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How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation of Your Research Paper

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A research paper presentation is often used at conferences and in other settings where you have an opportunity to share your research, and get feedback from your colleagues. Although it may seem as simple as summarizing your research and sharing your knowledge, successful research paper PowerPoint presentation examples show us that there’s a little bit more than that involved.

In this article, we’ll highlight how to make a PowerPoint presentation from a research paper, and what to include (as well as what NOT to include). We’ll also touch on how to present a research paper at a conference.

Purpose of a Research Paper Presentation

The purpose of presenting your paper at a conference or forum is different from the purpose of conducting your research and writing up your paper. In this setting, you want to highlight your work instead of including every detail of your research. Likewise, a presentation is an excellent opportunity to get direct feedback from your colleagues in the field. But, perhaps the main reason for presenting your research is to spark interest in your work, and entice the audience to read your research paper.

So, yes, your presentation should summarize your work, but it needs to do so in a way that encourages your audience to seek out your work, and share their interest in your work with others. It’s not enough just to present your research dryly, to get information out there. More important is to encourage engagement with you, your research, and your work.

Tips for Creating Your Research Paper Presentation

In addition to basic PowerPoint presentation recommendations, which we’ll cover later in this article, think about the following when you’re putting together your research paper presentation:

• Know your audience : First and foremost, who are you presenting to? Students? Experts in your field? Potential funders? Non-experts? The truth is that your audience will probably have a bit of a mix of all of the above. So, make sure you keep that in mind as you prepare your presentation.

Know more about: Discover the Target Audience .

• Your audience is human : In other words, they may be tired, they might be wondering why they’re there, and they will, at some point, be tuning out. So, take steps to help them stay interested in your presentation. You can do that by utilizing effective visuals, summarize your conclusions early, and keep your research easy to understand.
• Running outline : It’s not IF your audience will drift off, or get lost…it’s WHEN. Keep a running outline, either within the presentation or via a handout. Use visual and verbal clues to highlight where you are in the presentation.
• Where does your research fit in? You should know of work related to your research, but you don’t have to cite every example. In addition, keep references in your presentation to the end, or in the handout. Your audience is there to hear about your work.
• Plan B : Anticipate possible questions for your presentation, and prepare slides that answer those specific questions in more detail, but have them at the END of your presentation. You can then jump to them, IF needed.

What Makes a PowerPoint Presentation Effective?

You’ve probably attended a presentation where the presenter reads off of their PowerPoint outline, word for word. Or where the presentation is busy, disorganized, or includes too much information. Here are some simple tips for creating an effective PowerPoint Presentation.

• Less is more: You want to give enough information to make your audience want to read your paper. So include details, but not too many, and avoid too many formulas and technical jargon.
• Clean and professional : Avoid excessive colors, distracting backgrounds, font changes, animations, and too many words. Instead of whole paragraphs, bullet points with just a few words to summarize and highlight are best.
• Know your real-estate : Each slide has a limited amount of space. Use it wisely. Typically one, no more than two points per slide. Balance each slide visually. Utilize illustrations when needed; not extraneously.
• Keep things visual : Remember, a PowerPoint presentation is a powerful tool to present things visually. Use visual graphs over tables and scientific illustrations over long text. Keep your visuals clean and professional, just like any text you include in your presentation.

Know more about our Scientific Illustrations Services .

Another key to an effective presentation is to practice, practice, and then practice some more. When you’re done with your PowerPoint, go through it with friends and colleagues to see if you need to add (or delete excessive) information. Double and triple check for typos and errors. Know the presentation inside and out, so when you’re in front of your audience, you’ll feel confident and comfortable.

How to Present a Research Paper

If your PowerPoint presentation is solid, and you’ve practiced your presentation, that’s half the battle. Follow the basic advice to keep your audience engaged and interested by making eye contact, encouraging questions, and presenting your information with enthusiasm.

We encourage you to read our articles on how to present a scientific journal article and tips on giving good scientific presentations .

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How to make a scientific presentation

Scientific presentation outlines

Questions to ask yourself before you write your talk, 1. how much time do you have, 2. who will you speak to, 3. what do you want the audience to learn from your talk, step 1: outline your presentation, step 2: plan your presentation slides, step 3: make the presentation slides, slide design, text elements, animations and transitions, step 4: practice your presentation, final thoughts, frequently asked questions about preparing scientific presentations, related articles.

A good scientific presentation achieves three things: you communicate the science clearly, your research leaves a lasting impression on your audience, and you enhance your reputation as a scientist.

But, what is the best way to prepare for a scientific presentation? How do you start writing a talk? What details do you include, and what do you leave out?

It’s tempting to launch into making lots of slides. But, starting with the slides can mean you neglect the narrative of your presentation, resulting in an overly detailed, boring talk.

The key to making an engaging scientific presentation is to prepare the narrative of your talk before beginning to construct your presentation slides. Planning your talk will ensure that you tell a clear, compelling scientific story that will engage the audience.

In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know to make a good oral scientific presentation, including:

• The different types of oral scientific presentations and how they are delivered;
• How to outline a scientific presentation;
• How to make slides for a scientific presentation.

Our advice results from delving into the literature on writing scientific talks and from our own experiences as scientists in giving and listening to presentations. We provide tips and best practices for giving scientific talks in a separate post.

There are two main types of scientific talks:

• Your talk focuses on a single study . Typically, you tell the story of a single scientific paper. This format is common for short talks at contributed sessions in conferences.
• Your talk describes multiple studies. You tell the story of multiple scientific papers. It is crucial to have a theme that unites the studies, for example, an overarching question or problem statement, with each study representing specific but different variations of the same theme. Typically, PhD defenses, invited seminars, lectures, or talks for a prospective employer (i.e., “job talks”) fall into this category.

➡️ Learn how to prepare an excellent thesis defense

The length of time you are allotted for your talk will determine whether you will discuss a single study or multiple studies, and which details to include in your story.

The background and interests of your audience will determine the narrative direction of your talk, and what devices you will use to get their attention. Will you be speaking to people specializing in your field, or will the audience also contain people from disciplines other than your own? To reach non-specialists, you will need to discuss the broader implications of your study outside your field.

The needs of the audience will also determine what technical details you will include, and the language you will use. For example, an undergraduate audience will have different needs than an audience of seasoned academics. Students will require a more comprehensive overview of background information and explanations of jargon but will need less technical methodological details.

Your goal is to speak to the majority. But, make your talk accessible to the least knowledgeable person in the room.

This is called the thesis statement, or simply the “take-home message”. Having listened to your talk, what message do you want the audience to take away from your presentation? Describe the main idea in one or two sentences. You want this theme to be present throughout your presentation. Again, the thesis statement will depend on the audience and the type of talk you are giving.

Your thesis statement will drive the narrative for your talk. By deciding the take-home message you want to convince the audience of as a result of listening to your talk, you decide how the story of your talk will flow and how you will navigate its twists and turns. The thesis statement tells you the results you need to show, which subsequently tells you the methods or studies you need to describe, which decides the angle you take in your introduction.

➡️ Learn how to write a thesis statement

The goal of your talk is that the audience leaves afterward with a clear understanding of the key take-away message of your research. To achieve that goal, you need to tell a coherent, logical story that conveys your thesis statement throughout the presentation. You can tell your story through careful preparation of your talk.

Preparation of a scientific presentation involves three separate stages: outlining the scientific narrative, preparing slides, and practicing your delivery. Making the slides of your talk without first planning what you are going to say is inefficient.

Here, we provide a 4 step guide to writing your scientific presentation:

• Outline your presentation
• Plan your presentation slides
• Make the presentation slides
• Practice your presentation

Writing an outline helps you consider the key pieces of your talk and how they fit together from the beginning, preventing you from forgetting any important details. It also means you avoid changing the order of your slides multiple times, saving you time.

Plan your talk as discrete sections. In the table below, we describe the sections for a single study talk vs. a talk discussing multiple studies:

The following tips apply when writing the outline of a single study talk. You can easily adapt this framework if you are writing a talk discussing multiple studies.

Introduction: Writing the introduction can be the hardest part of writing a talk. And when giving it, it’s the point where you might be at your most nervous. But preparing a good, concise introduction will settle your nerves.

The introduction tells the audience the story of why you studied your topic. A good introduction succinctly achieves four things, in the following order.

• It gives a broad perspective on the problem or topic for people in the audience who may be outside your discipline (i.e., it explains the big-picture problem motivating your study).
• It describes why you did the study, and why the audience should care.
• It gives a brief indication of how your study addressed the problem and provides the necessary background information that the audience needs to understand your work.
• It indicates what the audience will learn from the talk, and prepares them for what will come next.

A good introduction not only gives the big picture and motivations behind your study but also concisely sets the stage for what the audience will learn from the talk (e.g., the questions your work answers, and/or the hypotheses that your work tests). The end of the introduction will lead to a natural transition to the methods.

Give a broad perspective on the problem. The easiest way to start with the big picture is to think of a hook for the first slide of your presentation. A hook is an opening that gets the audience’s attention and gets them interested in your story. In science, this might take the form of a why, or a how question, or it could be a statement about a major problem or open question in your field. Other examples of hooks include quotes, short anecdotes, or interesting statistics.

Why should the audience care? Next, decide on the angle you are going to take on your hook that links to the thesis of your talk. In other words, you need to set the context, i.e., explain why the audience should care. For example, you may introduce an observation from nature, a pattern in experimental data, or a theory that you want to test. The audience must understand your motivations for the study.

Supplementary details. Once you have established the hook and angle, you need to include supplementary details to support them. For example, you might state your hypothesis. Then go into previous work and the current state of knowledge. Include citations of these studies. If you need to introduce some technical methodological details, theory, or jargon, do it here.

Conclude your introduction. The motivation for the work and background information should set the stage for the conclusion of the introduction, where you describe the goals of your study, and any hypotheses or predictions. Let the audience know what they are going to learn.

Methods: The audience will use your description of the methods to assess the approach you took in your study and to decide whether your findings are credible. Tell the story of your methods in chronological order. Use visuals to describe your methods as much as possible. If you have equations, make sure to take the time to explain them. Decide what methods to include and how you will show them. You need enough detail so that your audience will understand what you did and therefore can evaluate your approach, but avoid including superfluous details that do not support your main idea. You want to avoid the common mistake of including too much data, as the audience can read the paper(s) later.

Results: This is the evidence you present for your thesis. The audience will use the results to evaluate the support for your main idea. Choose the most important and interesting results—those that support your thesis. You don’t need to present all the results from your study (indeed, you most likely won’t have time to present them all). Break down complex results into digestible pieces, e.g., comparisons over multiple slides (more tips in the next section).

Summary: Summarize your main findings. Displaying your main findings through visuals can be effective. Emphasize the new contributions to scientific knowledge that your work makes.

Conclusion: Complete the circle by relating your conclusions to the big picture topic in your introduction—and your hook, if possible. It’s important to describe any alternative explanations for your findings. You might also speculate on future directions arising from your research. The slides that comprise your conclusion do not need to state “conclusion”. Rather, the concluding slide title should be a declarative sentence linking back to the big picture problem and your main idea.

It’s important to end well by planning a strong closure to your talk, after which you will thank the audience. Your closing statement should relate to your thesis, perhaps by stating it differently or memorably. Avoid ending awkwardly by memorizing your closing sentence.

By now, you have an outline of the story of your talk, which you can use to plan your slides. Your slides should complement and enhance what you will say. Use the following steps to prepare your slides.

• Write the slide titles to match your talk outline. These should be clear and informative declarative sentences that succinctly give the main idea of the slide (e.g., don’t use “Methods” as a slide title). Have one major idea per slide. In a YouTube talk on designing effective slides , researcher Michael Alley shows examples of instructive slide titles.
• Decide how you will convey the main idea of the slide (e.g., what figures, photographs, equations, statistics, references, or other elements you will need). The body of the slide should support the slide’s main idea.
• Under each slide title, outline what you want to say, in bullet points.

In sum, for each slide, prepare a title that summarizes its major idea, a list of visual elements, and a summary of the points you will make. Ensure each slide connects to your thesis. If it doesn’t, then you don’t need the slide.

Slides for scientific presentations have three major components: text (including labels and legends), graphics, and equations. Here, we give tips on how to present each of these components.

• Have an informative title slide. Include the names of all coauthors and their affiliations. Include an attractive image relating to your study.
• Make the foreground content of your slides “pop” by using an appropriate background. Slides that have white backgrounds with black text work well for small rooms, whereas slides with black backgrounds and white text are suitable for large rooms.
• The layout of your slides should be simple. Pay attention to how and where you lay the visual and text elements on each slide. It’s tempting to cram information, but you need lots of empty space. Retain space at the sides and bottom of your slides.
• Use sans serif fonts with a font size of at least 20 for text, and up to 40 for slide titles. Citations can be in 14 font and should be included at the bottom of the slide.
• Use bold or italics to emphasize words, not underlines or caps. Keep these effects to a minimum.
• Use concise text . You don’t need full sentences. Convey the essence of your message in as few words as possible. Write down what you’d like to say, and then shorten it for the slide. Remove unnecessary filler words.
• Text blocks should be limited to two lines. This will prevent you from crowding too much information on the slide.
• Include names of technical terms in your talk slides, especially if they are not familiar to everyone in the audience.
• Proofread your slides. Typos and grammatical errors are distracting for your audience.
• Include citations for the hypotheses or observations of other scientists.
• Good figures and graphics are essential to sustain audience interest. Use graphics and photographs to show the experiment or study system in action and to explain abstract concepts.
• Don’t use figures straight from your paper as they may be too detailed for your talk, and details like axes may be too small. Make new versions if necessary. Make them large enough to be visible from the back of the room.
• Use graphs to show your results, not tables. Tables are difficult for your audience to digest! If you must present a table, keep it simple.
• Label the axes of graphs and indicate the units. Label important components of graphics and photographs and include captions. Include sources for graphics that are not your own.
• Explain all the elements of a graph. This includes the axes, what the colors and markers mean, and patterns in the data.
• Use colors in figures and text in a meaningful, not random, way. For example, contrasting colors can be effective for pointing out comparisons and/or differences. Don’t use neon colors or pastels.
• Use thick lines in figures, and use color to create contrasts in the figures you present. Don’t use red/green or red/blue combinations, as color-blind audience members can’t distinguish between them.
• Arrows or circles can be effective for drawing attention to key details in graphs and equations. Add some text annotations along with them.
• Write your summary and conclusion slides using graphics, rather than showing a slide with a list of bullet points. Showing some of your results again can be helpful to remind the audience of your message.
• If your talk has equations, take time to explain them. Include text boxes to explain variables and mathematical terms, and put them under each term in the equation.
• Combine equations with a graphic that shows the scientific principle, or include a diagram of the mathematical model.
• Use animations judiciously. They are helpful to reveal complex ideas gradually, for example, if you need to make a comparison or contrast or to build a complicated argument or figure. For lists, reveal one bullet point at a time. New ideas appearing sequentially will help your audience follow your logic.
• Slide transitions should be simple. Silly ones distract from your message.
• Decide how you will make the transition as you move from one section of your talk to the next. For example, if you spend time talking through details, provide a summary afterward, especially in a long talk. Another common tactic is to have a “home slide” that you return to multiple times during the talk that reinforces your main idea or message. In her YouTube talk on designing effective scientific presentations , Stanford biologist Susan McConnell suggests using the approach of home slides to build a cohesive narrative.

To deliver a polished presentation, it is essential to practice it. Here are some tips.

• For your first run-through, practice alone. Pay attention to your narrative. Does your story flow naturally? Do you know how you will start and end? Are there any awkward transitions? Do animations help you tell your story? Do your slides help to convey what you are saying or are they missing components?
• Next, practice in front of your advisor, and/or your peers (e.g., your lab group). Ask someone to time your talk. Take note of their feedback and the questions that they ask you (you might be asked similar questions during your real talk).
• Edit your talk, taking into account the feedback you’ve received. Eliminate superfluous slides that don’t contribute to your takeaway message.
• Practice as many times as needed to memorize the order of your slides and the key transition points of your talk. However, don’t try to learn your talk word for word. Instead, memorize opening and closing statements, and sentences at key junctures in the presentation. Your presentation should resemble a serious but spontaneous conversation with the audience.
• Practicing multiple times also helps you hone the delivery of your talk. While rehearsing, pay attention to your vocal intonations and speed. Make sure to take pauses while you speak, and make eye contact with your imaginary audience.
• Make sure your talk finishes within the allotted time, and remember to leave time for questions. Conferences are particularly strict on run time.
• Anticipate questions and challenges from the audience, and clarify ambiguities within your slides and/or speech in response.
• If you anticipate that you could be asked questions about details but you don’t have time to include them, or they detract from the main message of your talk, you can prepare slides that address these questions and place them after the final slide of your talk.

➡️ More tips for giving scientific presentations

An organized presentation with a clear narrative will help you communicate your ideas effectively, which is essential for engaging your audience and conveying the importance of your work. Taking time to plan and outline your scientific presentation before writing the slides will help you manage your nerves and feel more confident during the presentation, which will improve your overall performance.

A good scientific presentation has an engaging scientific narrative with a memorable take-home message. It has clear, informative slides that enhance what the speaker says. You need to practice your talk many times to ensure you deliver a polished presentation.

First, consider who will attend your presentation, and what you want the audience to learn about your research. Tailor your content to their level of knowledge and interests. Second, create an outline for your presentation, including the key points you want to make and the evidence you will use to support those points. Finally, practice your presentation several times to ensure that it flows smoothly and that you are comfortable with the material.

Prepare an opening that immediately gets the audience’s attention. A common device is a why or a how question, or a statement of a major open problem in your field, but you could also start with a quote, interesting statistic, or case study from your field.

Scientific presentations typically either focus on a single study (e.g., a 15-minute conference presentation) or tell the story of multiple studies (e.g., a PhD defense or 50-minute conference keynote talk). For a single study talk, the structure follows the scientific paper format: Introduction, Methods, Results, Summary, and Conclusion, whereas the format of a talk discussing multiple studies is more complex, but a theme unifies the studies.

Ensure you have one major idea per slide, and convey that idea clearly (through images, equations, statistics, citations, video, etc.). The slide should include a title that summarizes the major point of the slide, should not contain too much text or too many graphics, and color should be used meaningfully.

Conference Papers

What this handout is about.

This handout outlines strategies for writing and presenting papers for academic conferences.

What’s special about conference papers?

Conference papers can be an effective way to try out new ideas, introduce your work to colleagues, and hone your research questions. Presenting at a conference is a great opportunity for gaining valuable feedback from a community of scholars and for increasing your professional stature in your field.

A conference paper is often both a written document and an oral presentation. You may be asked to submit a copy of your paper to a commentator before you present at the conference. Thus, your paper should follow the conventions for academic papers and oral presentations.

Preparing to write your conference paper

There are several factors to consider as you get started on your conference paper.

Determine the structure and style

How will you structure your presentation? This is an important question, because your presentation format will shape your written document. Some possibilities for your session include:

• A visual presentation, including software such as PowerPoint or Prezi
• A paper that you read aloud
• A roundtable discussion

Presentations can be a combination of these styles. For example, you might read a paper aloud while displaying images. Following your paper, you might participate in an informal conversation with your fellow presenters.

You will also need to know how long your paper should be. Presentations are usually 15-20 minutes. A general rule of thumb is that one double-spaced page takes 2-2.5 minutes to read out loud. Thus an 8-10 page, double-spaced paper is often a good fit for a 15-20 minute presentation. Adhere to the time limit.  Make sure that your written paper conforms to the presentation constraints.

Consider the conventions of the conference and the structure of your session

It is important to meet the expectations of your conference audience. Have you been to an academic conference previously?  How were presentations structured? What kinds of presentations did you find most effective? What do you know about the particular conference you are planning to attend? Some professional organizations have their own rules and suggestions for writing and presenting for their conferences. Make sure to find out what they are and stick to them.

If you proposed a panel with other scholars, then you should already have a good idea of your panel’s expectations. However, if you submitted your paper individually and the conference organizers placed it on a panel with other papers, you will need additional information.

Will there be a commentator? Commentators, also called respondents or discussants, can be great additions to panels, since their job is to pull the papers together and pose questions. If there will be a commentator, be sure to know when they would like to have a copy of your paper. Observe this deadline.

You may also want to find out what your fellow presenters will be talking about. Will you circulate your papers among the other panelists prior to the conference? Will your papers address common themes? Will you discuss intersections with each other’s work after your individual presentations? How collaborative do you want your panel to be?

Analyze your audience

Knowing your audience is critical for any writing assignment, but conference papers are special because you will be physically interacting with them. Take a look at our handout on audience . Anticipating the needs of your listeners will help you write a conference paper that connects your specific research to their broader concerns in a compelling way.

What are the concerns of the conference?

You can identify these by revisiting the call for proposals and reviewing the mission statement or theme of the conference. What key words or concepts are repeated? How does your work relate to these larger research questions? If you choose to orient your paper toward one of these themes, make sure there is a genuine relationship. Superficial use of key terms can weaken your paper.

What are the primary concerns of the field?

How do you bridge the gap between your research and your field’s broader concerns? Finding these linkages is part of the brainstorming process. See our handout on brainstorming . If you are presenting at a conference that is within your primary field, you should be familiar with leading concerns and questions. If you will be attending an interdisciplinary conference or a conference outside of your field, or if you simply need to refresh your knowledge of what’s current in your discipline, you can:

• Read recently published journals and books, including recent publications by the conference’s featured speakers
• Talk to people who have been to the conference
• Pay attention to questions about theory and method. What questions come up in the literature? What foundational texts should you be familiar with?
• Review the initial research questions that inspired your project. Think about the big questions in the secondary literature of your field.
• Try a free-writing exercise. Imagine that you are explaining your project to someone who is in your department, but is unfamiliar with your specific topic. What can you assume they already know? Where will you need to start in your explanation? How will you establish common ground?

Contextualizing your narrow research question within larger trends in the field will help you connect with your audience.  You might be really excited about a previously unknown nineteenth-century poet. But will your topic engage others?  You don’t want people to leave your presentation, thinking, “What was the point of that?” By carefully analyzing your audience and considering the concerns of the conference and the field, you can present a paper that will have your listeners thinking, “Wow! Why haven’t I heard about that obscure poet before? She is really important for understanding developments in Romantic poetry in the 1800s!”

Writing your conference paper

I have a really great research paper/manuscript/dissertation chapter on this same topic. Should I cut and paste?

Be careful here. Time constraints and the needs of your audience may require a tightly focused and limited message. To create a paper tailored to the conference, you might want to set everything aside and create a brand new document.  Don’t worry—you will still have that paper, manuscript, or chapter if you need it. But you will also benefit from taking a fresh look at your research.

Citing sources

Since your conference paper will be part of an oral presentation, there are special considerations for citations. You should observe the conventions of your discipline with regard to including citations in your written paper. However, you will also need to incorporate verbal cues to set your evidence and quotations off from your text when presenting. For example, you can say: “As Nietzsche said, quote, ‘And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you,’ end quote.” If you use multiple quotations in your paper, think about omitting the terms “quote” and “end quote,” as these can become repetitive. Instead, signal quotations through the inflection of your voice or with strategic pauses.

Organizing the paper

There are numerous ways to effectively organize your conference paper, but remember to have a focused message that fits the time constraints and meets the needs of your audience. You can begin by connecting your research to the audience’s concerns, then share a few examples/case studies from your research, and then, in conclusion, broaden the discussion back out to general issues in the field.

Don’t overwhelm or confuse your audience

You should limit the information that you present. Don’t attempt to summarize your entire dissertation in 10 pages. Instead, try selecting main points and provide examples to support those points. Alternatively, you might focus on one main idea or case study and use 2-4 examples to explain it.

Check for clarity in the text

One way to anticipate how your ideas will sound is to read your paper out loud. Reading out loud is an excellent proofreading technique and is a great way to check the clarity of your ideas; you are likely to hear problems that you didn’t notice in just scanning your draft.  Help listeners understand your ideas by making sure that subjects and verbs are clear and by avoiding unnecessarily complex sentences.

Include verbal cues in the text

Make liberal use of transitional phrases like however, therefore, and thus, as well as signpost words like first, next, etc.

If you have 5 main points, say so at the beginning and list those 5 ideas. Refer back to this structure frequently as you transition between sections (“Now, I will discuss my fourth point, the importance of plasma”).

Use a phrase like “I argue” to announce your thesis statement. Be sure that there is only one of these phrases—otherwise your audience will be confused about your central message.

Refer back to the structure, and signal moments where you are transitioning to a new topic: “I just talked about x, now I’m going to talk about y.”

I’ve written my conference paper, now what?

Now that you’ve drafted your conference paper, it’s time for the most important part—delivering it before an audience of scholars in your field!  Remember that writing the paper is only one half of what a conference paper entails. It is both a written text and a presentation.

With preparation, your presentation will be a success. Here are a few tips for an effective presentation. You can also see our handout on speeches .

Cues to yourself

Include helpful hints in your personal copy of the paper. You can remind yourself to pause, look up and make eye contact with your audience, or employ body language to enhance your message. If you are using a slideshow, you can indicate when to change slides. Increasing the font size to 14-16 pt. can make your paper easier to read.

Practice, practice, practice

When you practice, time yourself. Are you reading too fast? Are you enunciating clearly? Do you know how to pronounce all of the words in your paper? Record your talk and critically listen to yourself. Practice in front of friends and colleagues.

If you are using technology, familiarize yourself with it. Check and double-check your images. Remember, they are part of your presentation and should be proofread just like your paper.  Print a backup copy of your images and paper, and bring copies of your materials in multiple formats, just in case.  Be sure to check with the conference organizers about available technology.

Professionalism

The written text is only one aspect of the overall conference paper. The other is your presentation. This means that your audience will evaluate both your work and you! So remember to convey the appropriate level of professionalism.

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Adler, Abby. 2010. “Talking the Talk: Tips on Giving a Successful Conference Presentation.” Psychological Science Agenda 24 (4).

Kerber, Linda K. 2008. “Conference Rules: How to Present a Scholarly Paper.” The Chronicle of Higher Education , March 21, 2008. https://www.chronicle.com/article/Conference-Rules-How-to/45734 .

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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Present Your Paper

Get ready to present your paper at a conference. A key part of the research and review process is presenting and defending your work in front of peers at a conference.

The first step in getting ready to present your paper is to determine what key message you want to communicate to your audience. Most conference presentations are 10-20 minutes long, so you will not have time to present all the details of your work. The objective of your presentation is to get people interested in your work, not to explain it to them fully.

Organize your talk with these tips:

• Begin by stating the purpose or goal of your research. Tell the audience why your work is important.
• Provide a very brief literature review. This will give the audience some context.
• Move on to the main points of your own research.
• Conclude by reiterating the importance of your research and emphasizing the key points.

Tips for Creating Presentation Slides

Remember that your slides do not have to tell the story on their own. Slides are meant to illustrate your work, not explain it entirely.

• Use graphics where possible. Limit text to phrases and bullet points, rather than full sentences.
• Once you have drafted your slides, record yourself practicing your talk with the slides so that you can identify areas for improvement.
• Be sure to stay within your time limit and leave time for questions from the audience.

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How to present a research paper in PPT: best practices

A research paper presentation is frequently used at conferences and other events where you have a chance to share the results of your research and receive feedback from colleagues. Although it may appear as simple as summarizing the findings, successful examples of research paper presentations show that there is a little bit more to it.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the basic outline and steps to create a good research paper presentation. We’ll also explain what to include and what not to include in your presentation of research paper and share some of the most effective tips you can use to take your slides to the next level.

Research paper PowerPoint presentation outline

Creating a PowerPoint presentation for a research paper involves organizing and summarizing your key findings, methodology, and conclusions in a way that encourages your audience to interact with your work and share their interest in it with others. Here’s a basic research paper outline PowerPoint you can follow:

1. Title (1 slide)

Typically, your title slide should contain the following information:

• Title of the research paper
• Affiliation or institution
• Date of presentation

2. Introduction (1-3 slides)

On this slide of your presentation, briefly introduce the research topic and its significance and state the research question or objective.

3. Research questions or hypothesis (1 slide)

This slide should emphasize the objectives of your research or present the hypothesis.

4. Literature review (1 slide)

Your literature review has to provide context for your research by summarizing relevant literature. Additionally, it should highlight gaps or areas where your research contributes.

5. Methodology and data collection (1-2 slides)

This slide of your research paper PowerPoint has to explain the research design, methods, and procedures. It must also Include details about participants, materials, and data collection and emphasize special equipment you have used in your work.

6. Results (3-5 slides)

On this slide, you must present the results of your data analysis and discuss any trends, patterns, or significant findings. Moreover, you should use charts, graphs, and tables to illustrate data and highlight something novel in your results (if applicable).

7. Conclusion (1 slide)

Your conclusion slide has to summarize the main findings and their implications, as well as discuss the broader impact of your research. Usually, a single statement is enough.

8. Recommendations (1 slide)

If applicable, provide recommendations for future research or actions on this slide.

9. References (1-2 slides)

The references slide is where you list all the sources cited in your research paper.

10. Acknowledgments (1 slide)

On this presentation slide, acknowledge any individuals, organizations, or funding sources that contributed to your research.

11. Appendix (1 slide)

If applicable, include any supplementary materials, such as additional data or detailed charts, in your appendix slide.

The above outline is just a general guideline, so make sure to adjust it based on your specific research paper and the time allotted for the presentation.

Steps to creating a memorable research paper presentation

Creating a PowerPoint presentation for a research paper involves several critical steps needed to convey your findings and engage your audience effectively, and these steps are as follows:

Step 1. Understand your audience:

• Identify the audience for your presentation.
• Tailor your content and level of detail to match the audience’s background and knowledge.

Step 2. Define your key messages:

• Clearly articulate the main messages or findings of your research.
• Identify the key points you want your audience to remember.

Step 3. Design your research paper PPT presentation:

• Use a clean and professional design that complements your research topic.
• Choose readable fonts, consistent formatting, and a limited color palette.
• Opt for PowerPoint presentation services if slide design is not your strong side.

Step 4. Put content on slides:

• Follow the outline above to structure your presentation effectively; include key sections and topics.
• Organize your content logically, following the flow of your research paper.

Step 5. Final check:

• Proofread your slides for typos, errors, and inconsistencies.
• Ensure all visuals are clear, high-quality, and properly labeled.

Step 6. Save and share:

• Save your presentation and ensure compatibility with the equipment you’ll be using.
• If necessary, share a copy of your presentation with the audience.

By following these steps, you can create a well-organized and visually appealing research paper presentation PowerPoint that effectively conveys your research findings to the audience.

What to include and what not to include in your presentation

In addition to the must-know PowerPoint presentation recommendations, which we’ll cover later in this article, consider the following do’s and don’ts when you’re putting together your research paper presentation:

• Focus on the topic.
• Be brief and to the point.
• Attract the audience’s attention and highlight interesting details.
• Use only relevant visuals (maps, charts, pictures, graphs, etc.).
• Use numbers and bullet points to structure the content.
• Make clear statements regarding the essence and results of your research.

Don’ts:

• Don’t write down the whole outline of your paper and nothing else.
• Don’t put long, full sentences on your slides; split them into smaller ones.
• Don’t use distracting patterns, colors, pictures, and other visuals on your slides; the simpler, the better.
• Don’t use too complicated graphs or charts; only the ones that are easy to understand.
• Now that we’ve discussed the basics, let’s move on to the top tips for making a powerful presentation of your research paper.

8 tips on how to make research paper presentation that achieves its goals

You’ve probably been to a presentation where the presenter reads word for word from their PowerPoint outline. Or where the presentation is cluttered, chaotic, or contains too much data. The simple tips below will help you summarize a 10 to 15-page paper for a 15 to 20-minute talk and succeed, so read on!

Tip #1: Less is more

You want to provide enough information to make your audience want to know more. Including details but not too many and avoiding technical jargon, formulas, and long sentences are always good ways to achieve this.

Tip #2: Be professional

Avoid using too many colors, font changes, distracting backgrounds, animations, etc. Bullet points with a few words to highlight the important information are preferable to lengthy paragraphs. Additionally, include slide numbers on all PowerPoint slides except for the title slide, and make sure it is followed by a table of contents, offering a brief overview of the entire research paper.

Tip #3: Strive for balance

PowerPoint slides have limited space, so use it carefully. Typically, one to two points per slide or 5 lines for 5 words in a sentence are enough to present your ideas.

Tip #4: Use proper fonts and text size

The font you use should be easy to read and consistent throughout the slides. You can go with Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, or a combination of these three. An ideal text size is 32 points, while a heading size is 44.

Tip #5: Concentrate on the visual side

A PowerPoint presentation is one of the best tools for presenting information visually. Use graphs instead of tables and topic-relevant illustrations instead of walls of text. Keep your visuals as clean and professional as the content of your presentation.

Tip #6: Practice your delivery

Always go through your presentation when you’re done to ensure a smooth and confident delivery and time yourself to stay within the allotted limit.

Tip #7: Get ready for questions

Anticipate potential questions from your audience and prepare thoughtful responses. Also, be ready to engage in discussions about your research.

Tip #8: Don’t be afraid to utilize professional help

If the mere thought of designing a presentation overwhelms you or you’re pressed for time, consider leveraging professional PowerPoint redesign services . A dedicated design team can transform your content or old presentation into effective slides, ensuring your message is communicated clearly and captivates your audience. This way, you can focus on refining your delivery and preparing for the presentation.

Lastly, remember that even experienced presenters get nervous before delivering research paper PowerPoint presentations in front of the audience. You cannot know everything; some things can be beyond your control, which is completely fine. You are at the event not only to share what you know but also to learn from others. So, no matter what, dress appropriately, look straight into the audience’s eyes, try to speak and move naturally, present your information enthusiastically, and have fun!

If you need help with slide design, get in touch with our dedicated design team and let qualified professionals turn your research findings into a visually appealing, polished presentation that leaves a lasting impression on your audience. Our experienced designers specialize in creating engaging layouts, incorporating compelling graphics, and ensuring a cohesive visual narrative that complements content on any subject.

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How to Present a Research Paper | Academic Conference Edition

So you’ve just secured a speaking slot at an academic conference and are getting ready for your presentation. Congrats! However, securing a speaker slot is hard enough; now, you have to turn that fantastic research paper into an even more fantastic presentation.

There are many benefits to presenting your research at an academic conference. You can establish your credibility in the field, meet experts, researchers, editors, and other stakeholders and share your work and talk about what you do with others.

Too much pressure?

Don’t worry; you’ll learn about all the key elements you need to include in your presentation and the dos and don’ts of presenting at a conference in this article.

Key Elements to Include in Your Presentation

You already know that a conference presentation introduces a research paper or discussion topic. A good conference presentation delivers this information in a clear, concise, and interesting way to trigger discussion, curiosity, and interest from the audience. Ensure you have a good presentation by keeping the following things in mind:

• Write a detailed outline (with a thesis, main arguments, and supporting evidence) and come well-prepared (practice, practice, practice)
• Introduce the topic or research
• Talk about your sources and methods used
• Indicate whether there are conflicting views about your topic or research to trigger discussion
• Make a statement about your results
• Use visuals, handouts, slides, or any other presentation tools to your advantage.

Remember, you must address or briefly touch on your finished paper’s main points or arguments during your presentation . Don’t skip entire sections of your research. See more dos and don’ts below.

Dos and Don’ts of Presenting Your Paper at a Conference

1. understand the presentation requirements.

You must first understand your audience to understand the presentation requirements better. Understanding your audience will help you present your work in a way that is relatable and exciting to them. Do your research on the conference criteria and your audience demographics .

Remember, the audience members may not be experts in your field, so make sure you provide adequate background information and any associated facts or data during your presentation. The presented data should answer any research questions you have previously asked in your paper. Consider also contacting other speakers to understand what topics are being covered.

Next, you must ensure any audiovisual tech you need for your presentation will be up and running . Ask the conference producer important questions (if they haven’t told you already), such as:

• Will you speak through a microphone, and if so, which kind (gooseneck, lavalier, wireless)?
• How far away will audience members be able to see (good to know for slide and visual creation)?
• Suppose the conference uses projection stands, equipment, or remote controls that you haven’t used before. Will it take long to familiarize yourself with them (especially good to know if you need to arrive at the conference much earlier)?
• What kind of projector or another tech will be available, and what files can you use for your presentation?

Lastly, you’ll want to know your time limit for the presentation . A typical speaking slot is anywhere from five to ten minutes, with an additional five minutes for questions and answers. Find out from the conference producer and ensure you stick to that (especially while practicing to make it easier for the day of the presentation).

2.  Include a Hook and CTA

An engaging introduction and conclusion are just as vital in your paper as in your presentation. Think about how you’ll hook the audience into your presentation and what they’ll leave with (key quotes or takeaways). Don’t forget about a call to action (CTA) at the end; what will the audience members do after watching your presentation?

3. Create a Visual Design

If you’re creating visuals (slideshow, PowerPoint, etc.), ensure all audience members towards the back can clearly see the visuals, and don’t overwhelm them with too many. Additionally, remember that the slides and visuals are there to help your presentation, not replace it. Keep the following tricks in mind for slide creation:

• Keep text to a minimum (only the main talking points)
• Use bullet points as necessary to support your main points
• Choose appropriate fonts and backgrounds (ensure fonts are easy-to-read and straightforward and be aware of background color in contrast with font colors)
• Choose relevant, high-quality images (but you don’t need to include images on each slide).

1. Don't Wing Your Presentation

Your presentation format should look something like this:

• Title (1 slide)
• Research topic and question (1 slide)
• Research Methods (1 slide)
• Data Collected (3-5 slides)
• Research Findings (1-2 slides)
• Implications (1 slide)
• Conclusions (1 slide).

Remember not to simply read off what you wrote in your paper; your presentation should be brief and concise, with only the main talking points. You’re not reading; you’re presenting. Ensure you don’t use present tense when describing results , only past tense. Additionally, don’t use complicated graphs or charts, or distracting colors, shapes, patterns, etc., on the slides.

2. Don’t Look Unprofessional

First impressions matter, especially if this is the first time you’re presenting a paper at a conference. Before you actually present, you want to ensure you’re presentable . Think about your presentation wardrobe. While you may think it’s too early, remembers that you will only have a few seconds or minutes to make a good first impression on your audience.

Additionally, be active and engaging while presenting. Don’t have your hands in your pockets, don’t look down too often, and don’t read your presentation word-for-word from your notes. If you look bored, there’s a high chance that your audience will be bored too.

3. Don't Skip Out on Practicing Your Presentation

Practice your presentation in advance. Learn it inside and out. Practice in front of a mirror while timing yourself. Practice runs are a great way to work on your timing and presentation skills. You want to practice your presentation at least ten times .

To get as close to the real thing as possible, you have to practice your presentation in front of an audience too. You can ask a few friends or colleagues to listen and watch your presentation and give you feedback. In this way, you’ll be able to make any final tweaks to your content before conference presentation day.

Additionally, encourage your listeners to ask questions, as this can prepare you for the Q&A on conference day. Jot down a few answers to common questions within your notes in case they come up again from conference audience members.

Orvium Helps You Stay On Task

Presenting a paper at a conference is a special thing in a researcher’s life, regardless of the presentation jitters you may have. Remember that you must understand the presentation requirements , including a hook and call to action, and create a visual design. Try avoiding the don’ts, and most importantly, don’t forget to practice.

Orvium understands that sometimes it may be hard to find reviewers to listen to your presentation. That’s why we invite everyone to collaborate on our open platform . You can find fellow researchers, publishers, and reviewers and form communities with like-minded people from different disciplines to set you up for success.

We also put together a Full Guide to Planning an Academic Conference to help you with any other conference questions you may have.

And finally, if you like this post we recommend you to read the next one ''How to Get a Speaking Slot | Academic Conference Edition'' and don't forget to follow us on social media  ( Twitter , Facebook , Linkedin e Instagram ).

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Roberto Rabasco

+10 years’ experience working for Deutsche Telekom, Just Eat or Asos. Leading, designing and developing high-availability software solutions, he built his own software house in '16

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How to Make a Successful Research Presentation

Turning a research paper into a visual presentation is difficult; there are pitfalls, and navigating the path to a brief, informative presentation takes time and practice. As a TA for  GEO/WRI 201: Methods in Data Analysis & Scientific Writing this past fall, I saw how this process works from an instructor’s standpoint. I’ve presented my own research before, but helping others present theirs taught me a bit more about the process. Here are some tips I learned that may help you with your next research presentation:

More is more

In general, your presentation will always benefit from more practice, more feedback, and more revision. By practicing in front of friends, you can get comfortable with presenting your work while receiving feedback. It is hard to know how to revise your presentation if you never practice. If you are presenting to a general audience, getting feedback from someone outside of your discipline is crucial. Terms and ideas that seem intuitive to you may be completely foreign to someone else, and your well-crafted presentation could fall flat.

Less is more

Limit the scope of your presentation, the number of slides, and the text on each slide. In my experience, text works well for organizing slides, orienting the audience to key terms, and annotating important figures–not for explaining complex ideas. Having fewer slides is usually better as well. In general, about one slide per minute of presentation is an appropriate budget. Too many slides is usually a sign that your topic is too broad.

Limit the scope of your presentation

Don’t present your paper. Presentations are usually around 10 min long. You will not have time to explain all of the research you did in a semester (or a year!) in such a short span of time. Instead, focus on the highlight(s). Identify a single compelling research question which your work addressed, and craft a succinct but complete narrative around it.

You will not have time to explain all of the research you did. Instead, focus on the highlights. Identify a single compelling research question which your work addressed, and craft a succinct but complete narrative around it.

Craft a compelling research narrative

After identifying the focused research question, walk your audience through your research as if it were a story. Presentations with strong narrative arcs are clear, captivating, and compelling.

• Introduction (exposition — rising action)

Orient the audience and draw them in by demonstrating the relevance and importance of your research story with strong global motive. Provide them with the necessary vocabulary and background knowledge to understand the plot of your story. Introduce the key studies (characters) relevant in your story and build tension and conflict with scholarly and data motive. By the end of your introduction, your audience should clearly understand your research question and be dying to know how you resolve the tension built through motive.

• Methods (rising action)

The methods section should transition smoothly and logically from the introduction. Beware of presenting your methods in a boring, arc-killing, ‘this is what I did.’ Focus on the details that set your story apart from the stories other people have already told. Keep the audience interested by clearly motivating your decisions based on your original research question or the tension built in your introduction.

• Results (climax)

Less is usually more here. Only present results which are clearly related to the focused research question you are presenting. Make sure you explain the results clearly so that your audience understands what your research found. This is the peak of tension in your narrative arc, so don’t undercut it by quickly clicking through to your discussion.

• Discussion (falling action)

By now your audience should be dying for a satisfying resolution. Here is where you contextualize your results and begin resolving the tension between past research. Be thorough. If you have too many conflicts left unresolved, or you don’t have enough time to present all of the resolutions, you probably need to further narrow the scope of your presentation.

• Conclusion (denouement)

Return back to your initial research question and motive, resolving any final conflicts and tying up loose ends. Leave the audience with a clear resolution of your focus research question, and use unresolved tension to set up potential sequels (i.e. further research).

Use your medium to enhance the narrative

Visual presentations should be dominated by clear, intentional graphics. Subtle animation in key moments (usually during the results or discussion) can add drama to the narrative arc and make conflict resolutions more satisfying. You are narrating a story written in images, videos, cartoons, and graphs. While your paper is mostly text, with graphics to highlight crucial points, your slides should be the opposite. Adapting to the new medium may require you to create or acquire far more graphics than you included in your paper, but it is necessary to create an engaging presentation.

The most important thing you can do for your presentation is to practice and revise. Bother your friends, your roommates, TAs–anybody who will sit down and listen to your work. Beyond that, think about presentations you have found compelling and try to incorporate some of those elements into your own. Remember you want your work to be comprehensible; you aren’t creating experts in 10 minutes. Above all, try to stay passionate about what you did and why. You put the time in, so show your audience that it’s worth it.

For more insight into research presentations, check out these past PCUR posts written by Emma and Ellie .

— Alec Getraer, Natural Sciences Correspondent

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How to Create a Powerful Research Presentation

Written by: Raja Mandal

Have you ever had to create a research presentation? If yes, you know how difficult it is to prepare an effective presentation that perfectly explains your research. Since it's a visual representation of your papers, a large chunk of its preparation goes into designing.

No one knows your research paper better than you. So, only you can create the presentation to communicate the core message perfectly. We've developed a practical, step-by-step guide to help you prepare a stellar research presentation.

Let's get started!

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What is a research presentation, purpose of a research presentation, how to prepare an effective research presentation, create a stunning presentation in less time.

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A research presentation is a visual representation of an individual's or organization's systematic investigation of a subject. It helps the presenter obtain feedback on their proposed research. For example, educational establishments require Higher Degree Research (HDR) students to present their research papers in a research presentation.

The purpose of a research presentation is to share the findings with the world. When done well, it helps achieve significant levels of impact in front of groups of people. Delivering the research paper as a presentation also communicates the subject matter in powerful ways.

A beautifully designed research presentation should:

• Explain the significance of your research.
• Clearly state your findings and the method of analysis.
• Get valuable feedback from others in your community to strengthen your research.
• Make the audience learn more about your work or read your research paper.

According to a recent survey, 79% of people agree that most presentations are boring. You should prepare your presentation in a way that attracts and persuades your audience while effectively sharing the information. Follow the steps below to do that.

Decide on Your Presentation’s Purpose

Beginning the design process without deciding on the purpose of your presentation is like crawling in the dark without knowing the destination. You should first know the purpose of your presentation before creating it.

The purpose of a research presentation can be defending a dissertation, an academic job interview, a conference, asking for funding, and various others. The rest of the process will depend on the purpose of your presentation.

Look at these 25 different presentation examples to get inspiration and find the one that best fits your needs.

Know Your Audience

You probably wouldn't speak to your lecturer like you talk to your friends. Creating a presentation is the same—you need to tailor your presentation's design, tone and content to make it appropriate for your audience.

To do that, you need to establish who your audience is. Your audience could be:

• Scientists/scholars in your field
• Graduate and undergraduate students
• Community members

Your target audience might be a mix of all of the above. In that case, it's better to have something for everyone. Once you know who your target audience is, ask yourself the following questions:

• Why are they here?
• What do they expect from your presentations?
• Are they willing to participate?
• What will keep them engaged?
• What do you want them to do and what's their part in your presentation?
• How do they prefer to receive information?

The answers to these questions will help you know your audience better and prepare your research presentation accordingly. Once you define your target audience, use these five traits of a highly engaging presentation to capture your audience's attention.

Create a Research Presentation Outline

Before crafting your presentation, it's crucial to create an outline. Your outline will act as your guide to put your information in order and ensure you touch on all your major points. Like other forms of academic writing, research presentations can be divided into several parts to make them more effective.

An outline helps guide you as you prepare your presentation as follows:

• It enables you to organize your ideas
• Presents your research in a logical format
• Shows the relationships among slides in your presentation
• Constructs an order overview of your presentation
• Groups ideas into main points

Though there is no universal formula for a research presentation outline, here's an example of what the outline should look like:

• Introduction and purpose
• Background and context
• Data and methodology
• Descriptive data
• Quantitative and qualitative analysis
• Future Research

Learn more about presentation structure to keep your audience engaged. Watch the video below for a better understanding.

Limit the Amount of Text on Your Slides

One of the most important things people often overlook is the amount of text on their presentation slides . Since the audience will be listening and watching, putting up a slide with lots of words will make them focus on reading instead of listening. As a result, they'll miss out on any critical points you are making.

The simpler you make your slides, the more your audience will grasp the meaning and retain the critical information. Here are a few ways to limit the amount of text on your slides.

1. Use Only Crucial Text on the Slides

Without making your point clear immediately, you will struggle to keep your audience's attention. Too much text can make your slides look cluttered and overwhelm the audience. Cut out waffle words, limiting content to the essentials.

To avoid cognitive overload, combine text and images . Add animated graphics , icons , characters and gestures to bring your research presentation to life and capture your audience's attention.

2. Split up the Content Onto Multiple Slides

We recommend using one piece of information on a single slide. If you're talking about two or more topics, divide the topics into different slides to make your slides easily digestible and less daunting. The less information on each slide, the more your audience is likely to read.

3. Put Key Message Into the Heading

Use the slide headings of your presentation as a summary message. Think about the one key point you want the audience to take from each slide. And make the header short and impactful. This will ensure that your audience gets the main points immediately.

For example, you may have a statistic you want to really get across to your audience. Include that number in your heading so that it's the first point your audience reads.

But what if that statistic changes? Having to manually go back and update the number throughout your research presentation can be time-consuming. With Visme's Dynamic Fields feature , updating important information throughout your presentation is a breeze. Take advantage of Dynamic Fields to ensure your data and research information is  always up to date and accurate.

4. Visualize Data Instead of Writing Them

When adding facts and figures to your research presentation, harness the power of data visualization . Add interactive charts and graphs to take out most of the text. Text with visuals causes a faster and stronger reaction than words alone, making your presentation more memorable. However, your data visualization should be straightforward to help create a narrative that further builds connections between information.

Have a look at these data visualization examples for inspiration. And here's an infographic explaining data visualization best practices.

Visme comes with a wide variety of charts and graphs templates you can use in your presentation.

5. Use Presenter Notes

Visme's Presenter Studio comes with a presenter notes feature that can help you keep your slides succinct. Use it to pull out any additional text that the audience needs to understand the content.

View your notes for each slide in the left sidebar of the presentation software to help you stay focused and on message throughout your presentation.

Explain Your Research

Since you're preparing a research presentation, use more slides to explain the research papers you directly contributed to. Sometimes people spend nearly all of the presentation going over the existing research and giving background information on the particular case.

Your audience is there to learn about your new and exciting research, not to hear a summary of old work. So, if you create 20 slides for the presentation, spend at least 15 slides explaining your research. However, don't try to include the words in the slide that you'll present.

Learn more about how to give a good presentation . This will help you explain your research more effectively.

Follow Presentation Design Best Practices

A study shows that 91% of presenters feel more confident when presenting a well-designed slide deck. So, let's move on to the design part of your research presentation to boost your confidence.

1. Create a Stunning Background

The background of each presentation slide is a crucial design element for your presentation. So choose the background carefully. Try not to use backgrounds that are distracting or make the text difficult to read.

Use simple backgrounds to make the slide aesthetically appealing. Always use the same background for the slides throughout the presentation. Look at these presentation background templates and examples to get inspired.

2. Use a Variety of Layouts

Slide after slide of the same layout makes your presentation repetitive and boring. Mixing up the layout of your slides can help you avoid this issue and keep your audience engaged.

The presentation template below has a wide variety of images, texts, icons and other elements to create an interesting layout for your presentation slides.

Have a look at these 29 best presentation templates for inspiration.

3. Use Colors Wisely

Colors play an essential role in designing your presentation slides, regardless of the type of presentation you're working with. However, if you're a non-designer, you might be unsure about about how to use colors in a presentation . So, here are some tips for you:

• Use complementary colors to stay on the safe side.
• Use a text color that contrasts with the background to make the text pop.
• Use colors to emphasize a text or design element.
• Keep colors simple — less is more.

Don't be discouraged if you still find it difficult to choose colors for your presentation. All the presentation templates in Visme come with perfect color combinations to get the job done for you. Below is an example.

4. Use Fonts Hierarchy

Fonts are another design element that can make or break the design of your research presentation. If you struggle a lot while choosing fonts for a presentation , you aren't alone. Here are some tips that you can follow:

• Try not to use smaller fonts that make your text difficult to read.
• Use different font sizes for headings and body text. For example, you can use 20 points for the body text, 24 for the subheadings and 40 for the title.
• Learn about font pairing and use it in your design. For example, use sans-serif with serif fonts as they always go well together.
• Use two or three fonts max—ideally two. One should be for the headlines and the other for the body text. Anything more than that can make your slides cluttered.
• Handwritten fonts and script fonts may look tempting, but they are a big no. They could negatively affect the readability and legibility of your research presentation.

Here's a Visme presentation template designed with the points mentioned above in mind.

5. Include High-Resolution Images

Are there any images you can use in your slides to introduce or explain a topic? What could be better than that? As the saying goes, "A picture tells a thousand words." Use pictures to help your audience listen to you more efficiently while viewing the slides.

Pictures can also help you reduce the text clutter in the presentation, as long as they prompt you to make the points you need to make. If you can't find an image for your presentation, browse through Visme's high-resolution stock photo library . It features over 1,000,000 free stock photos.

Have a look at the presentation template below. It includes only high-resolution images, like all the presentation templates in Visme.

Below is a video of 13 presentation design tips to help you design a research presentation that your audience will love.

Prepare Your Research Presentation Using Visme

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Conference Presentations

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This resource provides a detailed overview of the common types of conference papers and sessions graduate students can expect, followed by pointers on presenting conference papers for an audience. 

Types of conference papers and sessions

Panel presentations are the most common form of presentation you will encounter in your graduate career. You will be one of three to four participants in a panel or session (the terminology varies depending on the organizers) and be given fifteen to twenty minutes to present your paper. This is often followed by a ten-minute question-and-answer session either immediately after your presentation or after all of the speakers are finished. It is up to the panel organizer to decide upon this framework. In the course of the question-and-answer session, you may also address and query the other panelists if you have questions yourself. Note that you can often propose a conference presentation by yourself and be sorted onto a panel by conference organizers, or you can propose a panel with a group of colleagues. Self-proposed panels typically have more closely related topics than conference-organized panels.

Roundtables feature an average of five to six speakers, each of whom gets the floor for approximately five to ten minutes to speak on their respective topics and/or subtopics. At times, papers from the speakers might be circulated in advance among the roundtable members or even prospective attendees.

Workshops feature one or a few organizers, who usually give a brief presentation but spend the majority of the time for the session facilitating an activity that attendees will do. Some common topics for these sessions typically include learning a technology or generating some content, such as teaching materials.

Lightning talks (or Ignite talks, or Pecha Kucha talks) are very short presentations where presenters' slide decks automatically advance after a few seconds; most individual talks are no longer than 5 minutes, and a lightning talk session typically invites 10 or more presenters to participate over the course of an hour or two rather than limiting the presenters like a panel presentation. A lightning talk session will sometimes be held as a sort of competition where attendees can vote for the best talk. 

SIGs (Special Interest Groups) are groups of scholars focused on a particular smaller topic within the purview of the larger conference. The structure of these sessions varies by conference and even by group, but in general they tend to be structured either more like a panel presentation, with presenters and leaders, or more like a roundtable, with several speakers and a particular meeting agenda. These styles resemble, respectively, a miniconference focusing on a particular topic and a committee meeting. 

Papers with respondents are structured around a speaker who gives an approximately thirty-minute paper and a respondent who contributes their own thoughts, objections, and further questions in the following fifteen minutes. Finally, the speaker gets that same amount of time to formulate their reply to the respondent.

Poster presentations ask participants to visually display their ideas on a research poster, which is typically displayed with other research posters in a specific area at a conference. The poster needs to be understandable on its own (without the author) as viewers sometimes look through the posters outside the bounds of the poster session, which is a scheduled period of time where poster authors stand with their posters and engage viewers in conversation about the work. Research posters have long tended to follow common templates for design, but in recent years some scholars have begun challenging these templates for improved usability (for example, the Better Poster campaign as described here  or the APA template based on the original, here.

You can read more about research posters on our resource here .

Presenting the conference paper

Aim to take less time than you are given! If your presentation slot is 15 minutes, aim for 13 or 14 when you practice. A little leeway and a slightly shorter presentation is a courtesy to your audience and to your fellow presenters, and will not at all imply that you are unprepared or unprofessional — in fact, being able to keep well within your allotted time is the mark of a good presenter.

Make sure you speak slowly and clearly, using accessibility aids if available such as a microphone or closed captioning on a slide deck. Many presenters have begun bringing accessibility copies of their talks, which are printed transcripts of the talk using a larger font for audience members who need them. It is also becoming increasingly common for presenters at conferences to share their slides and copies of their talk via a shortened link or QR code found on the bottom of the slides so that audiences may access them later or even while they are in your session.

The conventions for presentation differ based on field. Some fields tend toward reading papers aloud with very little audiovisual accompaniment; others use slide decks; others speak extemporaneously. You can find out more about typical practices in your field by attending conferences yourself and by asking mentors. Generally, you will be able to improve the accessibility of your presentation if you have a visual accompaniment and prepared remarks.

Even in fields where presenters tend to read papers verbatim, it is rarely a good idea to bring a paper from a class or another research paper you have written without editing it for an oral presentation. Seminar papers tend to be too long to read in 15 minutes, and often lead to graduate students surpassing their time limits. Moreover, research papers are meant to be read — they lack the kinds of repetition and simple sentence structure that are more beneficial to listeners. Finally, conference presentations do not serve the same purposes as most class papers — typically in a class, you're expected to show that you have understood the material, but at a conference, listeners are more interested in hearing what contributions you have that might help them in their own research. It's typical to move the bulk of your literature review to an appendix or another document so that you can discuss other scholarship in the area if it comes up in the Q&A, but during your presentation you're left free to focus on your own methods and findings. (Many presenters will even say: "I'm skipping a lot of [X material] for the sake of time, but I'm happy to discuss it later with anyone who's interested.")

Since you will present your paper orally, you may repeat important points and say more about the structure of the essay than a written submission to a journal (or a paper for your undergraduate or graduate courses) would require. This often means signposting orally when you are moving to a new section of the paper or when you are shifting to a new idea. The thesis of your paper should come early in your presentation to give listeners a clear understanding of what is to follow. At this point, you may also overview or forecast your paper and tell listeners how you will move from one argument to the next. It is generally advised to quickly summarize your important points in a bulleted list at the end of your presentation to remind everyone of the two or three most essential arguments or findings.

If you use a slide presentation, you may want to follow the guidelines presented in the OWL resource, Designing an Effective PowerPoint Presentation .

Research Conference Presentations: Some Tips and Examples

Useful Tips

Research talk 101 (by Lucia Dettori)

How not to give a presentation (from ScienceRoll)

Examples of Short Talks (PowerPoint files):

Mark's example of a bad research presentation

Mark's example of a somewhat better research presentation

Examples of Posters (PowerPoint files):

Poster example 1

Poster example 2

Poster example 3

Teaching, Learning, & Professional Development Center

• Teaching Resources
• TLPDC Teaching Resources

Presenting Conference Papers and Posters in the Humanities

Prepared by david forrest teaching, learning, and professional development center.

This paper is intended to describe the process of presenting research at conferences and provide useful advice for developing quality presentation materials.  Although primarily directed at the new researcher, experienced scholars will also find some useful tips for improving their presentations.  Be sure and check out the annotated list of online resources at the bottom of the page.

Introduction

Research conferences are the life-blood of academia.  Scholars from around the country converge to exchange ideas, comment on each others' research, and find out what others in the field are studying.  By participating in these conferences, students and professors can stake their research territory, network with others in similar subfields, and participate in the community of scholars.  Two of the most popular methods of sharing research are paper presentations and poster presentations.  Presenting papers and posters is an invaluable way to develop and prepare ideas for publication.  The success of your conference participation depends on both the quality of your research and quality of your presentation.  Many quality projects have suffered from poor presentation.  The consequence of poor presentation is a lack of recognition and a lack of feedback from colleagues and experts in the field.  Conversely, the better your presentation the more valuable feedback you will likely receive.  Below are some suggestions and resources for preparing an effective presentation of your research.

Presenting Papers

Logistics Conferences program committees will typically send out a call for proposals a few months ahead of the conference.  The call will request an abstract or proposal, typically 200-500 words in length.  The committee will then select the best proposals and put the program together.  While individual conferences will vary, a typical paper session allows presenters 15-25 minutes to lecture on their research project and then field questions from the audience.  Often, presenters will be grouped by paper topic into a session.  The session chair will introduce each presenter and facilitate audience questions.

Talk to colleagues and mentors to find a conference that matches your interests.  Also enlist their help when writing your proposal or abstract.  For more advice on finding a conference and writing a solid abstract, see The Art of the Conference Paper .

Suggestions A good practice for preparing for a presentation is to (1) write the research paper (10-20 pages), then (2) translate the paper into speech-appropriate language.  Writing out the document insures that you completely explore the topic and have a well-constructed argument.  It also gives you practice preparing for publication; and sometimes a session chair will want to read your paper ahead of the conference to prepare some questions of his/her own.  However, most research papers make poor speech scripts so it is important to translate your paper into language that communicates well orally.  Consider your audience; reading an article silently is very different than listening to a presentation.  A reader can skip ahead or re-read a section of prose that was dense or unclear.  An oral presentation happens in real time.  The same sentence might be clear for a written document but difficult to follow when spoken aloud.  Dense jargon, lengthy quotations, and long, complicated sentences can lose your audience.  In her article, Conference Rules , Linda Kerber's “Rule No. 2” gives some very helpful advice on this translation process: “Although a sentence linked by semicolons, or constructed with one or more dependent clauses, may be perfectly clear on paper, it is very hard to understand when it floats into the air. The listener cannot hang on to the subject until the object heaves into view three clauses later.”  Also see Presenting Conference Papers in the Humanities for more detailed tips on how to prepare the speech of your presentation.

To help communicate your lecture, consider using presentation software such as PowerPoint or Keynote.  Before you decide to use technology of any kind, be sure and check with the conference organizers to know what technology will be available in your presentation room.  For helpful tips on designing a quality slide show, as well as avoiding some technological pitfalls, see the TLTC's How can I use PowerPoint more effectively?

The best advice when preparing your presentation is to practice, practice, practice.  Practice out loud, practice alone, for your friends, family, and colleagues, for anyone who will listen; and ask your practice audiences for feedback.  Practicing will help insure that you stay within your time limits, are comfortable communicating orally, and that you are communicating clearly.  In a well-designed presentation, even a novice in the discipline should be able to follow the gist of your argument.  Ask a mentor or colleague to help you anticipate what questions people may ask about your paper.  This will help you formulate some good responses and avoid getting stuck. 

Finally, check with the societies and organizations within your discipline for field-specific advice.  For example the American Historical Association features a very useful paper on their website that describes the experience from the point of view of historians.

Presenting Posters

Poster sessions are very common in STEM disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), and their popularity is growing in the Humanities.  Poster sessions allow conferences to host a larger pool of researchers.  This is especially valuable for young researchers because it provides more opportunities for students to present their work.  Conference attendees also have the flexibility to browse the research that interests them most.

Logistics In a typical poster session, posters are displayed in a large room and, at an assigned time, presenters stand next to their posters to explain their project to passersby.  Conference attendees browse the posters to find topics of interest.  It is up to the presenter to communicate the project clearly and in a way that will elicit good feedback; so prepare your comments ahead of time as well as some notes to refer to if you need specific information.  As with the paper presentation, ask a mentor or colleague to help you anticipate what questions people may ask.  It's best to engage people actively as they approach your poster.  Be friendly and open to criticism and remember, you want people to comment – getting feedback on your ideas is one of the purposes of being there.  Be prepared with some paper for taking notes in case someone shares a useful idea or resource.

Poster Design The poster should play a supporting role to your explanation of the project.  At the same time, it needs to be complete enough to allow people to learn about your project if you are unavailable when they walk by.  According to Elliott Moreton , a poster has three purposes:  “To illustrate your explanation to the hearer when you are there…to explain your work to the reader when you are not there…[and] to make people want to read your paper.” (p.1)  Keep these purposes in mind as you design your poster.

Just like with paper presentations, your written document will need some translation in order to make an effective poster.  Inserting your 20-page written document into a poster-size sheet of paper will not communicate well.  Posters are a form of visual communication so you should adjust your information delivery accordingly.  Consider other forms of visual communication – billboards, print ads, television commercials.  These examples use rich images and very little text.  Charts, graphs, diagrams, photographs and other images can communicate your topic, data, and results more effectively than a large amount of text. 

As Hess, Tosney and Liegel suggest , your poster should focus on one take-away point.  There isn't room to include all of your findings and details, so don't try.  Give your listener a clear presentation of your central idea.  You will be there to expound on issues they find interesting or unclear.  Have something physical to pass out – a handout or business card – with your email address or other contact information so that interested parties can contact you later.

Titling your poster

The title should be at the top of the poster and should be the largest text on the poster (72-point or larger).  A good title should clearly and concisely describe the project.  For example, here are two possible titles for an analysis of the music of American composer, Aaron Copland.

Title Option 1: A Neo-Schenkerian Approach to Structural, Formal, and Prolongational Issues in Aaron Copland's Post-Tonal Juvenilia. 

Title Option 2: How Tonal is Copland's Music?

Option 1 might be acceptable as an article title but would be ineffective as a poster title.  It is too long and includes a weighty amount of jargon that doesn't communicate well to the passerby.  The second option, set in large font at the top of a poster, will be more effective at getting people's attention and quickly communicating the aims of the research.  Once a passerby shows interest, then you can expound on the central idea with more detail.

Click here to see a wide variety of actual posters courtesy of the Graduate School at the University of North Carolina.

Anatomy of a Research Poster

Check with the conference guidelines for specific expectations and limitations.  The title and author(s) go at the top.  Otherwise you have a great deal of freedom to choose what elements best represent your work as well as how to arrange them.  In general, the body of most posters will have the following elements:

Abstract The abstract of your study should summarize your research.  The abstract should (1) describe the problem that prompted your research, (2) explain your approach to the problem, and (3) outline of the scope of your project.  Your thesis statement should be easy to find in a well-constructed abstract. 

It is common to put the abstract in a prominent place (top center or top left, under the title and authors) so that passersby can get a quick understanding of your project, particularly if you are in conversation with another conference attendee when they arrive.  Therefore your abstract should be brief, engaging, and to the point.  While specific conferences and disciplines will have their own criteria, abstracts are typically between 200 and 500 words.  Make sure that your font size is large enough to be read easily from a few feet away.  The TLTC recommends a font size of 24-30-point for body text.  Remember the point of a poster is not to give the entire research paper but rather to get people's attention and engage them in conversation.  Brevity is key.

Conclusion The conclusion is where you summarize your findings and analysis. A well-formed conclusion should explain how your study contributes to existing research.  You should explain the significance and limitations of the present study as well as suggest avenues for future study. Be sure to make the connection between your data and your conclusion(s) very transparent.  While you will be there to explain your work, there will be some readers who will want to read on their own or while you are not around.  Your text should speak for itself.  At the same time, as with all other sections of text on your poster, less is more.   

Visual data In a visual medium like posters, charts, photos, and diagrams can effectively grab attention and quickly describe the scope, data, and conclusions of your study.  Be sure and include short descriptions of your images so that readers will know exactly how each image relates to the study.  Images should do more than decorate the poster; they should explain and enrich your message.

References Be sure and credit outside sources appropriately.  Not only is this standard academic practice, it is quite possible that one of your sources may be at the conference and read your poster!

Your contact information An email address at the bottom of your poster will allow people to send you comments and ideas even if you aren't there when they walk by.

Make sure every item on the poster relates directly to your one, central point – no distractions allowed.  For specific advice including font choice and tips for interacting with PowerPoint see the TLTC Poster Printing Policies and Design Tips.

Be prepared to spend a good deal of time on the presentation aspect of your work.  Careful preparation of your materials will dramatically improve how your work is received.  For more advice, check out the online resources below.  Good luck!

Texas Tech Resources

The Center for Undergraduate Research (CUR) CUR assists with skills training and research funding and provides one-on-one mentoring to undergraduate students in all phases of the research process.

How Can I Use PowerPoint More Effectively? TLPDC white paper on designing a slide show to accompany a lecture or paper presentation.  Includes tips for avoiding technological disaster.

TLPDC Poster Design Tips Includes specific advice including font choice and tips for interacting with PowerPoint.

Texas Tech PowerPoint Templates Downloadable, free-use PowerPoint templates compliant with Texas Tech presentation policies and preloaded with Texas Tech images including the official seal and “Double T”.

• Works Cited and Other Online Resources

Angelini, A. 2010. The Art of the Conference Paper. Inside Higher Ed. http://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2010/11/03/angelini , visited June 2011. A graduate student reflects on lessons learned at a recent conference.  Gives pragmatic, bulleted advice for finding the right conference, writing a strong abstract, writing the paper, and preparing and delivering the presentation.

• Claremont Graduate University Writing Center. 2011. Presenting Conference Papers in the Humanities.

http://www.cgu.edu/pages/864.asp , visited June 2011 Some helpful tips for translating your written paper into an oral presentation.

• Hess, G.R., K. Tosney, and L. Liegel. 2010. Creating Effective Poster Presentations.

http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters , visited June 2011. A comprehensive site that describes all aspects of poster design from developing your idea, writing your abstract, and designing and presenting the poster.  Includes a discussion of software options and examples of good posters.

• Kerber, L.K. 2008. Conference Rules: Everything You Need to Know about Presenting a Scholarly Paper in Public. American Historical Association.

http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2008/0805/0805pro1.cfm , visited June 2011. Previously published in the Chronicle of Higher Education (March 21, 2008) and Perspectives on History (2008), this paper gives seven “rules” for using anxiety as an asset when presenting scholarly work.

• Moreton, E. 2003. Posters. University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

http://www.unc.edu/~moreton/Materials/Posters.pdf , visited June 2011. Good, concise advice on designing a poster and preparing for the day of presentation.  The section on poster construction is a little out of date (Moreton describes using 11”x17” sheets rather than designing with presentation software).

• Stanford University. Poster Design Guidelines and Resources for Undergraduate Research. http://www.stanford.edu/dept/undergrad/cgi-bin/drupal_ual/OO_research_opps_SURPSResources.html , visited June 2011.

Designed for Stanford's Symposium of Undergraduate Research and Public Service (SURPS), this site offers a range of advice on posters including Steps for Composing an Effective Poster and Tips for Posters in the Humanities .

• University of North Carolina Graduate School. Poster and Presentation Resources.

http://gradschool.unc.edu/student/postertips.html , visited June 2011. An impressive metapage with links to advice on presenting , using PowerPoint with a paper presentation , poster design advice , poster design software , templates , and a nice selection of example posters .  Links connect to a wide range of universities, corporations such as Microsoft, and government sites.

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Tips for Presenting Conference Papers

Any effective conference presentation must do three things: effectively communicate your arguments and evidence, persuade your audience that they are true, and be interesting and entertaining. These tips will help you accomplish those goals.

Before the Conference

When presenting a paper at a conference, you will be delivering a document that was originally far lengthier than what you will be reading. Therefore, editing your paper will be necessary to present your work in full considering the given time restrictions presented to you at the time of your acceptance to the conference. Typically, most conferences allow each presenter approximately 15- 20 minutes, though this is not always standard and times may vary.

Editing Your Paper

Your time restriction will guide your editing process. What does this mean? It means that you know that you have a certain amount of time to convey the most important aspects of your work. As a general rule, you will have time to make  one  major point. State it, develop it, and repeat it. You will want to edit your paper accordingly with three necessary components: argument, evidence, and a conclusion. Extract your argument and the strongest supporting evidence from your larger body of work.

An effective rule of thumb to remember while editing is that your primary sources inform your narrative. This is the evidence that you will want to use for your conference paper. Secondary source evidence, while beneficial to your overall work, could weigh down a short and concise conference paper.

After you have extracted a rough draft of your paper in this way, go through and edit for clarity. A conference paper is different than a printed paper; you are presenting the information in an oral format and audience members will not be able to slow you down or ask you to repeat a point that they miss. Make the paper clear for them the first time around.

• Clearly state your argument, almost to the point that you declare that you are stating your argument.
• Organize your information in a highly structured The more transparent your structure, the more likely an audience will be able to follow what you are saying.
• Use clear topic sentences.
• Remove clauses which can be lethal, turning them in to more simple, declarative statements that are easy to understand and easy to read.
• Look for dependent clauses. Sentences with semicolons or dependent clauses may be hard to understand for your listening audience. Listeners also have a difficult time understanding deviation from the narrative so be sure to use examples sparingly.
• Consider your audience. Think about who is going to be there; you will be addressing peers and even distinguished scholars in your field, but you may also be delivering to an audience that is unfamiliar with your field. Think about how your paper will sound when it is being read to this audience.
• Remember to avoid excessive jargon. You will most likely be presenting to a mixed crowd; not everyone will be familiar with jargon related to your topic.
• Use quotations sparingly. It can be difficult to clearly project other voices in your narrative. Paraphrase where you can and only use quotes to add punch when necessary.
• Limit the number of characters you introduce to only your “A list.” Most audience members will not be able to keep up with all of the secondary characters important in your narrative. They may begin to feel lost if you introduce too many persons, especially if they are not as familiar as Poe, Lincoln, Wolfe, MLK, or Joyce.

Once you have written your conference paper, seek peer review. Ask a fellow graduate student or someone who can give you constructive feedback to comment on your paper. 

After the preliminary edits, you will begin the second phase of editing which is only determined after you begin practicing reading your paper aloud.

Practice Reading Your Paper

As a general rule, you will want to read directly from your paper during the conference. This will keep you from straying off topic, forgetting vital information, running over time, or rambling. After sufficient practice, if you feel comfortable going off script and think that your talk can be more effective by doing so, do it.

Incessantly practice reading your conference paper aloud and time yourself. Practice reading your paper alone, in front of a mirror, in front of peers, even record or tape yourself. This is the only way you will be able to gauge how quickly or how slowly you will read your paper on the day of the conference.

Practice making eye contact with your audience. If this is anxiety-inducing, at least pretend to do so by casting your gaze toward the back and sides of the room. Be careful not to ignore one side of the audience. Many speakers “side” unconsciously.

If your presentation will include the use of visual aids, be sure to practice with them. Be careful that you continue to face the audience when you refer them to your visuals. Do not read off your visuals.

Timing yourself will also be an indicator of whether or not you need further edits to shorten your paper so it may be presented in full in accordance to the time restrictions. For the average speaker, one double spaced page takes about two minutes to read. This is simply an average. Read at a normal and comfortable pace according to you. If it takes you longer to read, then shorten your paper. It is that simple. You do not want to read so quickly on the day of the conference that your audience may find it distracting or worse yet, they may not be able to follow what you are saying or miss key information that is essential to your argument.

The more you practice reading your conference paper, the more familiar you will become with it. Familiarity is essential because it will allow you to naturally project the rhetorical nuances you want to incorporate in your reading. Your overall tone will improve and you will be able to naturally emphasize the words that you find most important. This will prevent you from delivering a boring paper.

How your paper looks to you will also be important. It’s  your  paper; no one else is going to see the copy from which you read, so design it in a way that aids your presentation. Some useful formatting techniques you can adopt for your paper include:

• Enlarging your font from a standard 12 to perhaps 14 or 16-point. This will help you see more clearly when you are standing at a podium.
• Paginate. Considering that you will not want to staple your pages together, this is a simple way to ensure that your pages do not come out of order before your presentation.
• Use different colors and/or fonts on words, sentences, or even paragraphs if you need additional visual cues for adding emphasis.
• Make yourself notes in the margin such as “breathe” or “slow down” if you have a tendency to get nervous and speak too quickly.
• If you are using Power Point to aide your presentation, mark in the text of your paper when you need to switch slides. It can be easy to forget to change slides, causing you to have to play catch-up with the slide show, to the detriment of your overall presentation.

If you consider using any of the above formatting techniques, remember to practice with them extensively. Nothing could be worse than forgetting what one of your silent signals was supposed to mean. Using some of these suggestions could be helpful, but using too many could be distracting.

Prior to the conference, you want to edit your paper according to your time restrictions and make it as lean and clear as possible.

A Note On Timeliness

Please submit your paper to the scholar who will be commenting on it in a timely manner. You want to provide them ample time to reflect on your work and make a good impression on anyone and all attendants of the conference. Most of the time the conference committee will give you a deadline by which time you need to submit the long version of your conference paper to them. They will then circulate it to the appropriate persons. Do not miss the deadline to submit your paper. It is unprofessional and will reflect poorly on you. If you make substantial changes to your conference paper after you have already submitted it to the conference committee (say you find new sources that better evidences your argument), send an updated version of your paper directly to the commenter with a polite note addressing what changes you made and why you felt the need to make them at this time.

On the Day of the Conference

Confronting anxiety.

On the day you are to give your paper, don’t be nervous about being nervous. Even the most seasoned professionals feel anxiety about speaking in front of large groups of people and this is a signifier that you are taking this form of scholarly discourse seriously. That added nervous energy can actually be of benefit to you. Channel it into your presentation to add vigor. This is what will help you avoid the trap of delivering a boring presentation.

Bodily Motions & Physical Signs of Anxiety

There are certain rules of conduct that generally apply to most conference settings that you will want to note, particularly your bodily motion and how you present your paper. Even though you will most likely be nervous, try to avoid showing any indication of discomfort through fidgeting or the use of your hands as you speak. Persistently moving your hands and body can be distracting to the audience and you want all attention to be on your words, not on your motions. Try to keep your hands on the lectern, perhaps using your finger to help keep your place as you move your eyes from paper to audience. Your hands can also be used discreetly to help you most effectively transition from page to page as you read.

Professor Linda K. Kerber, in her article, “Conference Rules” describes a technique called “sliding” that is the most effective, non-distracting way to transition from page to page as you read. Many students are used to reading a paper, with one page in front of them and simply turning it upside down to reveal the next page to read. This will leave you an upside down stack in the order in which you began. This method, while not uncommon, can be distracting when turning the page and can lead to unnecessary sound in the microphone or distracting pauses as your audience waits for you to reorient yourself. To avoid this, the “sliding method” should be employed. Begin with the first two pages in front of you. Then proceed to slide the second page onto the first. This not only is a discreet way to move your pages, but it also gives you the advantage of seeing what is forthcoming. Once you have your bodily motions in check, your final task is to assess how to deliver your paper.

Reading the Paper is Part of Conference Etiquette

Many students agonize over the strict adherence to reading directly from the paper for the fear of it being boring, this does not have to be the case. Your personality and cadence are the determining factors between boring and engaging. Remember this because reading your paper is an absolute necessity, especially if this is your first time giving a paper.

Forget all of the inclinations and preconceived notions you have acquired in the past about what a presentation is supposed to be, conferences have a structure all their own. Prior to a graduate conference, many students remember the days of undergraduate when they were told not to read off a paper when presenting. The standard presentation of your work that you once knew is no longer good for the etiquette that is necessary for a conference. Even the most seasoned historians still deliver a conference paper by reading directly off the page. If you feel the urge to improvise or speak off the cuff, remember that you will have an opportunity to speak extemporaneously during the Q & A portion of the conference.

Speaking Off the Cuff Can Ruin an Opportunity for a Good First Impression

It is imperative that you read from the paper, because there are many instances when people begin to speak loosely and this can be devastating for numerous reasons.  You may run out of time before you are able to completely present your work. You could loose track of what you are saying and your speech could become tangential.  Do not let this happen to you. That can be highly embarrassing and you want to make a good first impression on fellow colleagues and distinguished scholars. You want to be remembered for the content of your work and not for the blunders of your presentation. Reading directly from the page does not assure you a stellar presentation, but it does guarantee that you will not make the massive mistake of getting off topic and will help ensure that you stay within your time limit.

The Two-Minute Warning

During your presentation you will be given a two-minute warning. If the warning comes earlier than expected, this may be the only instance where improvisation is acceptable. You will want to cut to the chase and make sure that you have discussed the most important parts of your paper and conclude before time runs out. Touch on your topic sentences for the rest of the paper and then finish strong with your conclusion. If you know in advance that you will be at risk of running over time, you should make additional cuts. If you do not want to make additional cuts but know that you will be cutting it close on presentation day, have a contingency plan. Create a secondary cue card with your main points and conclusion. When you see the two-minute warning and know you will not be able to read the remainder of your paper, switch over to your cue card. Your main goal at the end of your presentation will be to emphasize the arguments you have made and why they matter.

Handling Comments and the Q&A

The commenter is there to help you. You may think you can remember all he/she has to say about your work, but this cannot be assured, especially if you are nervous while listening. Make sure that your write down his/her comments, critiques, suggestions, and questions. The commenter’s advice will help you strengthen your work as a historian and conference presenter.

The Q&A can be scary. Remember to breathe and take the questions in stride. It might help to write down the question being asked before you attempt to answer it. This will help you digest the question in full and allow you to answer it thoroughly. Not hearing or remember all parts of a person’s question can increase your anxiety when answering and cause you to misspeak.

Don’t Forget the Positives

Beyond the rules and etiquette of a conference, remember that you are there to engage in an exciting scholarly endeavor. Yes, you are making yourself vulnerable intellectually, but bear in mind that all of the distinguished scholars you are speaking before, have also been in your shoes. They are not there to embarrass you, but to support your work and push you further with their inquiries. Embrace the experience, know you are among academic friends and know that as a scholar, you are better for it.

How to present a research paper in a conference

Almost every conference has at least one time period set aside for research papers to be presented orally or on a podium. These sessions for podium presentations are crucial for the presenters, organizers, and attendees. The task of gathering all the information and ideas for a presentation in less than ten minutes may appear intimidating to newcomers and those freshly beginning. The stress of speaking in front of an audience of professionals and, most importantly, of being ready to respond to probing questions from the delegates would be added to that.

We hope that this message will serve as a helpful guide for newcomers on how to approach scientific presentations, which are crucial for one’s career and, more importantly, for the advancement of research. When your research study is over, the results have been examined, and a report has been prepared, you should start looking for conferences where presenting your research would be of interest and significance to the attendees. But you might begin considering the presenting procedure even before deciding on the conference.

A podium presentation of a research paper at a conference can be intimidating for a novice. One must select an appropriate conference for their presentation, write an abstract, prepare slides and a speech that goes along with them, and practice responding to audience queries. They must also face their dread of public speaking and their fear of running into an unfriendly crowd who will tear their paper to pieces. This communication aims to offer helpful advice on how to approach creating and delivering a research paper.

Identify What The Primary Message Of Your Research Is & Determine Whether A Conference Presentation Is The Right Platform For You

• Finding the main point, which can be conveyed in a single or a few phrases, is the first stage. 
• Then think about if the facts and analysis in the research article are too extensive and complicated to be given in eight to ten minutes. 
• One choice, if you believe it is, is to display it as a poster. 
• The alternative is to make a podium presentation using only a portion of the data.

Select The Most Appropriate Conference & Gather All the Required Conferencing Info You Require To Make An Informed Decision

• You should give the conference’s significance the utmost consideration while choosing it. 
• You should be wondering whether or not the attendees of the conference that you’re presented at will find your work interesting. 
• Do they need something like that? 
• Of course, any obligations you have, registration fees, travel expenses, etc., would also affect your choice. 
• You’d want to learn more about the conference and the oral presentation session once you’ve been chosen. 
• Visit the conference website and peruse the booklet to learn more about these aspects. 
• information about the abstract (deadlines, type, word limits, whether figures and graphs can be included, etc.), 
• the prospective attendees (experts, beginners, super-specialists, specialists, or generalists), 
• the presentation (time allotted, technical details like software permitted), and 
• the location (seating capacity, 
• whether there would be concurrent sessions, 
• kind of audiovisual aids that would be available, 
• type of stage and seating arrangement, etc.). 
• You must use this knowledge to plan your presentation. Many conferences include clear directions (on topics such as “ how to publish research paper in Scopus “, “ how to apply international conference “, and the like), rules, and even presentation templates. 

Devise A Strategy A Follow It To A Tee

• Making an effective presentation requires careful planning. 
• what is the main message and how to elaborate on it (content), 
• who should present the paper (presenter), 
• what work should other team members carry out (support), 
• should we stick to the traditional format or innovate a little bit (style), and 
• what precautions should I take to prevent the last-minute hiccups from ruining the effort.
• A research project may involve several scientists, but only one can present it at the conference. 
• The person who oversaw the study took part in the study, and performed the analysis is the ideal candidate to give the presentation. 
• In other words, the person selected to present the study should be familiar with all of its subtle aspects and have a thorough understanding of the subject. 
• Establish the roles that each member of the research team will play. 
• Even though the presenter will be in charge of everything, the team members can assist him/her. 
• For instance, one member may conduct a thorough literature search to find recently published, pertinent articles, another could assist him/her in creating presentation content and slide designs, and everyone could help him/her get ready for any potential questions. 
• Other team members can organize how to accomplish this effectively and within a set time frame. 
• You must set aside adequate time for team meetings to choose the main point and how to elaborate on it, for speech practice, and for managing the question-and-answer (Q&A) session. 
• It is usually preferable to have a practical “timetable” because numerous tasks are carried out simultaneously, and numerous milestones must be attained in a timely and systematic manner.
• The chance to communicate key findings from recently completed research 
• The chance to develop abilities.
• Providing an overview of the research, speaking in front of an audience, successfully explaining research findings, and defending your work.

The discussions that take place throughout the session can help you better understand many aspects of your study, including its limitations. This will allow you to – 

• Improve your CV (Curriculum Vitae) and lead to career advancement 
• Start to be recognized as a professional in the field you’ve chosen and a budding expert 
• Have the chance to interact with others (including experts) doing similar work, which will allow for future collaborations 
• Achieve the requirements set by some universities and employers for admission to their programs or for promotion delegates Organisers of conferences
• Giving researchers a platform to share their discoveries makes the conference more alluring to scientists.

Complete & Submit The Abstract

• The abstract must be written in accordance with the guidelines established by the conference organizers. 
• A structured abstract, including the subheadings introduction, objectives, methodology, results, and discussion, is always an excellent idea. 
• When appropriate and allowed by the conference, graphs should be used to describe complex results. 
• The main idea should be clear from the abstract. 
• It isn’t possible to overstate the value of the abstract enough. 
• It usually serves as a historical reference by being published in an abstract book and/or uploaded to the conference website. 
• To decide which presentations to attend and which to skip, many participants also skim the abstract book. 
• Verify that the Abstract’s content is accepted by all of the co-authors.
• Include a cover note with the abstract that highlights the significance of your research. 
• If there is enough time, one might even consider finishing the entire manuscript before the presentation. 
• The task of the presenter is made easier by it. 
• She only needs to pick out the right paragraphs, tables, and graphs from the book and place them on the slides. 
• Make careful to explicitly state in the cover letter if the research has already been presented at another conference or if the study’s findings have been published in a journal. 
• In the world of science, honesty and openness are the greatest policies.
• Since the audience and venue of the conference may differ, the majority of organizers will let you present the work even if it has already been done so.
• Enlisting the help of a research consultancy can help ease the burden for you. 

Prepare What You’re Going To Say & The Slides You’re Going To Present

• During a presentation, the material of the slides and the speech must coincide and be synchronized. 
• The number of slides you can use will depend on the amount of time you have, the complexity of the information and ideas you want to convey, how many slides have figures and graphs, and how quickly you speak. 
• But generally speaking, a presentation should have one slide each minute (maybe excluding the title, competing interests, and acknowledgment slides).
• Most conferences give the speaker eight minutes to present their work, with an additional two minutes allotted for questions and comments. 
• The order of the slides will logically adhere to the IMRaD format (Introduction, Methods, Result, and Discussion), with a focus on delivering clear objectives, significant details of methodology and results, and pertinent discussion on the study’s significance.
• While creating the slides, many presenters find it more convenient to work backward. 
• They prefer to start by writing a few study findings and adding pertinent methodologies and results as they go. 
• This supposedly aids in removing irrelevant information. 
• To explain complex data, one can use a table or a figure. 
• The Table should be full but not excessively so. Important numbers can be highlighted (in bold font, different colors) so that you can point to them and talk about them. 
• Using a diagram, one can illustrate complicated patient flow.
• One of the best methods for showcasing data is using graphs. 
• While creating slides, you must adhere to a few common guidelines. 
• The main idea is to always choose a “minimalistic” approach. 
• To convey your presentation, utilize the least amount of text, lines, graphics, and information possible. 
• Only the information necessary to convey the main idea on each slide should be present, and you should only use the number of slides necessary to accomplish this. 
• You will have to hurry through the written content if there is too much information on the slides. 
• Our target audience won’t have enough time to read it and will become disoriented. 
• For lack of time, skipping slides at the end of your presentation suggests that some of your slides are unimportant. 
• The audience will become uninterested in your presentation with absolute certainty if you do this.
• Never type an entire message or paragraph on a slide. 
• Don’t display complicated info. 
• Simply said, there isn’t enough time to explain elaborate long tables. 
• It is frequently advisable to summarise the data in such a case to make it easier to understand. 
• Some researchers choose to print out handouts regarding the study and make them available to the in-attendance delegates in the presentation room when the data is too complex. 
• The information on the slides should be organized in a series of concise, bulleted sentences. 
• You should make use of these as speaking aids or reminders. 
• Check out this list of every upcoming international conference in 202 3 and register for an event right away!
• Keep a backup of the presentation on another pen drive or hard drive after the slide set is complete. 
• Make sure no other vital information is on the pen drive. 
• In some circumstances, after connecting the pen drive to the conference PC, the whole contents of the disc have been deleted. 
• Send the presentation to a friend or yourself via email. If the hard drive of the computer or the pen drive becomes corrupt, these extra copies come in handy. 
• Carry an HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) to USB cable converter if you intend to utilize your own laptop for the presentation because some computers have HDMI cables while others have VGA cables for connecting to LCD (liquid crystal display) projectors.
• Write the speech out in clear, basic terms. Avoid using jargon. Nobody is impressed by it. 
• Use an energetic voice and succinct words. 
• Pick your words wisely. 
• Only use terms like “significant,” “always,” “never,” “best,” or “ideal” if the evidence supports them. 
• Slide by slide, write out your speech. 
• This will make it simpler for you to add the right hints to the slide. 
• To enter your speech, use the notes pane in Microsoft PowerPoint. You can use this when practicing your speech. 
• You must keep in mind that you won’t be able to go into detail due to time restrictions. 
• You will be able to discuss only the most important points. 
• For instance, it is crucial to disclose the characteristics of the study participants (eligibility criteria). 
• You will need to specify only those inclusion and exclusion criteria that will offer the audience a clear understanding of what the study is about because you cannot afford to read out all of them. 
• Maintaining this equilibrium between necessary disclosure and the time needed to deliver the methodology section is crucial.
• When creating the slide or slides for the Results section, start by including the raw data and simple descriptive statistics. 
• Describe the traits of the study population, or those of the control and target groups, in every sentence. 
• Before presenting other data, provide information pertaining to the primary research topic. 
• You must spend some time describing any tables, figures, or graphs you have included. 
• You do not have to go into great depth, though. 
• Just highlight the most important data or observations.
• The data from other research should be highlighted, the study’s advantages and disadvantages should be stated, and only then may conclusions be drawn based on the totality of the available data. 
• After you’ve completed drafting the speech, carefully edit it. 
• Examine it for yourself to ensure that the information is sound, important, and deserving of inclusion. 
• Additionally, look for logical flow and continuity of thought (referring to the conference’s research and publication guidelines helps in this regard).
• Your co-authors should see the slides and the speech’s text. 
• Take into account their insightful advice. 
• Title – 1 Slide 

List The Study’s full title. Include all authors’ names, last names, and institutional affiliations.

• Disputed Interests – 1 Slide

Certain conferences demand that the speaker outline competing interests (financial and other). This enables the attendees to evaluate the outcomes in the proper light.

• Introduction – 1 Slide

Use this slide to briefly present pertinent background information. The delegates ought to be able to comprehend the necessity of doing the investigation as a result. Write down the research question.

• Objectives – 1 Slide

Indicate the main goal and any crucial auxiliary goals in clear terms. Include just those goals for which the presentation will disclose pertinent results. Some people opt to skip this slide since they feel it makes the presentation longer. The “introduction” slide includes objectives.

• Methods – 1 or 2 Slides 

Describe the technique by outlining key details about the population examined, study design, study protocol, statistical plan, and ethical considerations (IRB approval, participant consent, and assent). Refrain from giving details that are not necessary. A complicated process would require two presentations.

• Results – 1 or 2 slides

Include numerical information. Use charts and tables as appropriate

• Discussion/Conclusions – 1 or 2 slides  

Describe any new information the study has brought to light. Describe the study’s weaknesses and strengths. Describe the appropriate use of the results in light of the available evidence. Offer research directions for the future. Send a message to the audience.

• Acknowledgment – 1 Slide 

Thank funding organizations, individuals who contributed significantly to the research, and others whose support led to you learning about and taking advantage of existing research funding opportunitie s.

Time Your Speech To Perfection & Practise It

• Ask for feedback and make good use of it. 
• For novices, practice and proper timing of your voice are quite important.
• Invite loved ones, friends, co-authors, and coworkers to the presentation so they can offer feedback. 
• Peers and colleagues can offer technical advice in addition to giving you advice about the readability and attractiveness of the slides and the manner in which you should deliver the speech. 
• Many of the practice sessions will be conducted by yourself in front of a laptop. 
• There will be a few practice sessions held in front of a small group of people.
• As a result, you can have anxiety when giving a conference presentation before a sizable audience. 
• If you’ve prepared well, the anxiety will quickly pass once you begin speaking.
• You may improve your speech by practicing and rehearsing it, and it will also help you recall it exactly. 
• This will enable you to carry on with your discussion even if a technical issue during the presentation prevents the slides from being shown for a while.
• It is impossible to foresee the queries that will be asked. 
• As a result, you cannot adequately prepare for the Q&A session. 
• You can still train for it, though. 
• Ask your friends and coworkers to think up questions and practice responding to them. 
• When you respond to difficult questions, they will let you know if you become confrontational, submissive, or too defensive or if your demeanor deteriorates.
• The most crucial step is to practice talking, as repetition makes perfect. 
• You can check your copy for errors like misspellings and incomplete phrases, as well as assess the overall coherence and flow by practicing reading it aloud. 
• Putting your presentation through practice can boost your confidence because you’ll become quite familiar with the key terminology you’ll be utilizing as well as your own writing and thinking style.
• Looking up at your audience and demonstrating that you value their attention will become simpler the more you practice. Your presentation will be more effective if the audience is more involved.
• Don’t go beyond the time provided. The best method to ensure that you stay within the allotted time for your discussion is to practice it beforehand. Take a timer. Make an effort to finish in a minute less than given! The audience, and especially the organizers, do not want to listen to more than is necessary, no matter how intriguing and significant the additional information may appear to you. You probably have a paper to give right after them, and you don’t want to sound like you think your work needs more time. Most of the time, people don’t remark that presentations are “too short.”
• You should also be aware of what group presentations entail if you’re delivering the presentation with your co-authors. If you are giving a presentation with a colleague, planning the discussion beforehand will help to guarantee that you and your co-presenter are on the same page. Your pieces should work together smoothly and consistently.
• You might wish to increase your printed notes’ or printed paper’s font size to at least fourteen points. On occasion, dim lighting makes it challenging to read in a room.
• Step #7 

Become Acquainted With The Auditorium/Presentation Hall That You’ll Be Presenting At & It’s Audiovisual System 

• You must become quite familiar with the hall, either the day before or during an earlier session. 
• You will then consider where to stand, how to look over the entire audience, and whether you can move around a little while presenting or whether you should stick close to the lectern while you speak. 
• Visit the control room if you can. 
• Verify your slides’ compatibility and how they appear on the computer monitor.
• Program changes could result in variations in how colors and symbols are perceived or are projected. 
• Check your knowledge of mouse, pointer, and computer use. 
• Learn how to advance slides, then practice. 
• These lessen your mental uncertainty and assist in lowering your anxiety.
• Other strategies some speakers use to calm themselves before speaking include drinking a glass of water or taking a few deep breaths.
• Walking the entire length of the platform without a need to.
• Moving too far away from the lectern could cause the microphone to fall and make noise.
• Moving too much or rocking back and forth. 
• Holding the microphone too close, which could cause disturbance.
• Getting in the way of the projection stream, which could cast a shadow on the slides.
• Making jokes that show gender bias or disrespect for a community or a professional 
• Using profanity.
• Moving the cursor in large, circular motions around large portions of the text or graphic images.
• Maintaining the pointer when the spot is visible on the walls and slides, which distracts.
• Repetitive pen/pointer clicking behavior
• Looking for a “certain” slide by repeatedly flipping the slides.
• “um,” 
• “urr,” or
• “ahem.” 
• “Actually,” “essentially,” and “generally speaking” are frequent fillers.
• When the phrase is about to end, lower our voice. Due to this, it is challenging to listen to, and the meaning is lost.

Understand The Culture Of Presenting Research At International Academic Conferences

• Conferences are fantastic venues for networking, taking in new information, and showcasing your work to other academic experts and intellectuals. 
• This is a daunting endeavor, but as with any difficulty, preparation is key. 
• Be prompt, accurate, and professional in your correspondence when emailing a panel organizer or the people in charge of the Honors Thesis presentation. Make sure you can provide your paper if they request a draught two weeks prior to the presentation (or tell them in advance if you cannot meet the deadline). The organizers are likely to reciprocate your respectful and responsible behavior if you show it to them throughout your interactions with them.
• When you’re at a conference, be enthusiastic and self-assured, and stick near your front-row presenters. Be sure to introduce yourself to the session’s chair(s) and get ready to meet a lot of individuals who could keep asking you the same questions.
• Prevent pointless delays. Prepare your digital file as well as your presentation by printing it (or putting it on an iPad or other device). Finish your visual presentation as soon as possible, and make sure it can be played and is not corrupted or too huge. You don’t want to put the panel’s organizers under more strain because conferences are extremely time-sensitive, and technical issues crop up frequently.
• Dress appropriately. The required attire may differ greatly depending on the conference you’re attending. To look professional and comfortable at the same time, try to dress accordingly. You will feel more assured as a result.

Executing The Delivery Of Your Presentation To Perfection

• Additionally crucial is your appearance. 
• If there is a dress code specified, follow it. 
• It is advised that the speaker wear decent clothing that is a touch nicer than the audience’s. 
• Overly loose clothing or accessories can become stuck in unusual places, such as a lectern or a flip chart stand, while too-tight attire restricts the speaker’s movements. 
• You should wear simple, unobtrusive clothing without bright colors or busy patterns. 
• The speaker’s attire should ideally make it easy for them to carry a wireless microphone. 
• You contribute to a presentation’s visual experience as a presenter.
• You should situate yourself such that the audience can see the projected slides without being obstructed. 
• Remove any items that might be casting shadows on the slides, such as the laptop flap, the water bottle, or the flower vase. 
• Begin by extending greetings to the audience, thanking the hosts and moderators, and outlining the significance of the study. 
• When you are introduced, typically, the title slide flashes. 
• There is no need to read the study’s title twice as a result. 
• Some speakers open by telling a story or a joke.
• Two things should be kept in mind: only do it if you are good at it. 
• Second, keep in mind that it takes up some of the extremely little time you have been given. 
• Continue with what you conducted and what you discovered before talking about the significance, constraints, and implications of your research. 
• It’s important to have your words and your projections in sync. 
• Avoid bringing to the podium any supporting materials, such as a written speech or plan. 
• Although you might glance briefly at the slides on your laptop or the screen while giving a presentation, your main focus should be on your audience.
• Maintaining eye contact with the audience motivates them to keep reading the slides and keeps their attention on the presentation. 
• As you speak, smile a little bit and turn your head to engage everyone in the room.
• Many conferences record the presentations and lectures so that the delegates seated in another hall can listen to them later. 
• The recorded video is frequently posted on the organization’s or conference’s website. 
• During your presentation, make sure to spend some time looking directly into the camera. 
• Use the pointer sparingly to draw the audience’s attention to certain numbers or language placed on the slide or to target specific areas on graphs, figures, and charts. 
• Place your arm on the podium if you tremble. 
• Talk clearly and slowly. 
• The speech should be delivered in a casual, conversational style.
• Most importantly, your confidence and passion should shine through the entire presentation. 
• Avoid distracting activities that will irritate the audience. 
• Always adhere to the moderator’s allotted time limit. 
• Aside from being rude to the speakers who are scheduled to speak after you, speaking for longer than the allotted time may also try the audience’s patience. 
• Additionally, the Q-A session can be canceled, denying you the chance to ask questions and seek clarification on specific subjects.
• It takes focus, discipline 1, and tact to answer questions because it’s an art form. 
• A moderator will typically begin by asking a clarifying question. 
• Presenters who are skilled at anticipating questions arrive at the session ready with a few slides to address potential inquiries. 
• This tactic can be employed in particular if you don’t have enough time to fully explain some complex information or a topic in your presentation but are confident enough that those whom you are presenting to will be aware of it. 
• Avoid creating too many slides for this purpose because you will have to sift through them all, which will take time, and try the patience of the audience. 
• In order to show that you are knowledgeable about the research and the topic, pay attention to the entire question and respond accurately and concisely. 
• Keep your composure and speak calmly when you respond to a query.
• Never make somebody feel inferior or embarrassed in front of the group. 
• In fact, thank the inquirer for their thoughtful question. 
• Ask for more clarity if you aren’t able to understand a question being asked.
• Say so if you are unsure of the response to a question. 
• If your co-authors are present, you might want to ask them. 
• If the interrogation turns hostile, try starting with clarifications from point 10 of agreement and skillfully flipping the topic around to ask the interrogator for his opinion on the subject. 
• Most scientists will have to put in the effort to produce an effective presentation. 
• However, some people have a natural flair for it. 
• The speaker needs to be an authority on the subject for the presentation to be successful. 
• However, the way the slides are created, how she presents herself, and how the presentation is presented all play a part in how well it goes. 
• The story does not finish here. 
• You might only be beginning your road toward being a skilled communicator and presenter.
• You should make a note of the queries that were left unanswered or were challenging to address after the presentation. 
• You should ask for the delegates’ phone numbers and email addresses who asked for clarifications or further information. 
• Additionally, you ought to record the comments made following the session. 
• A lot of researchers also ask the event planners for a video of their own talk so they may watch it afterward. 
• When you get back from the conference, research the questions that seemed difficult to address, then get in touch with attendees to give them the details they asked for. 
• The “sure-shot” method of establishing and strengthening your credibility as an honest scientist is to do this.
• While putting together the research manuscript, the ideas received should be given the appropriate weight. 
• To evaluate your own performance while presenting and fielding questions, watch the presentation video clip. 
• By doing so, each presentation will help you build your network, refine your study paper, and improve your performance the following time.

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One comment

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Research Voyage

Research Tips and Infromation

Research Conferences 101: A Complete Guide for Researchers

Importance of Research Conferences in the Academic Community

Benefits of attending national and international research conferences, examples of national and international research conferences, overview of the differences between national and international research conferences, examples of well-known national and international research conferences in various fields, advantages of attending national research conferences, advantages of attending international research conferences, how to select and prepare for research conferences, challenges and solutions in attending research conferences, introduction.

Research conferences play a crucial role in the academic community by serving as platforms for researchers and scholars to exchange knowledge, present their findings, engage in scholarly discussions, and foster collaborations.

These conferences bring together experts, researchers, and practitioners from various disciplines and geographical locations to share their research findings, insights, and experiences. Research conferences can be national or international in scope, with varying levels of scale, audience, and impact.

Research conferences provide a platform for researchers to showcase their work, receive feedback, and disseminate their findings to a wider audience. This helps in advancing the state of knowledge in their field and contributing to the academic discourse.

Research conferences foster networking opportunities among researchers, enabling them to connect with peers, exchange ideas, and establish collaborations. These interactions can lead to new research partnerships, joint projects, and opportunities for future collaborations.

Research conferences promote interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approaches by bringing together researchers from different fields and facilitating cross-disciplinary discussions. This encourages the exchange of ideas, perspectives, and methodologies, leading to innovative research outcomes.

Research conferences offer opportunities for professional development through workshops, tutorials, and panel discussions. These sessions can help researchers enhance their skills, learn about the latest research tools and techniques, and stay updated with emerging trends in their field.

Research conferences can also provide access to funding agencies, job opportunities, and academic resources. Many conferences offer funding opportunities, job fairs, and exhibits where researchers can connect with potential employers, sponsors, and collaborators.

National research conferences allow researchers to connect with peers and experts within their own country or region. These conferences provide a platform for researchers to learn about the latest research happening within their national context, build a professional network within their country, and explore funding and job opportunities.

International research conferences offer a broader perspective by bringing together researchers from different countries and cultures. These conferences provide an opportunity to learn about global research trends, share diverse perspectives, and engage in cross-cultural exchanges.

Attending national and international research conferences can enhance researchers’ visibility and reputation in their field. Presenting research findings or delivering a keynote speech at a prestigious conference can raise researchers’ profile, increase their credibility, and open up new collaboration opportunities.

Research conferences provide a platform for researchers to receive feedback and constructive criticism on their work, helping them refine their research and improve the quality of their findings.

Attending research conferences also allows researchers to stay updated with the latest advancements in their field, learn about new research methodologies and techniques, and broaden their knowledge base.

Research conferences offer opportunities for researchers to engage in scholarly discussions, debates, and dialogues with fellow researchers, leading to a deeper understanding of their field and fostering intellectual growth.

• National research conferences: For example, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, and the British Psychological Society (BPS) Annual Conference are well-known national conferences in their respective fields, held in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, respectively.
• International research conferences: For example, the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) , the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) , and the International Conference on Learning Representations (ICLR) are internationally recognized conferences in the field of artificial intelligence and machine learning, held at various locations worldwide.

Types of Research Conferences

Research conferences can be categorized into different types based on various criteria, such as disciplinary focus, interdisciplinary nature, regional or international scope, and audience. Understanding the different types of research conferences can help researchers identify the most relevant conferences for their field and research interests.

• Disciplinary Research Conferences: These conferences are focused on a specific discipline or field of study, such as medicine, computer science, psychology, or physics. They bring together researchers, practitioners, and experts from the same field to share research findings, discuss challenges, and exchange ideas related to their specific domain. Examples of disciplinary research conferences include the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting for oncology research , the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) for machine learning and artificial intelligence research, and the American Psychological Association (APA) Annual Convention for psychology research.
• Interdisciplinary Research Conferences: These conferences promote collaboration and exchange of ideas across different disciplines, bringing together researchers from multiple fields to explore common research areas or solve complex problems. Interdisciplinary research conferences encourage cross-disciplinary discussions, foster innovative research, and promote collaborations among researchers with diverse expertise. Examples of interdisciplinary research conferences include the Conference on Complex Systems (CCS) for research on complex systems , the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) conference for natural language processing and computational linguistics research , and the International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) for research on sustainability and development.
• Regional Research Conferences: These conferences are organized at a regional level, typically within a specific geographic area or country, and focus on research conducted in that particular region. Regional research conferences provide a platform for researchers to share research findings, discuss regional challenges, and foster collaborations within a specific context. Examples of regional research conferences include the European Conference on Computer Vision (ECCV) for computer vision research in Europe, the African Studies Association (ASA) Annual Meeting for research on Africa , and the Asia-Pacific Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (APCHI) for research on human-computer interaction in the Asia-Pacific region.
• International Research Conferences: These conferences have a global scope and attract researchers, practitioners, and experts from different countries and continents. International research conferences provide a platform for researchers to share their research findings on a global stage, foster cross-cultural exchanges, and promote international collaborations. Examples of international research conferences include the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) , the International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV) , and the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) .

National Research conferences are typically focused on research conducted within a specific country or region, while international research conferences have a global scope and attract researchers from different countries.

National research conferences may have a smaller scale and audience compared to international research conferences, which are often larger and attract a more diverse and international audience.

International research conferences may have a higher level of prestige and visibility in the global academic community, while national research conferences may be more regionally or nationally recognized.

• Medicine: American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting (national) , European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress (international)
• Computer Science: Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) ( international), Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) conference (interdisciplinary)
• Psychology: American Psychological Association (APA) Annual Convention (national), International Congress of Psychology (ICP) (international)
• Education: American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting (national), World Conference on Educational Sciences (WCES )

National research conferences offer numerous benefits to researchers, providing them with opportunities for learning, networking, presenting research, gaining exposure, and advancing their professional development.

• Access to latest research and cutting-edge findings: National research conferences bring together researchers from various institutions and regions, providing a platform for sharing the latest research findings and advancements in the field. Attending these conferences allows researchers to stay updated with the latest research trends, learn about cutting-edge technologies, and gain insights into the current state of the field.

Example: At the National Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) , researchers can learn about the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, including new algorithms, techniques, and applications, through keynote speeches, paper presentations, and poster sessions.

• Opportunities for networking and collaboration with researchers in the same field: National research conferences provide ample networking opportunities, allowing researchers to connect with fellow researchers, practitioners, and experts in their field. Networking can lead to potential collaborations, joint research projects, and opportunities for sharing ideas and perspectives with peers in the same research domain.

Example: Networking events, such as coffee breaks, poster sessions, and social gatherings, at the American Sociological Association (ASA) Annual Meeting provide opportunities for researchers to connect with other sociologists, exchange ideas, and explore possibilities for future collaborations.

• Platform for presenting and discussing research findings: National research conferences offer researchers a platform to present their research findings through paper presentations, poster sessions, or oral presentations. Presenting research at conferences allows researchers to receive feedback, engage in discussions, and gain recognition for their work among their peers.

Example: At the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) , researchers can present their latest computer vision research through oral presentations or poster sessions, engage in discussions with other researchers, and receive feedback on their work.

• Exposure to diverse perspectives and research approaches: National research conferences often attract researchers from diverse backgrounds, institutions, and regions, providing an opportunity to learn about different perspectives and research approaches. Exposure to diverse research ideas and approaches can foster creativity, broaden researchers’ understanding of their field, and inspire new research directions.

Example: The Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) conference brings together researchers from different areas of natural language processing, such as machine translation, sentiment analysis, and speech recognition, providing a platform for cross-disciplinary interactions and exposure to diverse research approaches.

• Possibility of receiving feedback and constructive criticism from experts in the field: National research conferences offer researchers a chance to receive feedback and constructive criticism on their research from experts in the field. This feedback can help researchers improve their research work, refine their ideas, and enhance the quality of their research output.

Example: At the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting , researchers can present their findings on various areas of chemistry and receive feedback from leading experts in the field, which can further strengthen their research.

• Opportunities for professional development, including workshops, tutorials, and panel discussions: National research conferences often offer workshops, tutorials, panel discussions, and other professional development opportunities for researchers. These activities provide valuable insights, practical tips, and hands-on learning experiences that can enhance researchers’ skills and knowledge in their field.

Example: The American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting offers workshops on topics such as research methods, data analysis, and academic writing, providing researchers with opportunities for professional development and skill-building.

• Access to funding and job opportunities: National research conferences may also provide access to funding opportunities, such as research grants, fellowships, or awards, which can support researchers’ future research endeavors. Additionally, conferences may serve as a platform for job opportunities, including academic positions, industry collaborations,

International research conferences offer unique advantages to researchers, providing them with opportunities for global exposure, networking, collaboration, and personal growth.

• Increased exposure to global research trends and practices: International research conferences bring together researchers from different countries and regions, providing a platform to learn about global research trends and practices. Attending international conferences allows researchers to gain insights into the latest research advancements and methodologies from around the world, which can broaden their understanding of the field and enhance their research perspective.

Example: The International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) is a prestigious conference that brings together machine learning researchers from different countries to present their research findings, discuss the latest advancements in the field, and exchange ideas on cutting-edge research trends and practices.

• Opportunities to network with researchers from different countries and cultures: International research conferences provide opportunities to network with researchers from diverse countries and cultures. Networking with international peers allows researchers to build professional connections, exchange ideas, and learn from different perspectives, which can foster international collaborations and partnerships.

Example: The World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering is an international conference that brings together researchers, practitioners, and professionals from the field of medical physics and biomedical engineering from around the world, providing opportunities for cross-cultural networking and collaboration.

• Access to diverse research perspectives and methodologies from around the world: International research conferences offer a platform for researchers to gain exposure to diverse research perspectives, methodologies, and approaches from different countries and regions. This exposure can broaden researchers’ understanding of various research practices and stimulate new ideas and approaches in their own research.

Example: The Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) is an international conference that brings together researchers from the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) from different countries, providing a platform for the exchange of diverse research perspectives and methodologies.

• Potential for international collaboration and partnerships: International research conferences offer opportunities for researchers to initiate or strengthen international collaborations and partnerships. Collaborating with researchers from different countries can lead to joint research projects, shared resources, and diverse perspectives, which can enhance the quality and impact of research.

Example: The International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) is a leading conference in robotics that provides opportunities for researchers to establish international collaborations for joint research projects, technology transfer, and knowledge exchange.

• Exposure to funding and job opportunities in different countries: International research conferences may also provide access to funding opportunities, research grants, fellowships, or job opportunities in different countries. These opportunities can expand researchers’ horizons and open doors to international research funding and job prospects.

Example: The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress is an international conference that brings together researchers, clinicians, and professionals from the field of cardiology, providing opportunities for researchers to explore funding and job opportunities in Europe and beyond.

• Chance to broaden one’s research network and enhance research reputation: Attending international research conferences allows researchers to broaden their research network beyond their home country or region, and establish connections with researchers from different parts of the world. This can enhance researchers’ research reputation and visibility on a global scale, which can be beneficial for career growth and opportunities for collaboration.

Example: The International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV) is a premier conference in computer vision that attracts researchers from around the world, providing opportunities for researchers to expand their research network and enhance their research reputation on an international level.

• Cultural exchange and personal growth opportunities: International research conferences also provide opportunities for cultural exchange and personal growth. Researchers can learn about different cultures, traditions, and practices, which can broaden their horizons and contribute to their personal growth as individuals and professionals.

Example: For instance, a researcher from the United States attending an international conference in Japan may have the chance to learn about Japanese culture, traditions, and research practices through interactions with local researchers and conference attendees.

Attending research conferences requires careful selection and preparation to make the most of the experience. Here are some factors to consider, tips for submitting abstracts and papers, suggestions for preparing presentations and posters, strategies for effective networking and collaboration, and recommendations for maximizing the benefits of attending research conferences.

• Factors to consider when choosing a research conference to attend:
• Relevance to your research: Choose conferences that are relevant to your research field or topic of interest. Consider the conference’s focus, theme, and scope to ensure that it aligns with your research area.

Example: If you are a researcher in the field of artificial intelligence, you may consider attending conferences such as the Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems (NeurIPS) or the Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition (CVPR) .

• Reputation and impact: Consider the reputation and impact of the conference in your research community. Look for conferences that are well-established, have a strong track record of quality research presentations, and attract renowned researchers in the field.

Example: The Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) conference is a well-established and prestigious conference in the field of natural language processing and computational linguistics, known for its high-quality research presentations and influential research outcomes.

• Location and logistics: Consider the location, dates, and logistics of the conference. Look for conferences that are conveniently located, have reasonable registration fees, and fit well with your schedule and availability.

Example: The International Conference on Computer Vision (ICCV) is held at different locations around the world each year, offering researchers opportunities to attend the conference in different regions and experience diverse cultural settings.

Visit my blog post on Avoiding Predatory Conferences and Journals: A Step by Step Guide for Researchers . This post will help you in avoiding predatory conferences.

• Tips for submitting abstracts and papers to research conferences:
• Follow submission guidelines: Carefully read and follow the submission guidelines of the conference for abstracts, papers, or other types of submissions. Make sure to adhere to the submission deadlines and formatting requirements.

Example: If the conference requires a double-blind review, ensure that your submission does not include any identifying information about the authors to maintain anonymity during the review process.

• Highlight the significance of your research: Clearly state the significance, novelty, and contributions of your research in the abstract or paper. Emphasize why your research is important and relevant to the conference’s theme or scope.

Example: Clearly state the research gap your work addresses, the methodology or approach used, and the potential impact or implications of your findings on the field.

Visit my blog post on Research Paper Abstract: 10 Simple Steps to Make a Big Difference . This post will help you in writing an effective abstract in 10 simple steps.

• Seek feedback from peers or mentors: Seek feedback from your peers or mentors on your abstract or paper before submission. Incorporate their suggestions and comments to improve the quality and clarity of your submission.

Example: Share your abstract or paper with colleagues or mentors in your research field and ask for their feedback on the research significance, clarity, and overall quality of the submission.

• Suggestions for preparing presentations and posters:
• Practice your presentation: Practice your presentation or poster to ensure that you are well-prepared to deliver it confidently and effectively. Time yourself to ensure that you stay within the allocated time for your presentation.

Example: Rehearse your presentation in front of a mirror, or with colleagues, to get feedback on your delivery, pace, and clarity of your message.

• Use visual aids effectively: Use visual aids such as slides or posters to enhance your presentation. Keep them visually appealing, easy to read, and well-organized to convey your message clearly.

Example: Use high-quality images, charts, or diagrams that support your research findings or conclusions, and avoid overcrowding your visual aids with too much text or information.

• Be prepared for questions: Anticipate potential questions that may arise during or after your presentation, and be prepared to answer.

Visit my blog post on 7-Step Method for Creating a Powerful Research Paper Presentation at Conferences . This post will help you in preparing a powerful power point presentation for research conferences.

Attending research conferences may come with various challenges. Here are some common challenges faced by researchers and strategies for overcoming them:

• Language barriers and cultural differences:
• Language barriers: Researchers attending international conferences may face language barriers if the conference is conducted in a language that is not their native language. This can make it difficult to understand presentations, ask questions, or participate in discussions.

Solution: Familiarize yourself with the conference language in advance, and consider brushing up on your language skills. You can also request for presentation slides or materials in advance to review and prepare yourself.

Example: If you are attending a conference in Japan and the conference is conducted in Japanese, you can practice basic Japanese phrases and use translation tools or apps to assist you in understanding the presentations.

• Cultural differences: Researchers attending conferences in different countries or regions may encounter cultural differences in communication styles, norms, and practices. This can affect networking, collaboration, and social interactions at the conference.

Solution: Educate yourself about the cultural norms and practices of the conference location beforehand, and be mindful of cultural differences during interactions with fellow researchers. Respect local customs and traditions, and adapt your communication style accordingly.

Example: If you are attending a conference in China, you may need to be aware of hierarchical communication styles and the importance of face-saving, and adjust your communication approach accordingly.

• Travel logistics, time, and budget management:
• Travel logistics: Attending national or international conferences may require travel arrangements, such as booking flights, accommodation, and transportation, which can be time-consuming and challenging to manage.

Solution: Plan your travel logistics well in advance, and make sure to account for factors such as visa requirements, transportation options, accommodation availability, and conference registration deadlines. Utilize online tools and resources to compare prices and options to optimize your travel arrangements.

Example: If you are attending a conference in Europe, you may need to apply for a Schengen visa, book flights early to secure better rates, and arrange for local transportation options such as trains or buses.

• Time and budget management: Attending conferences can be time-consuming and costly, requiring researchers to balance their research commitments, budget limitations, and personal or professional obligations.

Solution: Plan your time and budget wisely, considering the conference dates, travel costs, conference registration fees, and other expenses. Seek funding opportunities such as grants, scholarships, or travel awards to support your attendance.

Example: Create a budget plan that includes estimated costs for conference registration, travel, accommodation, meals, and other expenses. Look for funding opportunities offered by the conference, your institution, or external sources to help cover the costs.

• Coping with conference anxiety and stress:
• Conference anxiety: Researchers may experience anxiety or stress related to presenting their research, networking with peers, or navigating the conference environment, which can affect their overall conference experience.

Solution: Prepare well in advance by practicing your presentation, researching the conference agenda, and familiarizing yourself with the conference venue. Take breaks, engage in self-care activities, and seek support from colleagues or mentors to manage anxiety or stress.

Example: Practice relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, or exercise to manage conference anxiety. Create a schedule that includes time for breaks, meals, and self-care activities to help you stay balanced during the conference.

• Diversity, inclusion, and accessibility
• Issues related to diversity, inclusion, and accessibility may arise at research conferences, such as lack of representation, discrimination, or accessibility barriers for individuals with disabilities.

Solution: Promote diversity and inclusivity in your research, interactions, and discussions at conferences. Advocate for accessibility measures such as captioning, sign language etc.

Attending national and international research conferences can provide numerous benefits for researchers and research scholars. These conferences offer opportunities to access the latest research and cutting-edge findings, network and collaborate with peers in the same field, present and discuss research findings, and gain exposure to diverse perspectives and research approaches.

Additionally, research conferences can provide opportunities for professional development through workshops, tutorials, and panel discussions, as well as access to funding and job opportunities.

It is encouraged for researchers and research scholars to actively participate in research conferences for their professional growth and advancement. By attending conferences, researchers can expand their knowledge, broaden their research networks, enhance their research reputation, and stay updated with global research trends and practices.

Conferences also provide a platform for researchers to showcase their research, receive feedback and constructive criticism from experts in the field, and build collaborations and partnerships with researchers from different countries and cultures.

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15 Best Tips for Presenting at a Conference

Published on 18 Nov 2021

Presenting at a conference is an important part of a researcher’s life: it allows you to share all the work you’ve been doing for months or years.

At the same time, it also exposes some intimate aspects of yourself to the outside world, like your thought process, your level of knowledge on a topic, or your ability to structure ideas.

I personally found myself frightened about presenting on multiple occasions. I remember my first seminar at the beginning of my master's degree in biochemistry. Coming from a bachelor in ecology, I felt like an imposter in the new department and was scared others would judge my level of knowledge or the quality of my presentation. Of course, these were only negative projections I was making in my mind, but they reflect the stressful vibe one can feel when preparing to give a talk.

On the positive side, a successful presentation leads to a better understanding of your work by the audience. This generates insightful discussions that can provide ideas about what the next steps of your research should be or clues to solve roadblocks.

It also leaves a good impression on the work done at your lab which can attract new collaborators. Also, getting your work noticed, especially at large conferences, can lead to your publications being more cited. If you’re a student, you can be rewarded with a presentation prize that will boost your curriculum when applying for scholarships.

Above all, learning to communicate, especially to the general public, is a valued skill.

So how can you nail your next presentation? There are no magic pills, but in this article, we’ll share some important tips to help you deliver the best presentation at your next event.

1- Do not start by working on your slides

It is very easy to get lost in your slides if you do not plan first. That is why you need to outline your key ideas and the order in which you want to present them BEFORE jumping into building slides in PowerPoint (or another platform).

You can start with bullet points, a flowchart, or something similar. The crucial part here is to make sure you are laying out the information and not just throwing it on the slides as they come to your mind. It is easy to get lost if you just keep adding slide after slide without any concern for length and/or connections between the information.

You can use sticky notes, paper planners, online flowchart generators, or other tools to help you in the layout phase.

Then, equally important to the key ideas is how you tie all of that content together. You should plan a logical transition and a progression between each idea. This will help you define a common thread and establish the flow of your presentation. Ultimately, it will help the audience capture the message you’re sharing.

In summary, knowing what you want to talk about is key. So before working on your slide deck and your handouts, develop this layout that highlights and connects the information you want to share.

2- Have a duration in mind

You’ll have a limited amount of time to get your message across, so you have to plan your presentation around that time frame. If you have 15 minutes to present your work, plan a presentation that lasts slightly less than that time limit.

Another tip for presentations is to use a timer while presenting to ensure you don’t go overtime.

A lot of people do not plan their time wisely and end up skipping slides in their presentation or going overtime. And guess what? Your audience knows when you skip content because you ran out of time. It comes off as unprofessional and may affect the way people see your work. So take your time preparing your presentation around your time constraints.

If your initial mockup is longer than what it should be, start by analyzing what information could be deleted or ways to get the information across using fewer words. 

It’s often just a matter of focusing on the details that matter the most. Don’t explain all the details of the methodology or the results if it doesn’t add to the story. Keep that for smaller group discussions or during the Q&A period. 

3- Use visuals to your advantage

Visuals are a must in any presentation. Whether it is an image, a chart, a graphic, or a video, visuals help with interpretation and can be an effective way to get your message across or grab the audience's attention.

Just because you’re presenting at an academic conference, it doesn’t mean you can’t use images, videos, or even gifs to help get the message across.

Most people deal better with visuals than words , especially when the information is heavy with data and numbers. But even with visuals, remember to keep it simple. The whole purpose of using visual aids is to help your audience understand the message and not to confuse them with too much information. 

If you’re presenting figures or graphs, remember to use the pointer to highlight the key points while you explain your slide. This is something that is easy to forget when the stress level is high, but it can be a good way to stay grounded and focused on the presentation.

4- Know your audience

In any academic conference, knowing your audience puts you one step closer to delivering an effective presentation. Do your research when starting to prepare your presentation.

Skimming the proceedings of past editions of a conference can reveal past participant lists and their profile. Different conferences have different proportions of undergraduate and graduate students, postdocs, or principal investigators. Knowing the proportions of each category can indicate the level of knowledge on certain topics and if you need to spend time explaining certain areas so they understand the rest of the presentation or not.

If you find the abstracts, the Powerpoints, or the recordings of talks from previous editions, it can also help you adjust the depth in which you can go when explaining certain concepts.

Do not fall under the trap of assuming your audience knows nothing about your research subject. If they are at your research conference, it is most likely that they possess knowledge of (and interest in) what you are talking about. So, skip the basics that everyone knows if you feel you can.

Use jargon that is easily understood by the community at large and make sure you define less common abbreviations.

Knowing your audience is not always an easy task. If you’re not sure if your audience is familiar with a specific topic, don't be afraid to ask them! It will make everyone feel more involved and you will get their attention for the rest of the presentation. The bottom line, adapt your message to the audience.

5- Practice, practice, and practice again

No one should know your presentation better than you. When preparing for a particular conference, rehearse your talking points out loud and make sure you feel 100% comfortable with the information laid out on your slides. 

In addition, make sure the key ideas and the logical transition between them are crystal clear. One of the worst things that can happen to presenters is getting lost in their own presentation. 

You should practice your speech out loud to become familiar with the words as this will help your tone and confidence. When you sound confident, people are keener to listen to what you are saying.

One additional common but useful tip is to record yourself while practicing. It will help you know where you're lacking and what needs to be improved. 

 For example, some people tend to talk really fast or jump on sentences while others tend to ignore full stops. No matter what the issues are, recording yourself is a great tactic to find and address them.

6- Present it to a friend or colleague

Outside of practicing it out loud on your own, practice it in front of your colleagues. It will give you an experience that will resemble the real presentation the most.

While you present, notice their facial expressions. They can reveal parts of your presentation that are unclear. Tell them not to interrupt you during the presentation, but tell them to note down their suggestions or questions for the end. Make sure to use a timer to measure how you’re doing on time.

Some people like to present to someone completely detached from the topic. The idea is that if people who are not completely familiar with the subject can follow your presentation, people in the field should be able to easily follow it as well. 

No matter which option you choose, this exercise will help if you have difficulties speaking in public. Do not be afraid of doing these multiple times before your presentation and always ask for honest feedback. The more you practice, the more confident and more fluent you will be.

During my Ph.D., we often presented to our lab members and went through a Q&A section. Not only was it a good opportunity to practice the presenting skills, but it was also a moment to discuss specific aspects and prepare for potential questions. I remember in some instances, the feedback led to reshuffling the ideas completely in a way that made more sense.

7- Appearances matter

Even though people are coming to your presentation because they are interested in your research, appearances matter. The way you speak, how you interact with your audience, and even what you wear, make an impact. Make sure you wear comfortable clothes. 

 If you’re presenting at an online event, make sure the lighting comes from in front of you and not from behind or it will make your face appear darker. Not seeing a presenter clearly can distract the audience and decrease attention.

Also make sure there isn’t anything distracting in the background, like television or someone walking. The best background is usually solid-colored walls.

8- Sleep and eat well before the event

Get a good night of sleep the night before the event. You will feel well-rested and ready to tackle the presentation. It can be tempting to practice your slides and go over your presentation late at night, but it is sometimes better to get a good night's sleep.

In addition, make sure to eat well. You don’t want to feel dizzy or be occupied thinking about food when you should be thinking about the presentation.

Lastly, have a bottle of water close to you while you’re presenting. That will allow you to take pauses when needed and give your audience time to absorb the information after you jump into the next slide or argument.

9- Have a backup

If you have your presentation stored on a hard drive, make sure to have an extra copy on the cloud and vice-versa. Hard drives can break and technical difficulties can occur with cloud storage, so always have a backup just in case. 

Depending on the guidelines of the event, you can also send a copy of your presentation to the organizer and/or colleague. Send yourself a copy of the presentation by email as well.

A lot of people also have a paper copy of their presentation. That’s the last case alternative but also nice to have. If you are in a poster presentation, this may be harder to achieve.

If you have videos in your presentation, check out if the platform and/or venue can display that, especially the audio (if it’s important). Not all software or places have the necessary (or compatible) technology to display your presentation as they should.

10- Use body language

Body language has an essential role in presentations, especially online ones. Make sure you use body language the right way, otherwise it can be distracting for your audience. That includes fidgeting, repeatedly fixing your hair or clothes, among other things.

In academic conferences, the presentations are usually heavy on the information and data side, so it is important that presenters take advantage of tone of voice, gestures, and other body language resources to get their point across.

It is best to keep eye contact with people in the audience. This way, they will feel you are talking TO them and not AT them. But make sure to alternate and not stare at one single person throughout the whole presentation. 

Be aware of your posture and if you have any notes, make sure to either hold them or have them at eyesight. It is common to have notecards during a conference talk, but it is important to know your presentation and not depend on the notes.

11- Encourage your audience to interact with you

A big part of your presentation is for you to talk about your research. People are there to listen to you and absorb information, but they are also there to make the most out of the experience, and that includes engaging and asking questions.

Prepare yourself to answer questions from the audience. It is impossible to cover everything in a short presentation, so try to cover as much as possible and if there are questions you think will arise from the audience, prepare to answer them.

Depending on the type of presentation and what’s expected, you can keep questions for the end or allow questions during the presentation.

If there is a question that you do not have the answer to, it’s ok to say it. It’s better to offer to look more into it and get back to them rather than trying to improvise an answer. Provide your contact information in the final slide or at the end of your presentation. Some participants can reach out to you if they have any questions, suggestions, or opportunities that could be beneficial to you.

If you are giving an online presentation, invite participants to ask a question through the conference platform or website. For example, Fourwaves has a built-in Q&A section on each presentation page where presenters and participants can interact.

12- Structure your presentation and let your audience know

Let your audience know what you will be covering in your presentation. Have a clear outline of the topics and make sure to have this journey clear so the audience understands where you are taking them.

You can start the presentation by highlighting the key messages, but don’t forget to have a summary at the end (your conclusion), where you reiterate the main points of your presentation.

13- Pay attention to design

Adhere to the following basic design principles when building your slides. Avoid distracting colors and mixing more than 2 colors in each slide. If you use a light background, you should use a dark font and vice-versa. Make sure the font size is also big enough and that you are not stuffing too much information into a slide.

A good rule of thumb for your slides is to have about 5 bullet points on each one and give enough time for people to read through them if they need to. Most of the information should be coming out of your mouth and not described in the slides. The slides are just a summary (the bullet points) of what you will cover.

If you are adding visuals, make sure they are big enough so people can see them and they are not covering any information.

14- Take other presentations as an example

You have probably been part of dozens and dozens of presentations in a lifetime. Is there something you liked a lot in those or something you hated? If yes, write it down. If it is positive, strive to replicate that in your presentation. If it is negative, discard it.

If you are taking part in an annual event, you may be able to access presentations from the years before and draw conclusions from there. You can also look for similar poster presentations or templates and get inspiration from those.

Keep in mind that every person has a presentation style. Learn the basic guidelines and find what works best for you.

15- Rely on storytelling

Storytelling is relying on stories (narrative) to talk about something (e.g. personal anecdotes, metaphors, comparisons, etc.). People rely on stories for mnemonic purposes and most of the time, it is easier to remember a story or an analogy than it is to remember a specific situation.

No matter what the topic is, analogies make it easier for people to understand facts. Whenever possible, try to use a metaphor or a comparison

Bonus tip - Remember to stop and breathe during your presentation

It’s normal to feel stressed even if you’re super well prepared and that you know your topic inside out.

Make sure to take the time to pause in between slides and to take a good slow deep breath. It will help you stay focused throughout the presentation.

Practice this during your rehearsals. Not talking for 3-4 seconds can seem long for you, but your audience will appreciate it and it will help you feel calmer.

At the core, preparing for a conference presentation is no different than preparing for any type of public speaking assignment. You need to understand the topic very well, research and practice what you are going to say, and know your audience, among other things.  

Most of all, remember: no one is born with great presentation skills, so give yourself room to improve.

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NeurIPS 2024, the Thirty-eighth Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems, will be held at the Vancouver Convention Center

Monday Dec 9 through Sunday Dec 15. Monday is an industry expo.

Registration

Pricing » Registration 2024 Registration Cancellation Policy » . Certificate of Attendance

Our Hotel Reservation page is currently under construction and will be released shortly. NeurIPS has contracted Hotel guest rooms for the Conference at group pricing, requiring reservations only through this page. Please do not make room reservations through any other channel, as it only impedes us from putting on the best Conference for you. We thank you for your assistance in helping us protect the NeurIPS conference.

Announcements

• The call for High School Projects has been released
• The Call For Papers has been released
• See the Visa Information page for changes to the visa process for 2024.

Latest NeurIPS Blog Entries [ All Entries ]

Important Dates

If you have questions about supporting the conference, please contact us .

View NeurIPS 2024 exhibitors » Become an 2024 Exhibitor Exhibitor Info »

Organizing Committee

General chair, program chair, workshop chair, workshop chair assistant, tutorial chair, competition chair, data and benchmark chair, diversity, inclusion and accessibility chair, affinity chair, ethics review chair, communication chair, social chair, journal chair, creative ai chair, workflow manager, logistics and it, mission statement.

The Neural Information Processing Systems Foundation is a non-profit corporation whose purpose is to foster the exchange of research advances in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, principally by hosting an annual interdisciplinary academic conference with the highest ethical standards for a diverse and inclusive community.

About the Conference

The conference was founded in 1987 and is now a multi-track interdisciplinary annual meeting that includes invited talks, demonstrations, symposia, and oral and poster presentations of refereed papers. Along with the conference is a professional exposition focusing on machine learning in practice, a series of tutorials, and topical workshops that provide a less formal setting for the exchange of ideas.

More about the Neural Information Processing Systems foundation »

Reference Examples

More than 100 reference examples and their corresponding in-text citations are presented in the seventh edition Publication Manual . Examples of the most common works that writers cite are provided on this page; additional examples are available in the Publication Manual .

To find the reference example you need, first select a category (e.g., periodicals) and then choose the appropriate type of work (e.g., journal article ) and follow the relevant example.

When selecting a category, use the webpages and websites category only when a work does not fit better within another category. For example, a report from a government website would use the reports category, whereas a page on a government website that is not a report or other work would use the webpages and websites category.

Also note that print and electronic references are largely the same. For example, to cite both print books and ebooks, use the books and reference works category and then choose the appropriate type of work (i.e., book ) and follow the relevant example (e.g., whole authored book ).

Examples on these pages illustrate the details of reference formats. We make every attempt to show examples that are in keeping with APA Style’s guiding principles of inclusivity and bias-free language. These examples are presented out of context only to demonstrate formatting issues (e.g., which elements to italicize, where punctuation is needed, placement of parentheses). References, including these examples, are not inherently endorsements for the ideas or content of the works themselves. An author may cite a work to support a statement or an idea, to critique that work, or for many other reasons. For more examples, see our sample papers .

Reference examples are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Chapter 10 and the Concise Guide Chapter 10

Related handouts

• Common Reference Examples Guide (PDF, 147KB)
• Reference Quick Guide (PDF, 225KB)

Textual Works

Textual works are covered in Sections 10.1–10.8 of the Publication Manual . The most common categories and examples are presented here. For the reviews of other works category, see Section 10.7.

• Journal Article References
• Magazine Article References
• Newspaper Article References
• Blog Post and Blog Comment References
• UpToDate Article References
• Book/Ebook References
• Diagnostic Manual References
• Children’s Book or Other Illustrated Book References
• Classroom Course Pack Material References
• Religious Work References
• Chapter in an Edited Book/Ebook References
• Dictionary Entry References
• Wikipedia Entry References
• Report by a Government Agency References
• Report with Individual Authors References
• Brochure References
• Ethics Code References
• Fact Sheet References
• ISO Standard References
• Press Release References
• White Paper References
• Conference Presentation References
• Conference Proceeding References
• Published Dissertation or Thesis References
• Unpublished Dissertation or Thesis References
• ERIC Database References
• Preprint Article References

Data and Assessments

Data sets are covered in Section 10.9 of the Publication Manual . For the software and tests categories, see Sections 10.10 and 10.11.

• Data Set References
• Toolbox References

Audiovisual Media

Audiovisual media are covered in Sections 10.12–10.14 of the Publication Manual . The most common examples are presented together here. In the manual, these examples and more are separated into categories for audiovisual, audio, and visual media.

• Artwork References
• Clip Art or Stock Image References
• Film and Television References
• Musical Score References
• Online Course or MOOC References
• Podcast References
• PowerPoint Slide or Lecture Note References
• Radio Broadcast References
• TED Talk References
• Transcript of an Audiovisual Work References
• YouTube Video References

Online Media

Online media are covered in Sections 10.15 and 10.16 of the Publication Manual . Please note that blog posts are part of the periodicals category.

• Facebook References
• Instagram References
• LinkedIn References
• Online Forum (e.g., Reddit) References
• TikTok References
• X References
• Webpage on a Website References
• Clinical Practice References
• Open Educational Resource References
• Whole Website References

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