Invited Speaker Presentation Guidelines

The following guidelines, prepared by past AAS Vice Presidents, are distributed to each AAS Invited Speaker.

Invited talks: the highlight of each meeting - 'not just another colloquium.'

  1. REMEMBER THE DIVERSITY OF YOUR AUDIENCE; 1000(!) non specialists will be there to learn from you the major developments/trends in your subject. Accordingly, we strongly recommend that you:
    • a) INITIALLY REVIEW THE BACKGROUND; give tutorials where necessary to make main terms/concepts clear.
    • b) CLEARLY IDENTIFY THE MAIN POINTS; after discussing them, give an overview of how things fit - or don't fit! - together.
    • c) BE SELECTIVE: too little is better than too much; put yourself in the shoes of someone who doesn't know intimately your subfield's jargon or history.
    • d) CONCLUDE WITH A SUMMARY of the main points and with your views on the principal problems requiring future work.
  2. PREPARE YOUR VIEWGRAPHS, SLIDES AND AV MATERIALS THOUGHTFULLY!
    • a) You will be speaking in a LARGE - possibly, HUGE - auditorium; ensure that the labeling is visible at the BACK row, not just at the first few.
    • b) Write LEGIBLY and CLEARLY: If your handwriting is small/illegible, PLEASE use a word processor.
    • c) Use these sheets as an example of appropriate minimum typeface & maximum density.
  3. PRACTICE YOUR TIMING:
    • a) '50 minute' talks: 40 minutes for talk, 10 minutes for discussion
    • b) '45 minute' talks (shared 90 minute sessions): 35 minutes for talk, 10 minutes for discussion.