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Citing lectures, speeches, or conference proceedings: MLA (9th ed.) citation guide
This guide is based on the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 9th ed. and provides selected citation examples for common types of sources. For more detailed information, please consult the full manual: available in print and online .
Lecture, speech, reading or address
When citing a live presentation like a speech or lecture from a conference or an event, include the name of the sponsoring/presenting organization (after the title), and the venue (after date and before the wider location) in your works cited.
Parenthetical (in-text)
The presenter went to great lengths to prove his point regarding how your brain has been shaped by evolution (Crespi).
Works cited
A live lecture .
Crespi, Bernie. "Darwin and Your Brain." Vancouver Evolution Festival . Simon Fraser University and University of British Columbia, 12 Feb. 2009, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver.
An online recording of a live presentation
Parker, Pardis. “Why Being a Billionaire is a Joke.” TED , Oct. 2022, www.ted.com/talks/pardis_parker_why_being_a_billionaire_is_a_joke.
Conference proceedings
A conference proceeding is the published record of a conference, congress, symposium, or other meeting sponsored by a society or association. The document will look similar to an article or book chapter (and it may in fact be a chapter in a book). To cite a conference proceeding, provide the same information as when citing a book or article , but also include additional information such as the title and date of the conference.
You may be citing an edited book of proceedings (see Edited print books ) or a single presentation, in which you would cite the author(s)/presenter(s), the title of the presentation, and the conference proceeding details similar to a book chapter or journal article .
Parenthetical (in-text)
Social media provides a platform for more minority groups to speak out (Fu).
Works cited
Whole proceedings.
Chang, Steve S., et al., editors. Proceedings of the Twenty-Fifth Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, February 12–15, 1999: General Session and Parasession on Loan Word Phenomena . Berkeley Linguistics Society, 2000.
A single presentation
Fu, Yige, et al. “Research on the Influences of Social Media to Gender Equality.” SHS Web of Conferences , vol. 148, EDP Sciences, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202214803026.
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Home / Guides / Citation Guides / APA Format / How to Cite a Lecture in APA
How to Cite a Lecture in APA
Lecture and PowerPoint presentations are often great sources of information for specific papers. This guide will show you how to cite lectures and PowerPoint presentation slides following APA 7th edition guidelines. The type of lecture (e.g., classroom, conference, etc.) and format of the information (saw lecture, accessed slides, etc.) will determine what citation format you use.
Guide overview
Citing a conference presentation
Citing a classroom presentation/lecture slides.
- Citing a classroom presentation/lecture you watched
- Citing a recorded presentation (video)
Troubleshooting
Presenter #1 Last name, F. M., & Presenter #2 Last Name, F. M. (Year, Month Day of conference). Name of presentation [Presentation format]. Name of Conference, Location. URL
Jacobson, T.E., & Mackey, T. (2013, April 10-13). What’s in the name?: Information literacy, metaliteracy, or transliteracy [Panel session]. Association of College & Research Libraries, Indianapolis, IN, United States. https://www.slideshare.net/tmackey/acrl-2013
In-text citation structure & example:
(Lecture Last Name, Year)
(Jacobson & Mackey, 2013)
If you are citing a classroom presentation file you’ve viewed or accessed, use the following structure.
Lecturer Last name, F. M. (Year, month date). Title of lecture [Description of file type]. Department name, university name. URL
Prosser, M. (2021, October 18). Introduction to rhetorical forms [PowerPoint slides]. English and Modern Languages Department, California Polytechnic State University. https://https://english.calpoly.edu/
(Lecturer Last Name, Year)
(Prosser, 2021)
Citing a presentation/lecture you have watched
If you are citing information you learned through a presentation/lecture you attended, FIRST see if you can find the documented source (e.g., book, article, etc.) the presenter got the information from. If the information is original and the presentation was the primary source, treat the information as personal communication. This means you ONLY need to cite it in an in-text citation and no reference list entry is needed.
In-text citation structure & examples:
(Presenter First Initial., Last Name, personal communication, Month Day, Year of presentation)
(L. Koerte, personal communication, March 17, 2021)
L. Koerte (personal communication, March 17, 2021)
Citing a recorded presentation/lecture (video)
Cite the recording as you would cite a regular video. The person or channel who uploaded/published the video is credited as the “author” even if they did not conduct the presentation/lecture.
Uploader Last name, F. M. (Year, month date). Title of video [Video]. Website Name. URL
Stanford. (2002, January 13). Einstein’s general theory of relativity | Lecture 1 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbmf0bB38h0
(Uploader Last Name, Year)
(Stanford, 2002)
Solution #1: Citing a presentation that comes from a classroom’s website or learning management system (LMS)
If the slides you are citing come from a classroom website or learning management system (LMS) like Canvas or Blackboard, and you are writing for an audience that has access to the site, then provide the name of the site and the URL for the login page.
Reference page structure:
Last name, F. M. (Date). Presentation title in sentence case [PowerPoint slides]. LMS name@University name acronym. Link to login page
Reference page example:
Vincent, P. (2020). Recognizing rhetorical devices in visual rhetoric [PowerPoint slides]. Blackboard@ULV. https://idp.quicklaunchsso.com/laverne
In-text citation structure:
Narrative citation: Last Name (Year)
Parenthetical citation: (Last Name, Year)
In-text citation examples:
Narrative citation: Vincent (2020)
Parenthetical citation: (Vincent, 2020)
APA Formatting Guide
APA Formatting
- Annotated Bibliography
- Block Quotes
- et al Usage
- In-text Citations
- Multiple Authors
- Paraphrasing
- Page Numbers
- Parenthetical Citations
- Reference Page
- Sample Paper
- APA 7 Updates
- View APA Guide
Citation Examples
- Book Chapter
- Journal Article
- Magazine Article
- Newspaper Article
- Website (no author)
- View all APA Examples
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