Presenter Guidelines

Computer Equipment

All presenters in the Scientific Sessions are required to use the provided PC laptop computer for their presentation content. Presenters will not be permitted to use their personal laptops or other presentation devices.

Technical Details

• Laptops will be provided in the session rooms for each presentation. Use of a presenter’s own laptop is NOT allowed unless presenting a system demonstration, ignite talk or workshop session.
• All presenters are required to upload their presentation either prior to arriving onsite or in the Speaker Ready room.
• If using audio or video files, these must be brought into the session on a USB drive or other USB compatible storage device. Laptops will support embedded video and sound clips.
• AMIA will provide a Speaker Ready room at all meetings. Presenters must have their PowerPoint slides uploaded into the submission system by 12:00 p.m. EST the day before your scheduled presentation.  
• Presentations may not be dropped off at the Speaker Ready room on the day of the scheduled presentation.

We encourage all presenters to use the AMIA slide template (see links in sidebar).

Continuing Education Compliance

Disclosure Slide

• The disclosure slide included in the PowerPoint template must be completed. It should appear immediately after the author’s information. The presenter is also required to provide a verbal disclosure to participants before delivering any activity content.

Use of Logos – Academic and Not-for-Profit Institutions

• Logos from academic and not-for-profit institutions may appear on all slides of the presentation.

Use of Logos – For-Profit Institutions

• Logos from for-profit institutions may appear only on the title and author slides.
• When a for-profit logo is included, the presenter must disclose their relationship with that entity.

Logos from Drug/Medical Device Companies

• Logos from drug or medical device companies are not permitted on any slides.
• If the company name must be referenced, it may appear in plain bold text only (without logo use).

Internet Access

Due to the logistical difficulties inherent in establishing connections and unpredictable performance characteristics of hotel internet connections, you should not plan to use a live internet connection for scientific sessions.

Effective Slide Presentations

• Limit each slide to one main idea. Do not include more than you will discuss.
• Use text, photos, charts, and graphics. To ensure clarity, however, avoid using all of these on one slide.
• Ensure that the entire audience can read all your slides, not just the people sitting in the front row.
• In general, use no more than five to seven lines on one slide. More than seven words per line are usually illegible. Leave space, roughly the height of a capital letter between lines.
• Font sizes should range from 18 to 48 point. Use size to establish a hierarchy for headings, sub-headings, and text.
• Choose one or two typefaces that are easy to read. Do not clutter your slide with too many fonts. We recommend sans serif typefaces.
• Use blue or gray background rather than black or white. Your text and graphics will look better and be easier to read.
• Leave blank space around charts and graphs. Text placed too close to graphs except for labels and numbers makes slides look cluttered.
• If you shoot photographs of typeset copy to make your slides, use a laser printer with at least 24-point typeface.
• Computer-based presentations add a level of professionalism, but remember to balance animation, video, transitions, and special effects. Using "builds" to lead the audience through a slide by exposing one point or line at a time can be effective. The previous points are still visible but displayed in a smaller font or different color. Upon reaching the last point, the audience will see and be able to review all of the points on one slide.

Please arrive in your scheduled meeting room 15 minutes before your presentation. Introduce yourself to the session moderator. Familiarize yourself with the room set-up, audiovisual equipment, location of lights, and speaker area. This will allow you adequate time to work with the audiovisual and computer technicians to set up equipment.

Visit the Call for Participation webpage for specific presentation description, format and length.

• Informatics Summit
• Clinical Informatics Conference
• Annual Symposium

You are required to upload your presentation slides into the submission system. The instructions will be emailed to you about the month prior to the start of the meeting. You must upload your slides by the deadline outlined in the email.

Posters

Posters are placed on boards that are 8 feet high by 4 feet wide (see poster guidelines.)

Review the Program in the mobile event app for changes and updates in titles, authors, rooms, and times. Before your session, read the papers or abstracts to be presented. Prepare questions for the authors. Prepare a very brief introduction of the author who will be presenting the paper or participating in a panel.

All CME/CNE and continuing education activities require disclosure of the existence of any financial interest and/or other relationship(s) (e.g., employee, consultant, grant recipient/research support) a faculty member has with a) the manufacturer(s) of any commercial product(s) to be discussed during his/her presentation and/or b) the commercial contributors(s) of the activity.

Session chairs and moderators should review the conference disclosure form and ask speakers to disclose relevant relationships. Any individual that refuses to comply with be ineligible to participate in future AMIA continuing education activities and the case will be reported to the AMIA Education Committee.

Arrive at the room at least 15 minutes prior to the beginning of the session. Introduce yourself to the presenters and the presenters to each other. Verify or obtain presenters' titles and pronunciation of their names. Introduce yourself to the room monitor/AMIA student volunteer, who will be stationed in the back of the room. The student volunteer is there to assist you with lighting, and av equipment. See student volunteer for a list of responsibilities.

Each conference has specific session lengths, time and format requirements see the Presentation Formats, Lengths, and Information above.

Use a clock for timing and be sure to start the session on time. To enforce time limits, prepare a sheet of paper with "five minutes remain" written on it; pass it to the speaker at the podium. Follow this up with a two-minute warning. If you are both moderator and speaker on a panel, ask one of the other panelists to alert you to time limits.

Verify the presenters PDFs are uploaded to the session room computer.

Presenters are instructed to arrive 10 minutes prior to the session’s start time to ensure their presentation is uploaded and ready. As the Session Chair, it is your responsibility to keep the presentation moving. If there are any technical difficulties, you should reorder the presenters and put that author at the end. Do not keep the audience waiting while people work on technical problems. If the problem is corrected in a timely manner, reorganize the presentations as you deem appropriate.

Give a brief introduction of the speakers. Introductions include name, institution, location, and credentials. Be sure you can pronounce the name correctly, know the institution they are from or representing and its location, and know their credentials.

Repeat questions asked from the audience into the microphone at the podium. Generally, you should position yourself either at the podium with the microphone and repeat questions and comments or instruct the speakers to use the podium or table mic to engage with the audience.

• Oral Presentations sessions: There should be time for one or two questions at the end of each talk. Alert the audience to this at the beginning of the session. If there is extra time at the end of the session, ask for questions for any of the speakers. Having a session end a little early is acceptable.
• Panel sessions: For a panel session, prepare a few of your own questions. The panelists should also have thought of some questions for each other. First, ask the audience for questions. Use your own questions as you choose. Later, you might ask the panelists if they have questions they would like to ask each other or the audience.

If a speaker does not show up for the session, keep the other speakers to their agreed-upon times and turn the discussion into a panel session for the last 20 minutes. If necessary, start with a question or two of your own.

Close the session on time. Thank the speakers and lead a round of applause for them. It is important to clear the podium, stage, and surrounding area immediately following any scientific session as the next set of speakers will be organizing their presentations.