Oral Presentation Guidelines

Change in Speaker or Cancellation

As a courtesy to the audience, please let us know as soon as possible if there is a change in your presentation. If there is some last minute difficulty, please arrange for someone else to present your poster rather than canceling it. For changes in speaker or program prior to the meeting, please call the ASP Secretariat, (703) 790-1745, FAX (703)790-2672 or email Lori Strong at (lstrong@burkinc.com).

We ask scholars in all subdisciplines of photobiology to please carefully consider the language used and images chosen to describe your research. Offensive language and images should not be used. In addition, please be mindful of whether the language in your presentation may inadvertently contribute to marginalization of underrepresented groups in photobiology. Please consider each image carefully to avoid unintended harm and if an image is essential but may cause difficulty for some viewers, please consider contextualizing or alerting audience members in advance.


Resources to increase accessibility of presentations



Specific Suggestions for Your Presentation

Many of the suggestions below increase accessibility for attendees. In addition to these suggestions, this page has specific recommendations for increasing slide accessibility. Powerpoint also has a built-in accessibility checker. More information on accessibility in Powerpoint can be found here.

Clear purpose: Effective visuals and talks make a single main point and tell a unified, coherent story. Organize your talk around a central theme. Develop a clear train of thought that does not get bogged down in detail. Provide a conclusion that summarizes the main points, and raises the important issues posed by the material you presented.

Freedom from non-essential information: Unless the purpose of the talk is to present research methods or techniques, omit all but the key methodological details. Save non-essential information for responding to questions during the discussion period.

Graphs, diagrams, and tables: Study results are best presented in graphic form. Diagrams can be used to present research design or study hypotheses. Avoid tables, especially those with more than a few rows and columns. Simplify your presentation so that you do not have to tell your audience “I know you can’t read the table in this slide but …” Keep graphs and diagrams simple. Avoid gratuitous three-dimensional graphs that provide no more information than their two-dimensional equivalents.

Language and images: We ask scholars in all subdisciplines of biological anthropology to please carefully consider the language used and images chosen to describe your research. Offensive language and images should not be used. In addition, please be mindful of whether the language in your presentation may inadvertently contribute to marginalization of underrepresented groups in biological anthropology. Please consider each image carefully to avoid unintended harm and if an image is essential but may cause difficulty for some viewers, please consider contextualizing or alerting audience members in advance.

Word slides: If you use bullet or word slides – keep them simple and short. Do not use full sentences. Do not include more than 5-7 lines per slide (acknowledgements excepted).

Projection of presentations: IBM-compatible laptops will be available at the podium for projection of PowerPoint or Adobe Acrobat presentations. Do not bring a personal laptop to the podium! Please bring your presentation on a USB drive to the SESSION ROOM BEFORE THE SESSION STARTS. Mac users must add the “.ppt” extension to the end of the filename. Some versions of Office for Mac have proved troublesome when used on a Windows PC. Use common fonts such as Times Roman, Arial, and Helvetica. Under Page Setup, the presentation should be set to “On-screen show.” If you use the “Pack and Go” feature of PowerPoint, have the original .ppt file available on the USB device just in case. Please virus check your entire USB device. A final word to the wise: Always check your presentation on an IBM-compatible computer other than the one on which you prepared the presentation. This is the easiest way to detect compatibility “issues” before heading to the airport/podium.

Audio-visual equipment: ASP provides laser pointers, microphones, equipment for computer projection.

***Simplicity and Legibility are Keys to Effective Oral Presentations***

File Requirements: Please use only one file per presentation. Files must be self-contained and in .pptx format. In other words, do not link your presentation to other files, the Internet, or audio/video content (special requests must be made).

Presentation Guidelines: The rule of thumb is 1 slide per minute. A 20-minute presentation allots only 17 minutes for a talk, 3 minutes for questions. In the “File->Page Setup” window, specify:

  • Slides sized for: “On Screen Show”
  • Slide orientation: Landscape
  • Slide format: 16:9


Design Guidelines

Text: Each slide should have a title. Use Short phrases, not long sentences. Use Arial or similar sans serif font. Titles should be in 40 points, text in 28 points, and subtext in 24 points.

Color: High contrast is very important so use light lines/text on a dark background. For example, the foreground could be white, yellow, or light cyan while the background could be black, dark blue, dark brown. Note of caution: Red, orange or blue lettering and lines can become unreadable when projected.

Transitions: Slides should display instantly. Do not distract the audience with slow transition effects or special animation when changing from one slide to another. Use only sparingly as a special attention getter. Default settings should be:

  • Effect: No transition
  • Speed: Fast
  • Advance: On mouse click

Transitions between lines, however, can be highly effective. Focus attention on a specific line of a slide. Dim previous lines for more emphasis on current line. Transitions should be instantaneous and consistent.

Diagrams and Graphs: Keep diagrams and graphs simple and easy to view. Ensure text is readable and use all the space within the rectangle. Eliminate or subdue distracting grid lines. Use large font sizes.


Presentation length
  • Keynote Lectures, Lifetime Achievement Award Lecture -> 1 hour: 45-minute talk, 10-minute Q&A, 5-minute speaker introduction/transition
  • Presidential Lectures, Research Award Lecture, New Investigator Award Lecture, Photon Award Lecture, Editor Lecture -> 30 minutes: 22-minute presentation, 5-minute Q&A, 3-minute speaker introduction/transition
  • Kendric C. Smith Symposia Lectures, concurrent session presentations -> 25 minutes: 20-minute presentation, 4-minute Q&A, 1-minute speaker introduction/transition
  • "Come See My Presentation" (1 slide without animation) -> 1 minute: 55-second presentation, 5-second transition


Common Problems
  • Make sure the audience is focused on the speaker and not the slides.
  • Do not use every feature PowerPoint has to offer.
  • Avoid overuse of slow graphics, fonts and special effects. Overused transition effects can be highly distracting to the audience.
  • Avoid unreadable visual aids such as charts and graphs. Do not have too many words on a slide, and do not reduce font size to make room for more words. If you can’t read your lettering from 10’ away from a laptop display, then your audience may have problems.
  • Be aware of bad color contrast when projected, especially red. Special fonts such as symbols and bullets may not be on the projection computer so avoid Wingdings, Monotype Sorts and scientific symbol fonts such as Asian language fonts or MS Line Draw. (If you can embed TrueType fonts in file, Select “Tools->Save Options->Embed TrueType Fonts” from the dialog box when saving.)
  • Do not overuse CAPS, Italics, Underlines.