Disclosure and Manuscript Requirements

To comply with CME regulations, presenters are required to include disclosure information in the first slide of the PowerPoint presentation. A template disclosure slide is available for you to download and incorporate into your presentation. Download Here (PPT)

If you are presenting in the Plenary, Allied Health Main Session, Student/Resident/Trainee and/or Behavioral Health, and/or Video Sessions: You are required to submit a full manuscript to Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases (SOARD), the official journal of the ASMBS, no later than May 15, 2008. Manuscripts must be submitted through SOARD’s web page at www.soard.org. Guidelines for authors may also be found at SOARD’s web page. If your presentation is being considered for one of the Trainee Awards, your manuscript must be submitted to SOARD no later than May 1, 2008. Failure to comply will prevent abstracts from the sponsoring senior author from being considered for presentation at the ASMBS Annual Meeting for two consecutive years.

If you are presenting in the Poster Session: Although it is not mandatory, you are encouraged to submit a full manuscript to Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases (SOARD), the official journal of the ASMBS, no later than May 15, 2008. Manuscripts must be submitted through SOARD’s web page at www.soard.org. Guidelines for authors may also be found at SOARD’s web page.

General Instructions for Oral Presentations

Speakers should be in the room at the beginning of the session in which they will present.
To avoid delays speakers are asked to sit at the front of the room.

Speakers must check-in and leave your slide presentation in the Speaker Ready Room
the day before your scheduled time to present.

Presentations must start and end on time, no exceptions. Rehearse your talk before the meeting to be sure that it does not exceed the allotted time.

Be sure that your presentation is easy to understand for the entire audience.

Communicate the main points of your accepted submission.

Make the presentation interesting and valuable to the audience.

Guidelines for Good Visual Aids

Content

• Think about what information to use. Be selective.
• Organize the material into its main points.
• Put text or graphics on a visual aid to enhance what you say in your presentation and to help guide the audience through your major points.
• Basic rule: Keep It Simple.

Continuity

• All slides should have the same graphic elements (e.g., font, color scheme, and background art).
• Changing design or style during a presentation causes a jarring effect upon the viewers.

Text size

• Readability is the key.
• Letters should be large. Make type 26, 36 or even 48 point type.
• Text must be large enough to read from the back of the room.

Text font

• Use one font per visual aid.
• Use a plain, easy to read font. Helvetica, Univers, & Arial are recommended.
• Software programs provide many fonts, but very few of them are readable on a visual aid. Don’t use them just because they are available!
• Sans serif fonts (those without the little lines at the end of the letters) are generally easier to read on visual aids.

Text style

• Use italic type for titles of complete works only.
• Avoid using all CAPS. You are not screaming at your audience.
• Use boldface type or a different color type or to indicate emphasis.

Amount of text on one visual aid

• Fewer than 25 words per visual aid
• The rule of thumb is 4 to 6 lines of text per visual aid.
• Use 4 to 6 words per line.
• Avoid putting so much information on your visual aid that your audience is busy reading your slide and not listening to you speak.
• Maintain wide margins. Text or graphics very close to the bottom of the visual aid may not be visible from the back of the room.

Graphics, colors and animations

• Contrast is vital. Use dark text on a light background or vice versa.
• Choose colors that coordinate and compliment each other.
• Add appropriate background texture or design.
• Do not use more than 2 graphics on one visual aid.
• Make sure graphics and colors are appropriate to the topic.
• If using animation make sure it is appropriate. Too much animation is distracting and diminishes the effectiveness of the presentation.

Proofreading and editing

• Make bulleted text parallel in structure (e.g., all bullets start with verbs or all bullets are subject-verb).
• Be consistent with verb tenses (e.g., all in present or all in past).
• Use consistent punctuation.
• Double-check data.

Additional Information

“Snooze Alarm! Avoiding PowerPoint Perils” by Michael Fraidenburg