Do you have expertise to share? We are always looking for lecturers and course instructors to speak on any aspect of genealogical or historical research, and on techniques and technology to organize or share research results.
Specific requests for speakers are noted below, but we’re very interested in hearing other ideas, too. Please contact the Education Committee with your idea or proposal for a lecture, course or workshop.
MEETING SPEAKERS
Our Branch meetings are held once per month except in July, August and December. The meeting venue (rented meeting facilities at Lansing United Church, 49 Bogert Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M2N 1K4) is very conveniently located near the Sheppard subway stop on the Yonge line and there is ample parking in the neighborhood.
The meeting format is hybrid—both attendees and speakers can choose to attend in person or online via Zoom.
Branch meetings usually feature at least one presentation and we are open to any topic relating to family or local history that might be of interest to our members. This is a wonderful opportunity to talk about projects you’re involved in, special collections or repositories, research methods and strategies—or simply share inspiring moments and discoveries in your own family history journey.
Click here to see some of our recent presentations.
REQUIREMENTS AND TIPS FOR SPEAKERS
Technical guidelines:
The audience will be expecting an illustrated talk. Presentations must be created with or converted to PowerPoint.*
- As well as illustrations, put key points on slides to make your presentation more accessible and to accommodate different learning styles.
- For readability, we recommend that you use a type size of 20 pt. or larger.
- Avoid scripts and ornate fonts. Choose a simple font like Arial, Helvetica, Gill Sans, Verdana, Calibri, or Tahoma
- Use high contrast colour combinations (black on white, white on dark blue, etc.)
- Space between the lines is important too. Edit to keep the words concise or split the content over two or more slides.
- Be sure to leave space at the bottom of each slide for closed captioning.
- Transitions, animations and video add to the bandwidth demands of Zoom. Your presentation will be accessible to more viewers if you use them sparingly or not at all.
Accessibility, Accommodation, Diversity and Inclusion considerations:
Toronto Branch is committed to making its programs and activities as accessible and as barrier-free as possible to everyone, regardless of their individual abilities. It is our expectation that our speakers will follow the guidelines above for creating accessible AV presentations and will be open to all requests for accommodation.
Toronto Branch is also committed to promoting diversity and inclusion in its programs and activities. We encourage presenters to reflect ethnic, racial, and gender diversity in their examples and illustrations where appropriate.
Share your story with us!
You’ll be speaking to a friendly crowd of researchers, who will appreciate your experience and how it can be applied to their own work. No need to be a seasoned lecturer. We welcome proposals from both members and non-members, and for short presentations (5-10 minutes) to full-length presentations (45-50 minutes). We also encourage suggestions for alternatives to the traditional lecture format. Do you have an idea for an interactive discussion? a multi-media display? Feel free to think outside the box!
E-mail our program facilitator to make your pitch or offer a lead on a topic or speaker you think would be a good fit for a Branch meeting.
*The hybrid format requires that all items on the meeting agenda run on our Branch computer in PowerPoint, but don’t let that be an obstacle that prevents you from submitting a proposal. We can help. Please get in touch.