MedSoc Annual Conference:  Presenter Guidelines

The BSA will confirm when and where your presentation will take place by 14 June 2010 at the latest. If you have not received this information by 14 June or the time and date allocated are not suitable, please contact the BSA as a matter of urgency.

Complete and return the conference Booking Form before 28 June 2010, and detail any special needs, queries or requests you may have. If you wish to discuss the theme and purpose of your presentation, please do not hesitate to contact the conference team.

You must confirm your abstract text for the conference programme by 1 August.

You should have already provided the BSA with details of your audio visual and technical requirements on your abstract submission form. If you have not done so, you need to do this before 1 August 2010 to ensure this equipment is available for your use.

At Durham University each session room will have facilities to project images and sound from a computer onto a projection screen. You will not be required to bring your own laptop although it is possible to connect a laptop to the projector (via a standard monitor cable). If you have any difficulties using the equipment on the day you should inform a member of the conference audio visual team who will be able to assist you. 

Bring your presentation to the conference on a CD or USB stick. Ideally, you should arrive early so you can upload your presentation onto the PC’s hard drive or network file space (it is necessary to run a small utility programme to recognise a USB stick and assign a drive letter, so it’s a good to avoid doing this mid-session). 

• Save your file with your own name – if not, when it is loaded at the conference there may be six files on the desktop named ‘Medsoc2010’.
• Timing: allow about 2 minutes per slide of normal complexity. You may be able to speak faster than that, but the audience won't be able to absorb it!
• The Chair has to be strict to time, including time for discussion, so please limit your presentation to approximately 10 slides.
• Previous delegate feedback shows that presentations need to be more accessible and need a clear structure.
• In a typical research talk, you should try to follow the same structure as your research did: main motivation and background, essentials of the method, main results and main conclusions.
• Please always show a Summary slide. Otherwise the audience tends to lose your overall message.
• Keep frames simple and clear. Use 24 point font minimum for text and a maximum of 25 words to a frame.
• Keep the complexity of graphs and statistical data to the minimum.
• Remember your audience has limited time to familiarise themselves with your diagrams. Try to remove unnecessary data but provide full labelling and definitions of symbols.
• Tables of numbers usually don't come across very well (unless they're extremely simple).
• Please spell out each acronym at least once.
• Use colour rather than black and white but note that red/green colour-blindness is quite common. Try to minimise the use of these colours.
• Present charts, tables or histograms as white on strong blue background or similar contrasting colours.
• Ensure frames are not too dark or lacking in contrast.
• Highlight important data

You may decide to bring books, reports, pamphlets, handouts, and other materials that may be of interest to the audience. Please be aware that this may disrupt your presentation. Session attendance is generally around 15-20 delegates while conference attendance can reach 300.  Please note that the conference will not provide additional copying of materials, so plan accordingly. Speakers may provide materials to be included in delegate bags by contacting Jenny Cairns at the BSA before 1 August 2010.

If you intend to play audio clips within your presentation please provide a transcript of this for any delegates that may require this.

On arrival at the conference you should inform staff at the registration desk who you are and they will then provide you with any further information. If you have any problems with any of the arrangements then you should speak to someone on the conference team as soon as possible.

Please do all you can to make your talk audible and visible to all delegates, speak clearly and not too fast. Please do not attempt to "read the paper" or to go through the argument in comprehensive detail - that's just not possible in the allocated time slot. Instead concentrate on a few key points.

Expect and be prepared for questions at the end of your presentation. Perhaps you could prepare a couple of suggested questions and answers for discussion.

All oral presentations are allocated a 30-minute slot so you should plan to speak for 20 minutes and allow 10 minutes for comments and questions.  Each session will be opened by a Chair who will introduce you as the speaker and then go on to act as a timekeeper, flashing up warning cards to indicate how much time you have remaining during your talk.

Download a Checklist for Speakers.

Important Dates