On this page
Updated . Example details checked against the MLA Handbook (9th ed.) example for a talk.
The APA format
Pattern
Last name, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of talk [Description]. Event Name, Place.
- Description in brackets: [Keynote address], [Conference session], [Lecture notes].
- Class lectures with slides on a course site that others cannot open: personal communication.
- Recorded: cite as a video.
A real example
Reference entry
Stein, B. (2009, May 3). Reading and writing in the digital era [Keynote address]. Discussion Series, Digital Humanities Center, Kansas City Public Library, Kansas City.
In-text citation
(Stein, 2009)
When details are missing
- No title: describe the talk in brackets in the title position.
- Slides or a paper posted online: add the URL at the end.
- A class lecture you heard: (B. Stein, personal communication, May 3, 2009), with no reference entry.
Common mistakes
- A reference for an unrecorded class lecture. Readers cannot retrieve it, so cite it as a personal communication.
- A course-site link that needs a login. Leave it out; readers cannot open it.
Or let Format do it.
Choose Lecture or speech and fill in the speaker, title, kind of talk, event, host, place and date. Format writes the References entry and the in-text citation in APA 7, exactly as shown above, and builds the References page when you export to Word or PDF. MLA and APA are free.
Questions
How do I cite lecture slides?
Slides posted where readers can open them: the instructor, the date, the title, [PowerPoint slides], the site and URL.
Is a TED talk a lecture?
Cite it as a video.
How do I cite a webinar?
A recorded webinar is cited like a video, with [Webinar] after the title.
More citation guides
The same source in other styles
Similar sources in APA
Every source kind is on the APA page, and every style is on How to cite.