Presenter Guidelines

Presentation: 30 minutes + 15 minutes live Q&A.
Each speaker will be introduced by a moderator who will also facilitate the Q&A period. 

PPT Template 16:9                      Virtual Background

To UPLOAD a pre-recorded presentation, handout or slide deck that you would like to share, please click here. 
All presentations and additional materials are required by October 11, 2021. 

General Guidelines / Tips & Tricks

    • Keep it simple, use 16 by 9 slide ratio as the virtual platform is working with widescreen displays. Feel free to use the template provided.
    • Limit bullet points and text. Use colour and fonts strategically; easy to read but inconspicuous. The slides should support your content – not serve as a script.
    • Remember that your slides will be viewed on a small screen like laptops or tablets, so you want the attendees to be able to read the content easily.
    • Have a visually engaging presentation, make use of graphics and photos to illustrate your message. Limit transitions and animation as they can be distracting and can lag in recordings.
    • Keep within your time limited for your presentation. A good rule of thumb is to not spend longer than 2 minutes per slide.
    • Practice speaking to your slides so you know your presentation will end on time. It is easy to lose track of time when there is no live audience in front of you.
    • Remember that after your presentation, there will be a period to answer any questions from the attendees.

    • Please ensure that you use Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge to access the virtual platform.
    • Do not use a VPN connection that could potentially block access to the platform or restrict some features.
    • Set yourself up in a quiet room/space with no distractions.
    • Remove background noise when possible. Turn off fans, devices, TV, and close the door and windows. If you are presenting from a space you share with others, please ask them to be quiet during your presentation.
    • Use a wired internet connection if possible.
    • Have all unnecessary applications shut down when you are presenting. Other multimedia puts a strain on your computer.
    • If possible, use headphones with an attached microphone while you are live. This brings the microphone closer to your mouth, so you don’t have to feel like you are yelling.
    • Ensure the space in the video frame is clean and free of distractions.
    • Make sure the camera is in line or slightly above your eyeline and you are centered in the screen.
    • Look into the camera when talking instead of looking at yourself. Direct eye contact into the camera while speaking gives attendees the impression you are looking at them, rather than off-screen. This naturally creates an environment where everyone feels engaged and present in the conversation.
    • More light is better. Video quality is dramatically improved with more lighting. Lighting should be bright and even and preferably coming from in front of you and never behind you to avoid casting shadows on your face.
    • Stand up while presenting. You’ll feel more energized and be able to breathe better. If you do sit, don’t slouch.  Sit up straight and keep your chin out.  Don’t let it drop to your chest.
    • Be aware of the outfit you are wearing, solid colours will read better on screen and won’t distract the audience.

    • Record in a quiet room/space with no distractions.
    • Remove background noise when possible. Turn off fans, devices, and close the door.
    • Have all unnecessary applications shut down when you record your presentation. Other multimedia puts a strain on your computer and can impact your recording.
    • If possible, use headphones with an attached microphone to record. This brings the microphone closer to your mouth so you don’t have to feel like you are yelling.
    • Ensure the space in the video frame is clean and free of distractions. If you are using Zoom to record your presentation, the virtual background feature is an easy way to eliminate background distractions.
    • Make sure the camera is in line or slightly above your eyeliner and you are centered in the screen.
    • More light is better. Video quality is dramatically improved, with more lighting. Lighting should be bright and even and preferably coming from in front of you and never behind you to avoid casting shadows on your face.

    • Prepare yourself for the narration. Write a script you can follow while recording the voiceover. Practice the presentation a couple of times as you don’t want to sound like you’re reading straight from your notecards so it sounds natural and fluid. The slides should support/illustrate your content – not serve as a script.
    • Decide whether to record the voiceover one slide at a time or record a voiceover for the entire presentation in one go. Record a demo to make sure it sounds right before recording the whole presentation.
    • Listen to the audio playback with headphones. Headphones help isolate the audio, and you will hear any problems better. Pay attention if there are any background noises that could be eliminated. They may not be obvious at first but when you listen back, you can hear them (e.g. fan, lawn mower, TV, someone talking in the background).
    • When listening back to your recording, lower the volume to half the volume you would normally listen at to test that your voice is loud and clear.
    • Stand up while recording. You’ll feel more energized and be able to breathe better. If you do sit, don’t slouch.  Sit up straight and keep your chin out.  Don’t let it drop to your chest.
    • Look into the camera when talking instead of looking at yourself. Direct eye contact into the camera while speaking gives attendees the impression you are looking at them, rather than off-screen. This naturally creates an environment where everyone feels engaged and present in the conversation.
    • Leave a few seconds silence at the start of each track to avoid the transition cutting out any talking.
    • Be aware of the outfit you are wearing, solid colours will read better on screen and won’t distract the audience.

    • Log in to your Zoom account (free to join), and select “new meeting”
    • You should see your webcam on the screen indicating the meeting has begun. You can choose to turn the video feature on/off by selecting the video icon at the bottom of the screen.
    • To set up your microphone, click on the chevron next to the microphone icon. From the pop-up list that appears, select the microphone you wish to use. Test your audio to ensure the microphone icon is filling with some green when you speak.
    • When recording in Zoom please be sure that “HD enabled” is selected. This will give you the most optimal video recording. You can find this in the Video Settings tab.
    • Before beginning your Zoom recording, open your presentation (PowerPoint, Prezi, or other presentation software) and set it to speaker/presentation mode.
    • Return to your Zoom meeting screen and click on “share screen”. In the dialog window that appears, select your presentation, and click “share screen”.
    • Once your presentation is being shared on the screen, expand to full screen, and you will be able to advance slides with your mouse, space bar or arrows on your keyboard
    • When the presentation expands to a full screen, your video screen will be reduced to a small window. You can reposition this window to wherever you would like it to appear throughout the presentation. You can also change the size of your video screen from small to large. If you choose to use the larger size video screen, be sure that you have designed your slides accordingly. *Remember, the webcam video will appear in the final recording.
    • Select the “Record” button at the bottom of the screen and begin your presentation.
    • If you need to take a break while recording select the Pause button, when you are ready to continue resume by pressing Play for a continuous video. When you are finished your recording, press stop and end the meeting.
    • The recording will automatically save to your computer, locate the file and rename using the provided guidelines.

Recording Audio: 
    • From the Slide Show tab, select the Record Slide Show drop-down arrow, then choose either Start Recording from Beginning or Start Recording from Current Slide.
    • A dialog box will appear, select the desired options, then click Start Recording.
    • Your presentation will appear in full-screen view. Perform your slide show, make sure to speak clearly into the microphone.
    • When you are ready to move to the next slide, click the Next button on the Recording toolbar.
    • When you reach the end of the presentation, PowerPoint will close the full-view screen.
    • Your slide timings and narration are now part of your presentation. The slides with narration will be marked with a speaker icon in the bottom-right corner.
Rehearse Slide Show Timings:
    • Rehearsing timings can be useful if you want to set up a presentation to play at a certain speed without having to click through the slides yourself.
    • Go to Slide Show tab, then click the Rehearse Timings command.
    • Practice presenting your slide show. When you’re ready to move to the next slide, click the “next” button on the recording toolbar in the upper left corner.
    • When you reach the end of the show, a dialog box will appear with the total time of your presentation. If you are satisfied with your timings, click Yes.
    • If you need more than one try to get the timings just right, the Recording toolbar can be used to take a break or start over on a slide.

    • Save your file name as the following: lastname_first 5 words of your title(e.g., Smith_This it the title of) and upload as per instructions from the conference secretariat.
    • Save your presentation under any of the following: MP4, MOV, or AVI.
    • The Virtual platformdoes notaccept audio files, image files, or other non-video formats, such as: FLV, MP3, WAV, WMA, WMV, JPG, and PNG. Project files such as iMovie project and dvdproj files are also unsupported since these are not video files.
    • All pre-recorded videos shared should not exceed the technical specifications of 720p resolution and 2Mbps bitrate.
    • Your presentation will be uploaded to the conference virtual platform and will only be available to registered attendees. The presentation will not be available for download, but the recordings will be available for a set amount of days after the conference to view on demand.