NAHU Speaker Guidelines

The following guidelines for speakers are to ensure consistent and quality information for session attendees. Please follow these guidelines when preparing your presentation.

All speakers are selected based on their expertise and presentation experience. Programs reflect directly upon NAHU and its reputation for presenting quality education. Therefore, while we do not wish to cramp your individual speaking style, we request that you follow these suggestions unless there are good reasons unique to your presentation not to do so.

Coordination. If you are presenting a program with a co-presenter, make sure to coordinate your presentations to ensure compatibility, avoid inconsistency, and deliver the presentation as advertised to the attendees. Where possible, co-speakers should strive for consistency in the formatting of materials and/or jointly prepare written and presentation materials. Please contact your co-presenters and designate one person as the coordinator for each session. The coordinator will work with NAHU's staff on important details about your session, including whether you plan to submit one paper for the entire group, or if you plan to submit separate materials.

Professional responsibility. Occasionally, a speaker may mention an unethical or questionable practice without clearly stating the applicable ethical guidelines or considerations. If you do not clarify the ethical context of the practice that you are describing, some in the audience may assume that you (or NAHU) approve of the practice. To avoid any possible misinterpretation of your remarks, be sure to remind the attendees of their ethical responsibilities.

Nondiscriminatory language and behavior. When preparing both oral presentations and written materials, speakers are expected to be sensitive to the concerns of all members of the audience in their use of language, hypothetical examples, and anecdotes. For example, routinely assuming that lawyers and judges are male and that secretaries and legal assistants are female, or portraying any gender or minority group in an unfavorable light, is simply inappropriate. Speakers are to avoid offensive, racist, or sexist remarks. Please use inclusive language wherever possible. We encourage speakers to scrutinize both written materials and oral remarks carefully for stereotypes that might offend individuals in the audience.

Selling products or services from the podium. Speakers should avoid presentations that focus so specifically on one product or service that they become commercials. Such "selling from the podium" can create significant conflict of interest problems and put NAHU in an awkward position. We ask all speakers to refrain where possible from focusing on one specific commercial product or service in their presentations. Where possible, competing products should be identified and their strengths and weaknesses discussed. Consultants or shareholders should disclose any interests, financial or otherwise, they may have in the products they are recommending or are comparing with others in a program or speech. As a result of their special situation, consultants and vendors should always identify themselves as such, indicating their interests in any product or service. In fact, speakers should avoid any appearance of impropriety or inordinate promotion of a product or service they sell or provide.