GUIDELINES FOR POSTER PRESENTATIONS


GUIDELINES FOR ORAL PRESENTATIONS

 

Contributed talks are each allocated a 20-minute time slot; however, formal presentations should be only 15 minutes in length, allowing five minutes for questions and discussion. All invited talks are allocated 45 minutes, of which 5-10 minutes should be reserved for questions and discussion.

 

Standard equipment for oral presentations will include a computer projector, lapel microphone (for the speaker), and stereo audio hookup (standard stereo microphone jack connected to the stereo sound system in the conference auditorium). If you will not be giving the presentation from your own laptop, you can email ICAD2003@cns.bu.edu by June 20, 2003 to arrange for a method for transferring your presentation to a computer here in Boston.

 

Please note that we are not planning on providing an overhead projector or a slide projector unless there are specific requests for this equipment. If you require A/V equipment beyond a computer projector and stereo audio, contact ICAD2003@cns.bu.edu as soon as possible so that we can try to accommodate your requests.

 

It is the personal responsibility of each speaker to test his/her presentation (including his/her own laptop) with the computer projection system during the break preceding the session in which the presentation is scheduled. Technical assistance will be available at the meeting. Presenters whose computers fail to project for any reason will not be granted extra time. To further smooth transitions, please be prepared to set up your presentation (start your laptop, etc.) during the discussion period for the preceding speaker.

 

Computer projector resolution (e.g., 600 by 800 pixels) is typically lower than screen resolution, and, when viewed from the rear of a meeting room, the image will appear smaller than that of a computer screen viewed normally.

 

Suggestions for smooth, effective computer presentations

 

1. Set your computer's screen resolution to 600 by 800 pixels or to the resolution indicated by the AV technical support. If it looks OK, it will probably look OK to your audience during your presentation.

 

2. Use all of the available screen area. If a page in portrait orientation is displayed in landscape orientation computer projection, the two sides of the projected image will be blank, effectively shrinking the text size. All documents/figures should be created in landscape orientation with very thin margins, thereby making maximum use of the (limited) resolution of the computer projector.

 

3. No more than 2 graphs/plots/figures should be included on a single slide. Use large lettering for axis labels and bold fonts for the numbers. Remember that graphics can be animated or quickly toggled among several options: comparisons between figures may be made temporally rather than spatially.

 

4. Avoid fonts with thin line elements. If using a thin font, make it bold to widen the minimum line width. Avoid thin lines, which may look fine when viewed on the high screen resolution setting but will fade or disappear at a lower screen resolution.

 

5. Contrasts must be enhanced in computer-projected documents for good visibility. Use dark backgrounds with lighter (contrasting) lettering, rather than white backgrounds with dark lettering. Avoid "busy" backgrounds, and keep text and figures simple and large.

 

6. Avoid the use of red, especially on purple or green backgrounds. People with common color blindness will not see figures in red if they are backed by similar colors.

 

7. Avoid large borders and logos of institutions as these leave a reduced area for actual data and graphs. If such borders or logos are necessary, place them at the bottom of the slide so that your technical data appears at the top of the projected image.

 

8. Animations often run more slowly on laptops connected to computer video projectors than when not connected. Test the effectiveness of your animations before your presentation. Avoid real-time calculations.

 

9. It is good protocol to initiate your slide show (e.g., run PowerPoint) immediately after connecting your computer, so the audience doesn't have to wait. If there are any problems, the session chair or a designated helper will endeavor to assist you, but it is your responsibility to ensure that the technical details have been worked out ahead of time.

 

10. Make sure you have a backup of your presentation on floppy, ZIP disk, PCMCIA memory card, or equivalent, in case your hard disk crashes or its files become corrupted.

 

11. During the presentation have your laptop running with main power instead of using battery power to ensure that the laptop is running at full CPU speed. This will also guarantee that your laptop does not run out of power during your presentation.

 

GUIDELINES FOR POSTER PRESENTATIONS

 

While the ³official² poster session time is from 3:30 p.m. ­ 5:00 p.m. on Monday, July 7, all posters should be put up for display prior to lunch on Monday, July 7 and remain up through lunch on Wednesday, July 9.

 

All posters will be displayed in a reception area just outside the main conference meeting room. Conference registration, breakfasts, lunches, and coffee breaks will be held in the same reception area. The conference schedule was specifically designed with ample refreshment breaks to be held in and around the posters in order to encourage informal scientific and technical discussions throughout the conference. Roughly half of all of the presentations in the ICAD 2003 program are poster presentations.

 

A board approximately 8 ft. (2.44 meters) wide x 4 ft. (1.44 meters) high will be provided for the display of each poster. Supplies for attaching the poster material to the display boards will be provided. Each board will be marked with the poster number. All posters should include a prominent display of the poster number, title, and author(s) in lettering at least 1-1/2 inch (25.4-12.7mm) high.

 

A poster paper should be able to ³stand alone,² that is, be understandable even if the author is not present to explain, discuss, and answer questions. This is particularly important because the posters will be on display throughout the conference, and the author may not always be present. In addition, when the author is engaged in discussion with one person, others may want to study the display without interrupting an ongoing dialogue.

 

To maximize the effectiveness of the poster, keep the presentation simple and clear, even if the topic is complex. There should be an overall balance between text and graphics and clearly labeled sequence in the order of the layout.

 

Arrange materials in vertical columns rather than a horizontal row format. It is easier for viewers to scan a poster by moving systematically along it rather than a zig zagging back and forth in front of it. Simple by prominent sub-headings like "Introduction", "Methods", "Discussion", and "Conclusions" are very helpful.

 

Lettering:

 

Lettering of the titles and text in the poster should be large enough so it can be read from a distance of 3 to 8 feet (90 to 250 cm).

 

General text should be in lower case, as this is much easier to read and should be double-spaced. Minimum suggested font sizes are

Titles: 1.5 inch (3.8 cm) or 96 point

Subtitles: 3/4 inch (2.0 cm) or 48 point

Text, including any lettering on graphs or figures: 1/4 inch (0.7 cm) or 24 point.

 

Graphics:

 

One word: Simplify! Complex graphs are difficult to read and comprehend. Lines on the graph no thinner than 2 mm. Simple use of color can add emphasis effectively. Each graph should have a heading of 1 or 2 lines stating the take-home message. Detailed information should be provided in a legend accompanying each graph. Overall graph size should not be smaller than 5" x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm).

 

Photographs:

 

Photographs and micrographs should have good contrast and sharp focus and should not contain unnecessary or distracting detail. Important objects should be labeled, and there should be clear indication of scale. Each photograph should have a heading of 1 or 2 lines stating the take-home message. Detailed information should be provided in a legend accompanying each photograph.

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