Presenting at a conference

1. VDC
How to Present Research Work at a
Conference
Dr. Sai Sailesh Kumar G
Head of the Department, Department of Physiology,
Vishnu Dental College, Bhimavaram, West Godavari District,
Andhra Pradesh, India. 534202.
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2. VDC
Why this presentation?
 Making a 10 minutes Oral presentation or poster presentation
at a conference is usually the lot of young (UG/PG) and
inexperienced scientists.
 For some of them it is their first experience for public
speaking
 Hence some guidance might be useful in making a better
presentation

3. VDC
Sending the Abstract
 The preparation for attending the conference usually
begins with sending an abstract.
 Following the instructions of the organizers regarding
word limit, format and contents of abstract is important.
 Usually abstract has background, objective, materials and
methods, results and conclusion and key words.

4. VDC
Methods
 Methods should give the experimental design, sample size
and characteristics of sample and out come measures
briefly.
 Should not give the techniques used for making the
measurements or the statistical tools used for data
analysis.

5. VDC
Results
 Should include salient observations, including the most
important quantitative information.
 Example-1: The total males in study are 30 and females also
30. (Wrong- not necessary in results)
 Example-2: There was significant difference (P<0.05) in
mean cortisol levels in control and intervention groups
(correct)

6. VDCAre abstracts critically reviewed by
organizers?
 Abstract sent to the conferences are generally accepted
uncritically.
 But this should not become a reason for not taking adequate
care while writing them.
 But this is the reason why an abstract published in the
proceedings are looked upon as less reliable source of
information as compared to a research paper in a peer
reviewed journal.

7. VDC
Making power point slides
 The next step after sending abstract is to prepare material
for illustrating the talk.
 Most important requirements of a visual aid is it should be
legible and should be easy to grasp.
 A slide is on the screen hardly a minute, and during that time
the audience has to both listen and see.
 Therefore a cramped slide is completely useless.

8. VDC
Making power point slides
 The number of slides should be limited.
 As a rule of thumb, the number of slides should not exceed the
number of minutes available for presentation.
 In a 10 minutes presentation 2-3 minutes are usually for discussion.
 Hence, the slides should be limited to 7 or 8, which may be split into
introduction (1), methods ( 1 or 2), results ( 2 or 3), conclusions (1 or
2 ) slides.

9. VDC
Making power point slides
 The slides may consist of text, data, drawings or pictures
such as clinical photographs, pathological specimens,
operative procedures.
 The guidelines am presenting is for text and data slides..
 It is difficult to formulate general guidelines for
drawings and pictures.

10. VDC
The Template
 Choose a simple background, although many complicated ones are
available.
 If the background is complicated and attractive, the audience looks
at the background rather than the message.
 My favorite is a plain background.
 The colors of the background and lettering should be contrasting.
 Light background and dark lettering is preferred
1. It is easier to read
2. It does not make the room dark even the lights are switched off.
Some brightness in the room keeps the speaker visible and the
audience awake and also easy to those who want to take notes.

11. VDC
The Template
 White background is not the best as it can dazzle the eyes in a dark
room.
 A light color is therefore the ideal choice.
 My favorite is light blue background with maroon lettering.
 Regarding the font, the legibility of Times New Roman is not good in
the slides.
 The best fonts for slides are Arial and its close cousins Arial Black
and Arial Narrow.
 My favorite is Arial Black for the title of the slide and Arial Bold for
headings and the text

12. VDC
The Template
 The font size of headings should be slightly larger than text.
 If you have colorful personality, different colors may be chosen for
title and for the rest of the material.
 Avoid risky combinations such as yellow lettering on light blue
background.
 Combinations which look beautiful on the computer screen may become
hopeless on the big screen because the colors often get modified by
projection.
 Once a template has been designed use the same for all the slides.
 Uniform pattern helps the audience to grasp the information faster.

13. VDC
Text
 A slide should not have more than 7 lines.
 Font size 36 for title, 32 for headings and 28 the text.
 Never go below font size 24.
 If the matter is excessive, split into two slides.
 The material on the slides should be in the form of bulleted
clauses rather than full sentences.
 The slides should carry only the main points.
 It is the job of the speaker to elaborate them orally during the
talk.

14. VDC
Text
 Reading out slides does not make it any better than reading out
from sheets of a paper
 The text on slide should not be in all capitals.
 It reduces legibility.
 We are not accustomed to reading the material which is all in
caps.
 Making the audience to read ALL CAPS is a pain.

15. VDC
Data
 Data in the publication should be tabulated and data on the
slides should be in the form of diagrams.
 Reason 1: The time available to read a publication is
unlimited, where as for looking at a slide is generally less
than a minute.
 Reason 2: The reader of publication is intrested to know
detailed results, where as the viewer of a slide has to feel
contended with trends.

16. VDC
Data
Data Diagram
Comparison of groups Bar diagram
Changes in relation to time Line graph
Frequency percentage Pie diagram
correlations Scatter diagram
Procedure or disease stages Flow chart

17. VDC
Data
 If table is unavoidable in a slide, the number of columns
should be less than 4 and that of rows, less than 7.
 An extensive table projected on a slide gives “Railway
Time table” effect, and the audience gets nothing from it.
 If a big table is absolutely essential, it should be split into
number of small tables.
 The commonest mistake is showing too many slides too
quickly and to have so much content on each slide.

18. VDC
Speaking
 The first principle in the public speaking is that you should
know the subject well.
 Knowing the subject means you should know much more
than you have to speak.
 Public speaking is a performance and like all performances,
it needs advance preparation.
 For a beginner preparation may need for weeks to deliver a
perfect 10 minutes presentation.

19. VDC
The preparation
 The abstract and full paper may be ready by the time of presentation. So you
know what to speak.
 But the time to prepare for the “How to speak” is much more than for the “
what to speak”.
 For example contents in the spoken style may include a joke to make the
presentation more interesting.
 The presentation has to be confined to time limit so need lot of rehearsals.
 Be very strict yourself regarding time.
 Make sure that your final rehearsal is one minute less than the time allowed.

20. VDC
Just Before The Presentation
 Make sure that you will see the hall in which you have to speak well
before the presentation.
 Use the time early in the morning (before the session begin) or during
the tea break to become familiar with the lectern, microphone, the
arrangement for projection etc.
 Handover the CD carrying the power point presentation to the
organizers well before the talk.
 If circumstances permits, project first few slides on the screen
beforehand to test the system and also to see how the slides look
after magnification.

21. VDC
The Performance
 When the great movement finally arrives and your name is announced
by the chairman, walkup to the podium with conscious and confident
steps.
 Neither too slow nor too fast- making sure that you do not stumble on
a step or a loose wire.
 Take your place near the lectern. If it is too tall for you stand on its
side rather than behind it because the speaker should not only heard
but also seen.
 Establish eye contact with the chairperson and the audience.

22. VDC
The Performance
 If you feel nervous on seeing so many people looking at you, take heart:
it happens to almost everybody.
 Keep an outline of the talk in your pocket just in case the elecricity
fails and you need to speak with out slides.
 As far as possible do not read out from a written speech.
 Prepare a write-up specially for oral presentation.
 Keep a print out of all your slides and write down separately what you
will say about each slide.
 This will spare you from inconvenience of looking some times on paper
and some times on screen

23. VDC
The Performance
 Look at the screen to ensure that you are talking about the same slide.
 Finally, do not forget to look at the audience periodically, even you are
reading out a paper.
 Be loud, clear and slow (LCS)
 To start with, address the chairperson and audience.
 Then start with the first slide.
 Spend enough time on each slide for the audience to grasp the slide
and also listen to you.
 Keep a pointer handy and use it when necessary.

24. VDC
The Performance
 At the end of the presentation, still if some time is left, the
chairperson might invite the audience to ask questions.
 Listen to the question carefully.
 Do not interrupt the questioner unless absolutely essential – and even
then politely.
 Respond briefly. A question is not an invitation for second lecture.
 If the question needs a long answer, say a relevant sentence or two and
then request the person to talk to you individually after the session.
 Some interventions from audience are not questions but comments.
 It is polite to respond even for comments.

25. VDC
The Performance
 Make sure to appreciate a good question or a comment.
 But do not criticize bad ones.
 Avoid mannerisms such as repeated stereotype hand movements,
pacing to and fro across the stage or frequent use of expressions “you
see”.
 Do not keep hands in your pockets. It is considered as impolite.
 Wear decent dress. If the dress is very attractive, the audience may
look at you more than they listen to you.
 When it is all over, say thank you and walk down the podium. But ensure
you are not wearing collar mike.

26. VDC
Poster presentation
 Posters gives opportunity to young investigators to present
their work at a scientific conference.
 Although, the time allotted to poster is very little, the
interaction possible is much more than in oral
presentations.
 Posters spares more time for invited lectures and symposia
which enable all the delegates to benefit from the wisdom
of eminent scientists attending the conference.

27. VDC
Making posters
 Using computer technology, very elegant posters can be
made with relatively less effort.
 Special printers are available for making the poster on a
single sheet.
 Find out the surface area available for the poster.
 If the area is rectangular, try to find whether the poster
will be displayed in the landscape style or portrait style.
 Now start drafting the material.

28. VDC
Making posters
 Add title, authors and place of work.
 Arrange the materials under the titles- Introduction, Aim
& Objectives, Methodology, Results and conclusion.
 You may also add few references.
 The poster should be legible from a distance of about 2
meters even to the person whose vision is not perfect.
 The layout should not be cramped.
 Results should be easily understandable.

29. VDC
Making posters
 Use different colors.
 Near the title, one may add frills such as
photograph of the person who will be presenting
the work and that of institution where the work
was done.
 Some photographs like procedures, equipment's,
patients etc. can be added at appropriate places.

32. VDC
Carrying the poster
 Posters should be carried in a stiff cylindrical box.
 Along with the poster carry handouts, reprints,
photographs etc.
 If you are very cautious, you may also take
sticking tape, scissors and drawing pins.

34. VDC
The presentation
 Setup your display well in time for presentation.
 Put on your best smile.
 Make yourself available near the poster through out the period
allotted for the presentation.
 Be prepared for several rounds of brief one-minute presentation
of your work.
 You can also expect a fruitful formal interaction after poster
presentation.

35. VDC
Closing thoughts
 Presenting work at a conference is a great experience,
both professionally and socially.
 It provides an opportunity to get feedback from a diverse
group of scientists working in same area.
 This feedback is very important to improve the quality of
work.
 The social interactions during tea-breaks, dinners and sight
seeing may lead to lasting friendships.

36. VDC
Bibliography
 Smith R. How not to give a presentation. Br Med J.
2000;321:1570-1571.

37. THANK YOU