CHAIR / PRESENTER GUIDE
The official 2021 AMS annual meeting's Guide for Chairs & Presenters is now available. It has everything you need to know about what to expect on your session day, including a chair/presenter checklist, info about the Whova platform, and how to ask or receive questions.
Reminder: All presenters must register no later than 4 October 2021.
UPLOAD GUIDELINES FOR PRESENTERS
Submission deadline: 15 October 2021
All paper and poster presenters must upload their video presentations no later than 15 October 2021. Paper presentation videos should be 15-20 minutes long, and poster presentation videos should be a maximum of 10 minutes long. Please save videos in .mp4 format. Videos should include a title screen (3-5 seconds) listing the presentation title and the presenter's name. Those who wish to share handouts or provide other supplementary materials with attendees may upload those materials when uploading the presentation video. All presenters are encouraged to submit transcripts or summaries of their presentations to support conference accessibility.
When uploading a video or other presentation materials (handout, chart, translation, etc.) please name your files using the following naming protocol:
"LastName-FirstInitial_Abbreviated-Presentation-Title."
(e.g. "Roberts-H_Songs-Puget-Sound-Salish.")
Uploads above 1GB cannot be accepted. If you are presenting at more than one session, please submit a separate form for each presentation. For information on how to create your presentation video, please consult the guidelines on recording below.
VIDEO RECORDING GUIDE FOR PRESENTERS
For most presenters, participating in the online 2021 AMS Annual Meeting will require pre-recording and uploading a presentation. If you have to prepare a video for upload and are NOT a multimedia enthusiast, we recommend that you keep it simple and just add voice or video narration to your existing PowerPoint presentation. It is easy to do and uses software that is likely already available to you as part of Microsoft Office.
ACCESSIBILITY
These guidelines are provided to improve accessibility. We request that all presenters use them to create more accessible presentations.
• Provide a transcript to accompany your presentation.
• Using PowerPoint to create your presentation? View the list of best practices for creating accessible PowerPoint presentations.
• Speak clearly and slowly, using clear language. Avoid or explain jargon, acronyms, and idioms.
• When the main audio is a person speaking and there is background music, set the levels so people with hearing or cognitive disabilities can easily distinguish the speaking from the background.
• Use high contrast colors (light background with dark text) and a color blind safe color scheme. Use the Adobe accessible color generator to find a color blind safe palette.
• Do not use color as the only method for distinguishing information.
• Use large (at least 24 point), san serif fonts (e.g., Arial, Verdana, Helvetica).
• Minimize the amount of text on slides.
• Limit the number of visuals on slides. Images that are used should be described so that people with visual impairment know what image is being displayed. Graphs and charts should be described and summarized.
• Avoid presenting images of complex charts or tables. Make graphics as simple as possible. Graphs and charts should be described and summarized.
• Make sure that videos shown in the presentation are captioned and audio described. Give a brief description of what is in the video before it is played. This will help audience members with visual impairment to establish context for what they will hear.
WINDOWS
Option 1: Use PowerPoint
If everything is on your slides, record your voice as a narration in PowerPoint and export as a video. You can choose between audio and video narration (video requires a webcam). Watch a video tutorial (6min) or read a guide. View the list of best practices for creating accessible PowerPoint presentations.
Option 2: Use Zoom
If everything is on your slides, record your narration in Zoom and export as a video. You can choose between audio and video narration (video requires a webcam) and several layout options. Watch a video tutorial (up to the 5min mark) or read a guide.
Option 3: Use a screen capture software
If you don't use PowerPoint or Zoom, or if you want to switch between different programs during your presentation (e.g. slides, browser, music), you can use a screen capture software like OBS Studio (free). Watch a video tutorial (10min) or read a guide.
MAC
Option 1: Use PowerPoint or Keynote (audio only)
If everything is on your slides, record your voice as a narration and export as a video. Note that, on a Mac, this will only capture your voice, not your webcam video.
- PowerPoint for Mac: Watch a video tutorial (6min) or read a guide. View the list of best practices for creating accessible PowerPoint presentations.
- Keynote: Watch a video tutorial (6min) or read a guide.
Option 2: Use Zoom
If everything is on your slides, record your narration in Zoom and export as a video. You can choose between audio and video narration (video requires a webcam) and several layout options. Watch a video tutorial (up to the 5min mark) or read a guide.
Option 3: Use a screen capture software
PowerPoint for Mac, Keynote, and Google slides cannot capture your webcam video. To simultaneously record your webcam video and your slides on a Mac, you will need a screen capture software like OBS Studio (free). This also allows you to switch between different programs during your presentation (e.g. slides, browser, music). Read a guide here. Note that, on a Mac, you will need an extra app to capture your desktop audio (e.g. audio examples on your slides). If you prefer video tutorials, watch this video (10min) to learn the basics, and then this video (up to the 10min mark) to set up your desktop audio capture.
LIGHTING
Use natural light when possible. Avoid filming with a bright light source behind you, as this 'backlighting' will make you difficult to see. Watch this video guide (4min) for more detail on effective lighting.
OTHER OPTIONS
Video Editing Software
If you want to have more editorial control over your videos, splice together two or more videos, or apply visual effects to your video, you will need to use video editing software. Below is a list of both free and paid video editing programs that are easy-to-use, well-supported, and which include detailed user tutorials.
Free Software: OpenShot, VSDC, Movie Maker 10
Paid Software: Adobe Premiere Pro, Microsoft Video Editor, iMovie
Cellphone Videos
If you don't have a camera, you can use your phone to take videos. Read a guide here.