Many convention and meeting centres have state of the art facilities to assist speakers in polishing their presentations.  At Wrest Point in Hobart, the speakers’ preparation room provides computers, a scanner and internet access to assist all speakers.  Hotel Grand Chancellor provides similar features.  However, not all conferences are held in such venues.  Our comments below come from our experience of working with a variety of people over a number of years.  Our intention is to help people create a memorable presentation. 

It is strongly recommended that:·     

• all speakers prepare a PowerPoint for their talk if they wish to use AV display.  Slide projectors are notoriously unreliable and overhead transparencies are often difficult to read. A word document projected on the screen is rarely in a suitably visible format. ·     
• presentations be saved on a CD or memory stick as photos and technical drawings require a lot of memory.
• careful consideration be given to the required level of resolution of photos or technical drawings – high resolution photos take a long time to load and can affect the fluency of your presentation
• you run your presentation in its final format on a different computer to the one that you prepare it on – this will test the independence of the presentation and tell you whether it is going to work elsewhere and whether you have all the relevant details (eg sound and video files) saved to your CD. (If not, you might find that the computer is accessing files on your computer to complete the presentation, rather than from the actual CD.)
• if you require special non-Microsoft generic software (eg some video files, drawing files), that you bring your own laptop to complete the presentation.  This can easily be accommodated by good convention centres.
• When you save your final presentation, please give it a file name that includes
  • <your_name_brief_title>
  • DO NOT call it by the conference name – everyone else does that (;-0)
  • BUT - please write your name, paper title and conference on the CD
  • Keep a copy for yourself and bring it to the conference as a backup!   
• You personally check your presentation status at the venue prior to your session 

Ideally all presenters will provide their data to the convention centre prior to the conference so that the technicians can set up all the data on their main computer system.  They will then be able to direct it to the presentation rooms as required and set out in the conference program.  This saves time and also allows for checking of the presentation beforehand. 

Before the conference
So that we can double check and ensure that your presentation is functioning please forward your presentation to Convention Wise (email to mail@conventionwise.com.au if your presentation is a ‘small’ file eg no greater than say 5 MB) or preferably send a CD, so that we can set it up with the venue prior to the event. See this guide to the AV set up.

Before Your Actual Session
Technicians will usually be available from 8.00am, during morning and afternoon tea and at lunch time to help with Internet / PowerPoint etc presentations. 

Meet the conference centre technician for your session at least 60 minutes prior to your presentation and liaise with them over your audio-visual requirements.  They will be able to help you set up for your session and will also be responsible for helping out in the event of equipment failure etc.  Familiarise yourself with the venue in which your presentation is to take place, including microphones, specialised audio-visual equipment and other facilities in the room to be used for the session.  Computers will be available to check presentations.  Ask at the Registration desk for directions to the AV preparation room.  Please ensure that your presentation is ready the morning of your session. 

It is strongly recommended that you transfer any colour slides to a CD format rather than rely on slide projectors. Kodak or other reputable film processing shops will be able to provide this facility, usually without loss of quality, and with the bonus of having your photos in a suitable archival format.

Meet with the chairman of your session 30 minutes prior to your session.  Discuss with chairman the format of your presentation including timing of presentation, questions & discussion.  Provide the chairman with one or two questions on aspects of your presentation, which you may wish to enlarge upon, to stimulate discussion if discussion is slow to begin. 

The chairman will ensure that the session’s time allocation is strictly adhered to.  Due to the tight scheduling of the program it is impossible to catch up time unless other speakers/sessions are cut short.  In addition, with concurrent sessions scheduled, sessions going over time hamper movement of delegates between the session venues.

If applicable, meet the other speakers scheduled for your segment.  Discuss with them the nature of your presentation, if you have not already made contact.

During The Session
At the commencement of the session sit at the front of the room with your co-presenters and other speakers scheduled for that session.

Ensure that the presentation adheres strictly to the time allocated, leaving the allocated amount for discussion time.  You will be forewarned and eventually interrupted if you go over time.

The chairman will be responsible for ensuring questions are asked in an orderly way. Wait for the chairman to indicate who should speak.

After The Session
Remember to take your audio-visual with you and any left over handouts.  Handouts may be placed at the main conference desk for other delegates to collect if they are interested. 

Thank you for participating in the conference.  We look forward to hearing your presentation.  Good luck!