ConTEL 2007

Guidelines for presenters

Presenting the paper

The technical program is organized in 90 minutes' sessions. With 4-5 papers in each session, each paper is allocated about 15-20 minutes. Additional time is used for introducing the speakers, exchange of speakers, and questions from the audience. We recommend that your presentation takes about 15 minutes, leaving 2-5 minutes for speaker introduction and questions from the audience.

Substitute presenters are strongly discouraged. If the paper is presented by a substitute, he or she must be sufficiently familiar with the material being presented to answer questions from the audience. In addition, the substitute presenter must contact the Session Chair in advance of the presenter's session.

All presentation rooms will be equipped with a PC, a microphone (for large rooms), a lectern, and a pointing device. Presentation files can be brought on a CD or USB memory and copied to the PC during the break. Accepted file formats include MS Powerpoint and PDF. If you need audio speakers or plan to use any other special audio or visual equipment, please contact us (contel@contel.hr) no later than Friday, June 8, 2007.

We discourage the use of individual laptops if it can be avoided. If you must use your own laptop, please check that it works well with the projector supplied before the session starts (preferably during the break - someone will be there to assist you. ).

Preparing your slides

Presentation can be prepared in two forms:

1. as a MS Powerpoint 2003 or PDF (slides) file to be shown on a PC with a projector (preferred)
2. as transparencies (viewgraphs) to be shown on overhead projector.

Here are some useful guidelines for preparing your presentation (mainly taken from the IEEE Guidelines for Preparing Effective Presentations):

• Your slide presentation should emphasize the most important points and ideas of your oral presentation. Use the slides to reinforce, clarify, illustrate or highlight individual points.
  
• Make sure that the slides give answers to basic questions: WHAT you did, WHY you did it, and HOW.
  
• Keep it simple. It is easier for the audience if you use three simple visuals than a single complex one.
  
• Focus on one idea at a time. To include three or four ideas in a single slide usually detracts from your presentation and is apt to confuse your audience.
  
• Keep statements simple and to the point, using key words and phrases. Do not repeat the text of your presentation word-for-word on the visual.
• Remember that people retain information best through a picture or a chart than words.
  
• Consider audience size. Slides must be prepared properly so that they are clear to even those at the back of a large room.
  
• Fonts should be clear and easy to read. Use Helvetica or similar sans serif fonts. Decorative fonts are not recommended. Use only one typeface per visual. Add variety by using different sizes and bolding title lines.
  
• Use contrasting colors for lettering and background (for example, blue or black letters on white background, or colored letters on dark background (yellow or white on dark blue background).
  
• Use colorful background, colored text, animations, and other decorative elements with good measure.
  
• Proofread very carefully. Try to have someone else proof in addition to yourself. It is hard to overlook errors when they are magnified in front of an audience.
• Test your presentation ahead of time. Make sure it is easy to read from an appropriate distance, and that everything is in the proper order.
  
• Rehearse your talk to make sure it takes no more than 15 minutes.

Recommendations for presenters

Presenters are kindly requested to introduce themselves to the Session Chair before the session. Also, please provide a brief professional biographical sketch (no more than 200 words) for the purpose of introducing the speaker before the talk and send it to ana.petric@fer.hr by June 1, 2007.

Authors are also encouraged to bring along their business cards and several copies of their presentation for distribution to the interested attendees.

First time presenters

If this is your fist conference... congratulations! It's great to have you here. You already made a research result worth reporting, wrote and properly formatted your paper, passed the reviews, revised the paper and submitted the final version... a job well done. Now comes the oral presentation. There are a few things you need to know about it. The key to a good presentation is to be well prepared and practice, practice, practice. It is perfectly normal to be nervous; even experienced speakers sometimes are. (Did I mention practice? :-)) Be confident, take a deep breath and speak clearly and distinctly. Finally, do not worry about your English - have a look at the program and you will see how international the crowd is. Just remember that you have something interesting to share with your colleagues in the audience.

Good luck!