Guidelines for presenters at the Student Conference on Conservation Science
This guide is to help you give a presentation at the Student Conference on Conservation Science. Note that you will only need the information on how to prepare your talk or poster if it has already been accepted by our organising committee. Do not bring a talk or poster to the conference that has not been accepted in advance. Assignments of talks and posters will be made by the middle of November. If you are reading this later than that and wish to make a presentation, it is almost certainly too late.
If your presentation has already been accepted, please find the appropriate sections below on how to prepare it and read them carefully.Talk details
Talks are presented in English and we do not have translation facilities. There will be fifteen minutes available for each talk, plus five minutes for questions, making twenty minutes in all. The chairperson of your session will terminate your talk when your time is up. Rehearse your talk beforehand in English to make sure that you have enough time for everything you want to say. It is usually only possible to present an average of about one slide per minute of the talk. Complicated slides take longer.
Audiovisual aids
Speakers can use a Powerpoint data projector, an overhead projector, or 35mm slides. We are currently running Powerpoint 2000 on a Windows XP PC. Nearly all contributors now use Powerpoint, but do not feel discouraged if this is not possible for you.
Powerpoint presentations can be read from 3.5" floppy disk, CD-ROM, 100MB ZIP disks and most memory sticks. Other types of drives and Apple MAC facilities are NOT available. It is strongly recommended that you bring your presentation on two different forms of media, e.g. a CD-ROM and a memory stick, in case one does not work. The size of Powerpoint presentations should not exceed 60 MB. Animations or video clips, if used, have to work within Powerpoint and not rely on additional software (e.g. Quicktime, RealPlayer, etc. which are NOT available on the PC used for projection). We recommend that you consider carefully whether you really need animations, videos or sound as part of your Powerpoint presentation. They often go wrong on a strange machine and this can be very disruptive to your short presentation. If you feel you must have these things, it is a good idea to have an alternative backup plan for presenting the same material if the Powerpoint does not work out. For example, you could bring an audio cassette tape of bird song as a backup for a sound clip.
Speakers should hand over their Powerpoint presentation at the registration desk when they first check in to the conference so that it can be loaded onto our computer's hard disk. Please label your floppy, CD or ZIP disk with your name. Speakers should also ensure that they run through their presentation in advance using the viewing facilities to ensure compatibility with local hardware and software. The conference organisers will try to help if there are problems. However, if you have prepared your Powerpoint presentation on an Apple Macintosh computer we strongly advise you to check that it works correctly on a PC before you come to Cambridge. We often find that there are problems with photos, graphics, colours, layout and symbols when presentations created on an Apple Mac are used on our PC system. We suggest you check for this on (say) a friend's PC before you leave home, correct any problems on the PC, save the presentation and do not alter it again on the Mac.
All speakers should arrive at the lecture theatre 30 minutes prior to the start of their session. Please make yourself known to the chairperson at the beginning of the break before your session and indicate to them how you would like to be introduced. However, please note that you should have handed in your Powerpoint presentation and checked it well before that - if there are problems it will probably be too late by then to fix them.
Preparing your poster
Do not mail your poster presentation in advance - bring it with you to the meeting.
Please be ready to put your poster up on a display board we will provide in the Elementary Laboratory during the morning coffee break on day 2 of the conference. An A0-sized board will have been allocated to your poster and you will find a label with your name below the board you should use. A helper will be available to advise you if necessary. You should remove your poster on the last afternoon of the conference. We cannot take responsibility for posters left up after this time. There will be poster sessions during the lunch breaks on days 2 and 3 and a special session with wine and food on the evening of day 2. When possible, please stand by your poster during sessions to answer questions.
Your poster must be designed to fit on an A0 landscape poster board (840 mm vertical x 1188 mm horizontal) and MUST be attached to it with Velcro tape. You must not use pins. We will supply both board and tape.
Your poster should be easily readable from a distance of 1.8m (6 feet) and should be visually attractive. The text of the poster should start in the upper left hand corner. From here, the poster should flow from left to right and top to bottom, using two columns if needed. The title-author(s)-sponsoring institution heading for the poster must be at the top of the board. You may wish to use letters, numbers, or arrows as needed to indicate the proper flow to the audience.
Tip 1: Simplicity
Concentrate on the main results of your research. Ensure that new findings of direct relevance to conservation are reported clearly. Highlight trends and comparisons with simplified charts, graphs, and diagrams. Make key points in the legend of the figure or table. Use text cautiously and make sure it is easily understood by the audience. Avoid overwhelming the audience with too many numbers, words, and/or complicated graphs. Remember, a lot of people will read or study your poster while you are not there, so make certain the message is clear and simple. Choose one background colour for your poster board. Use contrasting colours where appropriate in charts, graphs and diagrams.
Tip 2: Headings
It is best to highlight your title, heads, and subheads with colours or coloured lines. It is also a good idea to have heads and subheads at least 25% larger than the text copy. All type must be easily read from a distance of 1.8 m (6 feet). Use a bold or semi-bold typeface for headings and labels. For the title, plan on using finished type that is at least 2.5 cm high (1 inch). The lettering for authors' names, sponsoring institution, and address should be at least 1.9 cm high (¾ inch).
Tip 3: Text Type
Keep your text in short, concise, legible statements; minimize complete sentences and paragraphs. In fact, outlines of important points often work better than text. Use abbreviations and acronyms sparingly. Use a word processor to prepare your text copy. Set your word processor for 1.5 lines of space between each line of type. Text in upper and lower case letters is more readable than all capitals. Lettering for subheads and figure captions should be larger than text type, but smaller than type used for the main heading. This type should also be bold or semi-bold in weight. It is recommended that you use 24 to 30 point font size for the title, 20 point font size for author's name and affiliation, and subheads, and 16 to 18 point font size for text material.
Tip 4: Mounting
Some of the best paper to use for mounting is 165 g m2 (110 pound) index stock, which is available in a variety of colours. Foam core is another excellent mounting material. Plan on leaving 0.64 to 2.5 cm (1/4 to 1 inch) of clear space around artwork.
Tip 5: Make it easy for interested readers to follow up on your poster
Your poster will stand on a laboratory bench, so it will be possible for you to leave handouts, reprints, business cards or some other form of identification on the bench under the poster so that interested readers can take away your name and address. You could also have a sign-up pad and pen under the poster so that readers can record comments or their names and addresses if they want more information.
