Tech talk - slides - tips

Here are some tips for tech talks, that I got from some website (I forgot which one) -

1) As a technical paper presenter at AAAI-10, you have a special

obligation to help maintain the high quality of the conference. It is

your responsibility to take great care in preparing both the content

and presentation of your talk, including any visual aids. You should

be sure to make your talk accessible to the broadest possible

audience, giving relevant background, etc., and wherever possible

providing connections to related areas. Your goal is to ensure that

your audience grasps your main points.

2) The meeting room will be equipped with an LCD projector and screen.

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR MACINTOSH USERS: If you will be using a MAC

laptop, please be sure to bring a MAC to VGA adapter. This adapter is

proprietary and almost every MAC has a different type. Therefore, the

audio/visual company may not be able to assist you onsite.

3) In preparing your slides, please follow these guidelines as

closely as possible. Material should be placed sparingly on each

slide, so as to be visible to a large audience.

* Landscape format is preferred

* Text should be centered on the page with at least a 1" margin

all around the page.

* There should be no more than 5 to 6 lines per page.

* There should be no more than 20 to 25 characters and spaces per line.

* Minimum title font size is 30 point.

* Text must be readable to the naked eye from 6 feet away (we

suggest no less than 20 point type for text and preferably 24).

4) The most effective slides contain diagrams and illustrations, with

relatively little text. Do not use slides merely to summarize the

talk or the paper; they should illustrate the research rather than

provide formal detail. Any text should be highlighted by bullets.

5) We strongly recommend that you go through a practice run of your

presentation with your colleagues. This will greatly enhance the

final presentation.

6) Remember that your talk is allotted a 20-minute time slot. We

encourage you to limit your talk to 17 minutes to leave at least 3

minutes for questions. Please time your practice talk carefully.

There will be 3 presentations per session.

7) Please go to the meeting room at least 10 minutes before the

session begins and introduce yourself to the session chair. Please

make sure you are on time to your talk.

8) Please start promptly (people will straggle in throughout the

talk, so don't wait).

9) Please observe the schedule very strictly and cooperate with the

session chair.

I also found the advice by Simon Peyton-Jones on giving research talks and writing research papers useful.