Presentation Guidelines

View the Presentation Guidelines Here

If you submit your presentation to ASCO via the Faculty and Presenter Headquarters website:
Your presentation will be preloaded into the computer network system onsite in Chicago. However, you will be asked to review your presentation onsite in the Faculty and Speaker Ready Room, Level 4, Room N426 to ensure the slides are as you would like them. A back-up disk is recommended.  

Developing Your Electronic Presentation:
Please develop your electronic presentation using Microsoft PowerPoint. If you are using PowerPoint 2001 on a Macintosh computer, please see the additional instructions below; it is also recommended that you install the Microsoft Office 2001 Service Release 1.

• Save either template to your computer (Option #1 (Green) or Option #2 (Blue)).
• For Internet Explorer users, right click on the template hyperlink, and select Save Target As.... Then after the file name, type ".pot"—full file name should read "ASCO_Design_Template.pot".
• For Netscape and Opera users, left click on the template hyperlink—you should then see a window that allows you to open or save the file. Again, when you save, make sure to add ".pot" after the file name to save it as a template.
• Create your presentation—no need to add formatting or color.
• While in PowerPoint, select Format, and then Apply Design Template.
• Locate the saved ASCO template, and click Apply.
• Review and save your updated presentation. 

Follow these general guidelines when creating your presentation:

• Summarize the material on each slide succinctly (Use no more than five to eight lines per slide and five to seven words per line.
• Use upper and lowercase lettering, as it is easier to read than all capital letters.
• Use one of the following fonts:
  • Preferred fonts: Arial or Tahoma
  • Other approved fonts: Times New Roman or Courier
• Make tables, graphs, and diagrams clear and simple.
• Avoid using many colors, patterns, and graphics on one slide as this distracts from the content.
• Orient all type horizontally, even if on graphs and diagrams.

  If using images:

• Use JPEG file format.
• Avoid images at a higher resolution than JPEG or overloading your presentation with images, as this will increase the size of your presentation.
• Extremely large images (such as electronic X-ray files) or presentation files could have a problem being properly projected due to operational capacities of some electronic projectors.
• Do not use PIC graphics in your PowerPoint presentation.

If using animation:

• Use simple entry animation effects, such as fly in/out, appear, and dissolve.
• Do not use exit animations.
• Avoid using animation if you are creating a presentation in PowerPoint XP on a Macintosh computer.

  If using movies:

• Use the following standard tools if you are using Microsoft Windows on a PC: Cinepak, Indeo Video 3.2, Indeo Video Interactive 5.10, Intel RAW, MPEG1, MPEG2, MS MPEG4, or Divx 3/4/5. (Save the movie with a file name extension of .avi or .mpg.)
• If you are working on a PC, follow these steps to determine the compatibility of the movie and if it will function in PowerPoint.
• Click Start and then click Run.
• Type the name of the appropriate program file in the Open box (mplayer.exe if you are using Microsoft Windows 98 or Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition or mplay32.exe if you are using Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 or Microsoft Windows 2000/XP).
• Click OK. (This starts the Media Player.)
• Click Open on the File menu.
• Select the movie that you want to verify. Click Open.
• Use the following tools if you are using a Macintosh computer: QuickTime (no later than version 2.5) and Cinepak AVI codec. (Save the movie with a file name extension of .avi or convert to the MPEG format with QuickTime Pro.)
• Test your movies and presentation on a Windows platform before finalizing your presentation.
• Use the lowest possible resolution for the video file to keep the size of the file small and thus avoid any potential for electronic projector capacity problems. 

Converting Mac PowerPoint Slides to PC PowerPoint Slides 

1. Open the existing Mac PowerPoint slides.
2. Go to File and select Save As.
3. In the File Name box, enter a new name for the file.
4. Select the Save As Type drop-down list, and then select the JPEG File Interchange Format (*.jpg) file format.

Special Note: If you are using a video file in your presentation you must bring that file with you. If you do not have the video accompanying your presentation, your video will not play. 

  If you DO NOT submit your presentation to ASCO:

We highly recommend that you bring your PowerPoint file to the Faculty Registration and Speaker Ready Room (Level 4, Room N426) the day prior to your session. If you do not bring your electronic file to the Faculty and Speaker Ready room at least 2 hours prior to the start of your session, the risk for A/V problems is significant. Please bring your electronic presentation(s) in one of the following formats: Zip disk, CD-ROM, or USB flash drive. A back-up disk is also recommended.