Information for ASLE 2007 presenters
Rooms:
All rooms used for concurrent sessions at Wofford College are fully equipped with the latest technology. Each room has a computer with Microsoft Office 2003 (PowerPoint, Word, Excel), internet access, CD and DVD player, LCD projector and a large projection screen. There is also a presenter (a modern version of an opaque projector) that can be used to display pictures or pages of text on the big screen (therefore, you will not need an overhead projector or transparencies). All rooms also have white boards or black boards (and we will do our best to keep them equipped with erasable markers or chalk). A few seminar-style rooms do not have computer access and can be requested by workgroup leaders or panel chairs as desired, and we’ll do our best to accommodate your request. These are photos of the available rooms:
Bring a portable copy of your computer presentation with you:
If you will be using the technology during your presentation, please bring either or both of the following:
1. A USB Flash Drive (see picture) with your presentation saved on it
2. a CD or DVD with your presentation burned onto it
While a personal laptop can be plugged into the system (with appropriate plug-in adaptor for Macintosh users), this option can be cumbersome and delay the transition from one speaker to another. We prefer that you have a CD or Flash Drive copy of your presentation.
Load your presentation in advance of your session:
To prevent wasted time between speakers, be sure to load your presentation into the ASLE folder on the computer’s desktop before your session begins (you may do this between sessions at any time during the conference). The presentation should be saved as your last name, day, and general time of your session, for example: GoldeyWedAM.ppt. After the conference ends, all of these files will be erased from the computers.
PowerPoint advice:
Photos and other still images: If you are adding pictures to a PowerPoint slide show, you should reduce the size of those pictures BEFORE inserting them into your presentation. One way to do this is to open the picture first in Adobe Photoshop Elements, then resize the image to approximately 600 pixels in width (height will change automatically). Then select “save the file for Web.” The resulting “Web image” will be crisp and sharp when displayed in a presentation, and your presentation will run smoothly on any computer because the overall size of your file will remain small. Very large files of four mebabytes or more can cause any computer to stall in mid presentation as it goes to load the next image.
Video:
If you plan to use video clips in your PowerPoint presentation, they should be digitized and embedded within your show. Be sure to download the movie file with your PowerPoint file when you save your show onto CD or flashdrive and when you save your presentation on the classroom computer in the room you will be using. To avoid a “stuttering” show of your video clip, you should be sure to do a practice run of the presentation immediately prior to the start of your session. That way it will be loaded into the computer’s memory and ready to go.
Text:
Less is more when it comes to the amount of text on a slide. A font size of at least 28 is recommended if you want your audience to be able to read what’s there. Another room of thumb is not to have more than three or four phrases (bullet points) of text. If you can’t fit all that you want to say on a slide, that’s a sure sign that you should just read your text to the audience and not put it on a slide.
Color:
There should be as much contrast as possible between the text and background color of your slides (i.e., white background with black/navy text or vice versa).
Slide and text transitions: Some people in your audience may find “moving text” distracting. Same goes for slide transitions that “zoom” onto the screen. If you want to “build” a slide so that your audience doesn’t see what you’re going to say next, a safe bet is to use the simple “appear” choice for transitions.