Guidelines for Presenters at Oral Sessions
Last updated 19 June 2008

In Oral Sessions, twelve minutes have been allotted for each presentation, to include a ten-minute talk plus two minutes for discussion afterwards.

Before the Session:
  • Audiovisual presentations may be reviewed in Room 317A/B of the convention center in Honolulu.   The preview room will be open from 07.00 to 19.00 from Saturday, 18 May, through Thursday, 23 May, and from 07.00 to 13.00 on  Friday, 24 May.
  • Digital video, conventional video, dual 35mm slide projection, and overhead projection will be available in all meeting rooms.
  • Tape formats can be VHS (American standard format) and PAL/SECAM VHS.  Please be sure that your cassette conforms to one of these specifically as no other video formats will be available.
  • All PowerPoint presentations must be brought to the preview room the day before the presentation.   All PowerPoint presentations will be networked and coordinated from the preview room.
  • Please deliver videotapes and slides to the projectionist in your session room at least 15 minutes before the session begins, introduce yourself to the chairs of the session and familiarize yourself with the audiovisual controls
  • To avoid confusion, always mark discs, videotapes, and slide container(s) with your name and address, paper number, and day and time of your presentation.  Mark slide trays "left" or "right" if you wish to use dual projection. 

Special Guidelines for Digital Presentations:
LCD Projection will be with 1024 x 768 pixels resolution.

Please be aware of the following requirements for using digital projection:
1. Presenters WILL NOT be permitted to use their own computer to run their presentations; they must present with the equipment supplied in each session room.  The hardware in session rooms is going to be networked and coordinated from the Preview Room, so presentations must be loaded in the Preview Room.
2.

It is required that you check your disk and load your presentation in the meeting preview room (Room 317A/B) the day before your presentation to ensure compatibility with the hardware provided.

3. Each session hall will be equipped with a PC running Windows ‘98 using Power Point Version 2000.  This is compatible with Power Point versions 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 97. Please do NOT bring any other presentation formats. If you use any software on a MacIntosh, it must be saved in PC/Power Point format.
4. Speakers wishing to use this means of presentation should save their presentation onto a 3.5 inch 1.44 MB high density disk(s). The Power Point  ‘pack and go’ feature should be used for all presentations. Presentations can also be provided on CD ROM or Iomega Zip disk – 250mb and 100mb.  Please note that all AVI files must be included on the disk.  To assist the technicians with the identification of presentations, please save your presentation with your family name as part of the file name i.e. smith.ppt.
5. Previews of the presentation will be available in the preview room. 
6. If you use any other PC or MacIntosh software, please notify Roberta A. Kravitz, ISMRM Director of Meetings, no later than 9 April, for further information and permission.  She can be reached at phone # +1 510-841-1899;  fax # +1 510-841-2340;  E-mail roberta@ismrm.org.
Presenters must be in the session room and contact the A/V projection technician at least 15 minutes before the start of the session.
NOTE: It is possible that some objects cannot be presented. It is always recommended that presenters have a backup conventional presentation in case of failure of the digital version.

Presenting Your Paper:
  • Twelve minutes have been allotted for your oral presentation, to include a ten-minute talk plus two minutes for discussion afterwards.  The time limit will be strictly enforced, so plan accordingly.
  • To present your paper effectively in this limited time, do not attempt to cover too much material. Discuss only the major points of your work, especially the conclusions drawn from your data.
  • Practice your presentation with an audience of at least one until you can present it clearly in ten minutes.  If you use more than your allotted time, the Chair of the session has the right to terminate the presentation.
  • A useful rule for slides or transparencies is to use no more than one (1) for each minute of your presentation.  Please do not use vertical slides, as portions of the slides will be lost above and below the screen.  See the Suggestions for Preparing Slide Presentations (below) for help in preparing slides or transparencies.
  • As for all presentations in oral sessions, video and digital presentations are limited to ten minutes, and will be followed by a two minute  discussion.  Plan your presentation accordingly.

Guidelines for Preparing Slide Presentations

Please observe these basic rules:
  • Each slide should illustrate a single point or idea.
  • Use large, legible letters.
  • Do not crowd the slide.
  • Message slides should contain no more than 7 lines, with 7 or fewer words per line.

General Guidelines:

  • The standard format for slides is 35 mm or 2" x 2" outside frames.  The slides should be mounted in plastic, not cardboard, to withstand the intense heat from the projector without drying out or bending and jamming the machine.

  • Keep the data on slides simple.   If you have a great deal of data, divide it among several slides.  The content of a single slide should be easily comprehended in 20 seconds. Remember: seven lines per slide and seven words per line!

  • Use large, legible letters.  If you can read 35mm/2" x 2" slides without magnification, people in the rear of the room can probably read them on the screen.

  • If your data slides are black and white, white on a black background shows up better than black on a white background.

  • If your data slides are in color, use only light colors, such as white and yellow, on a dark background, such as dark blue.  Do not use colors such as red or purple.

  • Keep slides of radiographs light.  Dense or dark slides project poorly in large rooms.  Enlarging the significant areas and using arrows to point out the specific area or lesion often help.

  • Patient confidentiality must be protected.   No names should appear on the slides.

  • Avoid commercial reference unless mandatory.   A logo or institutional identification should appear only on the first title slide.   Do not use such identification as a header on each slide.

  • Number the slides in the correct sequence and clean them before your presentation.  If you want to use dual projection, remember that both projectors will move forward at the same rate.  Therefore, you should insert blank slides where appropriate, so that your slides remain in the correct order.   Blank slides should be white plastic, since black plastic and cardboard will burn.

  • Limit the number of slides or slide pairs to no more than one (1) for each minute of your presentation.   The slides should not contain your entire presentation. Their purpose is to support your talk and to emphasize the important points.
Word Slides:
  • Title slides should contain five or fewer words.
  • Spaces between lines should be at least the height of an upper case letter.
Tabular Slides:
  • Use graphs rather than tables if possibe.
  • Keep tabular slides as brief as possible.
  • Two or more simple slides are better than one complicated slide.
  • Do now crowd the slides.
  • Make the type as large as possible.
Graph Slides:
  • Keep graphs simple.
  • Round off figures.
  • Limit the number of captions.
  • Use line graphs to show trends or changing relationships.
  • User bar graphs to compare volumes.
Chart Slides:
  • Simplify charts to keep them legible.
  • Break up complex charts into a series of slides.