A few things I’ve learned over the years when it comes to conference presentations:
- Don’t try to present your entire paper. That well-researched, rewritten numerous times, and much agonised-over paper will contain a lot of interesting detail and insights you will want your peers to actually read. Use your presentation to pique their interest so that they will seek it out to read it.
- Don’t try to present your entire paper. Yes, I am repeating myself. In a conference, you will usually only have 15-20 minutes to speak, and this goes very very quickly. Just pick out the bits that you want people to think about (or respond to), or, if there have been developments in your topic since the paper was written, give us an update – what’s happened since the paper was written.
- Keep it simple. I actually prefer to minimise the amount of tech I need to use for any presentations – I’d rather avoid the possibility of things not working on the actual day. And, if it’s your first paper, you possibly want to focus on what you’re going to say – rather than also having to remember to press all the right buttons during your presentation.
- Keep it simple. I am not a very good memoriser, but if I keep the points I am trying to make relatively simple, I find that with practice, I can avoid just reading my entire talk. (See point 5)
- Practice! This is important, so that you can hear how your talk flows (or if it doesn’t).
- Time yourself. The 15-20 minute time limit is very important. If you go over time, you will not have time to hear from your audience. If you go over time very badly, you could also steal some of the presentation time of the next presenter. Or you could delay your audience going to their next talk – or worse, stop them from getting to lunch or tea!
I can’t think of anything else, really. It’s always a bit stressful and scary giving a presentation, but I think it’s a great way to present and share your ideas, and you’re also making a great contribution towards the success of an event that supports the profession.
I am really starting to get excited about NLS5 now! Looking forward to meeting friends and making new ones…