Preparing for Conference Presentations

How does one even go about preparing for a conference presentation? What are the steps to expect? How does one build something that's compelling and also accessible? Below, we shall explore!

By Justina Thompson — November 2, 2023

Tags: accessibility, conference presentations, conference proposal, follow up, intention, research

As students spend time with new material through their classes, interactions with their peers and professors, it can be easy for a strong passion and deep dive to follow shortly after! Final presentations and campus-based symposiums are great ways to share lessons and findings beyond what you turn in for a grade, but it can be hard to deeply connect students with the content or just happen to find someone with the same academic or research-based interests as you, randomly on campus!

As student opportunities for semester-long research projects or extended paid research opportunities arise as well, it makes sense to want a larger dedicated platform to share what has been learned along the way! Conference presentations are a perfect display of this knowledge in curated spaces where others are more likely to connect with the proposed content and have applicable spaces for follow-up! Especially when planning an interactive or engaging presentation, these can be active spaces for follow-up discussion and a critical lens on the information explored as well.

But how does one even go about preparing for a conference presentation? What are the steps to expect? How does one build something that's compelling and also accessible? Below, we shall explore!

Acknowledge Your Feelings

Within your field of study or research, there is likely at least one annual conference or organization that hosts a gathering for professionals to meet and discuss latest innovations and findings. Professional development is essential to a resilient and adaptable workforce, and so these conference offerings will likely evolve as academic and workforce trends shift. Starting with professional organizations and associations are a great starting point to know what conferences may be coming up! Once an organization posts publicly about the conference date, theme, and offerings, they will also share a call for presenters. Initially, academic and research-based conferences will ask for a title and abstract, with the expectation that a final paper will be submitted before the conference date and presentation. As a student, it will be key to have a co-presenter who is at the graduate level with related research experience or a professor in the same realm. I've been lucky to prepare two conference presentations with my professors, as I took a deep interest in the sources they shared in class and wanted the opportunity to dive deeper and co-create a synthesis around the texts together.

For conferences with professional associations, a title and workshop or presentation description may be enough, with the ask to share any slides or resources before the conference presentation date. Your capacity to produce an academic paper vs set of slides is a great way to indicate what might be the best kind of conference to explore attending. A key thing to consider when it comes to presenting at a conference is that this is a key way to get attendance and travel supported! Conferences generally recognize barriers to attendance and offer discounted attendance rates for students and/or travel scholarships, but these are often considered givens for conference presenters or at least make your request for compensated attendance and travel more competitive!

Prep and Research

Once the abstract is submitted and accepted, it's time to think about the presentation itself! Knowing the intention is to balance preparation for conference with other academic responsibilities, the goal should not be to over-burden yourself with a conference workload. The scope of the presentation should be based on what research has allowed the student/presenter to become familiar with, almost as an expert. As long as there are tangible takeaways for attendees to leave with, presenters should also feel encouraged to zoom in as far/be as specific as they'd like with their presentation topics!

With proper coordination, capacity for this presentation can also be expanded by bringing on a co-presenter. Aside from sharing the lift around preparation, having someone to complement your expertise and energy during the day of can create an amplified and varied experience for attendees! Consider who you may invite to a presentation that can add to the expertise you bring around this topic.

Before taking the step to dive into curating the presentation topic, is it important to know the intended audience. Even at an academic conference, will your attendees be working with researchers? Will they be teaching? Bridging research gaps between academia and community? These distinct purposes will shape different interactions and takeaways for each set of attendees and preparing for this ahead of time can inform a deeper, more intentional engagement for these attendees. If presenting information that is generally regarded as academic;/exclusive to a wider non-academic audience, consider the work you've done to ensure it's accessible. Try to share your content with a member or your desired audience and ask what their takeaways are! If they aren't aligned with what was intended, consider where changed would bring most clarity and benefit. Don't forget to show gratitude for this offered time, even if through a meal exchange or coffee gift card! If in a crunch for time, this is a great potential application of ChatGPT by asking it to reword presented language to a middle school reading level.

The Presentation

Come the day of their actual presentation, the goal should be presence! At this point the research and compilation have been completed, and the goal is to show up in the space! With so much movement from session to session and expected nervousness from the presenter, a great way to bring some humanity and stillness into a new session is with an opening grounding. Some folks will choose facilitated breath work, others may choose a song, poem, or chant. Folks may even open with gratitude and land acknowledgement. Whatever will set the tone for the desired energy of the space should be used as an opening tool for easeful transition into the presentation space! Beyond this, general introductions are a great way to break the ice. If time allows, it's great to know who is joining you in the space, where they come from, and why they decided to join! But if that's not possible, the presenter should at least provide some background on themselves, in defense of while their experience/expertise qualifies them to present on the selected topic for the day.

Building in room for engagement in presentations can transform them from a transactional one-way pouring of information to a co-sharing and co-learning space. Building in time for recap and discussion around 1-2 questions can build on the presentation information and allow for other ideas to be generated from the space. Attendees can take time to reflect individually, discuss in pairs, deliberate in small roups, or even share out to the whole presentation space. All of these build one step closer to a space of knowledge exchange that can be a discussion rather than a drop-off.

On Presentation Accessibility

While sharing knowledge is a deliverable on its own, academia is known for being so exclusive because the sharing of knowledge and academic findings is often deemed inaccessible from a community or non-academic perspective. While knowing your audience will be a primary factor in how accessible accommodations show up in your presentation space, it's always brave to challenge the standards in favor of a more accessible delivery of knowledge. The primary conference organizers may be considering conference-wide accommodations like childcare and live interpretation services, and there are lifts for individual presenters to consider.

When making slides, view them in grayscale to determine if there is enough contrast between texts and backgrounds. If including video and audio clips within the presentation, they should be complemented by closed captions. If printing materials, know who may be in attendance and require translated materials! Always ask if the conference can support with translation and printing costs, although it may be faster to process this independently. In addition to all these things, open the space with three audience tools or hand signals so folks can identify when they need the presenter to slow down, speak up, or repeat. Some crowds will the act of pulling hands apart slowly, pumping hands into the air, or rolling arms around each other, respectively, to signify these needs.

Follow-Up

A good presentation will just be the starting point for connections, collaborations, discussions, and future discoveries. If attendees walk away inspired from the presentations, they may also look for ways to engage either with the presenter or the content directly after returning home/to school/to work. Providing an opportunity for attendees to stay in contact is also a strategic way to receive feedback on the usability and flow of your presentation as well. If it's within your capacity, a presentation can end with a contact and QR page! This will share follow up information and an opportunity for attendees to engage beyond the specific presentation. The QR code may lead to a live doc where further resources can be shared and explored, or it can lead to a mailing list to keep in touch with the presenters and their research!

Lastly, this QR code can also lead to a short form where attendees can share a thing or two, they learned and any potential suggestions for a future presentation. If a presenter is specifically looking to receive presentation feedback, they should build time for attendees to respond within their allotted presentation time. With back-to-back presentations, it can be difficult for people to remember to complete a feedback form, even with the best of intentions, after a day or few days of assorted engagement.

Outside of the presentation room itself, conferences are great places to keep and exchange business cards. Some folks will keep physical ones and physically exchange them, but there are other options available too! On the go, if I've forgotten business cards, I love to use the HiHello app. This allows you to share a digital business card via QR code, where folks have the opportunity to download a phone contact directly from the available webpage. This is just one option I'm familiar with, but there are many options to share digital business information! Connecting on folks with LinkedIn as you meet them pre- or post-presentation is also a great method to keep in touch.

Intention

Intention goes a long way! Through all the preparation for the day-of presentation, being grounded in your reason and purpose will color how the rest of the process unfolds, and hopefully create a generative experience for both presenters and attendees.

Justina Thompson

Justina "Farmer J" Thompson is the Farm Education and Volunteer Manager at Urban Creators, Philadelphia, PA. Justina intentionally attended school in Philadelphia so she could “connect her passion and experience to the ongoing environmental justice work in the area.” As a speaker, educational curriculum designer, program leader, and community organizer, Justina possesses extensive knowledge on urban farming inspired to work in the field of environmental justice from a young age.

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