Instructions, Templates, and Forms for Presenters

Computers and digital projectors will be available in all of the rooms. We ask that you use the room computer rather than hooking up your own.

Specific Instructions for Oral Presentations

1. Prepare a PowerPoint to accompany your talk (see instructions below).
1. Format your slides to widescreen 16:9 and to run on a PC PowerPoint pptx system.
2. Use a Windows-default font (Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, etc.). The smallest font size that is easily read on a screen is 30, but larger is better.
3. Keep the top right corner of the slide blank so that if the session is live-streamed, all of your text can be read. Please do not put more than 6 or 7 lines of text on each page.
4. Text and images should be kept away from the edge of the page.
5. As a rule, try to use black or white text on a colored background. If you want to use a color on your font, put it on a black or white background. GREEN OR PURPLE on BLUE isn’t as readable.
6. To be safe, stand 7 feet away from your computer screen. If you can easily read your text, it’s probably good. If not, it will not be readable on the big screen.
2. In addition, create a PDF version in case there is a viewing problem and for posting on the ASA website. If you have any copyrighted material in the presentation version, you must also create
1. a cleared PDF version (copyright material deleted) for posting.
3. Name your PDF file for posting on the ASA website with the filename ASA2022YourLastName.
4. Save your PowerPoint presentation, your PDF version, and, if necessary, your cleared PDF version to a thumb drive. Bring the thumb drive with you.
5. PRACTICE your presentation. The program will only work if all presentations adhere to the time allotted. Presentations will be 20 minutes with 5 minutes for Q&A and 5 minutes for transition.

What to Do Before Your Session

1. Transfer your files for presenting (pptx and PDF) and posting (cleared PDF) from your thumb drive to the computer well in advance of your session—but no later than ten minutes before the starting time of your session.
2. Be sure to introduce yourself and meet with the moderator of your session prior to the session.
3. Since each talk will be recorded unless you have specifically requested no recording, be sure that the supplied microphone is functioning when you begin your talk.

General Comments

Plan your poster presentation carefully. Keep in mind the advantages of a poster over an oral presentation. Posters are available for viewing over an extended period of time. Attendees find that the poster session is an excellent way to sample many papers, devoting their time in proportion to their interest in the poster topic. Authors and interested viewers have time for much more significant discussion, not the five minutes allotted at the end of an oral presentation. Finally, there is no first or last poster presentation on the program!

Specific Instructions for Poster Presenters

You must mount (mounting materials available) your poster before 8:30 AM Saturday and remove it before 6 PM Sunday. Arrive at the poster session ten minutes before the start and remain by your poster until the session has ended. Have a short statement prepared for those who are interested but have no questions. Stand close by, but not directly in front of your poster. Give concise answers to questions; communicate with everyone. Be prepared with extra copies of materials that you would like to share, including business cards.

Specific Guidelines for Creating Posters

Posters should be readable by viewers five feet away. The message should be clear and understandable without need for oral explanation; it is not an exhaustive list of your research activities or pages of a scholarly research article. Use of the following guidelines may help the effectiveness of your presentation. With posters, pay careful attention to style, format, color, readability, attractiveness, and showmanship—use pictures, graphs, perhaps a cartoon, etc. effectively.

1. Rough layout: Your poster should be up to 48” tall and 48” wide. Font should not be smaller than 24 point. Place your title (at least 60-point font) at the top of the panel with your affiliation beneath or alongside the title in smaller font. Space may require a shorter title; the full title will be on the published abstract.
2. Your poster should cover the key points of your work, not all the details. Leave the details for discussion with the persons expressing interest in your work. A poster featuring laboratory research should include brief sections functioning as introduction, methods and materials, results, discussion, conclusion(s), and several main references, many as bullet points. A poster featuring a nonlaboratory scholarly work should include an introduction, an approach to the problem or question being posed, discussion, conclusion, and several main references. Written papers are not to be posted as posters.
3. Final layout: The artwork is complete. The text, tables, and graphs are typed but not necessarily enlarged to full size. Now ask: Is the message clear? Do the important points stand out? Is there a balance between words and illustrations? Is there spatial balance? Is the pathway through the poster clear? Resist the temptation to overload the poster as more material may mean less communication. Ask a friend whether what you say and how you say it makes sense. Then put things in final form. Have your poster printed.