to receive these instructions. 

All files will be destroyed, and the computer hard drives will be reformatted, at the end of the meeting.