APS welcomes presenters at our meetings and events, and we look forward to their sharing their research findings. Giving an oral presentation allows you to share your research with a broad audience, including potential collaborators, and to communicate the importance of your research and its impact on the physics community. Oral sessions are typically twelve minutes long, consisting of a ten-minute talk, plus two minutes for questions. Giving an oral presentation lets you tell the entire story of your research from start to finish, as opposed to a poster presentation, which is open for questions.
Presentation Tips and Slide Design
- Presentations that engage an audience, tell a story. If time allows, go beyond the science.
- Rehearsing is essential. Be comfortable with the in room and/or online presentation equipment.
- If presenting remotely, make sure that websites are white listed with your organization and all software, such as Zoom, is up-to-date.
- Your presentation slides should use a 16:9 aspect ratio so they are aligned with APS presentation screens. A 4:3 slide layout may reduce your presentation's impact.
Slide Layout Standards
Slides should be readable. A portion of your audience may be viewing your presentation on a computer or handheld tablet/phone. Please use these best practices for fonts:
- Use 28-40 point size for headlines
- Use 18-28 point size for text
- Use 12-14 point size for references
- Use sans serif fonts
Other best practices for clear slides include:
- Charts, diagrams and graphs should be readable
- Avoid ALL CAPS
- Underscore a point by putting it in italics or bold, as underlining can make the text more difficult to read
Presentation Equipment
Equipment provided for speakers is different for each APS meeting. Please contact the APS meetings team for specific information about equipment that may be available at the meeting where you are presenting. In general, rooms may be equipped with:
- An LCD projector
- Screen
- A lavalier microphone
- Laser pointer
Depending on the meeting, you will either need to upload your PowerPoint presentation to the presentation system in advance, or you will need to connect your laptop to the projector.
If you are required to bring your own laptop computer, please remember to bring the power cordand any proprietary cords required for your computer, particularly if you have a new computer. The session room will have an HDMI cable available. If you have a different output than HDMI, such as USBC, please bring your own adapter.
Successful Presentation Setup
For in-person presentations at the March and April Meeting, you must upload your slides prior to the meeting or visit the Speaker Ready Room at least three hours prior to the start of your session to upload your presentation slides (PowerPoint or PDF.) For the March Meeting, there also is the option to bring your personal laptop to connect to a video switcher.
If you have difficulties, consult with the AV technicians in the room. The responsibility for a technically trouble-free presentation ultimately rests with the presenter. Session times are strictly adhered to, so please arrive at your session room ten minutes early.
Special Instructions for March Meeting
Equipment Rental
If you require additional equipment, it can be rented through the official APS audiovisual vendor, Freeman AV. Contact the APS meetings team to inquire. The cost of additional AV equipment will be covered by the speaker. Speakers are not permitted to bring their own projection equipment for use at the meeting.
During Your Presentation
Wear the lavalier microphone six inchesbelow your chin. Often, microphone problems are merely a matter of having the lapel microphone placed too close or too far from the speaker's mouth.
Conclude your presentation and remove your laptop and other equipment when signaled by the Session Chair.
When you leave the session, take your laptop, accessories, and papers with you. Please note that APS is not responsible for the security of personal computers and other belongings.
Music and Film Copyrights and Presenting during APS Meetings
Please only include music or film clips as part of your presentation if it is directly relevant to your research.
If your presentation includes music or film clips, please be mindful of copyright laws and only use content that is open source or for which you have the rights to use.
Always get permission from the owner before using the work for anything. Simply crediting the author doesn't get you past copyright infringement, as the author might not be the owner of the copyright.
Music credits in a presentation if you used the performance of a copyrighted song should be written as follows: (Song Title); Written by (songwriters/composers/writer); Performed by (artist); Courtesy of (recording copyright claimant).
Fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission from the copyright holder for purposes such as criticism, parody, news reporting, research and scholarship, and teaching.
If you wish to include music in your presentation, please consult these resources:
