Instructions, Templates, and Forms for Presenters and Moderators

Computers and projectors (or large televisions) will be available in all of the rooms. You will be required to use the room computer rather than hooking up your own.

Specific Instructions for Oral Presentations

1. Prepare a PowerPoint (PPT) to accompany your talk.
1. Use only Windows-default fonts (Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, etc.). Otherwise, your text may not appear properly on the in-room computer. The smallest font size that is easily read on a screen is 30, but larger is better.
2. Keep the top right corner (appx. 1/16th) 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.
3. Text and images should be kept away from the edge of the page.
4. 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.
5. Please include a last slide with a few references appropriate to your subject. These references are useful for credibility with your audience and for future online viewers of your presentation. References can be your own publications on your subject, or citations of other recent authors related to your subject. Personal references are not appropriate or needed.
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.
• Note: this year, some of the parallel sessions will use large, wall-mounted television screens instead of projectors. The television screens will be smaller than a normal projector screen (see image below). Therefore, it's even more important that you do not put more than 6 or 7 lines of text on each page.

Pryz 323 & 327 have ~50-inch televisions instead of projector screens.
7. If you plan to embed or link to an audio or video in your presentation, please keep in mind that this can often cause problems. It may be necessary for you to meet with tech people well ahead of time in order to make sure these things work, and even then, unexpected things can happen. If possible, please avoid using embedded audio/video.
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 a cleared PDF version (copyright material deleted) for posting.
3. Name your PDF file for posting on the ASA website with the filename ASA2024YourLastName. Please provide both the PDF and PPT files to ASA by emailing them to mark@asa3.org before your session starts. If your session is being live-streamed, your PPT & PDF must be sent one week before your presentation.
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. Most first-time speakers are surprised by how fast this time goes by.

What to Do Before Your Session

1. Most ASA speakers dress business-casual for their talks. Note: since you may be wearing a lapel microphone (depending on which session you're in), it is wise to wear clothing that has something to which the mic can clip on to about 7 inches under your chin. A belt or pocket will also be necessary to hold the rest of the mic.
2. Transfer your files for presenting (PPT 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.
1. If you have emailed your presentation to mark@asa3.org ahead of time, it might already be on the computer--but it is up to you to confirm this.
3. Be sure to introduce yourself and meet with the moderator of your session prior to the session.
4. 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 Reminders

• Your abstract will be edited for length, format, and clarity
• As you prepare your presentation, remember to gear it toward a general audience, avoiding technical jargon, defining terms.
• Be cautious and acknowledge if you are speaking outside your area of expertise.
• Use appropriately tentative language, e.g., "perhaps ...," the data "suggests ...." this has "implications for our views on ..."
• Acknowledge other interpretations in addition to your own viewpoint.
• Slides to supplement your oral presentation are preferred.
• Be sure to practice your talk aloud so that it falls within the time limit of 20 minutes for your presentation, leaving 5 minutes for questions.
• As always, be respectful when responding to questions.

Dear Moderators,

Thank you all for your willingness to moderate a session!

Your Moderator role is critical to keeping the Annual Meeting’s agenda on schedule. Here are some guidelines we would appreciate you following:

1. Please bear in mind that Moderators are not event hosts. A Moderator’s role is to facilitate our schedule’s smooth operation without taking up undue time telling stories, jokes, or giving their own opinion on the presenter’s topic—all of which take up time in an already very tight schedule. Absolutely do not use your moderator role as an opportunity to speak atop your personal soapbox. Each 30-minute session is dedicated to communicating the speaker’s ideas, not yours. The best Moderators are professional, impartial, and avoid the spotlight.
2. Meet with each individual speaker assigned to your session prior to the start of the session so that you know each speaker by sight, and they know you. We have asked the speakers to seek you out as well.
3. We have asked the speakers to bring their presentations on a flash-drive memory stick. It is your responsibility to ensure the speaker transfers his/her presentation to the folder specifically designated for your session on the assigned breakout room computer’s Windows desktop prior to the start of the session (first thing in the morning is ideal). (In some cases, the speaker may have emailed their presentation file(s) to ASA ahead of time, so the file might already be on the computer. In this case, just verify the presentation is there.) The speaker will conduct her/his presentation from the desktop copy (not the memory stick). Also, please ensure the presentation file(s) remain(s) on the Windows desktop for video-editing purposes.
4. START ON TIME! END ON TIME! It is your responsibility to ensure each speaker sticks to his/her assigned time slot. The Annual Meeting’s many parallel sessions run on a tight schedule, and ensuring your session starts and ends on time is respectful of both the audience’s and the speaker’s time. Each 30-minute time slot should follow this format: 20 minutes to present, 5 minutes to conduct Q&A, and the remaining 5 minutes for members to transit to the next session (if in a different room). Use that final 5 minutes to tee up the next speaker’s presentation and start the next presentation promptly on the hour or half-hour. (Do not wait for late audience members to find their seats; proceed as if they don’t exist.)
5. Introduce each speaker briefly and clearly: (1) name, (2) position in her/his organization or institute, and (3) title of the talk.
6. Have a timer with you. Give the speaker a 3-minute warning (0:17:00 mark) using a written sign or signal before the speaker’s time is up.
7. Allow a few questions following the talk but limit the time and interrupt a questioner if he/she asks an inappropriate question, uses it as their soapbox, or makes overly long comments without asking a question. If it appears that the audience has many questions, you may put a 1- or 2-minute time limit on the answer’s length. Repeat an asked question to ensure others in the room, including the presenter, adequately hear the question. Read each abstract beforehand and prepare a thoughtful question or two in the event there are no questions from the audience.
8. Technology Guidelines. A day or two before your session, you will receive a final set of tech-related instructions from Mark McEwan after he’s had a chance to see the rooms in person.
1. Someone from the ASA and/or university tech teams will stop by before and after each session to start/stop all recording devices and offer needed assistance.
2. All presenters must use the room’s laptop computer. They may not disconnect it for the purpose of using their own computer; doing so will interrupt the event recording.
3. Live-Streamed Sessions (Pryz Great Room AB)
1. Video
1. There will be multiple cameras controlled/monitored by the tech team. You don't need to be aware of any specific details.
2. Audio
1. Speakers will be using cheek/lapel microphones. If lapel, please ensure that it is properly attached to the speaker’s clothing about 6 to 8 inches below the speaker’s chin. If you notice that they are bumping it with their hand/sleeve, etc., it is your responsibility to intervene.
2. For Q&A, we will have microphones on stands in the aisles.
3. Screen-recording
1. The HDMI signal from the presenter's laptop will be both on the projector and live-streamed. You don't need to be aware of any specific details.
4. Recorded-Only Sessions (Pryz: Great Room C, 323, 327)
1. Video
1. Your room will have at least one camcorder or tablet on a tripod. As a general rule, do not touch it. Ensure no audience members sit too close, bump it, etc. If you notice that the speaker is moving out of the camera’s view, please remind them to move back into view.
2. Audio
1. There will be at least two audio recorders in your room: one ambient audio recorder on a tripod and one lapel microphone recorder.
2. You should not need to touch the ambient recorder at all—but again, please ensure it is not bumped, etc. The microphone’s main purpose is to pick up audience questions and your own voice. Please ensure questions are asked loudly and clearly.
3. The lapel microphone recorder is for recording only—not amplification. You do not need to start/stop the recording. Please ensure that it is properly attached to the speaker’s clothing about 6 to 8 inches below the speaker’s chin. If you notice that they are bumping it with their hand/sleeve, etc., it is your responsibility to intervene. Most importantly, please ensure that each speaker removes the microphone after their Q&A session ends.
3. Screen-recording
1. You will notice some additional cords/equipment between the laptop and the projector’s HDMI port. This is for recording the projector screen. Ideally, this will record everything on the screen, even if the speaker exits PowerPoint, shows a PDF instead, visits a website, etc. DO NOT DISCONNECT this equipment. If you do, you will ruin the recording. (Several recordings in 2023 were ruined/aborted when moderators and speakers took it upon themselves to fix tech problems on their own.)

While interacting with attendees during your session and throughout the Annual Meeting, keep in mind that not all ASA members or Annual Meeting attendees think alike about controversial topics. The ASA prides itself on being a forum in which we can discuss controversial issues respectfully and express personal disagreement with an individual, group, or organization in a humble, Christlike manner. As the Apostle Paul advised Timothy (and us by extension), “the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach…correcting his [or her] opponents with gentleness” (2 Timothy 2:24-25a ESV).

Thank you so much for your willingness to serve as a Moderator at ASA 2024!

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

1. You must mount (mounting materials available) your poster before 8:30 AM Saturday and remove it before 6 PM Sunday.
2. Arrive at the poster session ten minutes before the start, and remain by your poster until the session has ended.
3. Have a short statement prepared for those who are interested but have no questions.
4. Stand close by, but not directly in front of your poster.
5. Give concise answers to questions; communicate with everyone.
6. 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 32” tall and 40” 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. Content: 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.
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
1. Now answer these questions:
1. Is the message clear?
2. Do the important points stand out?
3. Is there a balance between words and illustrations?
4. Is there spatial balance?
5. Is the pathway through the poster clear?
2. Resist the temptation to overload the poster as more material may mean less communication.
3. Ask a friend whether what you say and how you say it makes sense.
4. Then put things in final form.
5. Have your poster printed.