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All platform sessions will be held in the San Diego Room. There will be seven platform sessions and one "symposium" session. Each platform presentation is scheduled for twelve minutes: 10 minutes for the presentation and two minutes for a question and answer period. The session is closely scheduled, so it is important to stay on time. The session chair will notify you when 2 minutes are remaining, and will stand up to end the talk at the end of 10 minutes.

Plan to arrive approximately 1 hour before your session begins to load your presentation. Please notify your Session Chair of your arrival. Bring your presentation on a CD-ROM or USB media drive and give it to the computer technician in the San Diego Room.

The following equipment will be provided: a PC and a Macintosh, LCD data projector, lavalier microphone and a laser pointer. The operating system will be Windows XP Professional and software will include PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat and QuickTime.

You do not need to bring your own laptop. However, if you use any special movie programs, you should bring your own laptop to ensure the movie can be seen without a problem.

Equipment for 35mm slides WILL NOT be available at this meeting.

We recommend that you bring a backup presentation to cover the possibility of luggage loss, theft and/or incompatibility.

Your PowerPoint presentation should help clarify ideas, emphasize key points, show relationships and provide the visual information your audience needs to understand your message. Please consider the following suggestions as you plan your presentation:

  1. Keep visuals clear and easy to read. Abbreviate your message. Simple graphs, charts and diagrams are much more meaningful to an audience than complex, cluttered ones.
  2. Avoid using too many patterns and graphics in one frame.
  3. Use a minimum of words for text and title frames. Five to eight lines per frame and five to seven words per line are the maximum – fewer is better.
  4. Choose upper and lower case lettering, which is more legible than all capital letters.
  5. Vary the size of lettering to emphasize headings and subheadings, but avoid using more than three sizes per frame.
  6. Select sans serif type (example: Arial), which projects better and is easier to read than serif type.
  7. Maintain the same or similar type sizes from frame to frame, even if some frames have less copy than others.
  8. Keep all type horizontal, even in charts.
  9. Consider color with care. A dark background with highly contrasting text and graphics is most readable. Cool colors (example: deep blue, turquoise, purple) appear to recede and make white or light colored text more readable. Do not use red for text; it is extremely difficult to read.
  10. Highlight your main point or heading with a dominant color (example: yellow for the heading, white for the body text). Avoid the use of intensely bright or saturated colors that compete with the text.
  11. Maintain a consistent color scheme. Use no more than six colors throughout your presentation.
  12. Select backgrounds to enhance your text or graphics. A background that transitions smoothly from lighter to darker shades of the same hue can be effective. Some software packages permit the gradation from one color to another. A textured background can be effective, but it should not detract from or compete with text or images.
  13. Consider photographs for added interest. Combined with simple, straightforward graphics, illustrations, cartoons and artwork, photos can bring another dimension to your presentation.
  14. Remember the basics of good design: Plan a template. Use colors consistently with light fonts on a dark background. Keep text clear and easy to read.
  15. Please stay on time. A maximum of one slide per minute is a good rule of thumb.

If you know in advance of the conference that you must cancel your presentation, or if you must change presenters, please contact Anne Marie Mahoney, Meetings Manager, at annemarie.mahoney@verizon.net or (301) 571-2333 or the GSA administrative office at (301) 634-7300.