Explore the Extraordinary >>
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Examples of Descriptions / Abstracts
Examples of Learning Goals / Objectives
TITLE: Expanded Lives: Exploring the Impact of Near-Death and Related Experiences
THEME: Exploring how near-death and related experiences can profoundly expand lives, reshaping identity, values, relationships, purpose, and worldviews long after the experiences themselves.
LOCATION: Hyatt Regency Bellevue 900 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, WA 98004
DATES: August 26 – 30, 2026
(Wednesday, August 26th is pre-conference day)
Accepted presenters receive a complimentary one-day ticket towards the conference registration fee*
*extra activities such as Lunch-with-Speaker, Workshops, Fundraising Dinner, and Healing Sessions are not discounted.
Please look over the instructions below carefully and gather all of the information for your proposal before you begin filling it out.
You may submit multiple proposals (4 maximum). Each presentation proposed requires a separate proposal.
Deadline to Submit Proposal is February 20, 2026 by 5:00 pm ET. No Extensions. Only complete forms will be considered. We request that all presenters attend in-person, recordings of presentations will not be accepted.
Please note the IANDS Annual Conference includes three concurrent session tracks during most time blocks. Individual session attendance for specific presentations may vary depending on scheduling and attendee interest.
NOTE: Spaces are very limited for lectures! You will have a much better chance of being selected if you are agreeable to be on a panel (they are longer this year—90 mins!). If you are not selected for your initial proposal, we may invite you to participate in a panel on one of the topics you select in the proposal form.
This is a 60-minute session which often includes a PowerPoint presentation, with an opportunity for questions and answers. The room will be set with classroom-style seating, and will be recorded and some will be live-streamed.
Examples may include a presentation by a single presenter, a multi-person presentation on one topic or theme, a presentation including an audience discussion, interactive elements, or a presentation that includes an activity such as music, movement, or audience participation, etc.
This is a 90-minute session with a moderator and two or three panelists who present different perspectives or aspects of the presentation topic. Each person will have 20 to 25 minutes, plus time for Q&A.
The panel will be seated up front and the room will be set with classroom-style seating and may be recorded and/or live-streamed.
This is a 30-minute session to open the day, which could be music, meditation, movement, or a combination. You may apply as a set group or be asked to join with a complementary presenter/performer. (Not a lecture!)
Posters will be on display, with designated times for the poster preparers to be at their poster for Q&A and discussion with viewers.
Your poster should fit on tri-fold with dimensions of 3′ x 4′.
Movie, theater, dance performance, etc. A 60-minute or 90-minute presentation. Surprise us with your creative idea!
NOTE: Workshops and Keynote Speakers are by invitation only.
EXAMPLE 1:
Tricia Barker experienced a profound near-death experience during her senior year of college. Her near-death experience story has been featured on I Survived: Beyond and Back, National Geographic Magazine, Women’s World Magazine, Coast to Coast AM, and The Doctor Oz Show. Tricia’s memoir is Angels in the OR: What Dying Taught Me About Healing, Survival, and Transformation. Tricia is a graduate of The University of Texas and Goddard College. Currently, she works as an English professor, YouTuber, motivational speaker, medium, Theta Healer, and angel communicator.
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EXAMPLE 2:
During his 25 years as an academically oriented emergency physician, Jeff O’Driscoll experienced phenomena that science couldn’t explain, such as seeing souls leave their bodies at death and communicating with them. His experiences began in childhood following his brother’s death in a farm accident. After stepping away from clinical medicine, Jeff published his award-winning memoir, Not Yet: Near-Life Experiences and Lessons Learned, and recently his novel Zen’s Garden based on his own experiences. Now, as an international speaker and intuitive mentor, he helps souls refine their gifts and receive their own answers so they can connect to their highest self and their most authentic life path.
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EXAMPLE 3:
Norma Edwards, DDiv, is the Founder of Reprogram Your Life, LLC. She is a recognized change agent, a Wisdom Keeper on the planet, a certified Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) Life Coach, and author of the newly released book Awakening. Emerging from a near-death experience over 50 years ago, she has become a recognized expert at merging spiritual principles into clinical practice. Her ministry in prisons focused on community re-entry and a unique process of life coaching that changed the lives of hundreds of men and women on the planet. Rev. Dr. Edwards is married and resides with her husband in South Carolina.
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EXAMPLE 4:
Steven Noack is a near-death experiencer and a quantum healer. At four years old, he was struck by a motor vehicle, and during his NDE he awoke with a being of light who showed him the quantum field and its potential for humanity. Later in his life the same being made contact again along with others to guide him in healing both himself and others. He learned how to process and discharge physical pain and has also overcome addiction and the associated roots of childhood trauma, and he now enjoys guiding others to do the same. Steve has been both speaker and healer at events such as IANDS in North Carolina and has also appeared on Coast to Coast radio. Steve shares his gifts with clients from around the world with the hope that they are able to experience their own unique potential to heal.
(This will help the audience decide if they would like to attend your event.)
Capacity to Heal: NDE, Sadie the Miracle Dog, and the Native American Flute
Donna shares her transformative journey of her NDE and subsequent partnership with Sadie, a German Shepherd pet therapy dog who was an intuitive healer. Donna uniquely parallels the learnings between her NDE and Sadie’s work focusing on love, healing, and forgiveness. Through her NDE, Donna describes the life-changing insights gained when speaking with the Creator of the Universe and guardian angels. Hear key takeaways about spiritual guides–furry and otherwise–and how to fully receive and share love in all forms. Experience a Native American flute immersion with Donna as she shares her interpretation of “Afterlife.”
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The Five Secrets of Heaven
After over a decade of sharing spiritual experiences with millions of people, Curtis Childs has found that again and again, five fundamental truths have emerged as the tools that have the power to transform people’s lives. He calls them the five secrets of heaven. The five secrets of heaven are simple tools for your life drawn deep from the wisdom of countless spiritual experiences. These tools bring insight and clarity into everything from how the spiritual world affects the physical world, to how own own minds work, to the purpose of life itself. Above all, they are a simple yet powerful way to bring the transformative power of the spiritual into everyday life.
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NDE Evidence and the Next Steps in Mind-Brain Research
NDEs provide strong evidence that the nonmaterial mind is a separate entity that interfaces with the brain in ordinary consciousness—a view that requires a radical shift in neuroscience. Earlier scientific revolutions like the heliocentric view of the heavens took more than a century to be accepted, whereas more recent revolutions like the structure of the atom took less than 20 years. The difference was the ability to provide convincing evidence and a model of the new paradigm to other scientists. We present the NDE evidence for the separate mind entity and a model of, and evidence for, mind-brain interaction. There is good NDE evidence that the nonmaterial mind interacts with physical matter, including neural mechanisms, and there is good neurological evidence from neural structures and anesthesiology that suggests an interface for the mind to work with the brain. What is needed now is a research program to validate this model of mind-brain interaction.
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What Lessons from NDEs Tell Us About Oneness
In this presentation, Brian will show how NDEs, while being tailored to the individual, provide universal lessons that can help in daily life. People are divided by such factors as race, nationality, and religion because we have forgotten that we are literally all One. Many times, fundamentalists will attack near-death experiencers because their experience falls outside the bounds of that particular religion or conflicts with Atheistic Materialism.
Learning Goal(s): Statement(s) of precisely what someone will be able to do as a result of attending your presentation.
The two main components of a learning goal are:
1) an action verb
examples: Appraise, Compare, Contrast, Describe, Evaluate, Explain, Summarize, Identify, Discuss
2) an object: a concise description of exactly what the learner will be able to do.
Please number your objectives, beginning with 1.
Example 1:
After this presentation, the learner (attendees) will be able to:
1. Explain the method and results of a study comparing near-death experiences (NDEs) and hallucinations.
2. Contrast NDEs and hallucinations.
3. Discuss the importance of distinguishing between NDEs and hallucinations.
Example 2:
After this presentation, the learner (attendees) will be able to:
1. Discuss the nature and healing power of consciousness.
2. Describe how the near-death experience may impact diseases and relationships.
3. Identify aspects of consciously empowering healing.
For Morning sessions, examples could be:
Attendees will:
1) experience relaxation through…
2) feel refreshed and invigorated by…
3) have an opportunity to enjoy…
(Note: this can also be submitted in an informal way using bullet points. We consider all presentations for potential continuing education credit (CE) and / or designation as an Academic & Professional event, but this section may not need to be this formal, depending on your presentation proposal.)
I . Discuss the nature and healing power of consciousness
a) Consciousness of our brain & physical senses in an NDE
b) Consciousness – generator of ideas that maintain peace, love,
and harmony
c) The perceptions of physical senses cognized by brains and
ideas that protect the physical
d) Consciousness – the substance of life
II . Relate how the near-death experience may impact diseases and
relationships
a) Characteristics of the NDE
b) Aftereffects of the NDE
c) Perceptions of physical senses reality or substance in
consciousness
d) Following an NDE – accessibility of harmonizing ideas needed
for recovery
III. Describe aspects of consciously empowering healing
a) Consciousness and the harmonizing ideas we need
b) Humanness -consider ideas and power of consciousness
c) Mistaken beliefs are separate from the physical
IV. Consciousness. knows practical, harmonizing ideas that resolve
discordant situation
Posters will be featured in a designated area and presented to interested attendees at scheduled times throughout the Conference.
Bring your poster materials (minus display board) with you to the conference (deliver to the conference bookstore) and be sure to pick up poster after conference by Sunday, August 30th at 3 pm. (We will not be able to keep, ship or store your poster.)
Size and shape of board: We will supply a poster board that will be 3 feet high by 4 feet wide, corrugated cardboard, white in color, with two folds which allow the board to stand on its own (see image). The outside panels are 1 foot wide and the central panel is 2 feet wide. The Poster boards will be exhibited on tables or tripods in a specific conference area, throughout the conference, and presented to attendees at scheduled times.
Organization: Focus on the introduction, methods, results and discussion, summary, and references. Make a small scale sketch of your poster to ascertain if all the points you want to stress as well as headlines, text, figures and tables, photos, etc., will fit into the dimensions allowed. The poster should start in the upper left hand corner and flow generally from left to right and from top to bottom. The title, author name(s) and affiliation should be at the top of the poster. If necessary, use letters, numbers, or arrows to indicate proper flow to the audience.
Content: Limit information in the presentation; concentrate on two or three main points. Highlight information with images and simplified graphics and diagrams. Use text cautiously. Often it is better to use outlines and bullets than paragraphs. Avoid overwhelming the audience with too many numbers, words, or complicated graphs. Make certain your message is clear and simple because people will study your poster while you are away.
Lettering: All lettering should be easily read from a distance of four to five feet. Use a bold or semi-bold typeface for headings and labels. Lettering for subheads and figure captions should be larger than that of the main text but smaller than the main heading. Text in upper- and lower-case letters is more readable than all capitals, but capitals for headings and labels are acceptable. The title should have letters that are at least 1 inch high, with author’s names at least ¾ inch high. All other type should be a minimum of 5/8 inch high. Use sans serif type such as Arial or Lucida Sans for text. It is much easier to read than serif type such as Times Roman or Courier.
Mounting: double-sided tape will be provided at the conference.
To summarize:
• DO use large, easy-to-read sans-serif letters.
• DO include clear figures and tables.
• DO NOT paste-up typed pages from a paper.
• DO NOT clutter the poster with details. Posters should be understandable – even in the absence of the author(s)!
Remember that a Poster Session is more like an informal discussion. The discussion may begin with a question from an interested person. You may initiate a discussion by pointing out the particular figure that depicts the essential conclusions of your paper and allow questions and answers to flow from that point. Keep it conversational; do not lecture.
Become a member and support our work today!
Become a member and support our work today!
IANDS is the original organization dedicated to supporting experiencers, educating interested people, and researching the near-death and related spiritual experiences.
IANDS is the original organization dedicated to supporting experiencers, educating interested people, and researching the near-death and related spiritual experiences.
