Getting the technical details of your event set in advance will save time, give speakers confidence in their presentations -- and make sure everyone can give a fantastic talk.
Managing multimedia
Planning how you handle multimedia for your live speakers' presentations will make your program go smoother. Delays and glitches are frustrating to speakers and the audience.
- Storing presentations: Load all presentations onto one or two house computers, rather than speakers' laptops. This ensures compatibility, and helps to speed transitions between presenters. If your speakers feel they need to use their own systems, ask them to make time for a test run. Ask them to bring all cables and adapters needed for video output. They should bring a backup presentation on disc or a Flash drive.
- Playing video-slides: Video should be run from the house computer. If you have to run video from a DVD player, make sure the discs are in the correct format. All videos should must be tested in advance.
- Using microphones: TED Conference speakers use a headset microphone. You may wish to explore this option if your venue requires microphones. Designate a stagehand to help each speaker adjust his or her microphone.
Your onstage participants should know:
- The resolution and aspect ratio of your projector
- The aspect ratio of your screen
- The version of PowerPoint and Keynote running on your house computers