Presenting Your First Conference Presentation with Quiz2 ... · Women’s Studies Association of...

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Natilene Bowker, Student Learning Centre, Massey University, Palmerston North © 2006

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Presenting Your First Conference Paper

Natilene BowkerStudent Learning Centre

Palmerston North, Massey University

This presentation overviews the basics of preparing and presenting a paper at a conference. It begins by focusing on the types of conferences available, the advantages of presenting. It then moves onto the specifics regarding planning the structure of your talk, including tips on phrasing ideas and presenting to an audience. Finally, the presentation ends by looking at the kinds of questions you might encounter and how to deal with them.

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Why Present?

Allows you to engage with a wider academic community about your work.Exposes you to similar and related work.Enriches the PhD experience.Provides opportunities for networking

Research links laterMeet PhD examiners

Practise for oral exam

So you might be wondering, why should I present a conference paper?Obviously, it does allow the opportunity to access more information and people connected to your topic. When you are isolated in a department, working alongside one other person – your supervisor – conference opportunities can be attractive contexts to engage with experts in your field.

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Disadvantages

Time out from doing and writing the thesis.Expensive!

Check out departmental contributionConference contributionGrants – Royal Society, Claude McCarthy FellowshipScholarships website

Although, I found that presentations on my work developed into later thesis chapters.

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Deciding on a conference

Association/Societies – annual conferencesDisciplinarySpecial interest groupsOverseasPostgraduate

Check out whether papers will be peer-reviewed – most are, but not always. Academically more rigorous if peer-reviewed.

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Preparing your conference paper

Write the paper first, then the oral presentation.

The time to present is short, and your oral presentation can be a summary version of the full paper. If it’s a peer-review/refereed paper, then you are going to need to write the paper first anyway, before it is accepted.

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What to focus on?

FindingsProposal of research areaMethodology/DesignThe Why?

Depends on the stage you are at.It is important to be able to justify the purpose of your work, regardless of the focus of your talk.

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Bowker, N., & Tuffin, K. (2003). Transcending barriers to participation: People with disabilities’ online experiences. In, Women’s Studies Association of New Zealand Conference 2003 Proceedings: ‘He wakakamīharotanga wāhine’ –‘Celebrating all women’ (pp. 7-11). Wellington, New Zealand: WSA(NZ).

Bowker, N., & Tuffin, K. (2002a). Understanding users with disabilities’ online experience via a discursive approach. In F. Vetere, L. Johnston, & R. Kushinsky (Eds.), Proceedings of the human factors 2002 joint conference of the Ergonomics Society of Australia and the Computer Human Interaction Special Interest Group on design for the whole person -integrating physical, cognitive, and social aspects [CD-ROM]. Victoria, Australia: Swinburne University of Technology.

Bowker, N., & Tuffin, K. (2002b). Users with disabilities’ social and economic development through online access. In M. Boumedine (Ed.), Proceedings of the International Association of Science and Technology for Development international conference on information and knowledge sharing (pp. 122-127). Anaheim, CA: ACTA Press.

Bowker, N., & Tuffin, K. (2001a). Online interaction: A therapeutic environment for people with disabilities? In S. J. La Grow (Ed.), Proceedings of the New Zealand Rehabilitation Association biennial conference (pp. 27-33). Wellington: New Zealand Rehabilitation Association.

Bowker, N., & Tuffin, K. (2001b). Beyond rose tinted glasses: Discourse from cyber-citizens with disabilities. In, Progress through partnerships: Proceedings of the disAbility in education conference [Electronic Disk]. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Massey University.

Bowker, N. (1999a). Possibilities for exploring disability identity on-line: A qualitative proposal. In J. Scott & B. Dalgarno(Eds.), Interfaces for the global community: Proceedings of the 1999 conference of the Computer Human Interaction Special Interest Group of the Ergonomics Society of Australia (pp. 119-121). Wagga Wagga, New South Wales: School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University.

Bowker, N. (1999b). On-line resources for people with diabilities and their potential impact on disability identity: A preliminary analysis. In, Proceedings of the disAbility in education conference: Maximising everyone’s potential[Electronic Disk]. Dunedin, New Zealand: University of Otago, Otago Polytechnic and Dunedin College of Education.

Some examples of conference paper topics

Highlight which ones were based on findings, methodology, and proposal. Often, when you begin your research, you are not in a position to display your findings. However, there may be opportunities to present your research proposal at a conference. Further, you could also focus on the research design.Note how the page number for a written conference paper is short – averages around 5 pages.

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“Talking about disability online - is it an issue?: Qualitative research in social psychology.” Paper presented at the Disability Research Seminar Day, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, April 27th 2001.

“Managing an identity: To disclose or not to disclose disability online?” Paper presented at the Annual New Zealand Psychological Society Conference, University of Auckland, New Zealand, August 25th-29th 2001.

“Ethical dilemmas surrounding online qualitative research and the outcome of online interviews.” Paper presented at the School of Psychology Research Day, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand, December 4th 2001.

More examples

These are talks presented at conferences which did not include a set of published proceedings at the end.

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If you are presenting a paper for an international conference with peer-reviewed published proceedings and you are in the early stages of your research, would you…

A) Write the full paper based on the findings from some previous research and present this at the conference.

You could present findings from a previous research degree, providing they are relevant. Otherwise, consider using your research proposal as the basis of a paper at which point you may

get useful feedback to put into practice when implementing your project. It might also be worth considering summarising your written paper so that it fits within the timeframe.

B) Write the full paper based on your research proposal and follow this up with a summary version for the actual presentation.

Based on the advice provided in this online presentation, this approach seems to be the best option.

C) Identify a tropical conference location, plan your itinerary, and then adapt your research proposal for a paper presentation, without the need to have it appear in the published proceedings because you will end up with a published paper based on your research findings later down the track.

Identify a tropical conference location, plan your itinerary, and then adapt your research proposal for a paper presentation, without the need to have it appear in the published proceedings because you will end up with a

published paper based on your research findings later down the track.

D) Focus on your timeframe and write your oral presentation and then match this with the written presentation, but include more details. An alternative approach, although it means you need to write your oral paper much earlier so

that the written version meets the deadline for publication in the conference proceedings.

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Paper Structure

Introduction – lit reviewMethod – participants, procedure, tools used for data collection, analysis.Results – table, graph, extractsDiscussion – explain findings, highlight pitfalls/criticisms/what could have been improved. Conclusion – brief summary, implications for discipline/practice/policy.

Need to keep it tight for the timeframe.Focus on your results and build up justification for your research question and findings.Take more of a practical application/policy perspective on your work as the focus is on outcomes and how they can be used. Not heavily theoretical focus. Guided by the type of conference – if disciplinary, then you want it to be theoretical. But if the conference includes a general focus, with representatives from government and policy groups, then you will need to keep it reasonably general.Tying in with conference theme – don’t need to be representative of that conference theme in its entirety – one angle of your research that is relevant, or the overall topic is linked.For examples of conference papers, look at previous conference proceedings, also check out the bulletin – NZ Psychological Society publication – does publish copies of exemplary papers and keynote addresses from its annual conference.

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Organisation

Follow a logical order of pointsEmphasise what is importantVary your content to maintain interest –“vary level of abstractions with concrete examples, generalities with specifics, and lighter topics with heavier ones”(Sternberg, 2003, p. 257).

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Move beyond the abstract

Where possible try to give real life, concrete examples to demonstrate your points, or concepts used.Use examples to move beyond the points on your OHT or PowerPoint slide.Make your topic relevant – highlight application of abstract work.

Relevance – you’re more likely to listen to someone if you can see the relevanceor importance of the topic – you may need to spell this out to your audience. Do not expect that your audience will know the benefit of your ideas.

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A word on time

Better to be under time than over time.

A4 typed page, 2cm margin, 12 point font =about 5 minutes talking, moderate pace.

Estimate a rate @100 words/minute (slow!), with each concept supported by 3-4 statements, with each statement requiring an average of 12 words.

Remember to take into account question time if included in the speaking time. It seems that often, conference presentations are 20 minutes long – with an additional 5 minutes for questions, and then 5 minutes turn around between speakers, all within 30 minutes.

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Refine your written expressions

Avoid over use of therefore, consequently, as a result of, moreover….Simplify expressions and shorten sentences:

Other research was about…Most of the research focused on…For instance, a study by Smith and colleagues showed..“I also believe that as responsible clinicians we need…” – Best Student paper 2004 Annual Conf. of the NZ Psych Society.Because of these influences, I used…We also looked at…And then…This is what we found.Note, of course…As you can see…“So, did it work well? Well, up to a point…” – from a keynote address from the 1999 Annual Conf of the NZ Psychological Society.The study calls for further research to investigate…– Best Student paper 2004 Annual Conf. of the NZ Psych Society.

Keeping to time may also mean eliminating unnecessary wordiness, avoiding the use of multisyllable words to ease your expression and retain smooth delivery.No need to include years.At times, no need to corroborate with references – as you can say “Most of the research focuses on…”

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Cont.

Create linking phrases between sectionsLet me make a leap to…Having outlined the approach, I’ll now summarise what I did.Beyond the age and confounding factors covered so far, it was also important to account for gender.So, to summarise…

Silence is golden: pauses are useful for the listener to catch up and reflect.

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Presentation Tips

Powerpoint or OHT? 20 size font

Use info on slides as points from which you can elaborate.Notes on small card to aid memory.Check with conference organisers about equipment in room – will you need a pointer? Whiteboard markers?

So, your presentation is written, now you need to create the visual display.Try to ensure that you mention more than what is stated on each slide, by backing up with more details, examples, explanations. Means audience focuses on what you’re saying and not just the slides.Instead of notes on card, you could have your talk printed out in 14 font so you can glance down if you get lost – NB, there is usually a lecturn of some kind on which you can place your notes, without the audience seeing what you are doing.

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Ensuring smooth delivery

Practice!Clarity – emphasise the beginning and end of each word. Pace – aim for a moderate pace.Pitch – create variation, emphasise certain words over others.Natural, conversational speech.Use real conditions – lecture room, mock audience, load up slides or use OHP.Convey enthusiasm.Have notes in front of you for security & to help manage nerves.

Practice speaking aloud to ensure oral familiarity of talk.For one conference, several students from my department were giving presentations, so we all practised a couple of days before we went. Supervisor attended, who was also going and he even presented his paper for feedback and likewise we presented and got feedback.For a major international conference, that no one else in New Zealand was attending, I got a group of friends together who happened to work at massey and they came along and acted as my audience in a lunch hour. Got to see how long the powerpoint took to upload, was able to check timing, etc.Even if you have no audience, still practice under ecologically reliable conditions.If you are an international student and have a strong accent from your home country, you may want to pay particular attention to the clarity of your words. Try and focus on emphasising the beginning and end of each word.Realise that after practising the talk for the seventh time, your enthusiasm may be waning a little, but try to renew your enthusiasm in some way – do not expect your audience to be enthusiastic if you are not. Sometimes the adrenalin of a live audience can certainly install a sense of motivation to carry on a new.Finally, take note of how you project your voice and whether you have a habit of turning around to check the OHT or powerpoint slide. This may not be effective for your audience, especially if you continue talking while turning your back. Also, some speakers have a tendency to only speak to the middle and right hand side columns in a lecture room. Take into account the audience on your left and try to address them as well. Overall, be mindful of your behaviour and who can listen clearly, especially when you don’t have a microphone.

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The X-Factor

Begin with something humorous or exciting!

Captures audience for the long-haulUse anecdote, joke relevant to topic, a concrete example Something humorous that happened on your way to the conference, people understanding your accent.

Generally, with academic talks it is not expected that you will provide something entertaining. The key is to ensure you present an accurate and clear message. However, to add interest, you can sometimes achieve this with an element of humour or an interesting tale to tell at the beginning about your experience, providing that it relates to the talk. Although not essential, this kind of information can hook the audience into your topic right from the start and make a good first impression.

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Dealing with Questions

Questions can target what you have not been able to cover/justify in your talk.Some comments/questions may offer useful suggestions.No single study can ever cover the entirety of a topic.Be prepared to justify your theoretical / methodological position.

You can be gracious and accept those comments and ideas to assist in the development of your ideas, e.g “That’s a great point, I’ll keep that in mind.”For tricky questions – you can come back with the purpose and focus of your work, and while the point about investigating cultural differences is interesting, that was not the focus of your study.Be prepared for tough questions that require you to justify yourtheoretical/methodological position.My experience – when someone questioned whether the people with disabilities, who were the focus of my study, told the truth in interviews. However, in all instances of interview data, survey data, people could be giving false answers. My focus was not about measuring the truth value of their answers, but to understand their experience and evaluate that outcome. This is the case with a lot of social science research.

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Things to do before you leave…

Send a copy of your presentation to your email account.Pack your notes, disk/OHTs in your carry-on luggage.Prepare OHT copy of your powerpointpresentation, just in case…Prepare some business cards.

During my PhD apprenticeship, I travelled to an international conference. Unfortunately, I did happen to miss a flight and managed to get another flight, but after all the flight disruptions with a plane malfunctioning and oxygen masks needing to be refuelled, I arrived at my destination. After the exhaustion of travelling for 2 days, I was so looking forward to catching a glimpse of my luggage, but guess what happened – it didn’t arrive. I was stuck in a hot country with winter woollies. Although I did have a t-shirt, I had to wash it when I got to my accommodation so that I could wear it the next day. I turned up at the conference the following day to find everyone else in shorts and t-shirts. Fortunately, I had packed my powerpoint slides and notes into my carry-on luggage.

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A final word…

Observe and learn from others’successes and mistakes!

Remember, you are surrounded by professional speakers who present lectures, guest talks, seminars, etc. Every time you attend a talk, consider evaluating the speaker’s delivery style and take on board the good points, while making a mental note of the less effective features to avoid in the future.

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For more information…

Please email the Student Learning Centre, Palmerston North campus.

Presenting Your First Conference Presentation with Quiz2 ... · Women’s Studies Association of...

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