Picture this: hundreds of experts from different industries are coming to present at your conference. However, as the first speaker takes the stage, glitchy slides and muffled audio rear their heads.
Avoid the risks. Set the right expectations from the start.
You need to inform your presenters of the event’s objectives while keeping them updated about the audiovisual requirements, slide formatting guidelines, or presentation instructions.
Plus, don’t forget about setting guidelines for audience engagement and interaction—whether it’s encouraging Q&A sessions, incorporating polls and surveys, or fostering networking opportunities.
In this article, we’ll share all the details you should include in your presenter guidelines to help your presenters prepare for the big day and refine their delivery.
Lay out the conference details
Presenters need a clear understanding of the conference format, schedule, and logistics. Keeping that in mind, cover the following details in your presenter guidelines:
- An overview of the conference—theme, objectives, and target audience.
- A detailed schedule and agenda of the conference, including session times, durations, and any breaks or networking opportunities.
- Venue location with detailed directions.
- Information about nearby hotels and any discounts they’re entitled to as speakers.
Mention the personal details you need from them
The experts you invite to present at your conferences are the main highlight of the event—the audience comes to see them in action and listen to their valuable insights. Make sure you’re introducing them in an impactful manner, highlighting their relevant experience, accomplishments, and areas of expertise.
For that, you need to request their details, such as the following:
- Mention all the personal information you need from them in the presenter guidelines—including headshots and bios.
- Provide specific instructions to ensure consistency and quality of their headshots, including image resolution, format, and size.
- Request concise but comprehensive bios that highlight their relevant experience, qualifications, and achievements.
- Specify the deadlines for submitting their personal details.
The best headshots and bios showcase both the presenter’s personality and expertise. It’s fine for them to offer a friendly photo, as well as mention some particular interests in their bios. For example, you’ll often find tech conference speakers talking about their love of travel or specialty coffee.
While this isn’t directly related to your conference, it does help attendees find common ground and break the ice with speakers during networking opportunities.
Provide clear instructions about uploading presentation material
To ensure a smooth conference and avoid discrepancies related to presentation material, it’s best to request your presenters to submit their content in advance.
That gives you the chance to run a quality control check on their files and make sure they match the conference standards.
- To ensure uniformity in branding and formatting, provide a presentation template with design elements such as fonts, colors, and layout. This can also help with seamless transitions between presenters and avoid the visual “clutter.” Of course, don’t overdo it – you still want the presenters to be able to use the styles they feel bring out their topics best.
- Provide detailed instructions on how to upload the files—this includes clear guidance on file format, file naming conventions, and submission platforms.
Specify due dates for uploading the files, so you and the organizers can ask them to make any changes ahead of time.
Communicate speaker benefits clearly
If you want to attract top-notch presenters for your next conference, offering them benefits and perks makes all the difference! It shows your commitment to providing an enriching experience for them beyond their presentation.
Plus, these gestures make them feel valued and contribute to their overall comfort and satisfaction during the entire event.
- Clearly outline speaker benefits in the guidelines.
- Highlight perks such as complimentary lunch or accommodation. Include information about availability, amenities, and booking procedures.
Provide details about other complimentary perks such as access to special events, panel discussions, and networking opportunities.
Mention all the equipment and tech setup
Provide clear information about the equipment and technical setup planned for the conference. This allows them to come prepared with any additional materials or devices they may need for their presentation.
Provide a comprehensive list of available AV tech equipment such as projectors, screens, microphones, and speakers. If you offer speaker-ready rooms, note it in the guidelines. Similarly, you can mention the tools like Preseria which you might be using for presentation management and content gathering.
Avoid headaches around presentation file updates
Often, it feels like presenters come up with updates to their slides before they even send in the files. To avoid any last-minute hassles related to presentation updates, and to ensure there’s enough time for your tech team to do quality assurance, provide strict deadlines and request them to submit any updates before that deadline.
However, there’s always a chance of last-minute rushes. That doesn’t mean you have to add unnecessary pressure to your plate, though. Use Preseria’s presentation management software to easily update content, sync any last-minute changes, and ensure the event goes off without a hitch.
Coach speakers on audience engagement in your presenter guidelines
Audiences love interactive sessions where they get to participate in polls, share their insights, and connect with the speaker. However, engaging the audience while delivering a presentation is not everyone’s cup of tea—especially when the presenter has never done it before.
If you expect your presenter to encourage audience engagement during their presentation, you need to be explicit about it and state it in your guidelines:
- Provide them with techniques and strategies to make their presentations more engaging.
- Set demo sessions with them to walk them through the usage of the tools used for polling and quizzing.
- Help them plan the specific sections in their presentations where they can incorporate audience engagement.
Encourage them to allocate sufficient time after their presentation for Q&A.
Empower your presenters to deliver impact with Preseria
Presentation guidelines are crucial in setting the right expectations for your presenters. More importantly, they help you gather all their presentation files well in advance, and ensure they match all quality checks.
With a presentation management tool like Preseria, you can make this process a breeze—all you need to do is import the event’s presentation schedule and bulk send a personalized invitation to all your presenters to upload their files. You can even set individual deadlines for them to upload their content and schedule automatic reminder emails to give laggers a little push before the due date.
Once everything’s up and running you can sit back and watch back as presentations start trickling in. Preseria will automatically scan uploads for common file errors, such as missing non-embedded videos. When production time comes around and you’re on-site at the live event, Preseria will let you seamlessly switch between presentations of different file types.
Presentation management can be a breeze. Book your demo with Preseria today!