Presentation Guidelines

Oral presentations
Poster Presentations
Student Award for Academic Achievement

Instructions for Oral Presentations

Computer, overhead and slide presentations

· Remember to use the KISS principle — Keep It Short and Sweet.

· Text should be summary points, preferably bulleted, not entire sentences.

· Limit the amount of information on a slide — five messages or less is better.

· All text should be 18 point or larger depending on the projection arrangements.

· Limit the number of font typefaces to two, clearly readable, selections.

· Use bold, italic or colour to provide visual emphasis instead of underlining text.

· DO NOT USE ALL UPPER CASE IN LONG STRINGS OF TEXT. IT IS HARD TO READ AND YOU CAN GIVE THE IMPRESSION THAT YOU ARE ALWAYS SHOUTING AT YOUR AUDIENCE, LEAVING NOTHING FOR EMPHASIS.

· Dark backgrounds with light coloured text generally work better than other combinations.

· Use cool colours for backgrounds since they tend to recede from the eye.

· Use high contrast for readability and legibility.

· Be consistent in formats, fonts and other repetitive features throughout

· Bigger is better, especially for presentations in large rooms

· Use only the most appropriate charts and graphs, requiring the least explanation.

· Use Clip Art graphics and illustrations for a good reason, not just to decorate.

· Reasons to include Clip Art include helping communicate a point, to capture attention and to lighten up a "heavy" subject with humour.

· Clip Art used on every slide, or too often, will lose its effectiveness.

· Have multiple media presentation options — if the computer projector is down, do not waste time, keep on standby an overhead slide version or printout of the presentation.

· Test the presentation, ideally in the environment of the presentation location.

· If you are new to computer presentations, practise how to return to a slide, move ahead to a particular slide and to stop the presentation.

· For presentation applications, establish 3-5 quite different templates that work well for you, and be prepared to switch templates if lighting, projection, or other problems arise with a specific template.

· Keep a sense of humour; presenters that look pained may be painful to the audience

Source: Berkes, F., R. Mahon, P. McConney, R. Pollnac and R. Pomeroy. 2001. Managing small-scale fisheries: alternative directions and methods. International Development Research Centre, Canada. 320pp

Instructions for Poster Presenters
Size: Each poster presenter will be provided with a vertical surface to mount the poster presentation. The area available for the poster is limited to a rectangle 110-cm by 90-cm (43-in by 35-in).

Mounting: Instructions TBA.

Location: Poster locations will be indicated on display boards A layout of the poster hall showing the location of the poster papers will be provided at the conference.

Poster design: We strongly encourage poster presenters if possible to construct their poster ahead of time on a single laminated presentation. Poster materials must be readable from a distance of two meters. Lettering in text and figures should be at least 5-mm high, and heading should be at least 10-mm high. The title of the paper, the authors and their affiliations should appear near the top of the poster in letters approximately 25-mm high.

Please note the following:

Poster display boards will be available for mounting of posters at 12:00 p.m. on Monday, November 7 ^th.
All posters must be mounted by 4:00 pm, Tuesday, November 8 ^th.
Posters must remain on display until noon on Thursday, November 10^th at which time they must be taken down.
Presentation of a poster indicates your acceptance of publication of your submitted abstract in the GCFI proceedings.

Questions?
Questions on poster instructions and awards should be directed to:

posters@gcfi.org

Student Award for Academic Achievement
The GCFI in partnership with the Caribbean Fisheries Management Council, the Puerto Rico Sea Grant program, and the Sea Grant Programs of Mississippi/Alabama and Florida, are offering a variety of opportunities for students presenting during an oral or poster session . To qualify, you must be a student and you must present a manuscript for publication in the Proceedings before the poster session. For more information about the award, see the GCFI website here.

PRESENTATION GUIDELINES