Presentation Guidelines: Scholarly Session Speakers

 Presentation times

The length of your presentation is determined by the session chair, including whether your time slot incorporates a Q&A period. Please refer to the Online Program Guide or mobile app for details. If you have questions, please contact the session chair directly, or email info@pasmeeting.org. Please adhere carefully to the time schedule out of respect for the other presenters.

PowerPoint Slide Design:

  • You must state whether you have any conflict of interest at the beginning of the talk and you must include a Conflict of Interest disclosure slide even if there is nothing to disclose.
  • Create your slides in the 16 x 9 format.
  • Estimate 45-60 seconds for each slide; 10-14 slides will fill at 10-minute slot.
  • Use bullet points, not full sentences.
  • Edit your slides to essential words.
  • Use tables, lists, figures and diagrams whenever possible.
  • Font sizes < 20 should be avoided.

Recommendations for Presentations

  • Talk slowly and clearly – if you have too many slides, you will feel rushed
  • Face the audience, not the computer or slides
  • When presenting graphs, figures or tables, orient the listener to them. For example, stating things like “the y axis represents concentration of breast milk. The x-axis represents time… “

AV Guidelines, Presentation Upload, and Speaker Ready Room

All presentations must be uploaded to the PAS Presentation Management Website. Your final submission is required at least 8 hours in advance of your session. Speaker check in is required at least 8 hours in advance of your presentation in the Speaker Ready Room,  Pennsylvania Convention Center – Level 200, Room 204 C. This will ensure the quality of your presentation(s) including fonts, bullets, outlines, animations, etc. Allow extra time if polling slides need to be created.

Polling & Q&A

The PAS 2020 Meeting offers polling and Q&A through the mobile app using Conferences i/o (Scholarly Sessions, Workshops, and SIGs only.) All polling and Q&A in presentations must be done through Conferences i/o; we will not support other polling platforms such as Poll Everywhere.

Presentation Guidelines: Scholarly Session Chairs

Please stay in touch with the speakers in your session. Make sure they have completed their Conflict of Interest Disclosures and responded to their speaker invitations on a timely basis.

If any changes need to be made in your session, please use the PAS 2020 Change Request Tracker to submit your updates (a new tracker is made available every year). While we understand that some last minute changes are inevitable, please try your best to finalize all aspects of your session by February 1.

Session Chair On-site Instructions

  • No podium folders with session information will be available. Please preprint all session information needed or access via the Online Program Guide or mobile app.
  • A PAS Room Manager will be available to assist with any needs; room staff cover multiple rooms and generally check in about 30 minutes prior to the start of the session.
  • Introduce yourself: Familiarize your audience with your professional credentials and the overall goals of the session.
  • Stay on schedule: Follow the time schedule so sessions/presentations that follow are not delayed and attendees know when to expect specific speaker presentations.
  • Room sets and sizes: Session rooms are assigned according to estimated audience attendance, session requirements, and proximity to sessions of similar content. If you sense that a room size is too small for the anticipated attendees, alert PAS Meeting staff as soon as possible.
  • Presentations: All presenters receive advance notification on procedures for computerized presentation and are advised to come to the meeting prepared.
  • Disclosure Formalities: Presenters have been notified that before they address the audience, they must disclose both verbally and on a presentation slide, information regarding conflict of interest disclosure and/or unapproved or off-label discussions relevant to their participation. If a presenter has not included the disclosure slide, you, as session chair, must ask the speaker to verbally disclose commercial relationships to the audience or inform the audience if he/she has documented that he/she has no relevant financial relationships to disclose. A complete disclosure listing is accessible in the mobile app and the PAS Website; a hard copy will also available at the information desk.
  • Academic discussion: Academic and scientific discussion and debate are always encouraged. Questions directed to commercial interests are not permitted at a CME-certified educational session because these questions potentially become a platform for promotion. If an issue arises, request the individual to rephrase the question in a non-promotional way.
  • Photos of slides are NOT permitted: The use of cameras (including but not limited to cellular phones, film, digital, video taking or image or sound capturing) or audio taping equipment is prohibited anywhere during the Conference without prior permission from the Pediatric Academic Societies and the author.
  • Problems? PAS and audiovisual staff will roam and monitor rooms during the session. Please do not hesitate to ask monitors for assistance.
  • Assistance Options: Please contact a staff or AV hall monitor, press the “Help” button on computer screen or visit the PAS Information Desk located in the lobby.