Speaker Preparation

Due to the detailed nature of the program, no one under the age of 18 will be admitted to any official symposium function. This includes, but is not limited to, all symposium sessions and the exhibits/food room.

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JW Marriott Desert Springs
74-855 Country Club Drive
Palm Desert, CA 92260

• As faculty, you will be placed onto ASTRO's master block.
• There is no need for you to book housing, as ASTRO will make arrangements for you and then ask you to check the information (you'll be able to update your reservation).
• If you have any questions related to housing, contact the Meetings Department.

Continental breakfast will be provided Tuesday and Wednesday in the Exhibit Hall (Springs Ballroom).

Morning coffee breaks will be provided in the Exhibit Hall (Springs Ballroom) on Tuesday and Wednesday. An afternoon coffee break will be provided on Wednesday.

Lunch will be provided on Tuesday and Wednesday in the Exhibit Hall (Springs Ballroom).

• You will receive a printed Pocket Program when you check in on site. While there are some blank notes pages in the Pocket Program, please remember to bring a notebook or laptop for your own personal use if you plan to take extensive notes.

• Disclosure information will be available online for committee members and faculty. In addition to being available online, disclosure slides will be shown at the beginning of each session. Disclosure information will not be printed in the Pocket Program.

• All abstracts will be published in an issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology•Biology•Physics (Red Journal). Full text of the abstracts is embargoed until the opening ceremony of the symposium but will be available online for attendees to download during the symposium.

Effective Education Practices

• Talk titles should inspire curiosity. If you update your talk title, please send it to ASTRO staff so they can update the program.

• Consider making your talk case-based with decision points throughout. Use decision points as opportunities for attendees to take one minute and speak to one another about what they would do. People learn more when they collaborate.

• Spend less time on slides and more time on discussion, questions and answers, and attendee engagement. Be sure you know when your session will be addressing Q&A.

• Show how this education can help attendees make a meaningful, positive change in their day-to-day practice.

Uploading Slides

• Speakers may upload their slides prior to the meeting through the Speaker Center under the "My Presentations" tab.

• All speakers, regardless of whether your presentation has been uploaded or not, must check in at the Speaker Ready Room and review their presentation.

• If you do not upload your file AT LEAST two hours prior to the start of your session, the risk for AV problems is significant; we recommend uploading the day before your session takes place.

• Please see the "Building Your Presentation" section below for file formats that are allowed. If your presentation contains any video or audio, please submit your files to the Speaker Ready Room as early as possible due to additional processing time that may be required.

Disclosures

Speakers and moderators are required to disclose the following, if applicable, to the audience at the beginning of their presentations and in accordance with ACCME standards and Food and Drug Administration requirements:

• The existence of any financial or other relationship you have with the manufacturer(s) or any commercial product(s) or provider(s) of any commercial services discussed in an educational presentation.

• Any vested interest or their intention to discuss off-label and/or investigational use of pharmaceuticals or devices.

Building Your Presentation

• Remember to remove any banners/templates from other meetings/symposia. We recommend you use the meeting's PowerPoint template for your slides – template option 1 or template option 2. Remember to conclude your presentation with a summary slide that outlines the key points and take-home messages from your talk.

• All the screens will be a 16:9 widescreen ratio. If your presentation is in the older 4:3 ratio rather than 16:9, your presentation will be “pillar boxed” on the wider screens.

• All electronic files must be submitted using one of the formats listed below:
  • PowerPoint 2016 or earlier version
  • Drive should be FAT32, NTFS, or ExFAT formatted
  • Video playback: MP4, WMV (other formats may require conversion)
    • Even though most video files are embedded in the .pptx file, you should have copies of all files available in case conversion is required.
    • YouTube and other online videos will need to be downloaded and inserted (instead of linking to the online video).
  • PDF Reader: Adobe Acrobat

• It is important that your movies do not completely fill the screen. In the meeting room you will only have a mouse to advance your slides. You can only advance your PowerPoint by clicking on the slide, not the movie itself.

Arriving in the Session Room

You should arrive at the front of your session room at least ten minutes in advance of your session (or the session that precedes yours if there isn’t a break in between). ASTRO Education staff and the AV tech will be there to give instructions and acquaint you with the AV set up on the stage. It is essential that each presenter stay within the time limits. A timer will be operated by the AV tech to ensure this.

For questions related to housing, registration and travel, contact the Meetings Department.

For all other questions or concerns, contact the Specialty Meetings team.

No audio recording, video recording or flash photography is permitted at any time during the meeting.

• When you access the Social Q and A platform, navigate to the appropriate session and if necessary, select the appropriate speaker from the given list when asking a question. You will also be able to answer any polls that the speakers may ask through this platform.

• In every session, and in addition to floor microphones in the room, attendees can use their own electronic devices (phone, tablet, laptop) to submit questions to the speakers and moderators. Attendees will be able to see the questions that others have asked, and can up-vote questions that they want answered.

• Speakers may also utilize the technology to poll the audience with interactive, audience response questions. For more information and/or to submit polls, please contact the Specialty Meetings team.

All presenters are required to go to the Speaker Ready Room the day before their session takes place to upload their presentation (computers are available to preview your slides). The Speaker Ready Room will be open during the following hours:

• Monday, February 16, 2026, 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, February 17, 2026, 6:45 a.m. - 4:15 p.m.
• Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 6:45 a.m. - 4:15 p.m.