Planning Your Materials

AHLA strives to maintain readership and membership across the widest possible range of viewpoints involved in health law. The materials turned in by our speakers are what distinguish our programs from those of our competitors.

By agreeing to speak, you are making a commitment to the Association and your colleagues to provide:

• A fair and balanced approach to all issues that set forth the arguments on both sides. Avoid partisan phrases and inflammatory language.
• A current, practical, high-quality PowerPoint presentation and written paper
• Substantive and accurate materials, including the accuracy of citations. AHLA will only do a cursory review of the materials submitted.
• Original materials that do not include materials copyrighted by other individuals or companies

Please keep in mind attendees come to conferences to gather information that can help them do their own jobs more effectively. In many cases, the materials they receive will be used in their day-to-day work activities and sometimes in years to come.

Below are links to several examples that have been produced by past presenters of AHLA conferences, which are the kind of excellent written product expected of those who present at AHLA conferences.

PowerPoint Slides

Slides should be used to supplement your written paper. Presenters should be providing the attendees with detailed information in their written paper that they can take back with them to reference later. Please keep in mind:

• PowerPoint slides provide the visual elements that explain, depict, and emphasize each point you want to make.
• Keep your slides simple and to the point. Presenting slides with a lot of text and narration overloads the audience with too much information to process at one time.
• Presenting an image on a slide with narration allows audience members’ auditory and visual elements to work collaboratively, making the information easier to process
• Make sure you have sufficient contrast between the text color and the background. Your slides will be on a big screen in a ballroom with varying light settings. It will look very different projected on a screen compared to your computer. A white (or light) background with dark text is the best way to maintain visual intensity in high and low light settings.
• Use the same font throughout your slide show. Too many different fonts make it hard for the reader to focus. Font sizes less than 24 points are too small on the big screen. The only reason to use a font less than 24 point is when adding explanatory text to a graph or diagram, in which case one should use a 20 point font size.

 Templates

• AHLA PowerPoint Template (Standard)
• AHLA PowerPoint Template (Widescreen)

Example Submissions of Conference Materials

We have several examples to share that have been produced by past presenters of AHLA conferences, which are the kind of excellent written product expected of those who present at AHLA conferences.

Additional Information on Conference Materials

How to Submit Materials

Materials are submitted through an online portal site. Instructions are sent by AHLA staff that includes the link to the portal. All materials (PowerPoint slides, written materials, supplemental materials, and bios) should all be submitted on or prior to the deadline. Documents should be submitted in their original software – i.e. Word, PowerPoint. A PDF should be submitted if that is the only format it is available in. Materials are posted online and distributed in PDF format to attendees.

Copyrighted Materials and Permission to Use

If there are materials being submitted that are copyrighted, it is the responsibility of the faculty member to obtain permission for us to use them for the conference. Permission needs to be granted prior to the materials being submitted. In addition, any cartoon, comics, or images that are copyrighted that you do not have permission to use, will be removed from the materials being posted for attendees. Speakers can only use them in the presentation version of the PowerPoint slides.

Materials to Avoid Submitting

Attendees come to hear your analysis of cases, statutes, regulations. Please avoid submitting these as materials. These can be cited in your written materials and/or referenced in the PowerPoint slides.