Presenter Guidelines

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:

• The provided laptops will be supported with Windows 2010 and Office (PowerPoint) 2016. Your presentation must be saved – and be compatible with – this software. PDF slides are allowed.
• Presenters will be required to bring their presentations on a USB drive or other USB-compatible storage device.
• Provided laptops will support embedded video and sound clips.
• AMIA will provide a Presentation Submission room at the symposium. Presenters are strongly encouraged to deliver their presentations to this room on the day prior to their scheduled presentation. Presenters may bring their presentation to the assigned Session Room on the day they are scheduled to present no later than 15 minutes before the start of their session.
• Presentations may not be dropped off at the Submission room on the day of the scheduled presentation.
• Presenters must load their presentations in their assigned meeting room if they choose not to drop off the file in advance.

We encourage all presenters to use the AMIA slide template.

To obtain a copy of the official slide template, please contact Dasha Cohen.

Continuing education compliance:

• Only logos from academic and not-for-profit institutions may appear on all slides of a CE presentation.
• Logos from for-profit institutions may appear on the title and author slides only. When there is a logo from a for-profit institution included, the presenter must disclose his/her relationship with that entity.
• No logos are permitted from drug/medical device companies. The name of the company may appear in plain bold text only.
• Each presenter must disclose to the audience relevant financial relationships with commercial interests s/he may have engaged in within the previous 12 months. Disclosure includes financial relationships of a spouse\life partner. If the presenter mentions a product (drug, device, medical technology product) and s/he has any kind of financial relationship in any dollar amount with the company producing that product, then it is relevant. If the presenter has no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests, s/he must disclose this as well. If this is the case, a presenter may say "I disclose that neither I nor my partner have relevant financial relationships with commercial interests." The presenter’s disclosure slide should follow author information; the presenter will provide verbal disclosure to participants before delivering the activity content.

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. Generally, you can easily read slides which will project well when held up to an overhead light, while poorly legible slides require a slide viewer.
• 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.

• Oral Presentations session types include papers, student papers, and podium abstracts, and are 90 minutes long with five speakers. Each speaker is allotted 18 minutes total, including any Q&A. An appointed session chair will moderate the session.
• Panel sessions are 90 minutes long, usually with 60 minutes for presentation and 30 minutes for questions and discussions. The panel moderator will monitor the time and questions.
• System Demonstrations sessions are 90 minutes with three presentations per session at 30 minutes each. This includes Q&A.
• Workshops: Half-day workshops include three hours of instruction; full-day workshops include six hours of instruction. Please plan on a 30-minute coffee break in the morning and afternoon (10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.)

You are required to upload your presentation slides into the mobile event app. The instructions will be emailed to you about two weeks prior to the start of the meeting. You must upload your slides before the first day of the meeting.

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

Review the Program in the mobile even app for changes and updates in titles, authors, rooms, and times. Before your session, read the papers 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 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 monitor is there to assist you with lighting, equipment. See room monitor/student volunteer for a list of responsibilities.

Review the ground rules with the presenters. Explain that you must strictly enforce the time limits to ensure that each speaker gets an equal chance to present, and the audience has an opportunity for comments and questions.

Oral Presentations sessions are 90 minutes consisting of five papers/podium abstracts. This means that each presenter is allotted 18 minutes for their presentation, including any Q&A. Allow time for introductions and a couple of questions per speaker.

Panel sessions are 90 minutes. At least 30 minutes should be devoted to audience questions. The number of speakers varies; each speaker may have only 10 to 12 minutes. The most consistent criticism of panel sessions is that the panelists take up too much time and leave too little opportunity for audience participation.

System Demonstrations are 90 minutes with three presentations per session at 30 minutes each. Authors have 20 to 25 minutes to present their work, with 5 to 10 minutes for questions and answers.

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 audiovisual needs of the presenters and that the appropriate equipment is available.

We request that presenters arrive at the meeting room at least 10 minutes before the start of their presentation to work with the AV technicians and set up their computer equipment. 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 your 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.

If floor microphones are not available during the question and answer period, repeat the questions asked into your microphone. 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 use a lavaliere microphone to move around within 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.