Oral Presentation Guidelines

• Pick up your registration materials. This serves as your presenter check-in; no additional presenter registration is required on-site.
• Test your presentation in the Presenter Ready Room prior to your session. Staff will be available in the Presenter Ready Room to explain how to use the equipment and to answer any additional questions.
• Arrive at the session room approximately 15 minutes before the session begins to meet the moderator and familiarize yourself with the setup.

Working With Your Moderator

• To learn how to successfully work with your moderator and avoid any concerns, please download the Ensuring Compliance for Sigma Event Presentations document using the button below.
  Download it now »

• The Presenter Ready Room is located in South Mountain of the Sheraton Phoenix Downtown. Please check the map of the venue and signs on-site for the exact location.
• Oral presenters may view their already loaded presentations on the computers. Changes to the presentations must be made at least one hour prior to the presentation and approved by the Nurse Planner on-site. Presentations can be made from handouts, which will be the responsibility of the presenting author, but this must be communicated before the presentation deadline. If a presentation is missing, please immediately notify staff.
• The Presenter Ready Room is available for use during the following times:
  • Friday, 28 March 2025: Noon-12:45 p.m. (1200-1245)
    2:15-4:00 p.m. (1415-1600)
  • Saturday, 29 March 2025: 10:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m. (1000-1330)
  • Sunday, 30 March 2025: 8:30-10:00 a.m. (0830-1000)

Oral Presentations

• Each concurrent session at this event is 40 minutes long, allowing for more than one presentation per session. Presenters are limited to 15 minutes plus five minutes for questions from the audience for each presentation.
• Session moderators are instructed to end presentations which exceed their allotted time.
• Please refer to your presenter invitation for the date and time of your presentation. Presenter invitations with scheduled presentations will be sent to all accepted presenting authors by the end of December 2024.

Presentation Template

If you wish, you may download and utilize the conference-themed PowerPoint template from Sigma to help you format your presentation.

General Information

• Slides should not have more than five lines of information.
• Slides should not be used as a teleprompter or script for the presenting author, but rather should be supplemental to enhance the presentation.
• Slides should be a means to highlight important portions of the presentation.
• Be aware of time limitations.
• Information should be spaced evenly on the page.

Color/Font

• Use the option for ‘Font TrueType.’
• Maintain consistent fonts throughout, using no more than two fonts on one slide.
• Use traditional bullets (i.e., circles or squares), instead of ‘fun’ bullets. Depending on the version of PowerPoint used, some bullets may not transfer.
• Background and font color should be easy to read at a distance.
• Font should be easy to read (no smaller than 24-point).
• Headers should be in the same font and font size throughout the presentation.
• The body of the slides should be in the same font and font size throughout the presentation.

Animation

• Limit animations.
• If using animation, be sure that animation is timed, and transitions do not occur on the click.

• All session rooms are equipped with:
  • LCD projector
  • Computer
  • Projection screen
• All presentations must be given on the provided computer and projector. Presenters CANNOT use personal equipment or attach personal equipment to the equipment provided by the audio/visual vendor.
• Only provided equipment and software are available for use during presentation. Specialized software (Flash, QuickTime, etc.) will not be supported on-site.

• All presentations will be pre-loaded by Sigma to reduce downtime due to technical problems and ease the transition between presenters.
• Presentation files will need to be uploaded via the Invitation to Present no later than 11:59 p.m. ET on 23 January 2025.
• Changes to the presentation must be made at least one hour prior to the presentation and approved by the Nurse Planner on-site. Changes on-site are not ideal and should be avoided.
• Embedded audio and video files are not permitted and will not be supported on-site. Presenters are not allowed to add hyperlinks to their presentations to show video or audio files.
• Presenters are not required to use electronic means to present their work; however, no other equipment will be made available for presentations except for what has been stated above. If you do not plan to use a PowerPoint presentation file, please email abstracts@sigmanursing.org before the deadline.

• If presenters are wanting to provide handouts, Sigma recommends approximately 20 copies.
• Sigma will not provide or print handouts for the concurrent sessions.

Best practice approaches for addressing international audiences

• Present with shorter sentences and use simple words in a slower cadence.¹
• Avoid abbreviations, jargon/slang, or idioms.²
• Limit use of content that is specific to any single nation.
• Do not use jokes during the presentation, as jokes will not likely translate well between different cultures.^1,3
• Be mindful of nonverbal communication.³