In-person Oral Presenter Guidelines

There are two main types of oral presentations:

• Keynote and Crow Award talks are given by invited speakers below
  • Opening keynote (Ryan Hernandez) – 60 minutes total
  • Keynotes #2 and #3 (Magnus Nordborg and Pleuni Pennings) – 45 minutes total each presenter
  • Keynote #4 (Session chairs) – 30 minutes total each presenter
  • Crow Award Finalists’ talks – 25 minutes total each presenter
• Platform talks are selected by the organizers after a careful review of submitted abstracts in a given topic. Platform talks are a total of 15 minutes (12-minute presentation followed by 3 minutes of Q&A) for each presenter.

All in-person speakers must check in at the Speaker Ready Room (Merrill Hall) the day before their presentation to upload and test their talk. You will be able to test the equipment, view your slides, and run through your presentation if necessary. Technical support will be there to help you with any challenges. On the day of their presentation, speakers should arrive in Merrill Hall 30 minutes prior to the beginning of their session to check in with the session chair and for up-to-date instructions.

The speaker ready room will be open at the following times:

• Tuesday, June 7: 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
• Wednesday, June 8: 7:00 a.m.–8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m.
• Thursday, June 9: 7:00 a.m.–8:30 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.–1:00 p.m.
• Friday, June 10: 7:00 a.m.–8:30 a.m.

Timing

To keep the session on time, the session chair may alert platform presenters as follows:

• After 12 minutes, “3 minutes remain, start Q&A”
• After 14 minutes and 30 seconds, “30 seconds remain, wrap up”
• After 15 minutes, “STOP”

Answering questions

Your session chair will select and read attendee questions that are submitted in the Q&A window as well as questions posed by the in-person audience. Remember to check your talk in the app as people may leave you a question there as well.

Contacting live technical support

Technical support will be monitoring your presentation from the speaker ready room. There will also be a large help button on the podium that you can hit if you run into a problem.

Health and Safety

Masks should be worn at all times when inside any of the meeting facilities, including during your talk. Hand sanitizer will be available on stage for you to access when leaving the stage after your talk. For more information on health and safety policies at the meeting, please check our Conference Policies.

Talk Length – other than Platform talks, the time listed can include up to five minutes for Q&A. 

• Opening keynote (Ryan Hernandez) – 60 minutes total
• Keynotes #2 and #3 (Magnus Nordborg and Pleuni Pennings) – 45 minutes total each presenter
• Keynote #4 (Session chairs) – 30 minutes total each presenter
• Crow Award Finalists’ talks – 25 minutes total each presenter
• Platform – 12 minutes plus an additional three minutes for Q&A

Presentation Day and Time

You can look up your presentation time on the Author Abstract Assignments page. All presentation times are shown in Pacific Daylight Time. You should be prepared to present your talk at any time during your session. If a presenter that precedes you is unable to present, the session chair may decide to move your talk to an earlier time within the session.

Registration

You must register for the conference by March 17 to confirm your participation.

Recordings

All oral presentations will be recorded and made available to registrants through July 11, 2022.

Device

You will use the computer at the podium for your presentation. You will not be able to use your own computer.

Slides

We recommend that you include a small head and shoulder picture of yourself as well as your Twitter handle on each of your slides. Because masks are required, the photo will help introduce you to the online and in-person audience, and your Twitter handle will give people an easy way to connect with you.

Preparing Effective Slides

Here are some tips for creating slides:

• PLAN: An effective slide presentation requires careful thought and preparation. It is not sufficient to enlarge an abstract and add a few figures. First identify your one, two, or three principal messages. Then work out the most effective way to convey those points and choose a headline to help highlight each message.
• LAYOUT: The screen will best accommodate a 16×9 layout. Add a small head and shoulder photo in addition to your Twitter handle, if you have one, to each slide so people know who you are (without your mask) and how to contact you. 
• TEXT: Your text should be easily readable and the design well organized. Use a type size that can be read easily at a distance. Keep the text succinct.
• GRAPHICS: Summarize current research with clear and self-explanatory graphics: charts, tables, micrographs, diagrams, etc. Simple use of color can add emphasis.
• ACCESSIBILITY: We encourage presenters to use color blind-friendly palettes and accessible fonts. An online tool such as Coblis will help you prepare slides that are more accessible to all.

Q&A

Q&A will be handled two ways. There will be audience microphones for the in-person attendees to ask questions. Those who are participating online will be able to post a question in the Zoom Q&A. The session chair will select questions from the Q&A and in-person audience as time allows. All participants will also be able to leave a question for you in the Conference App, so be sure to check your listing on the app to see if there are questions for you after your session.

Privacy and Recordings

All oral presentations will be available for registered attendees to view online until July 11, 2022. Sharing of results without permission is a violation of the Code of Conduct, but you should be aware that we cannot monitor whether online attendees take photographs, screenshots, audio recordings, or video recordings during your presentation.

Code of Conduct

All registrants agree to abide by the GSA Conferences Code of Conduct. Our Code of Conduct was established to communicate a transparent set of standards and guidelines for acceptable behavior at GSA Conferences and to provide a positive, safe, and welcoming environment for all attendees. Note that all sessions will be moderated and actively monitored for disruptive behavior. Any attendees disrupting the session in person or online will be removed.