NAEYC Home > Annual Conference & Expo > Presenter Info > Audiovisual Tips
The quality of audiovisual presentations greatly affects the success of the sessions. Incorporating the suggestions below will enhance both the appearance and effectiveness of your presentation.
Using overhead projectors:
- Review your presentation in advance to make sure that your transparencies are in order. We recommend using three-hole-punched transparencies and transporting them in a three-ring binder.
- Photocopy each transparency onto three-hole-punched paper and use the sheets to separate the transparencies in a binder.
- Use dark fonts on a clear background to boost the transparencies’ appearance.
- Use water soluble, colored markers to highlight important points.
For PowerPoint presentations:
Please note: NAEYC does not provide laptops or LCD projectors for sessions.
Make sure your information can be seen clearly from the back and sides of the room. Use a font size of 18 point or larger and avoid curved or rotated text. Remember that some charts and graphs—particularly those imported or scanned—are difficult to read from the back of the room.
- If you are using color in your presentation, remember that colors do not always project on screen the same way they look on your monitor. Therefore, choose easily transferable colors as your background and text colors. We recommend black with white lettering or white with black or navy blue lettering. Use bright colors for highlights.
- Don’t use too much color, which can distract from your information. For graphs and charts, use a maximum of five colors. For text, limit use to two colors, with a third for highlights. Colors should be consistent throughout the presentation.
- When choosing a font, remember that only “true type” fonts cleanly transfer from one computer to another and from a computer to an LCD projector.
- Although different fonts can draw attention to your information, using too many may distract from your presentation. As a rule, use no more than two or three typefaces and styles per page. We recommend the fonts Times New Roman, Arial, Helvetica, CG Times, and Verdana.
- Use text, color, sound, and animation sparingly. Having words spin or drop can be a distraction and eat up valuable time.
- Do not use all capitals or letters that are shadowed. Both cause the text to blend together, making it difficult to read.
- Avoid squeezing too much information onto one page or line. We suggest following the “7-7 rule”: No more than seven bulleted lines per page, with no more than seven words per line.
- Use your AV presentation to summarize your main points rather than display a verbatim copy of your remarks.
- Set margins to a minimum of a half-inch to ensure that text will not be cut off when projected onto the screen.
- Practice your presentation several times prior to the session. This allows you ample opportunity to work out any glitches.
- Keep backup of your work on hand (including one on a CD) in case of a technical emergency.