Speaker's Corner

This page provides useful information for those who are presenters, speakers, moderators, session chairs, and/or panelists at the ISSCR 2020 Virtual.

ISSCR’s official virtual meeting platform vendor is Intrado. They will be assisting the ISSCR with facilitating the meeting experience and broadcasting all sessions, whether live or pre-recorded.

The following is useful information when accessing the Intrado platform whether for a ‘pre-meeting tech check’ or for your live presentation.

Slide Requirements and Specifications | Slides Due by 12:00 EDT 17 June

Slides must be converted to a PDF file, which does not support special transitions, “builds,” animation, or video. Here is a Guide for saving a PowerPoint presentation as a PDF file.
The slide format must be 16:9.
Your PDF presentation must be uploaded through the ISSCR Presentation Portal using the personal link that was emailed to you.

When you practice your presentation, remember no cursor or pointer will be available during presentation. You will be able to advance your own slides.

Technical Requirements for Your Presentation

Be sure to check your system setup. After passing the system test, be sure to close out of the window.
You must use Chrome or Firefox as your Internet browser (Note: Intrado is not supported by Safari, Microsoft Edge).
An Intrado technician will be present during the 30 minute mandatory technical check right before your session starts and during the session.
Troubleshooting quick tips to optimize internet signal strength:
- Try to connect to a hard internet line for your live presentation.
- If you need to use Wi-Fi for your computer internet connection, turn off your Wi-Fi connection on your mobile and if possible, request any other individuals in your home or office to turn off their Wi-Fi connection.
- Turn off any other programs using your microphone and camera, like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, etc.
- Turn off your VPN (Virtual Private Network).

Live Day Instructions

Connect at the time communicated to you by your ISSCR session liaison (30 minutes in advance of the beginning of your session).
Make sure you are in a quiet setting and have a dedicated computer and phone. You will need to both:
- Connect using the link provided to you, as you will be using your computer's camera and microphone to present; AND
- Dial in using the provided toll-free telephone number, which will serve as a back up in case your internet fails.

Use the same computer you used during your technical check (with the laptop microphone, external microphone, or headset with microphone).
Be sure you know how to mute and unmute your phone, computer microphone, and computer speakers.
Use a hardwired Internet connection, if possible.
Close all Internet data-consuming applications such as e-mail, Slack, or any web pages actively consuming network bandwidth. If on a shared home Internet connection, please limit others from heavy bandwidth usage such as Netflix, YouTube or any large downloads.
Make sure any programs using your microphone or camera are closed.
Use Chrome or Firefox to access the presenter console (Note: Intrado is not supported by Safari, Microsoft Edge).
Disable any VPN you may be using and connect directly to the Intrado platform.

Presentation Platform

After you click on the link provided by Intrado, you will see the following layout on your screen.

Use the refresh button to restore settings to the default view.

You will have the ability to resize the panels according to your preference, but it is important to keep the gray panel "A" with the counter on the right open to the Chat tab.

A) Presenter Interface

If you want to chat with a fellow speaker, moderator, or Engineer, use the chat located on the console under the counter on right side of your screen. It is important to keep this window visible while you are presenting - this is where you will receive warnings about how much time you have left in your presentation.

B) Question & Answer and Chat Interface from the Audience

Located in the window on the left below the video panel, session moderators and speakers should use the “Questions & Answers” tab and keep it open during the session. See the specific information instructions (further on this page) for chairs and speakers.

NOTE that anything you enter into the chat window here will be viewable by the entire audience. Use the “CHAT” in the internal interface to communicate internally.

C) Slide Sorter

DO NOT click to look at slides if it is NOT your presentation- this will change the slides for everyone. During your presentation, you will control your slides by clicking the “NEXT” and “PREV” buttons on the right. Double click on a slide on the lower panel to bring it back to the presentation screen if it is more than one slide back. There will be no pointer or cursor to use during your presentation.

Timing

Observe your allotted time. There will be a timer in the upper right corner of the Presentation Platform labeled Recording Mode. Please note that this timer will count up and it will track the entire session, not your individual presentation. We recommend starting your own timer when your presentation begins.
You will receive these warnings during your presentation in the speaker chat window:
- 1 minute remaining in presentation
- 30 seconds remaining in presentation
- Start time for questions
- 1 minute remaining for questions
- 30 seconds remaining for questions
- At 15 seconds remaining for questions, if you are not actively concluding, the microphone will be passed to the chair to introduce the next speaker.

Tips for delivering an effective virtual presentation (Intrado’s Speaker Training Guide for Webcasting)

Questions & Answers | Speakers

Setting: Speakers should set their view to Folder: CURRENT SPEAKER and sort by Priority: HIGH.

Questions submitted by the audience will be monitored and prioritized by the Session Chairs (High, Medium, or Low). Speakers do not need to sort through their own questions. When you are finished with your presentation slides, you may want to expand the panel to better read the questions.

The audience will not see the questions, so you will read and answer each question within your allotted time. When you get the warning that 30 seconds remain, you should begin to conclude your response. Audio will be given back to the Session Chair at the end of your allotted time.

Attendees will be able to ask follow-up questions to the plenary and concurrent speakers in the Scientific Forum immediately following the session.

Session Chair/Moderator Responsibilities

Prioritize Questions

Settings: Session chairs should keep the Questions and Answers view at Folder: ALL and sort by: NEWEST.

Session chairs are asked to prioritize the questions submitted by the audience in the chat box. Questions will automatically come in as “Medium”. It is your responsibility to prioritize the scientific questions as “HIGH” or “MEDIUM”, technical questions as “LOW”. As the speaker's presentation nears conclusion, put an appropriate number of questions into the CURRENT SPEAKER Folder for the speaker to read aloud. You can input your own questions and mark them as high priority. Session chairs will not have access to audio during the Q&A. Speakers will read and respond to their own questions. While you are introducing the next speaker, ISSCR staff will put all CURRENT SPEAKER questions into the PAST SPEAKER folder. You are now ready to prioritize questions for the next speaker as all new questions will come in as MEDIUM priority with (NONE) folder assigned.

Introduce speakers

Review the session script provided to you by ISSCR staff and the order of the presenters. Scripts will include welcome and transition cues. Session scripts will be provided to session chairs by 16 June.

ISSCR staff will give speakers warnings when their time is running out in the speaker chat window. Please note that audio will be transferred to the session chair at the times noted in the script, even if the presenter has not concluded on time.