Thank you for helping plan and execute presentations at a future NPACE Conference. 

To help you prepare and deliver the most useful sessions and presentations, we have provided a suite of resources for your review. 

1. Keep the content relevant to the audience. NPACE’s constituents are nurse practitioners and other advanced practice clinicians. They seek content that relates to their practices—primary care focused content that they can apply to their day-to-day work. As you plan your presentation think of what you want to them to walk away with.
2. Catch their attention from the beginning. Share a fact that is shocking or surprising about the topic. Conference days can be long and mentally draining—you want to keep attendee focus on you and the topic-“be a sage on the stage.”
3. Keep slides simple and appealing. Avoid use of fancy or distracting graphics—keep the focus on the content. Keep slides legible—use widescreen 16:9 when designing and large fonts that are readable (i.e. Arial), avoid use of boldface, italics and ALL-CAPS. Keep background coloring simple and neutral. Use bullets to keep content clear. Include handouts for additional information—do not try to cram congested tables onto slides. Instead, reference the important data from the table and include it separately. NPACE attendees have digital access to the slides and handouts prior to and during the conference.
4. Be aware of your surroundings. Attendees will be focused on you—your clothing, your mannerisms and how you carry yourself onstage. It is fine to use the podium but if you are shorter in stature the attendees will have difficulty seeing you. Consider standing to the side of the podium or utilizing a chair—we’re happy to provide one for you.
5. Focus on the audience. Practice your presentation prior to the conference to ensure you have proper timing. Don’t get distracted by technological glitches—know your presentation so that you do not need the slides (never read from the slides!)—our AV support will work on the problem(s) as they develop. Be confident to keep going with your presentation, keeping the audience engaged.
6. A little humor is okay. Humor can have its place but it may not be at the conference. If you do include it, make sure it is appropriate-no references to politics, race, religion, sexual inuendo, etc. These, and other topics, can turn a great presentation sour very quickly.
7. Do not speak through the Q&A time. NPACE attendees select their conferences based on speakers and topics. They want the opportunity to interact with you through their questions and feel their learning is incomplete when this happens. NPACE staff in the conference room will make sure you are aware of the Q&A time so you can plan your presenting time appropriately. Come prepared with 1-2 questions for your topic- if the audience does not have any questions you can generate questions through polling the audience.

When creating your presentation, refer to these general rules:

• Use San Serif Fonts
  • Examples: Arial, Calibri, Tahoma, Verdana
• Titles
  • 36- to 48- point font; should only be one line
• Slide Text
  • 24- to 36- point font
• Limit bullets per slide
• Use the 6×6 readability rule: no more than six words per line and six lines per slide.
  • Too much text means people will be reading the slides and not listening to you.
• Avoid red/green and red/blue color combinations for text and backgrounds – color-blind individuals can’t read these combinations.
• For a quick readability check: Stand back ten feet from your 14” monitor. If you cannot read the text clearly, your point size is too small for the audience to see.
• Cite your sources, References are key.