Preparing Your Presentation for WORLDSymposium™ 2025

Platform Presentation – Timing**

  • Each platform speaker is allowed 12 minutes of presentation time. No additional time will be given. Speakers will have a visible countdown timer. When there are 30 seconds left, soft background music will start to play. At exactly 12 minutes, the speaker’s microphone will be muted. If a presenter does not use the full 12 minutes, the remaining time will be moved to the Q&A time, not to the next speaker. 
  • The laptop on the podium will be set in “presenter mode” so you can view your notes and see the next slide during your presentation.
  • Sessions are divided into 1-hour increments, with 4 presentations per 1-hour. The 4 presentations will be followed by audience Q&A for all 4 speakers. Questions from the audience will be facilitated by session co-chairs, who will direct specific questions to each of the 4 presenters. All platform speakers are required to be on stage during their full 1-hour assigned session, including the group Q&A.

**This timing does not apply for the Rapid-Fire Session. See below.

Rapid Fire Presentation – Timing

  • For the Rapid-Fire Session, each 1-hour increment will include 6 presenters on the stage, for the full hour. Each presenter will be given 5 minutes to present their work, with soft music starting to play when there are 30 seconds left.
  • The laptop on the podium will be set in “presenter mode” so you can view your notes and see the next slide during your presentation.
  • The microphone will be muted at exactly 5 minutes, and the audience microphones will be opened for live Q&A. When there are 30 seconds left in the Q&A, light music will again start to play, and the presenter’s and audience microphones will be muted at exactly 4.5 minutes of Q&A.
  • There will be at least 3 microphones in the audience for live interaction during Q&A. Co-Chairs will assist with audience Q&A, etc., as needed.

Platform Presentation – Content/Slides

  • Please plan to include only 12-15 slides total for your 12-minute presentation.
  • **This does NOT apply to the Rapid-Fire Session: For the Rapid-Fire Session, please plan to include only 5-7 slides total for your 5 minute presentation.
  • The first slide should be a “title and presenter” slide. The title slide must include the abstract title, and the presenting author’s name and affiliation only. No co-authors or support should be included on the title slide.
  • The last slide should be a ‘thank you’ and ‘acknowledgement’ slide, where co-authors and support may be acknowledged; however, no corporate logos are allowed in any slide, including the acknowledgement slide. For Rapid Fire, a ‘thank you’ and/or acknowledgement’ slide is not necessary to save time for the 5-minute presentation.
  • Do not include a disclosure slide. Your disclosure will be displayed on the big screen for the audience as you are introduced to the podium, using the disclosure that you provided during your abstract submission.
  • If applicable, there should only be one introductory slide. Do not spend any of your time giving an overview of lysosomal diseases or specific lysosomal disease information.
  • Commercial logos are NOT allowed on abstracts, presentations, or posters, for all days, including non-CE days.
  • Slides may NOT include corporation branding, including logos, website colors, or graphics and images from corporate websites, on any slides. NO EXCEPTIONS. Use a plain-colored background slide template.
  • A speaker from a non-commercial entity, such as a university, research institution, research consortium, for-profit hospital, or government agency (all are exempt under ACCME rules), may credit the organization(s) using logos on the final acknowledgement slide only. The speaker may NOT brand the overall presentation with logos or designs from the non-commercial organization.
  • Use generic drug names only. Trade names are NOT allowed.
  • Poster numbers should only be listed on the final acknowledgement slide.
  • QR codes are not allowed on platform PowerPoint files; however, they can be put on printed and e-posters.
  • Links to web pages should not be used on slides during a live presentation; however, links can be provided as a reference in the footnotes or on the acknowledgement slide.
  • WORLDSymposium™ is trademarked and should not be used on any slides.
  • WORLDSymposium supports the use of the term “lysosomal disease” instead of “lysosomal storage disorders”, or “LSD”, since not all lysosomal diseases are related to a storage problem. We suggest removing the word “storage” as part of the term.
  • Platform slides must use a 16:9 ratio or widescreen PowerPoint with a .ppt or .pptx format only.

Accreditation: This activity is jointly provided by Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) and WORLDSymposium. PIM is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians and therefore, all educational programming is developed and must be presented in compliance with all ACCME accreditation requirements, including talks on non-CE days. As you prepare your presentation, please keep these thoughts in mind:

  • Talks must be free of commercial bias for or against any product. If commercial products or devices are discussed, the session must present objective information about those products, based on generally-accepted scientific evidence. Presenters must not engage in the marketing of proprietary services and/or testing in any way during the presentation.
  • Presentations must promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest. Presentations must give a balanced view of therapeutic options. Use of generic names will contribute to this impartiality. If the educational material or content includes trade names, where available trade names from several companies should be used, not just trade names from a single company.
  • As defined by ACCME: “a commercial interest is any entity producing, marketing, re-selling or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on patients.” The ACCME does not consider providers of clinical service directly to patients to be commercial interests.

If any of these rules are not followed, presenters will be asked to revise their slides and resubmit for another review.

Platform Presentation – Slide Submission

  • First authors will be sent an email with instructions for submitting slides in late December 2024. This email will come from Amber (amber@worldsymposia.org). 
  • ALL platform presentations must be submitted to the presentation management system site no later than Monday, January 13, 2025, for CE review. All slides are due by the deadline of Monday, January 13, 2025.
  • Platform slides will be reviewed by the WORLDSymposium Program Team and the accredited provider, PIM, including non-CE PowerPoint files. If changes are required, an email with specific edits will be sent to the presenting author only. The email will come from the WORLDSymposium Program Team.
  • WORLDSymposium will not accept presentations brought to the Speaker Ready Room or Meeting Room onsite. All slides must be reviewed and approved prior to the start of the meeting.
  • Final reviews of slides and very minor edits may be made onsite in the Speaker Ready Room, 24 hours prior to the scheduled presentation.

Platform Presentation – Slide File Format

  • The Presentation Management system at WORLDSymposium 2025 is optimized for PowerPoint files (PPT, PPTX), whether created on a PC or MAC. To take advantage of advanced media support in PowerPoint, WORLDSymposium recommends that all PPT files be converted to the PPTX format. Presenters can find the convert feature located under “File, Help” when PowerPoint is open.
  • To maximize the presentation for on-screen viewing at WORLDSymposium 2025, please set up the presentation file using the 16:9 aspect ratio. This will need to be done prior to uploading the presentation. 
  • PDF files are not allowed. Please submit only PPT or PPTX files.
  • Keynote files (KEY) and Prezi files are not supported. Please export the presentation as a PowerPoint file for upload.
  • You may NOT use your own laptop for your presentation. No exceptions. LCD projection will be provided for all speakers using PowerPoint for the presentations.

Platform Presentation – Video and Audio File Support

Please see this article for file formats supported within PowerPoint.

  • Please consider compressing videos. If PowerPoint is authored as a PPTX, there are tools within PowerPoint to do this automatically. Instructions are found here.
  • If the presenter will be converting or authoring videos, WORLDSymposium recommends H.264 encoding at less than a 5Mbps bitrate for best performance. Resolutions in the meeting room will be 1280×720 for 16:9 presentations. A 1080p, maximum bit rate encoding will bloat the size of the presentation with no visual improvement and may actually hurt performance.

Platform Presentation – Custom Fonts

  • WORLDSymposium only supplies fonts that are included with Office 2013. For a list, see this article. If a speaker needs a specialized font, it should be embedded into the PowerPoint presentation. Some licensed fonts may not embed and should be replaced with a font included with Office. Click here for an explanation of this process.

Platform Presentation – Onsite

  • Please bring a copy of your presentation with you when you depart for the meeting. Copy your PowerPoint and all movies to a folder on a USB. While PowerPoint 2013 and later will embed movies by default, you should still bring the videos just in case. Not all prior versions of PowerPoint will embed movies. It is good practice to keep a second copy of your presentation and movies in your luggage.
  • Speakers must check-in at the Speaker Ready Room at least 24 hours prior to their scheduled presentation. No changes to slides will be allowed within 12 hours of your presentation. No exceptions. The computers in the Speaker Ready Room will be configured with hardware and software exactly like the ones in the meeting room. It is imperative that you review your presentation in the Speaker Ready Room. This is where technicians can help resolve any compatibility or formatting issues and explain the in-room setup. The staff will also provide you with any last-minute instructions.

Speaker Ready Room Hours

Monday, February 3, 12:00 – 17:00
Tuesday, February 4, 06:30 – 16:00
Wednesday, February 5, 06:30 – 16:00
Thursday, February 6, 06:30 – 16:00
Friday, February 7, 06:30 – 12:30

Platform Presentation – Giving Your Presentation

  • Plan to arrive at the General Session meeting room 30 minutes before the start of your assigned 1-hour session.
  • The AV technician will provide you with a lapel microphone, and WORLDSymposium staff will direct you to your assigned seating at the front of the room in the speaker waiting area.
  • One of the co-chairs will introduce you while another co-chair pulls up your opening slide. At the end of your presentation the screen display will be set to the main menu of session presenters.
  • At the podium, you will have a laptop set to ‘presenter mode’ where you will be able to see your notes and view the next slide. You will have a visible countdown clock to help keep you on time, and there will be a monitor on the floor in front of you where you can see the current slide. 
  • All 4 speakers for each session will remain on stage for the full hour segment, to include 4 presentations and a group panel Q&A, moderated by the session co-chairs.
  • For the Rapid-Fire Session, all 6 speakers will remain on stage for the full hour segment, to include six 5-minute presentations, each followed immediately by 5 minutes of live audience Q&A.  
  • The live session will be recorded, so please look forward as you give your presentation and as you answer the audience questions. The recorded ‘On Demand’ program will be available from February 12, 2025 – March 14, 2025. You can purchase this “add on” On Demand program to your registration.
  • On the day of your presentation, make sure to wear clothing that will allow the microphone battery pack to be clipped on, such as a belt, pocket, or waistband. 

Platform Presentation – Questions

For any additional questions or concerns, please email Amber at amber@worldsymposia.org.