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Welcome, In-Person Session Presenters!

This page is for confirmed presenters participating in an in-person session at the 2027 ER&L Fest. See below for important information regarding your presentation requirements, how to upload your attendee-facing slides, how to have the slides available for you on the in-room laptop, what to expect in your session room, and more.

➡️ JUMP TO

🔗 Quick Links

  • Event Website
  • Official ER&L Logos
  • Optional Slide Templates – available Dec 16
  • Speaker Portal – opens Jan 20
  • Dropbox for Slides at the Lectern  – opens Jan 20
  • Event App – opens March 5
  • Online Conference Platform – opens March 5

Your Presenter Checklist

  • ASAP
    • Register for the conference
    • Book your travel/hotel
  • Prepare Your Presentation
    • Update your presenter profile (Speaker Portal)
    • Build your slides
    • Build polls on the Speaker Portal
  • Submit Your Materials no later than March 21
    • Upload slides/materials for attendees on the Speaker Portal
    • Upload your in-room presentation slides on Dropbox OR prepare a flash drive with your file to bring to Austin.
  • Before You Arrive in Austin
    • Confirm any remote presenter logistics with your co-presenters
    • Visit your session on the Event App or Online Conference Portal to confirm everything is correct
    • Enable your pre-built polls on the Speaker Portal
    • Confirm you have uploaded your slides OR prepared a flash drive
  • After the Conference, by March 29
    • Return to the Online Conference Platform or Event App to resolve all questions left by attendees

What is an In-Person Session?

In-Person sessions provide the most interactive experiences for your peers in Austin. Speaking slots are limited, and your presentation could represent some of the most important and timely work in our field.

These presentations are delivered live in Austin, streamed live to the online audience, and recorded for on-demand viewing in the Online Conference.

  • Presentation Time: 30 minutes
  • Q&A: 20 minutes

PRESENTER REQUIREMENTS:

  • All presenters must register for the conference.
  • A majority of your presenters must be in Austin (remote presenters are allowed; see below for guidelines).
Attendees sitting in chairs at the closing keynote. 2 screens on either side with the speakers on a stage in the middle.

Presenter Registration (Required)

The discounted presenter registration rate is $650 for the in-person conference and $395 for the online conference. All accepted presenters are expected to register prior to the conference, whether attending online or in person*.

  • Attending In-Person: Link Available in December ’26
  • Attending Online: Link Available in December ’26

*ER&L makes a commitment that all accepted presenters can participate in ER&L, regardless of their ability to pay. We set aside a pool of funds for those who cannot pay the presenter rate because of hardship or lack of professional development funds. If you are in this situation, please contact the ER&L Team at program@electroniclibrarian.org. 

BOOK YOUR TRAVEL

Review our Hotel and Travel page. Keep in mind that citywide, large events will take place on the heels of ER&L 2027. We highly recommend booking your hotel early, whether in our block or not.

Remote Presenter Guidelines

The majority of the presenters for your live session must be in the session room in Austin. In-person sessions are most effective when all presenters are present in the room. We understand that issues arise that make this impossible. In those instances, remote presenters may be brought in via a pre-set Zoom link prepared by the presenter(s). The Zoom meeting must be conducted on the ER&L-provided laptop at the lectern. Please review the guidelines ER&L staff have created to ensure a smooth experience for your remote presenter and the audience. 

ER&L Remote Presenter Guidelines

If NO live session presenters are able to attend in Austin, your presentation will be changed to a virtual session with our studio or a pre-recorded session. We understand that unexpected things (injury, illness, unavoidable conflicts) will arise, and we are pleased to offer a pre-recorded format as a flexible and low-stress alternative.

Preparing Your Presentation

1. Update your profile on the Speaker Portal

Let your audience get to know you before you’re on stage!

💻 Speaker Portal (available in January 2027)

  • Upload a recent photo or headshot. If you prefer not to upload a photo, your initials or the conference logo will appear in its place. 
  • Add a biography so your audience can get to know you!
  • Add additional links to LinkedIn, Google Scholar, personal websites, etc. 
  • Ensure Profile Visible is checked, or you will not appear as a speaker in your session

Please remember that your profile is public and not limited to attendees.

2. Build your slides

A well-built slide deck is key to a successful presentation. 

  • The confirmed aspect ratio for your slide creation is 16:9.
  • Prepare slides that are compatible with a PC. The laptops in the room will be PCs. Please refrain from using programs that are only accessible on a Mac when creating your slides.
  • On the title slide, include the presentation title, presenter name, affiliation, and photo.
  • Ensure Proper Attribution. At ER&L, all presenters must include proper citations and attributions for any images, graphics, and research outputs that are not original.
  • Ensure that no commercial activities or advertising are included in your slides. Non-compliance with this rule will result in slide or presentation removal and will impact future eligibility for presentation at ER&L.

PRESENTATION BEST PRACTICES

Focus on what your audience wants and needs to hear. What message do you want your audience to walk away with?

The presentations that are memorable start strong and tell a story. Grab the audience’s attention right away with a useful image on your opening slide or an intriguing story. Think about the story you want to tell and create your presentation to tell it.

Give a brief introduction, but don’t spend too much time on it. You have a set amount of time to talk and (most likely) have more content than will fit in the given time frame. Briefly introduce yourself (maybe include an image of your library or organization) and jump into your story.

Make your presentation accessible to all attendees. Many attendees download the presentation slides for a session to take notes or follow along, particularly if they will be using an accessibility tool on their own computer. We’ve prepared some Accessibility Guidelines for speakers on how to make your slides accessible to screen readers and other accessibility tools.

With text, less is almost always more. Give your text room to breathe, don’t crowd too much content on a slide. When there is too much information on a slide, the audience will focus more on reading your slides than listening to you. Text on the slide should complement what you are saying and not be a script of your exact words. Read more about making the text accessible.

Images and other visual aids should speak strongly to your message. The images in your slide deck should support what you are saying or give a deeper dive into the actual data. If it’s an image, it should be clear why the audience is looking at it. If it’s data, remember to include a key. Images with data should also include alt-text as noted in our Accessibility Guidelines.

Relax and have fun. Once you’re “on stage” and the center of attention it’s completely normal to clam up. Take a deep breath, smile, and look into the camera if you can. It will keep you calm and build rapport with the audience. The audience will be emotive if you are and will follow your lead. Show your passion and enjoy yourself!

Pace yourself. Keep your speech at a steady pace and speak slower than you think you need to. It’s natural to speak fast when we’re nervous.

Plan for pauses. After a particularly complex part or after delivering a few minutes of meaty information, force a pause to give the audience time to digest what you are saying (and possibly think of a question to ask you). Plan these forced pauses within your talk and make a note of when to take them.

Engage your audience! Changing up the delivery every 9-10 minutes will keep it from becoming monotonous. Ask a question that a quick comment in the chat section can answer. Pre-load a poll if you’re feeling confident. 

Give the audience a few moments to collect their thoughts before starting the Q&A. Once your presentation is almost over, it will be time for some Q&A. Tell the audience that you are going to give them a moment to collect their thoughts and think of any questions they’d like to ask. Sometimes the brief, calm silence can curate interesting questions.

End on a high note. Hold back 30-60 seconds of your content to wrap up the session post-Q&A. You want your audience to leave your session remembering your message.

Include your email or social media link on the final slide. Some attendees may have questions but may not be comfortable speaking up during the session, or they may think of a question post-conference. If you would like to keep the dialogue going, give them an opportunity to engage with you after the session by providing contact information. Keep the slide up long enough for them to write down the information you include.

3. Create polls for your audience

Polls are a great way to connect with in-person and online attendees.

  • We recommend 2-3 polls per session.
  • Presenters can configure polls in the Speaker Portal.
  • The system calculates and displays online attendees’ answers in real time.
  • We recommend creating and enabling polls before the conference starts so attendees can answer them as soon as your session begins.

HOW TO CREATE & MANAGE POLLS

  1. Log into the Speaker Portal – available in January 2027
  2. Click Sessions 
  3. Click the session title
  4. Click Polls
  5. Click on Add New Poll 
  6. To enable the poll, check Enable (a red dot will appear at the top of the Poll tab)
  7. To disable a poll, check Disable

4. Add your slides (and other materials) for attendees

Attendees want to see your slides!

Presenters of all session types should upload session slides and other digital materials, such as templates, documentation, and samples, to support their presentation.

  • Upload these files via your Speaker Portal. Only one presenter should supply the slides.
  • All attendees can access presentation files on the Online Conference Platform and the Event App.

Presenters may choose not to share slides; however, we strongly encourage you to share them, since the information you are presenting is the core of what we’re facilitating at the conference.

HOW TO ADD YOUR SLIDES FOR ATTENDEES

  1. Log into your Speaker Portal – available in January 2027
  2. Click Sessions 
  3. Click the session title
  4. Click Session Files
  5. Click Add New File
  6. Give the file a title that will appear for attendees
  7. Make sure Is Private is UNchecked.
  8. Click Add File

5. Upload your slides for YOUR use @ the Lectern

📁 Dropbox Folder (available in January 2027)

These Presentation files are for YOU, the live session presenter. These slides will be linked on the in-room PC laptop for you to use during your presentation.

  • This upload is NOT the version for attendees to download.
  • If you do not upload your file by March 21, bring it with you to Austin on a jump drive.

6. Practice Opportunities

BEFORE THE CONFERENCE

ER&L provides presenters an opportunity to go through the ER&L platform prior to the start of the conference. Use this time to review your session listing in the Event App and ensure all information is correct before the conference begins. You are not expected to run through your actual presentation. 

IN AUSTIN

Because we have a smaller footprint at the conference center in Austin, we will not have a Speaker Ready Room available. Speakers who would like to practice or get a feel for their session room are invited to visit their session room between 7:00-8:00 am or 5:30-6:30 pm on Monday or Tuesday.

PRACTICE DAY CHECKLIST

  1. Log into the📲 Event App.
  2. Check that your profile displays the way you want it to.
  3. Locate your session on the Schedule tab.
  4. Enter a text comment into your Session chat.
  5. Review the session description and attached digital materials.

What to Expect During Your Session

  1. Arrive at least 10 minutes before your session.
    • Bring a glass of water, just in case you need it while speaking.
  2. Introduce yourself to the Room Monitor/Moderator.
    • They will be sitting in the front row of the audience. 
  3. Pull up your slides on the laptop at the lectern.
    • A link to our Dropbox folder will be on the laptop.
    • Presenters must use the ER&L-provided laptop. This laptop connects to the live streaming, captioning, and recording devices. Presenters may not use their personal laptops.
    • If you do not upload your file to Dropbox by March 21, you must bring it to Austin on a USB jump/flash drive.  
  4. Start the session on time.
    • The Room Monitor/Moderator will begin the session by introducing the title and turn it over to the first presenter. 
    • You have 30 minutes for your presentation.
  5. The Moderator will give you a 5-minute warning.
    • At the 25-minute mark, the Moderator will hold up a sign to signal that you should wrap up. 
  6. The last 20 minutes are set aside for Q&A.
    • Once you finish presenting, the Moderator will thank you and open the Q&A portion.
    • They may start with an online audience question by reading it aloud themselves or move to the in-person audience 
    • For in-person questions, they will bring the microphone to that audience member to ask the question into it for the online audience and recording.

Each session room will have:

  • A lectern with a microphone.
  • An ER&L-provided PC laptop on the lectern.
  • The laptop will have a link to our Dropbox folder for presentation files.
  • A panel table with 2 microphones and 2 chairs.
  • A Room Monitor/Moderator will be seated near the front of the room with an additional microphone for the audience questions.

Every submitter was asked to indicate whether they needed any accommodations, but we’re still here to help you have a comfortable and safe experience. Contact us at program@electroniclibrarian.org with questions.

Code of Conduct

ER&L’s Code of Conduct and Commitment to Accessibility and Inclusivity apply to presenters and attendees.