what does a paper presentation mean

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How to Prepare a Paper Presentation

Last Updated: October 4, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Patrick Muñoz . Patrick is an internationally recognized Voice & Speech Coach, focusing on public speaking, vocal power, accent and dialects, accent reduction, voiceover, acting and speech therapy. He has worked with clients such as Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria, and Roselyn Sanchez. He was voted LA's Favorite Voice and Dialect Coach by BACKSTAGE, is the voice and speech coach for Disney and Turner Classic Movies, and is a member of Voice and Speech Trainers Association. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 365,709 times.

A paper is bad enough, but presentations are even more nerve-wracking. You've got the writing down, but how do you turn it into a dynamic, informative, enjoyable presentation? Why, here's how!

Guidelines and Audience

• Know how long the speech must be.
• Know how many points you're required to cover.
• Know if you must include sources or visuals.

• If you're presenting to people you know, it'll be easy to know what to break down and what to gloss over. But if you're presenting to unknown stockholders or faculty, for instance, you need to know about them and their knowledge levels, too. You may have to break your paper down into its most basic concepts. Find out what you can about their backgrounds.

• Does the facility have a computer and projector screen?
• Is there a working WiFi connection?
• Is there a microphone? A podium?
• Is there someone who can assist you in working the equipment before your presentation?

Script and Visuals

• Only have one point per notecard -- that way you won't end up searching the notecard for your information. And don't forget to number the cards in case you get mixed up! And the points on your cards shouldn't match your paper; instead of regurgitating information, discuss why the key points of your paper are important or the different points of view on this topic within the field.

• As you go through this outline, remove any jargon if it may not be understood.

• If you won't have access to the proper technology, print visual aids on poster board or foam-core board.
• If using presentation software, use words sparingly, but enough to get your point across. Think in phrases (and pictures!), not sentences. Acronyms and abbreviations are okay on the screen, but when you talk, address them fully. And remember to use large fonts -- not everyone's vision is fantastic. [7] X Research source

• It's okay to be a bit repetitive. Emphasizing important ideas will enhance comprehension and recall. When you've gone full circle, cycle back to a previous point to lead your audience to the right conclusion.
• Minimize the unnecessary details (the procedure you had to go through, etc.) when highlighting the main ideas you want to relay. You don't want to overload your audience with fluff, forcing them to miss the important stuff.
• Show enthusiasm! A very boring topic can be made interesting if there is passion behind it.

Practice, Practice, and More Practice

• If you can grab a friend who you think has a similar knowledge level to your audience, all the better. They'll help you see what points are foggier to minds with less expertise on the topic.

• It'll also help you with volume. Some people get rather timid when in the spotlight. You may not be aware that you're not loud enough!

• Do the same with your conclusion. Thank everyone for their time and open the floor for any questions, if allowed.
• Make eye contact with people in the audience to help build your connection with them.

What Is The Best Way To Start a Presentation?

Community Q&A

• Most people get nervous while public speaking. [10] X Research source You are not alone. [11] X Trustworthy Source Mayo Clinic Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals Go to source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1
• Visual aids not only help the audience, but they can help jog your memory if you forget where you are in your presentation. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Rehearse in front of a mirror before your presentation. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Answer questions only if it is related to your presentation. Keep these to the end of your talk. Thanks Helpful 76 Not Helpful 14

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://theihs.org/blog/prepare-for-a-paper-presentation-at-an-academic-conference/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/conference-papers/
• ↑ https://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislative-staff/legislative-staff-coordinating-committee/tips-for-making-effective-powerpoint-presentations.aspx
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qZMPW5g-v8
• ↑ https://twp.duke.edu/sites/twp.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/paper-to-talk.original.pdf
• ↑ http://www.cs.swarthmore.edu/~newhall/presentation.html
• ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgebradt/2014/09/10/big-presentation-dont-do-it-have-a-conversation-instead/#6d56a3f23c4b
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smashing-the-brainblocks/201711/why-are-we-scared-public-speaking
• ↑ https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/specific-phobias/expert-answers/fear-of-public-speaking/faq-20058416

About This Article

To prepare a paper presentation, create an outline of your content, then write your script on note cards or slides using software like PowerPoint. Be sure to stick to one main point per card or slide! Next, design visual aids like graphics, charts, and bullet points to illustrate your content and help the audience follow along. Then, practice giving your presentation in front of friends and family until you feel ready to do it in class! For tips on creating an outline and organizing your information, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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10 Rules for Paper Presentation in Conference

Are you gearing up for a conference presentation? If so, then navigating the world of academic conferences can be a daunting task, but fear not, as we unveil the key to a stellar performance: 10 rules for paper presentation in conference.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the essential principles that will not only boost your confidence but also ensure your research leaves a lasting impression. Whether you’re a seasoned presenter or new to the conference scene, these rules are your roadmap to success.

From crafting compelling visuals to mastering the art of engaging your audience, we’ve got you covered. Join us on this journey as we unravel the secrets to delivering a conference presentation that captivates, educates, and inspires.

What Does the Paper Presentation Mean?

Paper presentation is a vital aspect of academic and professional communication. It serves as a means to spread research findings, innovative ideas, and valuable insights to a diverse audience. These conference paper presentations play a crucial role in conference on arts and education by exchanging knowledge and scholarly discourses.

Effective paper presentations require clear articulation of research objectives, methodologies, and results. Engaging visuals, concise messaging, and audience interaction are crucial elements in conveying complex information. Presenters must also navigate challenges such as time constraints, technical issues, and audience questions gracefully to ensure a successful delivery.

Conference paper presentations often serve as a platform to showcase expertise, establish professional networks, and garner feedback for future research endeavors. Whether in an academic setting or an industry conference, mastering the art of paper presentation is a skill that can significantly impact one’s career and contribute to the advancement of knowledge in various fields.

Types of Paper Presentations

Paper presentations come in various formats, each tailored to specific goals and audiences. These diverse types of presentations are vital in academic and professional settings, serving as vehicles for sharing research findings, ideas, and insights. Here’s a brief overview of some common types:

Oral Presentations

Poster Presentations

In this format, presenters use posters to visually represent their research. Poster sessions offer a more informal setting for one-on-one discussions and are common at academic conferences. They provide a chance to showcase research in a concise and visually engaging manner.

Panel Discussions

Panel presentations involve a group of experts discussing a specific topic or issue. Each panelist shares insights, providing multiple perspectives and fostering in-depth exploration of the subject. Panel discussions are valuable for presenting a well-rounded view of complex topics.

Lightning Talks

Lightning talks are brief, typically 5-10 minute presentations designed to provide quick overviews of research projects or ideas. They are concise and often used to introduce a topic or concept swiftly, making them ideal for conveying key points in a short timeframe.

Symposia are organized sessions that bring together multiple presenters to address a broader theme or research area. They usually consist of several related presentations and discussions, offering attendees a comprehensive exploration of the symposium’s overarching topic.

Workshops are interactive sessions where presenters engage the audience in hands-on activities, skill-building exercises, or collaborative problem-solving. They offer a more immersive learning experience, allowing participants to actively engage with the material presented.

Presenting your research at conferences is a vital opportunity, and the ’10 Rules for Paper Presentation in Conference’ can help you excel. These rules cover key aspects to make your presentations more effective and impactful.

1. Know Your Audience

Understanding your audience’s background, interests, and expertise allows you to tailor your presentation to their specific needs. It enables you to choose the most relevant examples, terminology, and delivery style that will resonate with your audience, fostering a deeper connection and engagement.

2. Craft a Clear Message

A well-structured presentation in a conference with a clear message not only helps your audience follow your research effortlessly but also ensures that they leave with a strong understanding of your key findings. Use a logical flow and a narrative structure that guides them from the problem to the solution, making it easy to absorb complex information.

3. Engage with Compelling Visuals

Utilizing compelling visuals, such as charts, graphs, and images, not only enhances comprehension but also keeps your audience engaged and interested. Well-designed visuals can simplify complex concepts and make your presentation more memorable.

4. Practice, Practice, Practice

Thorough rehearsal is essential to boost your confidence, minimize anxiety, and ensure a polished delivery. It allows you to refine your timing, pacing, and transitions, making your presentation smooth and engaging. Practice in front of peers or mentors to receive constructive feedback.

5. Manage Your Time Wisely

Staying within your allotted presentation time is vital to maintain audience interest and accommodate questions and discussions. Allocate time for each section of your presentation, including a buffer for potential delays, to ensure a smooth and controlled delivery.

6. Dress and Act Professionally

Professional attire and confident body language create a positive impression, helping you establish credibility and captivate your audience. Maintain eye contact, use gestures purposefully, and exhibit enthusiasm for your topic.

7. Connect with Your Audience

Engaging with your audience through eye contact, relatable anecdotes, and interactive elements fosters a stronger connection and enhances understanding. Encourage questions and participation to create a dynamic and engaging atmosphere.

8. Handle Questions with Grace

Effective handling of questions, whether expected or unexpected, demonstrates your expertise and keeps the audience engaged. Be polite, concise, and confident in your responses, and use questions as an opportunity to further emphasize your key points.

9. Rehearse the Q&A Session

Preparation for the Q&A segment is essential. Anticipate potential questions and practice your responses to ensure a smooth and informative discussion. Prepare concise and insightful answers that provide added value to your presentation.

10. Seek Feedback and Continuous Improvement

Gathering feedback from peers and mentors is essential for refining your presentation skills. Act on constructive criticism to improve your future presentations, ensuring that each one is better than the last and aligns more closely with your goals and audience expectations.

With these 10 rules, you can confidently navigate the world of conference presentations, captivate your audience, and make a significant impact with your research.

Why Is Paper Presentation Important at A Conference?

They serve as a vital medium for knowledge dissemination, allowing researchers to share their findings, insights, and innovations with a diverse and knowledgeable audience. This dissemination fosters the exchange of ideas and facilitates collaboration, potentially leading to advancements in various fields of study.

Paper presentations offer a platform for constructive critique and feedback, enabling presenters to refine their research and ideas. Engaging with fellow experts and peers during the Q&A sessions and discussions promotes critical thinking and enhances the quality of research work.

Conference paper presentations contribute significantly to one’s professional development. They provide opportunities to showcase expertise, gain recognition, and establish a presence in a particular field. Additionally, the networking opportunities that conferences offer can lead to valuable collaborations and career-enhancing connections.

The importance of paper presentations at conferences lies in their role as a conduit for the dissemination of knowledge, a forum for constructive engagement, and a catalyst for professional growth and recognition within the academic and professional communities.

Bottom Line

The ’10 Rules for Paper Presentation in Conference’ offer essential guidance for successful presentations. These rules help you connect with your audience, communicate your research effectively, and leave a lasting impression. Whether you’re a seasoned presenter or new to conferences, these rules serve as valuable tools for success.

Paper presentations are key in sharing knowledge, receiving feedback, and building your professional network. They bridge the gap between researchers and their audience, fostering collaboration and idea exchange.

So, as you prepare for your next conference, keep these rules in mind. They will empower you to deliver impactful presentations, connect with your audience, and make a meaningful contribution to your field.

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This subreddit is for discussing academic life, and for asking questions directed towards people involved in academia, (both science and humanities).

Embarrassing question but... what does it mean to "present a paper, " exactly?

I'm applying for a conference and it has two options: poster presentation or paper presentation.

Obviously, I would prefer to give a talk instead of doing a poster, so I need to choose the paper presentation option. The website says that I should submit an abstract (they request a LONG abstract -- around 1000 words). The website further says that all abstracts will be published online, and a selection of them will be published as an edited book.

My question: does "presenting a paper" in this context mean the paper should already be written? I would love to write it up as a full paper for them, but for purposes of applying, they're only asking for the longish abstract. Am I correct in understanding I can apply for and give a talk that is a "paper presentation" without the full paper actually existing yet?

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Princeton Correspondents on Undergraduate Research

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 Give a Good Academic Paper Presentation

• Post author By Maria Angel Ferrero
• Post date August 17, 2020
• No Comments on How to Give a Good Academic Paper Presentation

The art of pitching your academic research

So, you’re about to present your first academic paper? You are preparing to defend your thesis? You are about to present your research to a bunch of experts?

But, you don’t know where to start? or, how to start?

That’s ok, you are in the right place.

In this short post, I’m going to show you how to do a good academic research presentation so that your audience actually understands and appreciates it.

The main goal of an academic research presentation — like any other type of presentation — is to carry your audience through a story and grab their attention during the whole story. But no matter how good a story is, if it’s not told properly it’ll lose its audience at the very first words.

And every good story needs a good structure, otherwise, your audience will get lost in a dead-end.

To avoid getting into that dead-end and losing your audience, you should structure your presentation around 5 main questions:

• Who are you and what’s your story about?
• Why should your audience — or anyone — care about your story, and why is it relevant to tell that story now?
• How did you get to write your story? Who are the main characters?
• What happens in the story? What happens to the characters?
• So, What? Why this ending is better? Why should I wait for a new episode?

The order in which these questions are answered throughout your presentation can vary. Good stories might also start at the end and crawl back to its beginnings. Play with the order and see what suits best your story, only you know better what works for your research.

So let’s go now through each of the questions, shall we?

Who are you and what’s your research about?

Introduce yourself — unless you have already been introduced. Sometimes we are so impatience to give our presentation that we forget the basics.

Many times when we choose a book to read we ask ourselves about the human that wrote the book. And, as any writer researchers should include a short biography of themselves in the presentation.

And this is not to brag about yourself or your experience, but to give a human touch to the research itself. Before anyone wants to hear your story — your research — you need to tell them why they should be listening to you.

A short introduction of 30 seconds will do, your name, your background, why you are here in this room presenting and anything else that might be relevant to the research you are doing.

Give a context to your story, a kind of foreword to your research. State your thesis clearly and tell your audience why the topic you are going to address is relevant. And why they should care.

Give a hook. Start with a kind of provocation to instill curiosity and need. Try to think out of the box and talk about something your audience will found interesting. Use analogies too much known or simpler things that everyone in the room would be able to understand. Don’t talk to the experts, they already know it.

To give you an example, this is how I started one of my papers on overconfidence and innovation:

If you had to choose between The Joker and Batman, who would you want to be?

My paper was nothing to do with superheroes — at least not in a common way — but I wanted to talk about the dual personality innovators have, thus The Joker vs Batman analogy.

Once you have given your hook and presented yourself, give your audience an idea of what you are going to talk about and what awaits them during the following minutes.

Give them a roadmap of the talk, even if it seems redundant to you. This doesn’t mean you have to list your table of contents, just a prelude of your story.

In total, one minute and one slide are enough.

Why should your audience care about your Research, and why is it relevant now?

The next 2 or 3 slides should introduce the subject to the audience. Very briefly. Usually, research presentations last between 10 to 15 minutes, but many are shifting to the startup pitch format of 3 to 5 minutes. So being concise and direct to point is quite important.

Telling your audience why the topic you are researching about is important and relevant it’s essential, but should not take all time. This is just the introduction, you need to save time for the main story.

There are mainly 6 elements that make a good introduction:

• Define the Problem:  Many speakers forget this simple point. No matter how difficult and technical the problem you are addressing is there is certainly a way to explain it concisely and clearly in less than one minute. Explain your problem as if your audience were 5 years old children, not because they are not smart or respectable, but because the simpler you get to explain a complex problem the more it shows your mastery and preparation. If the audience doesn’t understand the problem being attacked, then they won’t understand the rest of your talk, and you’ll lose them before you get to your great solution. For your slides, condense the problem into a very few carefully chosen words.  An example here again from my research: Is being extremely confident in ourselves good or bad for innovation?
• Motivate the Audience:  Explain why the problem is so important. How does the problem fit into the larger picture(e.g. entrepreneurship ecosystem, neuroscience,…)? What are its applications? What makes the problem nontrivial? If no one has done this research, why is it relevant now to do it? What are the circumstances that make it relevant now more than ever? Avoid broad statements such as  “Innovation is what drives economic growth, but there are few innovative individuals, so how can we encourage people to become innovators?”  Rather, focus on what really matters: “ universities are investing millions to develop entrepreneurship education program, still students graduating from these programs aren’t starting any venture.”
• Introduce Terminology:  scientific jargon is boring and complex, it should be kept to a minimum. However, sometimes is almost impossible not to refer to specific scientific terms. Any complex jargon should be introduced at the beginning of the presentation or when each term is introduced for the first time during the presentation. To avoid losing time tot his, you can prepare a short document with all the terms and definitions to hand out to the participants in the audience.
• Discuss Earlier Work: Do your research, you are not reinventing the wheel.  There is nothing more frustrating than listening to a talk that covers something that has already been published without making reference tot hose studies. It not only shows that you didn’t do your research and that you are underprepared, but it shows you don’t know how to conduct research. This doesn’t mean that you should have read and cited ALL the works and papers that talk about the topic of your research. This is only useful if you are doing a systematic review. But you have to be sure that you know, read and cite those that really matter. You have to explain why this work is different from past wor, or how you are improving or continuing the research.
• Emphasize the Contributions of the Paper:  Make sure that you explicitly and succinctly state the contributions made by your paper. That is the so what?. Give just a quick glimpse of your contributions and implications for the research and the practice. The audience wants to know this. Often it is the only thing that they carry away from the talk.
• Consider putting your Conclusion in the Introduction : Be bold. Let everyone know from the start where you are headed so that the audience can focus on what matters.

How did you get to your results? How did you conduct your study?

There should be 1 or 2 methods slides that allow the audience to understand how the research was conducted. You might include a flow chart describing the main ingredients of the methods used. Do not put too many details, just what it’s needed to understand the study. Many of the details are appropriate for the manuscript but not for the presentation. If the audience wants to have more details on the methods they can always read your full paper, or you can prepare backup slides with this information to share during the Q&As session. For example, you could just say:  “During 4 weeks we conducted semi-structured interviews with top managers and employees from different organizations. Our final sample was composed of 30 individuals, from which 10 were top managers and 15 were female and aged between 25 and 60 years.”  Further details are presented in backup slides or in the manuscript.

What did you find, what happened?

The next 3 slides should show the main results obtained with your research. If appropriate, it is nice to start with a slide showing the basic phenomena being studied (e.G. the process of innovation and how). It reminds your audience about the variables used and manipulated and the role they have in the situation being studied.

Next, show figures, pictures, or graphs that clearly illustrate the main results. Do not show charts and tables of raw data. No one is able to read an excel table on a presentation, if only it gives the creeps. So instead of putting large and ugly tables, no one is going to read, use beautiful and meaningful graphs and figures.

You can use free infographic apps to build awesome visual representations of your data. Apps like  Canva ,  Venngage , or  Piktochart  work great.

All figures should be clearly labeled. When showing figures, be sure to explain the figure axes before you talk about the data (e.g., “the X-axis shows time. The Y-axis shows economic profit).

When presenting the data try to be as simple as possible, this is the most complex part of your research. You might be an expert, but your audience probably is not and they need to understand your results if you want to convenience them with your research.

So, What? What are the outcomes, implications and future steps?

The last 2 slides are probably the most important section of your presentation. It’s the denouement of your story, and it should be good.

Nothing is more frustrating than reading or listening to a good story to arrive to a disappointing end. All the effort you did to tell the good story is lost if you don’t curate appropriately the ending.

Some people be distracted during the whole presentation and would only pay attention to your conclusions, so those conclusions better are good.

Before getting to your end, sum up what your study was about, your research questions and objectives, and then go to the conclusion. In this way, the lousy distracted audience will also get most of your research.

List the conclusions in clear, easy to understand language. You can read them to the audience. Also give one or two sentences about what this likely means — your interpretation — for the big picture, go back to the context and motives of your research. Explain how your results improve our understanding and contribute to theory and practice.

Don’t be afraid to talk about the flaws and limitations of your study. Not only this shows you are humble but that you are prepared enough and that you are aware that things can be improved. Remember that having contradictory results to what you expected is not a bad thing, they are still results, you need to find an explanation to this.

Once you know your limitations, tell your audience how can this be improved in future research. How can other scholars address the problems and flaws, what are the next steps, and what future research should focus on?

Your job as a presenter is to not only present the paper but also lead a discussion with your audience about your research. Talk about its strengths, weaknesses, and broader implications. To help focus the class discussion, end your presentation with a list of approximately three major questions/issues worthy of further discussion.

Please finalize your presentation with at least two or three major things that should be discussed. Discussion with the audience should be especially encouraged at this point, but you should be prepared to foster this by raising these issues.

So, when preparing your presentation think like one of the people in your audience. Think about what they would ask? What would they like to discuss further? What are the points that might trigger confusion or disagreement?

If you have these questions in mind you can prepare to give appropriate answers and be less stressed out by the uncertainty of your audience reaction. You can then prepare a couple of backup slides that will help you give responses to the questions being asked and that will help you make your point.

Final thoughts

Reading and understanding academic research papers can be a tough assignment, especially because it can be very specific and you might not know or understand many terms, methodologies, or even statistical models and analysis. So preparing a presentation of an academic paper, whether is yours or others’ work, takes time and must be taken seriously.

When you are preparing your draft for the presentation, keep in mind that your audience will rely on listening comprehension, not reading comprehension. That means that your ideas need to be clear and to the point, and organized in a way that makes it possible for your audience to follow you.

And since understanding was difficult for you who had the time to read and discuss the paper with your team, you can imagine how difficult it might be for an audience that hasn’t read the paper and moreover has no expertise (or not much) on the research topic you are presenting.

So you have to be very careful about how you present your article so that your audience understands what you are saying, feel involved and curious, and off course don’t sleep while you talk.

Scientific oral presentations are not simply readings of scientific manuscripts, so being in front of an audience reading scientific terms and statistical models and equations is out of the picture. You need to provoke curiosity and engagement so that at the end of your presentation people want to know more about your research.

Don’t forget that time is precious, and not everyone is ready to give their time to listen to things they don’t find amusing or intriguing. Being concise and simple is not an easy exercise, but is crucial for passing by a message.

Follow simple presentation rules:

• 1 slide takes 1 minute to present, so if you have 10 minutes to present don’t do more than 10 slides.
• Don’t use small size fonts, the minimum readable size is 20pt.
• Don’t use text when you don’t need it, the text should be only be used to highlight things that you want your audience to remember
• Use pictures whenever you can but don’t overuse them. Pictures have to be relevant to your speech.
• Be careful with grammar and errors. Read your slides thoroughly a couple of times before submitting them for a presentation. And ask someone else to read them also, they are more likely to find mistakes than you are as they are less biased and less attached to your topic.
• Finally, prepare, prepare, and prepare. Mastery is only possible through training. No matter how good you are at improvising, preparing for a presentation is key for succeeding at it.

And that’s it. Good luck!

• Tags Research , Research Paper , Science , Scientific Paper

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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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How to Prepare for a Paper Presentation at an Academic Conference

 In my previous post, I laid out a timeline for choosing an academic conference.  This post will lay out four steps to help you successfully prepare for a paper presentation at an academic conference.

Pay attention to the deadline for proposals . 

Your proposal outlines the paper you are going to write, not a paper you have written . You may treat your proposal as a commitment device to “force” you to write the paper, but the final paper may well differ from your original intention.

The Claremont Graduate University Writing Center offers some good examples of proposals here .

Write a winning abstract to get your paper accepted into the conference. 

Abstracts are an afterthought to many graduate students, but they are the what the reviewer looks at first. To get your paper accepted to a conference, you’ll need to write an abstract of 200 to 500 words .

The emphasis should be on brevity and clarity. It should tell the reader what your paper is about, why the reader should be interested, and why the paper should be accepted.

Additionally, it should:

• Specify your thesis
• Identify your paper fills a gap in the current literature.
• Outline what you actually do in the paper.
• Point out your original contribution.
• Include a concluding sentence.

Academic Conferences and Publishing International offers some additional advice on writing a conference abstract  as you prepare for your paper presentation at an academic conference.

Pay attention to your presentation itself.

In order to convey excitement about your paper, you need to think about your presentation as well as the findings you are communicating.

Note the conference time limit and stick to it. Practice while timing yourself, and do it in front of a mirror. I also recommend practicing in front of your peers; organizing a departmental brown bag lunch could be a great way to do this. As you are preparing, keep in mind that reading from notes is better than reading directly from your paper.

Once you arrive at the conference, check the location of the room as soon as you can before the event. Arrive early to make sure any audiovisual equipment you plan to use is working, and be ready to present without it in case it is not.

Always stand when giving your paper presentation at an academic conference. Begin by stating your name and institution. Establish eye contact across the room, and speak slowly and clearly to your audience. Explain the structure of your presentation. End with your contribution to your discipline. Finally, be polite (not defensive) when engaging in discussion and answering questions about your research.

By focusing on (a) making sure your work contributes something to your field (b) adhering to deadlines and convincing conference organizers that your paper is worth presenting and (c) creating a compelling presentation that aptly highlights the content of your research, you’ll make the most of your time at the conference.

Nigel Ashford

Previous post should i get a phd 5 questions to ask yourself before you decide, next post how to choose and prepare for academic conferences as a graduate student.

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Whether you're presenting a technical paper you wrote in an educational environment or one about how to improve efficiency in the workplace to your upper management, preparing the presentation includes the same basic steps. You've already written the paper, which means you've completed the research on the material you're presenting; you're the expert. That doesn't mean you can breeze through the presentation without any preparation, but it should help calm your nerves.

Know Your Audience

You might be presenting to people you know in your office, or you could be presenting to unknown stockholders or faculty. Either way, you should know more about their background and their potential knowledge of the subject of your paper. If you wrote about a new marketing plan, you don't have to break it down to its most basic concepts if your manager has a marketing degree, for example.

Basic Paper Presentation Preparation

It is vital to be able to identify the most important points in your paper. Although the goal is to have the audience members read the paper themselves, the purpose of a presentation is to highlight the key points for the audience. You can even make an outline of the highlights to help you prepare your presentation.

Your highlights can help you create a script for your presentation. Although this could be a word-for-word script, it's best to use notes to jog your memory during a presentation to make it more personable. For example, put one key point per notecard and number the cards in case you drop them. Don't regurgitate the same information in your paper. Instead, prepare your presentation to discuss why the key points are important or the differences between your point of view and a well-known paper in the same field.

Visual Pizzazz for a Paper Presentation

According to Duke University , visual aids help keep your audience engaged and interested during your presentation. You might use presentation software to create slides that include graphics, charts and bullet points to help your audience follow your talk. This information can enhance the information in your paper.

For example, if your paper mentions how 30 percent of the population performs a certain activity, you could create a bar graph showing 30 percent and 70 percent to give the audience a picture of the discrepancy between the two numbers. Presentation software can also serve as your notecards, outlining the bullet points of what you want to discuss without requiring you to read your presentation word for word. If you won't have access to the proper projection equipment, print visual aids on large paper or foam-core board.

Practice Makes Confidence

To grow in confidence, consider practicing your presentation in front of friends and family members and ask for constructive criticism. This helps you know whether you can stay within the allotted time constraints with your current script or if you need to tweak it. It can also alleviate any nervousness by helping you feel prepared.

Prepare for the Unexpected

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology advises people to be prepared to answer questions and outline the details of their work. Think through what questions your audience might have for you and create visual aids to help address those questions. After your presentation, your audience might want clarifications about what you have presented. Although you aren't expected to have all the answers, you can feel more prepared if you think through possible questions or ask your friends and family for their questions before you give the presentation.

• Duke University: How to Convert Your Paper into a Presentation
• Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology: How to Present a Paper
• Create visual aids to help address likely questions as well. After your presentation, your audience might have questions or want clarifications about your paper. Although you aren't expected to have all the answers, you can feel more prepared if you think through possible questions or ask your friends and family for their questions before you give the presentation.
• At the end of the presentation, give a short summary of the key points of the paper to help your audience remember them.
• Provide handouts to the audience for review. This can be copies of your visual aids, bullet points about the paper or a copy of your presentation slides.

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How to Structure your Presentation, with Examples

August 3, 2018 - Dom Barnard

For many people the thought of delivering a presentation is a daunting task and brings about a  great deal of nerves . However, if you take some time to understand how effective presentations are structured and then apply this structure to your own presentation, you’ll appear much more confident and relaxed.

Here is our complete guide for structuring your presentation, with examples at the end of the article to demonstrate these points.

Why is structuring a presentation so important?

If you’ve ever sat through a great presentation, you’ll have left feeling either inspired or informed on a given topic. This isn’t because the speaker was the most knowledgeable or motivating person in the world. Instead, it’s because they know how to structure presentations – they have crafted their message in a logical and simple way that has allowed the audience can keep up with them and take away key messages.

Research has supported this, with studies showing that audiences retain structured information  40% more accurately  than unstructured information.

In fact, not only is structuring a presentation important for the benefit of the audience’s understanding, it’s also important for you as the speaker. A good structure helps you remain calm, stay on topic, and avoid any awkward silences.

What will affect your presentation structure?

Generally speaking, there is a natural flow that any decent presentation will follow which we will go into shortly. However, you should be aware that all presentation structures will be different in their own unique way and this will be due to a number of factors, including:

• Whether you need to deliver any demonstrations
• How  knowledgeable the audience  already is on the given subject
• How much interaction you want from the audience
• Any time constraints there are for your talk
• What setting you are in
• Your ability to use any kinds of visual assistance

Before choosing the presentation’s structure answer these questions first:

• What is your presentation’s aim?
• Who are the audience?
• What are the main points your audience should remember afterwards?

When reading the points below, think critically about what things may cause your presentation structure to be slightly different. You can add in certain elements and add more focus to certain moments if that works better for your speech.

What is the typical presentation structure?

This is the usual flow of a presentation, which covers all the vital sections and is a good starting point for yours. It allows your audience to easily follow along and sets out a solid structure you can add your content to.

1. Greet the audience and introduce yourself

Before you start delivering your talk, introduce yourself to the audience and clarify who you are and your relevant expertise. This does not need to be long or incredibly detailed, but will help build an immediate relationship between you and the audience. It gives you the chance to briefly clarify your expertise and why you are worth listening to. This will help establish your ethos so the audience will trust you more and think you’re credible.

Read our tips on  How to Start a Presentation Effectively

2. Introduction

In the introduction you need to explain the subject and purpose of your presentation whilst gaining the audience’s interest and confidence. It’s sometimes helpful to think of your introduction as funnel-shaped to help filter down your topic:

• Introduce your general topic
• Explain your topic area
• State the issues/challenges in this area you will be exploring
• State your presentation’s purpose – this is the basis of your presentation so ensure that you provide a statement explaining how the topic will be treated, for example, “I will argue that…” or maybe you will “compare”, “analyse”, “evaluate”, “describe” etc.
• Provide a statement of what you’re hoping the outcome of the presentation will be, for example, “I’m hoping this will be provide you with…”
• Show a preview of the organisation of your presentation

In this section also explain:

• The length of the talk.
• Signal whether you want audience interaction – some presenters prefer the audience to ask questions throughout whereas others allocate a specific section for this.
• If it applies, inform the audience whether to take notes or whether you will be providing handouts.

The way you structure your introduction can depend on the amount of time you have been given to present: a  sales pitch  may consist of a quick presentation so you may begin with your conclusion and then provide the evidence. Conversely, a speaker presenting their idea for change in the world would be better suited to start with the evidence and then conclude what this means for the audience.

Keep in mind that the main aim of the introduction is to grab the audience’s attention and connect with them.

3. The main body of your talk

The main body of your talk needs to meet the promises you made in the introduction. Depending on the nature of your presentation, clearly segment the different topics you will be discussing, and then work your way through them one at a time – it’s important for everything to be organised logically for the audience to fully understand. There are many different ways to organise your main points, such as, by priority, theme, chronologically etc.

• Main points should be addressed one by one with supporting evidence and examples.
• Before moving on to the next point you should provide a mini-summary.
• Links should be clearly stated between ideas and you must make it clear when you’re moving onto the next point.
• Allow time for people to take relevant notes and stick to the topics you have prepared beforehand rather than straying too far off topic.

When planning your presentation write a list of main points you want to make and ask yourself “What I am telling the audience? What should they understand from this?” refining your answers this way will help you produce clear messages.

4. Conclusion

In presentations the conclusion is frequently underdeveloped and lacks purpose which is a shame as it’s the best place to reinforce your messages. Typically, your presentation has a specific goal – that could be to convert a number of the audience members into customers, lead to a certain number of enquiries to make people knowledgeable on specific key points, or to motivate them towards a shared goal.

Regardless of what that goal is, be sure to summarise your main points and their implications. This clarifies the overall purpose of your talk and reinforces your reason for being there.

Follow these steps:

• Signal that it’s nearly the end of your presentation, for example, “As we wrap up/as we wind down the talk…”
• Restate the topic and purpose of your presentation – “In this speech I wanted to compare…”
• Summarise the main points, including their implications and conclusions
• Indicate what is next/a call to action/a thought-provoking takeaway
• Move on to the last section

5. Thank the audience and invite questions

Conclude your talk by thanking the audience for their time and invite them to  ask any questions  they may have. As mentioned earlier, personal circumstances will affect the structure of your presentation.

Many presenters prefer to make the Q&A session the key part of their talk and try to speed through the main body of the presentation. This is totally fine, but it is still best to focus on delivering some sort of initial presentation to set the tone and topics for discussion in the Q&A.

Other common presentation structures

The above was a description of a basic presentation, here are some more specific presentation layouts:

Demonstration

Use the demonstration structure when you have something useful to show. This is usually used when you want to show how a product works. Steve Jobs frequently used this technique in his presentations.

• Explain why the product is valuable.
• Describe why the product is necessary.
• Explain what problems it can solve for the audience.
• Demonstrate the product  to support what you’ve been saying.
• Make suggestions of other things it can do to make the audience curious.

Problem-solution

This structure is particularly useful in persuading the audience.

• Briefly frame the issue.
• Go into the issue in detail showing why it ‘s such a problem. Use logos and pathos for this – the logical and emotional appeals.
• Provide the solution and explain why this would also help the audience.
• Call to action – something you want the audience to do which is straightforward and pertinent to the solution.

Storytelling

As well as incorporating  stories in your presentation , you can organise your whole presentation as a story. There are lots of different type of story structures you can use – a popular choice is the monomyth – the hero’s journey. In a monomyth, a hero goes on a difficult journey or takes on a challenge – they move from the familiar into the unknown. After facing obstacles and ultimately succeeding the hero returns home, transformed and with newfound wisdom.

Storytelling for Business Success  webinar , where well-know storyteller Javier Bernad shares strategies for crafting compelling narratives.

Another popular choice for using a story to structure your presentation is in media ras (in the middle of thing). In this type of story you launch right into the action by providing a snippet/teaser of what’s happening and then you start explaining the events that led to that event. This is engaging because you’re starting your story at the most exciting part which will make the audience curious – they’ll want to know how you got there.

• Great storytelling: Examples from Alibaba Founder, Jack Ma

Remaining method

The remaining method structure is good for situations where you’re presenting your perspective on a controversial topic which has split people’s opinions.

• Go into the issue in detail showing why it’s such a problem – use logos and pathos.
• Rebut your opponents’ solutions  – explain why their solutions could be useful because the audience will see this as fair and will therefore think you’re trustworthy, and then explain why you think these solutions are not valid.
• After you’ve presented all the alternatives provide your solution, the remaining solution. This is very persuasive because it looks like the winning idea, especially with the audience believing that you’re fair and trustworthy.

Transitions

When delivering presentations it’s important for your words and ideas to flow so your audience can understand how everything links together and why it’s all relevant. This can be done  using speech transitions  which are words and phrases that allow you to smoothly move from one point to another so that your speech flows and your presentation is unified.

Transitions can be one word, a phrase or a full sentence – there are many different forms, here are some examples:

Moving from the introduction to the first point

Signify to the audience that you will now begin discussing the first main point:

• Now that you’re aware of the overview, let’s begin with…
• First, let’s begin with…
• I will first cover…
• My first point covers…
• To get started, let’s look at…

Shifting between similar points

Move from one point to a similar one:

• In the same way…
• Likewise…
• Equally…
• This is similar to…
• Similarly…

Internal summaries

Internal summarising consists of summarising before moving on to the next point. You must inform the audience:

• What part of the presentation you covered – “In the first part of this speech we’ve covered…”
• What the key points were – “Precisely how…”
• How this links in with the overall presentation – “So that’s the context…”
• What you’re moving on to – “Now I’d like to move on to the second part of presentation which looks at…”

Physical movement

You can move your body and your standing location when you transition to another point. The audience find it easier to follow your presentation and movement will increase their interest.

A common technique for incorporating movement into your presentation is to:

• Start your introduction by standing in the centre of the stage.
• For your first point you stand on the left side of the stage.
• You discuss your second point from the centre again.
• You stand on the right side of the stage for your third point.
• The conclusion occurs in the centre.

Key slides for your presentation

Slides are a useful tool for most presentations: they can greatly assist in the delivery of your message and help the audience follow along with what you are saying. Key slides include:

• An intro slide outlining your ideas
• A  summary slide  with core points to remember
• High quality image slides to supplement what you are saying

There are some presenters who choose not to use slides at all, though this is more of a rarity. Slides can be a powerful tool if used properly, but the problem is that many fail to do just that. Here are some golden rules to follow when using slides in a presentation:

• Don’t over fill them  – your slides are there to assist your speech, rather than be the focal point. They should have as little information as possible, to avoid distracting people from your talk.
• A picture says a thousand words  – instead of filling a slide with text, instead, focus on one or two images or diagrams to help support and explain the point you are discussing at that time.
• Make them readable  – depending on the size of your audience, some may not be able to see small text or images, so make everything large enough to fill the space.
• Don’t rush through slides  – give the audience enough time to digest each slide.

Guy Kawasaki, an entrepreneur and author, suggests that slideshows should follow a  10-20-30 rule :

• There should be a maximum of 10 slides – people rarely remember more than one concept afterwards so there’s no point overwhelming them with unnecessary information.
• The presentation should last no longer than 20 minutes as this will leave time for questions and discussion.
• The font size should be a minimum of 30pt because the audience reads faster than you talk so less information on the slides means that there is less chance of the audience being distracted.

Here are some additional resources for slide design:

• 7 design tips for effective, beautiful PowerPoint presentations
• 11 design tips for beautiful presentations
• 10 tips on how to make slides that communicate your idea

Group Presentations

Group presentations are structured in the same way as presentations with one speaker but usually require more rehearsal and practices.  Clean transitioning between speakers  is very important in producing a presentation that flows well. One way of doing this consists of:

• Briefly recap on what you covered in your section: “So that was a brief introduction on what health anxiety is and how it can affect somebody”
• Introduce the next speaker in the team and explain what they will discuss: “Now Elnaz will talk about the prevalence of health anxiety.”
• Then end by looking at the next speaker, gesturing towards them and saying their name: “Elnaz”.
• The next speaker should acknowledge this with a quick: “Thank you Joe.”

From this example you can see how the different sections of the presentations link which makes it easier for the audience to follow and remain engaged.

Example of great presentation structure and delivery

Having examples of great presentations will help inspire your own structures, here are a few such examples, each unique and inspiring in their own way.

How Google Works – by Eric Schmidt

This presentation by ex-Google CEO  Eric Schmidt  demonstrates some of the most important lessons he and his team have learnt with regards to working with some of the most talented individuals they hired. The simplistic yet cohesive style of all of the slides is something to be appreciated. They are relatively straightforward, yet add power and clarity to the narrative of the presentation.

Start with why – by Simon Sinek

Since being released in 2009, this presentation has been viewed almost four million times all around the world. The message itself is very powerful, however, it’s not an idea that hasn’t been heard before. What makes this presentation so powerful is the simple message he is getting across, and the straightforward and understandable manner in which he delivers it. Also note that he doesn’t use any slides, just a whiteboard where he creates a simple diagram of his opinion.

The Wisdom of a Third Grade Dropout – by Rick Rigsby

Here’s an example of a presentation given by a relatively unknown individual looking to inspire the next generation of graduates. Rick’s presentation is unique in many ways compared to the two above. Notably, he uses no visual prompts and includes a great deal of humour.

However, what is similar is the structure he uses. He first introduces his message that the wisest man he knew was a third-grade dropout. He then proceeds to deliver his main body of argument, and in the end, concludes with his message. This powerful speech keeps the viewer engaged throughout, through a mixture of heart-warming sentiment, powerful life advice and engaging humour.

As you can see from the examples above, and as it has been expressed throughout, a great presentation structure means analysing the core message of your presentation. Decide on a key message you want to impart the audience with, and then craft an engaging way of delivering it.

By preparing a solid structure, and  practising your talk  beforehand, you can walk into the presentation with confidence and deliver a meaningful message to an interested audience.

It’s important for a presentation to be well-structured so it can have the most impact on your audience. An unstructured presentation can be difficult to follow and even frustrating to listen to. The heart of your speech are your main points supported by evidence and your transitions should assist the movement between points and clarify how everything is linked.

Research suggests that the audience remember the first and last things you say so your introduction and conclusion are vital for reinforcing your points. Essentially, ensure you spend the time structuring your presentation and addressing all of the sections.

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Open Access

Ten simple rules for effective presentation slides

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Biomedical Engineering and the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America

• Kristen M. Naegle

Published: December 2, 2021

• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009554
• Reader Comments

Citation: Naegle KM (2021) Ten simple rules for effective presentation slides. PLoS Comput Biol 17(12): e1009554. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009554

Copyright: © 2021 Kristen M. Naegle. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: The author received no specific funding for this work.

Competing interests: The author has declared no competing interests exist.

Introduction

The “presentation slide” is the building block of all academic presentations, whether they are journal clubs, thesis committee meetings, short conference talks, or hour-long seminars. A slide is a single page projected on a screen, usually built on the premise of a title, body, and figures or tables and includes both what is shown and what is spoken about that slide. Multiple slides are strung together to tell the larger story of the presentation. While there have been excellent 10 simple rules on giving entire presentations [ 1 , 2 ], there was an absence in the fine details of how to design a slide for optimal effect—such as the design elements that allow slides to convey meaningful information, to keep the audience engaged and informed, and to deliver the information intended and in the time frame allowed. As all research presentations seek to teach, effective slide design borrows from the same principles as effective teaching, including the consideration of cognitive processing your audience is relying on to organize, process, and retain information. This is written for anyone who needs to prepare slides from any length scale and for most purposes of conveying research to broad audiences. The rules are broken into 3 primary areas. Rules 1 to 5 are about optimizing the scope of each slide. Rules 6 to 8 are about principles around designing elements of the slide. Rules 9 to 10 are about preparing for your presentation, with the slides as the central focus of that preparation.

Rule 1: Include only one idea per slide

Each slide should have one central objective to deliver—the main idea or question [ 3 – 5 ]. Often, this means breaking complex ideas down into manageable pieces (see Fig 1 , where “background” information has been split into 2 key concepts). In another example, if you are presenting a complex computational approach in a large flow diagram, introduce it in smaller units, building it up until you finish with the entire diagram. The progressive buildup of complex information means that audiences are prepared to understand the whole picture, once you have dedicated time to each of the parts. You can accomplish the buildup of components in several ways—for example, using presentation software to cover/uncover information. Personally, I choose to create separate slides for each piece of information content I introduce—where the final slide has the entire diagram, and I use cropping or a cover on duplicated slides that come before to hide what I’m not yet ready to include. I use this method in order to ensure that each slide in my deck truly presents one specific idea (the new content) and the amount of the new information on that slide can be described in 1 minute (Rule 2), but it comes with the trade-off—a change to the format of one of the slides in the series often means changes to all slides.

• PPT PowerPoint slide
• PNG larger image
• TIFF original image

Top left: A background slide that describes the background material on a project from my lab. The slide was created using a PowerPoint Design Template, which had to be modified to increase default text sizes for this figure (i.e., the default text sizes are even worse than shown here). Bottom row: The 2 new slides that break up the content into 2 explicit ideas about the background, using a central graphic. In the first slide, the graphic is an explicit example of the SH2 domain of PI3-kinase interacting with a phosphorylation site (Y754) on the PDGFR to describe the important details of what an SH2 domain and phosphotyrosine ligand are and how they interact. I use that same graphic in the second slide to generalize all binding events and include redundant text to drive home the central message (a lot of possible interactions might occur in the human proteome, more than we can currently measure). Top right highlights which rules were used to move from the original slide to the new slide. Specific changes as highlighted by Rule 7 include increasing contrast by changing the background color, increasing font size, changing to sans serif fonts, and removing all capital text and underlining (using bold to draw attention). PDGFR, platelet-derived growth factor receptor.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009554.g001

Rule 2: Spend only 1 minute per slide

When you present your slide in the talk, it should take 1 minute or less to discuss. This rule is really helpful for planning purposes—a 20-minute presentation should have somewhere around 20 slides. Also, frequently giving your audience new information to feast on helps keep them engaged. During practice, if you find yourself spending more than a minute on a slide, there’s too much for that one slide—it’s time to break up the content into multiple slides or even remove information that is not wholly central to the story you are trying to tell. Reduce, reduce, reduce, until you get to a single message, clearly described, which takes less than 1 minute to present.

Rule 3: Make use of your heading

When each slide conveys only one message, use the heading of that slide to write exactly the message you are trying to deliver. Instead of titling the slide “Results,” try “CTNND1 is central to metastasis” or “False-positive rates are highly sample specific.” Use this landmark signpost to ensure that all the content on that slide is related exactly to the heading and only the heading. Think of the slide heading as the introductory or concluding sentence of a paragraph and the slide content the rest of the paragraph that supports the main point of the paragraph. An audience member should be able to follow along with you in the “paragraph” and come to the same conclusion sentence as your header at the end of the slide.

Rule 4: Include only essential points

While you are speaking, audience members’ eyes and minds will be wandering over your slide. If you have a comment, detail, or figure on a slide, have a plan to explicitly identify and talk about it. If you don’t think it’s important enough to spend time on, then don’t have it on your slide. This is especially important when faculty are present. I often tell students that thesis committee members are like cats: If you put a shiny bauble in front of them, they’ll go after it. Be sure to only put the shiny baubles on slides that you want them to focus on. Putting together a thesis meeting for only faculty is really an exercise in herding cats (if you have cats, you know this is no easy feat). Clear and concise slide design will go a long way in helping you corral those easily distracted faculty members.

Rule 5: Give credit, where credit is due

An exception to Rule 4 is to include proper citations or references to work on your slide. When adding citations, names of other researchers, or other types of credit, use a consistent style and method for adding this information to your slides. Your audience will then be able to easily partition this information from the other content. A common mistake people make is to think “I’ll add that reference later,” but I highly recommend you put the proper reference on the slide at the time you make it, before you forget where it came from. Finally, in certain kinds of presentations, credits can make it clear who did the work. For the faculty members heading labs, it is an effective way to connect your audience with the personnel in the lab who did the work, which is a great career booster for that person. For graduate students, it is an effective way to delineate your contribution to the work, especially in meetings where the goal is to establish your credentials for meeting the rigors of a PhD checkpoint.

Rule 6: Use graphics effectively

As a rule, you should almost never have slides that only contain text. Build your slides around good visualizations. It is a visual presentation after all, and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. However, on the flip side, don’t muddy the point of the slide by putting too many complex graphics on a single slide. A multipanel figure that you might include in a manuscript should often be broken into 1 panel per slide (see Rule 1 ). One way to ensure that you use the graphics effectively is to make a point to introduce the figure and its elements to the audience verbally, especially for data figures. For example, you might say the following: “This graph here shows the measured false-positive rate for an experiment and each point is a replicate of the experiment, the graph demonstrates …” If you have put too much on one slide to present in 1 minute (see Rule 2 ), then the complexity or number of the visualizations is too much for just one slide.

Rule 7: Design to avoid cognitive overload

The type of slide elements, the number of them, and how you present them all impact the ability for the audience to intake, organize, and remember the content. For example, a frequent mistake in slide design is to include full sentences, but reading and verbal processing use the same cognitive channels—therefore, an audience member can either read the slide, listen to you, or do some part of both (each poorly), as a result of cognitive overload [ 4 ]. The visual channel is separate, allowing images/videos to be processed with auditory information without cognitive overload [ 6 ] (Rule 6). As presentations are an exercise in listening, and not reading, do what you can to optimize the ability of the audience to listen. Use words sparingly as “guide posts” to you and the audience about major points of the slide. In fact, you can add short text fragments, redundant with the verbal component of the presentation, which has been shown to improve retention [ 7 ] (see Fig 1 for an example of redundant text that avoids cognitive overload). Be careful in the selection of a slide template to minimize accidentally adding elements that the audience must process, but are unimportant. David JP Phillips argues (and effectively demonstrates in his TEDx talk [ 5 ]) that the human brain can easily interpret 6 elements and more than that requires a 500% increase in human cognition load—so keep the total number of elements on the slide to 6 or less. Finally, in addition to the use of short text, white space, and the effective use of graphics/images, you can improve ease of cognitive processing further by considering color choices and font type and size. Here are a few suggestions for improving the experience for your audience, highlighting the importance of these elements for some specific groups:

• Use high contrast colors and simple backgrounds with low to no color—for persons with dyslexia or visual impairment.
• Use sans serif fonts and large font sizes (including figure legends), avoid italics, underlining (use bold font instead for emphasis), and all capital letters—for persons with dyslexia or visual impairment [ 8 ].
• Use color combinations and palettes that can be understood by those with different forms of color blindness [ 9 ]. There are excellent tools available to identify colors to use and ways to simulate your presentation or figures as they might be seen by a person with color blindness (easily found by a web search).
• In this increasing world of virtual presentation tools, consider practicing your talk with a closed captioning system capture your words. Use this to identify how to improve your speaking pace, volume, and annunciation to improve understanding by all members of your audience, but especially those with a hearing impairment.

Rule 8: Design the slide so that a distracted person gets the main takeaway

It is very difficult to stay focused on a presentation, especially if it is long or if it is part of a longer series of talks at a conference. Audience members may get distracted by an important email, or they may start dreaming of lunch. So, it’s important to look at your slide and ask “If they heard nothing I said, will they understand the key concept of this slide?” The other rules are set up to help with this, including clarity of the single point of the slide (Rule 1), titling it with a major conclusion (Rule 3), and the use of figures (Rule 6) and short text redundant to your verbal description (Rule 7). However, with each slide, step back and ask whether its main conclusion is conveyed, even if someone didn’t hear your accompanying dialog. Importantly, ask if the information on the slide is at the right level of abstraction. For example, do you have too many details about the experiment, which hides the conclusion of the experiment (i.e., breaking Rule 1)? If you are worried about not having enough details, keep a slide at the end of your slide deck (after your conclusions and acknowledgments) with the more detailed information that you can refer to during a question and answer period.

Rule 9: Iteratively improve slide design through practice

Well-designed slides that follow the first 8 rules are intended to help you deliver the message you intend and in the amount of time you intend to deliver it in. The best way to ensure that you nailed slide design for your presentation is to practice, typically a lot. The most important aspects of practicing a new presentation, with an eye toward slide design, are the following 2 key points: (1) practice to ensure that you hit, each time through, the most important points (for example, the text guide posts you left yourself and the title of the slide); and (2) practice to ensure that as you conclude the end of one slide, it leads directly to the next slide. Slide transitions, what you say as you end one slide and begin the next, are important to keeping the flow of the “story.” Practice is when I discover that the order of my presentation is poor or that I left myself too few guideposts to remember what was coming next. Additionally, during practice, the most frequent things I have to improve relate to Rule 2 (the slide takes too long to present, usually because I broke Rule 1, and I’m delivering too much information for one slide), Rule 4 (I have a nonessential detail on the slide), and Rule 5 (I forgot to give a key reference). The very best type of practice is in front of an audience (for example, your lab or peers), where, with fresh perspectives, they can help you identify places for improving slide content, design, and connections across the entirety of your talk.

Rule 10: Design to mitigate the impact of technical disasters

The real presentation almost never goes as we planned in our heads or during our practice. Maybe the speaker before you went over time and now you need to adjust. Maybe the computer the organizer is having you use won’t show your video. Maybe your internet is poor on the day you are giving a virtual presentation at a conference. Technical problems are routinely part of the practice of sharing your work through presentations. Hence, you can design your slides to limit the impact certain kinds of technical disasters create and also prepare alternate approaches. Here are just a few examples of the preparation you can do that will take you a long way toward avoiding a complete fiasco:

• Save your presentation as a PDF—if the version of Keynote or PowerPoint on a host computer cause issues, you still have a functional copy that has a higher guarantee of compatibility.
• In using videos, create a backup slide with screen shots of key results. For example, if I have a video of cell migration, I’ll be sure to have a copy of the start and end of the video, in case the video doesn’t play. Even if the video worked, you can pause on this backup slide and take the time to highlight the key results in words if someone could not see or understand the video.
• Avoid animations, such as figures or text that flash/fly-in/etc. Surveys suggest that no one likes movement in presentations [ 3 , 4 ]. There is likely a cognitive underpinning to the almost universal distaste of pointless animations that relates to the idea proposed by Kosslyn and colleagues that animations are salient perceptual units that captures direct attention [ 4 ]. Although perceptual salience can be used to draw attention to and improve retention of specific points, if you use this approach for unnecessary/unimportant things (like animation of your bullet point text, fly-ins of figures, etc.), then you will distract your audience from the important content. Finally, animations cause additional processing burdens for people with visual impairments [ 10 ] and create opportunities for technical disasters if the software on the host system is not compatible with your planned animation.

Conclusions

These rules are just a start in creating more engaging presentations that increase audience retention of your material. However, there are wonderful resources on continuing on the journey of becoming an amazing public speaker, which includes understanding the psychology and neuroscience behind human perception and learning. For example, as highlighted in Rule 7, David JP Phillips has a wonderful TEDx talk on the subject [ 5 ], and “PowerPoint presentation flaws and failures: A psychological analysis,” by Kosslyn and colleagues is deeply detailed about a number of aspects of human cognition and presentation style [ 4 ]. There are many books on the topic, including the popular “Presentation Zen” by Garr Reynolds [ 11 ]. Finally, although briefly touched on here, the visualization of data is an entire topic of its own that is worth perfecting for both written and oral presentations of work, with fantastic resources like Edward Tufte’s “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information” [ 12 ] or the article “Visualization of Biomedical Data” by O’Donoghue and colleagues [ 13 ].

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the countless presenters, colleagues, students, and mentors from which I have learned a great deal from on effective presentations. Also, a thank you to the wonderful resources published by organizations on how to increase inclusivity. A special thanks to Dr. Jason Papin and Dr. Michael Guertin on early feedback of this editorial.

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• 8. Creating a dyslexia friendly workplace. Dyslexia friendly style guide. nd. Available from: https://www.bdadyslexia.org.uk/advice/employers/creating-a-dyslexia-friendly-workplace/dyslexia-friendly-style-guide .
• 9. Cravit R. How to Use Color Blind Friendly Palettes to Make Your Charts Accessible. 2019. Available from: https://venngage.com/blog/color-blind-friendly-palette/ .
• 10. Making your conference presentation more accessible to blind and partially sighted people. n.d. Available from: https://vocaleyes.co.uk/services/resources/guidelines-for-making-your-conference-presentation-more-accessible-to-blind-and-partially-sighted-people/ .
• 11. Reynolds G. Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery. 2nd ed. New Riders Pub; 2011.
• 12. Tufte ER. The Visual Display of Quantitative Information. 2nd ed. Graphics Press; 2001.

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Blog Beginner Guides How To Make a Good Presentation [A Complete Guide]

How To Make a Good Presentation [A Complete Guide]

Written by: Krystle Wong Jul 20, 2023

A top-notch presentation possesses the power to drive action. From winning stakeholders over and conveying a powerful message to securing funding — your secret weapon lies within the realm of creating an effective presentation .  

Being an excellent presenter isn’t confined to the boardroom. Whether you’re delivering a presentation at work, pursuing an academic career, involved in a non-profit organization or even a student, nailing the presentation game is a game-changer.

In this article, I’ll cover the top qualities of compelling presentations and walk you through a step-by-step guide on how to give a good presentation. Here’s a little tip to kick things off: for a headstart, check out Venngage’s collection of free presentation templates . They are fully customizable, and the best part is you don’t need professional design skills to make them shine!

These valuable presentation tips cater to individuals from diverse professional backgrounds, encompassing business professionals, sales and marketing teams, educators, trainers, students, researchers, non-profit organizations, public speakers and presenters. 

No matter your field or role, these tips for presenting will equip you with the skills to deliver effective presentations that leave a lasting impression on any audience.

Click to jump ahead:

What are the 10 qualities of a good presentation?

Step-by-step guide on how to prepare an effective presentation, 9 effective techniques to deliver a memorable presentation, faqs on making a good presentation, how to create a presentation with venngage in 5 steps.

When it comes to giving an engaging presentation that leaves a lasting impression, it’s not just about the content — it’s also about how you deliver it. Wondering what makes a good presentation? Well, the best presentations I’ve seen consistently exhibit these 10 qualities:

1. Clear structure

No one likes to get lost in a maze of information. Organize your thoughts into a logical flow, complete with an introduction, main points and a solid conclusion. A structured presentation helps your audience follow along effortlessly, leaving them with a sense of satisfaction at the end.

Regardless of your presentation style , a quality presentation starts with a clear roadmap. Browse through Venngage’s template library and select a presentation template that aligns with your content and presentation goals. Here’s a good presentation example template with a logical layout that includes sections for the introduction, main points, supporting information and a conclusion: 

2. Engaging opening

Hook your audience right from the start with an attention-grabbing statement, a fascinating question or maybe even a captivating anecdote. Set the stage for a killer presentation!

The opening moments of your presentation hold immense power – check out these 15 ways to start a presentation to set the stage and captivate your audience.

3. Relevant content

Make sure your content aligns with their interests and needs. Your audience is there for a reason, and that’s to get valuable insights. Avoid fluff and get straight to the point, your audience will be genuinely excited.

4. Effective visual aids

Picture this: a slide with walls of text and tiny charts, yawn! Visual aids should be just that—aiding your presentation. Opt for clear and visually appealing slides, engaging images and informative charts that add value and help reinforce your message.

With Venngage, visualizing data takes no effort at all. You can import data from CSV or Google Sheets seamlessly and create stunning charts, graphs and icon stories effortlessly to showcase your data in a captivating and impactful way.

5. Clear and concise communication

Keep your language simple, and avoid jargon or complicated terms. Communicate your ideas clearly, so your audience can easily grasp and retain the information being conveyed. This can prevent confusion and enhance the overall effectiveness of the message. 

6. Engaging delivery

Spice up your presentation with a sprinkle of enthusiasm! Maintain eye contact, use expressive gestures and vary your tone of voice to keep your audience glued to the edge of their seats. A touch of charisma goes a long way!

7. Interaction and audience engagement

Turn your presentation into an interactive experience — encourage questions, foster discussions and maybe even throw in a fun activity. Engaged audiences are more likely to remember and embrace your message.

Transform your slides into an interactive presentation with Venngage’s dynamic features like pop-ups, clickable icons and animated elements. Engage your audience with interactive content that lets them explore and interact with your presentation for a truly immersive experience.

8. Effective storytelling

Who doesn’t love a good story? Weaving relevant anecdotes, case studies or even a personal story into your presentation can captivate your audience and create a lasting impact. Stories build connections and make your message memorable.

A great presentation background is also essential as it sets the tone, creates visual interest and reinforces your message. Enhance the overall aesthetics of your presentation with these 15 presentation background examples and captivate your audience’s attention.

9. Well-timed pacing

Pace your presentation thoughtfully with well-designed presentation slides, neither rushing through nor dragging it out. Respect your audience’s time and ensure you cover all the essential points without losing their interest.

10. Strong conclusion

Last impressions linger! Summarize your main points and leave your audience with a clear takeaway. End your presentation with a bang , a call to action or an inspiring thought that resonates long after the conclusion.

In-person presentations aside, acing a virtual presentation is of paramount importance in today’s digital world. Check out this guide to learn how you can adapt your in-person presentations into virtual presentations . 

Preparing an effective presentation starts with laying a strong foundation that goes beyond just creating slides and notes. One of the quickest and best ways to make a presentation would be with the help of a good presentation software . 

Otherwise, let me walk you to how to prepare for a presentation step by step and unlock the secrets of crafting a professional presentation that sets you apart.

1. Understand the audience and their needs

Before you dive into preparing your masterpiece, take a moment to get to know your target audience. Tailor your presentation to meet their needs and expectations , and you’ll have them hooked from the start!

2. Conduct thorough research on the topic

Time to hit the books (or the internet)! Don’t skimp on the research with your presentation materials — dive deep into the subject matter and gather valuable insights . The more you know, the more confident you’ll feel in delivering your presentation.

3. Organize the content with a clear structure

No one wants to stumble through a chaotic mess of information. Outline your presentation with a clear and logical flow. Start with a captivating introduction, follow up with main points that build on each other and wrap it up with a powerful conclusion that leaves a lasting impression.

Delivering an effective business presentation hinges on captivating your audience, and Venngage’s professionally designed business presentation templates are tailor-made for this purpose. With thoughtfully structured layouts, these templates enhance your message’s clarity and coherence, ensuring a memorable and engaging experience for your audience members.

Don’t want to build your presentation layout from scratch? pick from these 5 foolproof presentation layout ideas that won’t go wrong. 

4. Develop visually appealing and supportive visual aids

Spice up your presentation with eye-catching visuals! Create slides that complement your message, not overshadow it. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words, but that doesn’t mean you need to overload your slides with text.

Well-chosen designs create a cohesive and professional look, capturing your audience’s attention and enhancing the overall effectiveness of your message. Here’s a list of carefully curated PowerPoint presentation templates and great background graphics that will significantly influence the visual appeal and engagement of your presentation.

5. Practice, practice and practice

Practice makes perfect — rehearse your presentation and arrive early to your presentation to help overcome stage fright. Familiarity with your material will boost your presentation skills and help you handle curveballs with ease.

6. Seek feedback and make necessary adjustments

Don’t be afraid to ask for help and seek feedback from friends and colleagues. Constructive criticism can help you identify blind spots and fine-tune your presentation to perfection.

With Venngage’s real-time collaboration feature , receiving feedback and editing your presentation is a seamless process. Group members can access and work on the presentation simultaneously and edit content side by side in real-time. Changes will be reflected immediately to the entire team, promoting seamless teamwork.

7. Prepare for potential technical or logistical issues

Prepare for the unexpected by checking your equipment, internet connection and any other potential hiccups. If you’re worried that you’ll miss out on any important points, you could always have note cards prepared. Remember to remain focused and rehearse potential answers to anticipated questions.

8. Fine-tune and polish your presentation

As the big day approaches, give your presentation one last shine. Review your talking points, practice how to present a presentation and make any final tweaks. Deep breaths — you’re on the brink of delivering a successful presentation!

In competitive environments, persuasive presentations set individuals and organizations apart. To brush up on your presentation skills, read these guides on how to make a persuasive presentation and tips to presenting effectively . 

Whether you’re an experienced presenter or a novice, the right techniques will let your presentation skills soar to new heights!

From public speaking hacks to interactive elements and storytelling prowess, these 9 effective presentation techniques will empower you to leave a lasting impression on your audience and make your presentations unforgettable.

1. Confidence and positive body language

Positive body language instantly captivates your audience, making them believe in your message as much as you do. Strengthen your stage presence and own that stage like it’s your second home! Stand tall, shoulders back and exude confidence. 

2. Eye contact with the audience

Break down that invisible barrier and connect with your audience through their eyes. Maintaining eye contact when giving a presentation builds trust and shows that you’re present and engaged with them.

3. Effective use of hand gestures and movement

A little movement goes a long way! Emphasize key points with purposeful gestures and don’t be afraid to walk around the stage. Your energy will be contagious!

4. Utilize storytelling techniques

Weave the magic of storytelling into your presentation. Share relatable anecdotes, inspiring success stories or even personal experiences that tug at the heartstrings of your audience. Adjust your pitch, pace and volume to match the emotions and intensity of the story. Varying your speaking voice adds depth and enhances your stage presence.

5. Incorporate multimedia elements

Spice up your presentation with a dash of visual pizzazz! Use slides, images and video clips to add depth and clarity to your message. Just remember, less is more—don’t overwhelm them with information overload. 

Turn your presentations into an interactive party! Involve your audience with questions, polls or group activities. When they actively participate, they become invested in your presentation’s success. Bring your design to life with animated elements. Venngage allows you to apply animations to icons, images and text to create dynamic and engaging visual content.

6. Utilize humor strategically

Laughter is the best medicine—and a fantastic presentation enhancer! A well-placed joke or lighthearted moment can break the ice and create a warm atmosphere , making your audience more receptive to your message.

7. Practice active listening and respond to feedback

Be attentive to your audience’s reactions and feedback. If they have questions or concerns, address them with genuine interest and respect. Your responsiveness builds rapport and shows that you genuinely care about their experience.

8. Apply the 10-20-30 rule

Apply the 10-20-30 presentation rule and keep it short, sweet and impactful! Stick to ten slides, deliver your presentation within 20 minutes and use a 30-point font to ensure clarity and focus. Less is more, and your audience will thank you for it!

9. Implement the 5-5-5 rule

Simplicity is key. Limit each slide to five bullet points, with only five words per bullet point and allow each slide to remain visible for about five seconds. This rule keeps your presentation concise and prevents information overload.

Simple presentations are more engaging because they are easier to follow. Summarize your presentations and keep them simple with Venngage’s gallery of simple presentation templates and ensure that your message is delivered effectively across your audience.

1. How to start a presentation?

To kick off your presentation effectively, begin with an attention-grabbing statement or a powerful quote. Introduce yourself, establish credibility and clearly state the purpose and relevance of your presentation.

2. How to end a presentation?

For a strong conclusion, summarize your talking points and key takeaways. End with a compelling call to action or a thought-provoking question and remember to thank your audience and invite any final questions or interactions.

3. How to make a presentation interactive?

To make your presentation interactive, encourage questions and discussion throughout your talk. Utilize multimedia elements like videos or images and consider including polls, quizzes or group activities to actively involve your audience.

In need of inspiration for your next presentation? I’ve got your back! Pick from these 120+ presentation ideas, topics and examples to get started. 

Creating a stunning presentation with Venngage is a breeze with our user-friendly drag-and-drop editor and professionally designed templates for all your communication needs. 

Here’s how to make a presentation in just 5 simple steps with the help of Venngage:

Step 1: Sign up for Venngage for free using your email, Gmail or Facebook account or simply log in to access your account. 

Step 2: Pick a design from our selection of free presentation templates (they’re all created by our expert in-house designers).

Step 3: Make the template your own by customizing it to fit your content and branding. With Venngage’s intuitive drag-and-drop editor, you can easily modify text, change colors and adjust the layout to create a unique and eye-catching design.

Step 4: Elevate your presentation by incorporating captivating visuals. You can upload your images or choose from Venngage’s vast library of high-quality photos, icons and illustrations. 

Step 5: Upgrade to a premium or business account to export your presentation in PDF and print it for in-person presentations or share it digitally for free!

By following these five simple steps, you’ll have a professionally designed and visually engaging presentation ready in no time. With Venngage’s user-friendly platform, your presentation is sure to make a lasting impression. So, let your creativity flow and get ready to shine in your next presentation!

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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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Advanced Research Methods

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Writing an Abstract

Oral presentation, compiling a powerpoint.

Abstract : a short statement that describes a longer work.

• Indicate the subject.
• Describe the purpose of the investigation.
• Briefly discuss the method used.
• Make a statement about the result.

Oral presentations usually introduce a discussion of a topic or research paper. A good oral presentation is focused, concise, and interesting in order to trigger a discussion.

• Be well prepared; write a detailed outline.
• Introduce the subject.
• Talk about the sources and the method.
• Indicate if there are conflicting views about the subject (conflicting views trigger discussion).
• Make a statement about your new results (if this is your research paper).
• Use visual aids or handouts if appropriate.

An effective PowerPoint presentation is just an aid to the presentation, not the presentation itself .

• Be brief and concise.
• Focus on the subject.
• Attract attention; indicate interesting details.
• If possible, use relevant visual illustrations (pictures, maps, charts graphs, etc.).
• Use bullet points or numbers to structure the text.
• Make clear statements about the essence/results of the topic/research.
• Don't write down the whole outline of your paper and nothing else.
• Don't write long full sentences on the slides.
• Don't use distracting colors, patterns, pictures, decorations on the slides.
• Don't use too complicated charts, graphs; only those that are relatively easy to understand.
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Paper Presentation

• by teachmint@wp

What is paper Presentation

Paper presentation is an event where the participants are required to make a paper about a certain topic or area, and then present it in front of a jury, following which it will be rated and judged based on their performance. 

The purpose of a paper presentation is to enhance a particular student’s ability in the art of academic writing or making papers in English and to present it. It also helps broaden the minds of the participants a little more. 

There are certain rules to be followed when it comes to doing a paper presentation. Here are a few you need to keep in mind:

• The paper needs to be in the format of a standard IEEE paper . 
• The abstract of the paper submitted must not exceed the limit of two pages by any chance.
• The front page should have the title of the paper on the top of the paper and details of the team members at the bottom. 
• The abstract of the paper should be attached with the whole paper.
• The font style to be followed for the text of the paper is Times New Roman.
• The size of the text should be 12 points.
• Similarly, the font size for the headings should be 16 points, while the font size of the sub-headings must be 14 points.
• A margin of 1 inch must be maintained on all sides of the paper.

Many people ask what is paper presentation advantages, so here are some of them:

• Research Skills: Participants dive deep into a subject, conduct thorough research, analyze data, and synthesize information to create their paper. Paper presentation helps in enhancing the research skills of students and the ability to search.
• Communication Skills: Presenters must effectively communicate their ideas, findings, and arguments to the audience. This includes verbal communication, visual aids, and the ability to respond to questions or criticisms. Paper presentation improves communication and verbal skills.
• Critical Thinking: Presenting a paper involves defending one’s ideas and addressing potential counterarguments, thereby fostering critical thinking skills. Paper presentation improves one’s critical thinking in different situations.
• Time Management: Presenters need to manage their time effectively during the presentation to cover all essential points within the allocated time frame. Some people think what is paper presentation has to do with timing, but it matters a lot when competing.

Paper presentation also helps in networking with other people. Many people may be thinking about what is paper presentation has to do with networking with other people. But, Paper presentation is a skill that is rare to find so sometimes it may give you a better opportunity.Teachmint has a wide range of learning resources you can access and learn from for free! Click here and check it out yourself. We offer educational infrastructure to institutes to make their task easier. With our tools like attendance management system , we take care of daily administrative tasks so you can focus on providing the best learning experience to students. Explore our website to know more about our offerings like lms portal .

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What Makes a Great Conference Paper: A Step-by-Step Guide

A conference paper is both a presentation and a paper. A scholar is invited or selected to present their research at a conference, and will prepare a paper to accompany that presentation. In some fields, conference papers are published as part of the conference proceedings, either before or after they are presented at the conference. In other fields, only abstracts are published in the conference proceedings. These abstracts help conference attendees decide which sessions to attend, which is especially important when there are concurrent sessions. Presenters may be asked to provide a copy of their conference paper to the person moderating their session, to help him/her facilitate discussion. Other times, writing a conference paper is simply an intermediate step for the author, with the final goal being the conference presentation. In these cases, the researcher will usually say they are "giving or presentation" or "giving a talk", rather than "presenting a paper".

Here we will go through the steps of putting together a great conference paper and presentation.

Step 1: Keep in mind the benefits of presenting at a conference

A major benefit of presenting at a conference is the opportunity to connect with people who work on similar topics. By presenting your work in progress, you can get feedback that helps identify and address shortcomings, and/or helps focus the overall research project. This feedback will help strengthen your work before it is submitted for publication through a rigorous peer-review process , and/or submitted for consideration by a thesis committee, selection committee, or tenure committee.

Therefore, one of the major goals of your conference presentation and paper should be to facilitate conversations with colleagues working in related areas. This may involve highlighting unexpected connections, or problems that you are still working through.

By presenting yourself and your work in a professional setting, you are introducing yourself to a room full of people who might be able to help you with your career goals. There will likely be people at the same career stage with insight to share, and people recruiting applicants for graduate school, post-doctoral positions, faculty positions, and other professional opportunities. A good conference presentation can easily cause them to seek you out for additional conversation.

Step 2: Know Your Audience

Think about why people have decided to attend your chosen conference, and your assigned session within the conference. This will help you decide what concepts you need to explain in detail, and what concepts your audience will already be familiar with. Time is almost always a major limitation for conference presentations, while space (and retaining the reader's interest) is a limitation for conference papers and abstracts. Do your absolute best to hit the "sweet spot" where your paper, presentation, and abstract seem familiar enough for your audience to take interest right away, yet novel enough for them to remain engaged.

While some conferences will cover a broad range of topics (e.g. genetics), your specific session will likely be more focused (e.g. genetic modification with CRISPR-Cas9). Know that your audience will have multiple opportunities to learn specifics about the topics that are common to your session, so you should focus on explaining aspects that are specific to your work.

Introduce your topic in a way that appeals to the broadest audience at your particular conference. For example, at a conference focusing on climate change, you might start with how CRISPR-Cas9 technology can be used to modify crop plants to better tolerate climate change. At a conference focusing on genetic diversity, you might start with how CRISPR-Cas9 technology can be used to better understand how specific genetic changes affect plant phenotypes.

Presenting your work so that it appeals to shared interests will help facilitate conversation.

Step 3: Plan for your time limit and your word limit

Conference presentations have very specific time limits, typically 10-20 minutes with a few minutes for questions from the audience. If you go over your allocated time, you will either lose you time for questions (and lose the opportunity to make useful connections), be interrupted by the moderator, steal time from other presenters who have worked hard to stay within the time limit, and/or cause the session to run overtime. None of these are good options. Be courteous and make every effort to stay within the time limit for your presentation.

For a conference paper, the consequences of going over the designated word limit are less dire. However, staying within the word limit for your paper will help you stay within the time limit for your presentation. In general, it takes 2 to 2.5 minutes to read one page of double-spaced text aloud at a reasonable pace.

Plan for the limited time and space. It is better to explain a few topics clearly than to explain many topics poorly.

Step 4: Focus on the big picture

In a 10-minute presentation, you can reasonably cover one big idea. For a 20-minute presentation, you might be able to cover two big ideas. Start with the "big picture", so that everyone can get a basic understanding of why your research is important. Then add enough detail so that people who are knowledgeable about your field can clearly see that you are also knowledgeable, that your study is well designed, and that your conclusions are based on solid evidence.

You may have a lot of results that you are excited to share. Do not share them all in your presentation. Instead, share some of your results with a reasonable amount of detail, then briefly summarize other exciting results in a concise list. This can help generate questions from the audience, and people who are interested in additional detail can easily find you to continue the conversation. After your session is over, stay near the front to see if anyone approaches you with questions. Chat with the other presenters or the moderator. Make sure that your email address is correct in the conference proceedings, and check your email during breaks.

Step 5: Use appropriate visual aids

Follow the conventions of your field for showing data, calculations, graphs, etc. Make sure that everything is clearly labeled, and expect some people to take pictures of your slides. (In some competitive fields, this unfortunately means that you may want to exclude a few key details until you are close to publication.) A good rule of thumb is to spend 1-2 minutes per slide, although this will depend on how much information is included in each slide.

Your slides should complement what you are saying, not repeat what you are saying. Essential labels must be included, but I otherwise recommend limiting the text. A brief title can indicate what is shown on the slide, while an additional line of text might highlight a key conclusion. A list of bullet points might also be appropriate. Use large font.

For scholars who are communicating in a second language (often English), the same rules apply. If you are nervous about the audience understanding you, use clearly labeled diagrams, graphs, and other visual aids to help convey the important points.

Visual aids can also help introduce the "big picture" to the broadest possible audience. It may be appropriate to use stock photos of glaciers, baby animals, hospital patients, etc. Many high-quality scientific images are also available to share through Creative Commons .

Step 6: Write, practice speaking, and revise

Start with an outline of what you want to cover in your allotted time. For a typical 10- to 15-minute presentation, it should be a short list. Also note how much time you expect to spend on each topic (e.g. 2 minutes for introduction, 2 minutes for methods, 4 minutes for results, 2 minutes for conclusions and future directions).

Once you have a basic outline, start writing. I recommend writing one section at a time, starting with the introduction or the section you feel most confident about. Sketch out your visual aids. When you have a few good paragraphs, practice reading aloud with your best "engaging speaker voice". Read with expression, emphasize the important concepts, point to your visual aids, and pause at appropriate times so the audience can digest what they heard.

After the first few readings, you will likely want to edit to improve flow. Once you feel moderately good about your delivery, time yourself. Consider the time limit for your presentation, and decide whether you are happy with your use of time. Revise as necessary. (You can also talk faster, but a top priority should be to deliver a clear presentation.) Repeat this process until you are reasonably happy with each section, and then with the overall presentation.

Next, practice with an audience. (Colleagues who will also be giving conference presentations are often a good choice.) Make eye contact. Be an engaging speaker. Time yourself. Listen to feedback from your audience about what was and wasn't clear, and revise again.

Putting together a great conference paper and presentation is a lot of work, but it is one of the best ways to connect with people who might be able to help you with your research and your career.

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What is the difference between paper presentation and poster presentation (in terms of prestige)?

I am talking in terms of values. Is there any difference between these two when it comes to the weight they add to a CV? Is a paper presentation better than a poster presentation?

• paper-submission
• liberal-arts

• Based on your other question, I've tagged your question as liberal-arts (we don't seem to have a "literature-as-a-field" tag. Ac.SE is mostly STEM-y people and you'll probably want the tag to get your question answered appropriately. –  Azor Ahai -him- Commented Mar 6, 2023 at 0:01

3 Answers 3

I'm distant from your area... but, in math, in the U.S., a "poster presentation" is sort of a nice thing for undergrads or beginning grad students to do, but rarely is of any consequence.

Presentations, either of papers or free-standing, are much more substantive, to begin with... and are much higher status, CV-padding-wise, as well. You'll have an actual audience, to begin with!!!

• Or "how to go to a conference on a grant" ... –  Azor Ahai -him- Commented Mar 6, 2023 at 0:02

This probably depends on the field, but in CS, at least, a paper presentation is much more valued than a poster. Moreover, conferences are thought of as more valuable than journal publications due to the sorter time scale between submission and the conference vs submission and final publication.

A paper presentation almost certainly gets more review than a poster, even with short time scales. Posters may be most valuable to students looking to get a start on making their, not quite ready, work visible and getting some feedback from conference attendees.

Moreover, it may be (or not) that the papers are published in the proceedings or an associated journal that doesn't include posters.

For some purposes one can do both, actually, even at the same conferences. The paper is expected to be more refined and complete, however.

You asked another question concerning literature. That field might be quite different. If you are a student then a professor in your field can probably give a tailored answer.

• 1 Thank you so much for your valuable comment. It certainly clarified my confusion. If the conference is on English literature, I guess the paper presentation still is more valuable than poster presentation right? –  user164929 Commented Mar 4, 2023 at 21:35
• 2 And, the more experience giving talks, the better your public speaking gets. –  Jon Custer Commented Mar 4, 2023 at 22:15
• 3 For completeness, in the context of CS, a poster presentation as described in the answer should not confused with a poster presentation of an accepted paper at a conference: for many large conferences, most accepted papers are presented via poster sessions instead of talks. –  GoodDeeds Commented Mar 5, 2023 at 9:24

I think that a lot of the effect of poster and paper presentations, in terms of their later (general) reputational value, depends on two main things.

• The number of people of importance and influence who would come to your paper presentation versus a poster viewing.
• The way in which posters versus papers are reported in any subsequent summary of proceedings .

Some post-conference publications include author-edited versions of the papers that were presented; when that happens, the posters are often not mentioned at all. The consequence is that when you cite your paper , people can read what it was about; but when it comes to citing your poster, the best that you can rely on is a line in the pre-conference agenda!

However, if there is no post-conference publication of papers, then it seems to me that there is little potential difference between a paper and a poster. You are really relying a lot on the conference attendees themselves to be the diseminators of your ideas (see point 1).

The Computer Science field is very good at publishing conference papers. I have no idea about the English Literature area.

In terms of CV weighting, my experience in the area of experimental psychology is that posters and conference papers tend to be treated much the same ... low!

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Some tips for preparing your paper presentation

First, organize your talk:, next, design your slides, next, preparing your presentation.

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What is a conference paper?

The word “conference” literally means” a meeting of two or more persons for discussing matters of common concern.” It is believed that the first use of the word was in 1527. But prior to the word’s emergence, humans have always met and discussed matters of common concern since time immemorial. Archeological findings have captured ancient forms of conferences with diverse agendas such as organizing tribal festivities, making arrangements for hunting, and wartime discussions, among others.

Conference papers are a more modern phenomenon that intensified with the entrenchment of formal education. Just like in ancient times, modern conferences also cover a vast range of matters, including science, technology, economics, politics, etc. The emergence of ICT and digital technology has now extended conferences to the internet in the form of video conferences.

In an educational context, therefore, a conference may be defined as a gathering of like-minded researchers, scholars, professionals, and other experts to interact and exchange ideas that will further enhance the stock of knowledge in a particular field. 

Conference paper explained

Unlike a journal paper or a term paper, a conference paper is an article presented at a conference. Before the presentation, however, either the paper’s abstract or full manuscript has to be submitted to the conference organizer for review and subsequent approval for presentation. Most times the manuscript is scrutinized by two or more referees or reviewers similar to a journal paper. Rejected papers will not be part of the conference. The presentation is usually oral and may be aided by visuals and software such as PowerPoint.

Often, the paper is later published in the conference proceedings to reach a wider audience. In academia and librarianship, a conference proceeding is a collection of academic papers published in an academic conference or workshop . Conference proceedings typically contain the contributions made by researchers at the conference. In other words, it is a written compilation of papers presented by researchers to fellow researchers and the public at a conference. Papers published in conference proceedings are usually distributed in printed or electronic volumes, either before the commencement of the conference or after its conclusion.

Though conference papers have a broad identical framework, their format can vary from one conference to another. However, a typical conference paper will have an abstract, a title, an introduction, objectives, a methods section, results/findings, discussion of findings, conclusion/recommendations, acknowledgments, and references. Some will also include subheadings such as problem statement, literature review, and funding footnote. The duration for each paper presentation also varies but usually will not exceed 30 minutes.

Note that conference papers and journal articles are a bit different from each other albeit both serve as avenues for introducing new scientific findings and procedures. Conference papers focus primarily on exploring new ideas, sometimes new ideas that haven’t been fleshed out yet. The number of pages of a conference paper also tends to be fewer than a journal paper, although this depends on the conventions of the conference.

Conference and Journal compared

Importance of conference papers

• They are used to determine those that will participate in the conference through a review process (i.e., you must first send your conference paper to be eligible for participation in the upcoming conference).
• They help give birth to new/original scientific findings
• They are used to educate audiences
• They serve as citations and references for other academic papers
• Presenting papers at conferences helps to boost your CV for employment and career advancement purposes, especially for tertiary-level academic staff

Conference paper presentation tips

Prepare adequately

Adequate preparation is important for succeeding in any human endeavor and a conference paper presentation is no different. Consider yourself a teacher entering the classroom to disseminate knowledge to learners. Therefore, you need to study your paper repeatedly prior to the conference to make sure you internalize all the important information inside it. Remember that conference proceedings usually include questions and answer sessions so you must be adequately prepared since questions can come from any part of your paper.

Conquer stage fright

Though there is nothing to fear about, stage fright is usually experienced by first-time and young presenters who are a little bit overwhelmed by the occasion or size of the audience. If you notice early signs of stage fright, try to take deep breaths and be as calm as possible. The more you talk, the more confident you’ll become, and with time the fright usually disappears. You may also want to rehearse your presentation in front of a familiar audience such as your friends and professional colleagues. Such rehearsals will help get you used to the conference environment which can imply little or no stage fright.

Look at your audience

Do not forget to frequently maintain eye contact with your audience while presenting your paper. Shying away from your audience can make them feel you lack the confidence to face an audience and can make the organizers feel you have poor presentation skills. 

Use visuals if necessary

Though you will not have time to speak elaborately, consider using visuals if you and the conference organizers feel it will enrich the paper. Visuals help make things clearer for the audience for a better understanding.

Present according to the allotted time

If you have been allotted 25 minutes to speak, try to tailor your presentation accordingly. It will appear inconsiderate and unprofessional if you encroach into the time reserved for other presenters or conference activities. Note that it is not necessary to present every word in your paper verbatim. Just discuss the information you feel is most important and leave the rest to be read up by anybody interested.

Present convincingly

You have to convince every member of the audience (which may include senior colleagues and potential employers) that you possess the necessary in-depth knowledge about the subject matter you are presenting. This is the more season why meticulous preparation is crucial if you want to speak authoritatively and impress your curious audience.

A conference paper is an article presented at a conference. But the paper has to be submitted before the start of the conference for review and approval. A paper that is not approved will not make it to the conference. Apart from being a written document, a conference paper is also presented orally during the conference.

All papers presented at a conference may be published as part of the conference proceedings. Conference paper formats vary according to each particular conference. They are important for a number of reasons. For instance, they are sources of new or original scientific research and can help enhance a CV for employment and career development.

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What is "AIN" in the Olympics? Why Russian and Belarusian athletes can't represent their countries

Updated on: July 27, 2024 / 9:07 AM EDT / CBS News

Now that the 2024 Olympics  have kicked off in Paris, athletes from two countries will compete without a national title, flag or anthem — instead, they'll be referred to as "AIN."

Athletes from Russia, which has been banned from competing in the Olympics as a country since 2017 for the fourth time in a row, are competing as what's known as individual neutral athletes, or "AIN" from the French translation. They will be joined by athletes from Belarus, which is banned as a country for the first time. The two nations are banned over involvement in the ongoing war in Ukraine .

Previously, Russian athletes were permitted to compete under the Russian Olympic Committee, or "ROC," which last made its appearance during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. They were allowed to compete under the "ROC" after a series of scandals curtailed their access to the Games, but that has changed for the Paris Games. 

What do ROC and AIN stand for?

"ROC" stands for "Russian Olympic Committee." As Russia has faced suspensions from Olympic competitions first because of a series of doping scandals and then over its invasion of Ukraine, Russian athletes have competed under various alternatives to their country's name. 

At the last Summer Olympics, which were held in Tokyo, Russian athletes competed under "ROC" rather than under the Russian flag.

At the Paris Olympics, Russian and Belarusian athletes will compete as "Individual Neutral Athletes," referred to as AIN from the French term, Athlètes Individuels Neutres. There will be far fewer competitors from the two nations than in past Games, and all had to be invited and adhere to strict guidelines.

Why is Russia banned from the Olympics?

Olympic athletes from Russia have faced a series of scandals and challenges in recent years. While previous bans and suspensions had to do with doping scandals, Russia was most recently suspended by the International Olympic Committee for its invasion of Ukraine. 

The scandal of Russian athletes taking illegal performance-enhancing drugs burst into public view in 2015 after a series of leaks and investigations. In November 2015, the entire Russian track and field team was suspended after an investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency found what it called a "culture of cheating."

A 2016  report  from the World Anti-Doping Agency identified more than 1,000 individuals linked to a Russian state-sponsored doping scheme between 2011 and 2014. Some of the individual athletes had won medals — including gold medals — in the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia. 

The report referred to the doping scheme as an "institutional conspiracy" involving Russia's secret service.

The International Olympic Committee banned Russia in 2017 because of the scheme, but it gave individual athletes the chance to apply for admission to compete as "Olympic Athletes from Russia."

While 168 Russians passed the vetting process to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, many others were banned. Dozens filed appeals with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and Russia's desperate attempt to get 45 banned athletes into Pyeongchang failed just hours before the opening ceremony . 

In 2019, the World Doping Agency voted to ban Russia from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Games over manipulated doping data. The ban not only ruled Russia out of the following Olympic cycle but also barred Russian government officials from attending major events. Russia also lost the right to host or even bid for tournaments.

In 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking new controversies about the country's role in peaceful international competition. 

The IOC's Executive Board was unequivocal in its condemnation of the invasion, which it called a "blatant violation" of the Olympic Truce and the Olympic Charter. 

On the one hand, the IOC said, protective measures had to be taken against inviting athletes from national committees whose governments were deciding who could or could not participate in competitions, which compromised the political neutrality of athletes. On the other, the IOC said it was determined not to discriminate against athletes on the basis of their passports, which would go against the IOC's "mission to unify the entire world in peaceful competition." 

The IOC solved this "grave dilemma" by deciding athletes from Russia and Belarus could participate as individuals.

This also meant that no international sports events would be organized in Russia or Belarus; no flag, anthems or other national symbols would be displayed at international sports events; and no government or state officials would be invited to sports events. 

"The Olympic Games cannot prevent wars and conflicts,"  the IOC said  in 2023. "Nor can they address all the political and social challenges in our world. This is the realm of politics. But the Olympic Games can set an example for a world where everyone respects the same rules and one another."

In 2023, nearly 20 months into its war with Ukraine, the IOC suspended Russia with immediate effect for violating the Olympic Charter by incorporating sports councils in four regions in eastern Ukraine. 

Russia appealed the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland, but it lost the case in February this year, AP reported. The suspension meant the ROC couldn't receive funding from the IOC, though it didn't affect the Russian athletes competing in the games as neutral athletes.

On its website , the IOC says that it reserves the right to decide whether athletes with Russian or Belarusian passports participate.

What's different about competing as AIN athletes?

According to IOC guidelines, "Qualified athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport will be entered as, and compete as, Individual Neutral Athletes." Teams of athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport will not be permitted to compete in the Paris Olympics unless they are all competing as individuals. 

And, any individual athletes who actively support the war or who are contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security agencies cannot compete, according to the IOC, and they must adhere to doping standards.

Under the terms of the suspension, no athlete or sports official from either Russia or Belarus will be allowed to participate in the Olympics under the name of Russia or Belarus. In addition, no national flags, colors, anthems or "other national symbols whatsoever" may be displayed, and no government or state officials may be accredited for any of the sporting events. And, since they are competing as individuals and not as representatives of their nations, they cannot participate in the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremonies.

According to the IOC, individual athletes have to be invited by the IOC and only a very limited number will qualify through the existing systems. 

As of July 20 , the IOC said there were 15 individual athletes from Russia and 18 from Belarus among the thousands of athletes who have qualified from around the world. Only about 60 athletes from the two nations had been invited under the new, strict standards. 

"The distinction between States and individuals is of paramount importance," Alexandra Xanthaki, UN special rapporteur for cultural rights,  said  in May 2023. "Human rights were established and adopted by all nations to protect individuals and groups against the abuse of power from States and against the tyranny of majorities. Punishing individuals solely based on their nationality for the heinous acts of leaders over which they have no control, would undermine this distinction. But banning States from sports events may be a legitimate measure."

When will Russia be allowed to participate in the Olympics again?

The sanctions against Russia reinforced at the Olympic Summit in December 2022 "remain firmly in place," the IOC said, giving no indications they would be lifted anytime soon.

• World Anti-Doping Agency

S. Dev is a news editor for CBSNews.com.

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Olympics Opening Ceremony 2024: How to watch, start time, and everything you need to know

Over 10,000 athletes will sail down the Seine on Friday in what is poised to be most ambitious Olympic opening ceremony ever attempted.

The 2024 Olympics , which kick off this week in Paris, are intended to " revolutionize " the Games yet remain accessible to a broad audience.

To commemorate the official start of the Olympics, which were last held in Paris exactly a century ago, organizers have spent years orchestrating a dynamic, and distinctly French, affair.

Follow along for live coverage

Over a billion people around the world are expected to tune in. Here's everything to know about the ceremony, which, if all goes to plan, will go down in Olympic history.

Stream every moment and every medal of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Peacock, starting with the opening ceremony Friday at 12 p.m. ET.

What time does the Olympics opening ceremony start?

The live NBC broadcast kicks off with a pre-show at noon ET Friday, and the ceremony itself begins at 7:30 p.m. Paris time, or 1:30 p.m. ET.

The prime-time encore telecast, which features additional content, will air later in the day for U.S. viewers, at 7:30 p.m. ET. The ceremony is expected to be over four hours.

Follow here for live coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

How can you watch the opening ceremony?

NBC will have 40 cameras capturing the action in Paris, and live coverage begins at noon ET. The ceremony will be broadcast on TV and streamed in digital format on NBC, Peacock and NBC Olympics. (NBC News shares a parent company with those entities, NBCUniversal).

A complete schedule of the events over the next two weeks can be found here .

What happens during the opening ceremony?

At the start of the ceremony, the French flag will be raised and the French national anthem will be played.

Next comes what is arguably the highlight of the ceremony: the Parade of Nations. Athletes representing 206 countries will make their ceremonial entrance into the Games. Historically, that involves marching into a stadium on foot, but this year, athletes will proceed by boat along the " main artery " of Paris, the Seine River.

"An opening ceremony has never been held outside of a stadium. There is no model; it’s absolute creation," opening ceremony artistic director Thomas Jolly told The Associated Press .

Each national delegation will ride in a boat equipped with cameras that enable immersive access for viewers.

The ceremony will begin at the Austerlitz Bridge and travel just under 4 miles down the river, landing at the Trocadéro near the Eiffel Tower. Along the way, the athletes will pass the city's most prominent icons, including the Louvre and the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral.

At the end of the route, the Olympic torch will be lit. French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to speak.

Several potential roadblocks, such as security and pollution concerns , have threatened to impede the extravagant opening ceremony. However, officials maintain that they are " more than ready " as they make their final preparations.

Who are the ceremony hosts? Who is performing?

NBC's Mike Tirico will host the ceremony for the fourth time, alongside three-time Grammy-winning singer Kelly Clarkson and NFL Hall of Famer Peyton Manning.

Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, hosts of NBC’s “TODAY,” will have an aerial view of the ceremony from a bridge on the Seine. Maria Taylor, a commentator for NBC Sports, will also be part of the hosting effort.

The official musical performers remain unconfirmed, but Céline Dion and Lady Gaga have both arrived in Paris, further fueling speculation that they may be among the headliners.

The French newspaper  Le Parisien  reported that Dion, who is Québécois and often sings in French, is rumored to perform “L’Hymne à l’amour,” by one of France's most famous musicians, Édith Piaf. It would be Dion's first live performance since she was diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome in 2022.

When will Team USA appear? Who are the flag bearers?

Because the U.S. will host the next Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028, Team USA is set to be the penultimate team down the river. France gets the honor of being the last boat for its home Olympics.

NBA legend LeBron James and U.S. Open tennis champion Coco Gauff are scheduled to bear the U.S. flag throughout the ceremony. Gauff, 20, will be the youngest athlete to ever carry the Stars and Stripes at an Olympic opening ceremony.

James is a three-time Olympic medalist, while Gauff will make her Olympic debut in Paris.

I’m the newsroom coordinator for NBC News Digital and cover all things gymnastics, culture and breaking news. My past work includes coverage of Simone Biles’ road to the 2024 Paris Olympics , the death of a fan at Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” and the Vermont shooting of three Palestinian students . You can often find me live-blogging major events in pop culture like the Oscars, the Grammys and the Super Bowl.

Harris campaign vetting at least 7 Dems for VP, including Whitmer, Cooper, Kelly, Shapiro

REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. – Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign has requested vetting materials from at least seven Democrats under consideration to be her vice presidential running mate, USA TODAY has learned from a source familiar with the process.

Those being vetted for the job include North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

The Harris campaign has also requested vetting materials from one Democrat whose name has received much less attention as a vice-presidential contender: Cedric Richmond, a former congressman from Louisiana who served as a top aide in the Biden White House and on his campaign.

"I would color that doubtful," Richmond told a New Orleans TV station.

Whitmer also tried to take herself out of the running on Monday, telling a local TV station on Monday that she's "not leaving Michigan."

Notably missing from the Harris vice president vetting list that was shared by the source are Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Both have been speculated as running mate possibilities for Harris, with Beshear telling MSNBC on Monday that he had spoken with the vice president since Biden dropped out of the 2024 race.

The source familiar with the Harris vice president vetting process told USA TODAY other Democrats not included in the group of seven being vetted could still emerge as contenders but are not currently on the Harris campaign's radar.

Sure enough, ABC News reported on Tuesday that Beshear is indeed among those who has been asked for vetting material.

Former Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder, who endorsed Harris this week, and Dana Remus with the law firm, Covington & Burling LLP, are leading the vetting process, according to the source familiar with the vetting effort.

Remus served as White House Counsel in the Biden administration, and led the vetting process for U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson ahead of her mid-2022 Senate confirmation.

The Harris campaign declined to comment.

Fast-paced 'veepstakes' underscores tiny window

Harris  is moving swiftly to build up a team that took shape after President Joe Biden's stunning departure from the 2024 campaign trail.

In less than 48 hours, she raked in more than the needed 1,976 delegates to become the party's presumptive presidential nominee ahead of the first round of voting at the August national convention in Chicago. Vice presidential candidates run separately, which means whoever Harris picks will receive a separate vote on the convention floor.

With roughly 100 days until the election, experts say the short timeframe means this group being vetted could be the only round of contenders.

"If we were in a normal situation, this would be a process that would play out over a couple of months," David Hopkins, a political science professor at Boston College, told USA TODAY.

"They don't really have that kind of time, because the convention is coming up in a few weeks," he added.

Critical choice to 'balance' ticket, contrast with Trump, Vance

All of the names being floated bring their own strengths and weaknesses, experts say, as they are auditioning to join the brand new Harris ticket. The choice will first center on who best complements Harris.

Hopkins said the vetting list suggests Harris' team is thinking about who would be best at helping the ticket appeal to a different segment of voters as it tries to cobble together a new coalition that can help them defeat Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in November.

"When you have a someone from California who's a woman of color and has experience in Washington, then the obvious way to sort of balance it is to think about someone from a different part of the country, or from a battleground state," he said.

The other thing a Harris running mate could be used for is serving as an attack dog against Trump, particularly in contrast with his running mate, Sen.  JD Vance , R-Ohio, who has championed his upbringing in rural Ohio.

During an appearance Tuesday on "Morning Joe," for instance, Walz, the Minnesota governor, took direct swings at Vance, who is thought to be a lunch pail messenger to working class voters.

"What I know is people like JD Vance know nothing about small-town America," Walz said.

"He gets it all wrong, it's not about hate, it's not about collapsing in," he added. "The golden rule there is mind your own damn business. Their policies are what destroyed rural America. They've divided us. They're in our exam rooms. They're telling us what books to read."

Other rumored Harris contenders, such as Buttigieg and Beshear, launched similar attacks aimed at Vance earlier in the week.

Michael Traugott, an emeritus research professor of political studies at the University of Michigan, said Harris' entry resets the 2024 race and that this represents her first major test as the Democratic standard bearer. Her pick also will signal to voters much about the vice president's thinking on the White House campaign that has a little more than 100 days to go.

"It's a little hard to figure precisely because we're short on the polling of assessing the actual Democratic team against Trump and Vance," he said. "But it's still a very closely contested race, and most of the action takes place in the battleground states, so I would probably consider at the top of that list governors of battleground states."

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2024 Paris Olympics

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Phryge, the mascot of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, cheers at the women's group B match between the U.S. and Zambia on Thursday. Marc Atkins/Getty Images hide caption

The Paris Olympics are finally here. More than 10,000 athletes have descended on the French capital for more than two weeks of competition, patriotism and potential drama. NPR’s own Olympics team will bring you recaps, coverage and color — including on the ground in Paris — online and on air over the next few weeks.

Cardboard beds have returned to the Olympics. What do they do?

Maquita Peters

Cardboard beds at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games have made headlines. VCG/via Getty Images hide caption

NPR is in Paris for the 2024 Summer Olympics. For more of our coverage from the Games, head to  our latest updates.

Cardboard beds are making a comeback at the 2024 Paris Olympics, in an effort to help make the Games more environmentally friendly — and according to some skeptical athletes, make sure the only sweat Olympians break is on the field.

The now-infamous 100% cardboard bed frames made their Olympic debut at the Tokyo Summer Games in 2021 and athletes again found the recyclable beds in their rooms when they arrived this week at the Olympic Village in Paris.

Athletes in 2021 dubbed the beds "anti-sex," playing on a long-standing rumor that the Olympic Village is a hotbed for hookups among competitors. But Olympic organizers say that the beds' true focus is sustainability at the notoriously environmentally harsh event.

"These sustainable beds are 100% made in France and will be fully recycled in France after the Games," according to a video posted to the Olympics' official YouTube channel.

The cardboard base's length can be adjusted to account for each athlete's height, and the "mattress" consists of three modules that can be flipped to change firmness according to each person's preference.

On social media, Olympians arriving in Paris tested out the beds and left various reviews about their quality.

Live Updates: The Tokyo Olympics

Even with cardboard beds and recycled medals, olympics take flak over the environment.

Australian water poloist Matilda Kearns wrote on TikTok that she "already had a massage to undo the damage" of the bed, which she said was "rock solid" even on the softest setting.

Kearns said her manager rushed to get the team mattress toppers to improve team members' sleep.

British diver Tom Daley recorded himself jumping up and down on the bed , confirming the sturdiness of the structure.

The beds are just one part of the Games' efforts to reduce the mega-event's carbon footprint, in what organizers have called the "greenest-ever Games."

Your guide to keeping up with the Paris Olympics

The athletes village is also air conditioner-free, instead being cooled by a system of water pipes beneath the floorboards.

Team USA and others balked at the concept , opting to send their competitors portable units for their rooms.

• Paris Olympics 2024

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What We Know About the Global Microsoft Outage

Airlines to banks to retailers were affected in many countries. Businesses are struggling to recover.

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By Eshe Nelson and Danielle Kaye

Eshe Nelson reported from London and Danielle Kaye from New York.

Across the world, critical businesses and services including airlines, hospitals, train networks and TV stations, were disrupted on Friday by a global tech outage affecting Microsoft users.

In many countries, flights were grounded, workers could not get access to their systems and, in some cases, customers could not make card payments in stores. While some of the problems were resolved within hours, many businesses, websites and airlines continued to struggle to recover.

What happened?

A series of outages rippled across the globe as information displays, login systems and broadcasting networks went dark.

The problem affecting the majority of services was caused by a flawed update by CrowdStrike , an American cybersecurity firm, whose systems are intended to protect users from hackers. Microsoft said on Friday that it was aware of an issue affecting machines running “CrowdStrike Falcon.”

But Microsoft had also said there was an earlier outage affecting U.S. users of Azure, its cloud service system. Some users may have been affected by both. Even as CrowdStrike sent out a fix, some systems were still affected by midday in the United States as businesses needed to make manual updates to their systems to resolve the issue.

George Kurtz, the president and chief executive of CrowdStrike, said on Friday morning that it could take some time for some systems to recover.

How a Software Update Crashed Computers Around the World

Here’s a visual explanation for how a faulty software update crippled machines.

How the airline cancellations rippled around the world (and across time zones)

Share of canceled flights at 25 airports on Friday

50% of flights

Ai r po r t

Bengalu r u K empeg o wda

Dhaka Shahjalal

Minneapolis-Saint P aul

Stuttga r t

Melbou r ne

Be r lin B r anden b urg

London City

Amsterdam Schiphol

Chicago O'Hare

Raleigh−Durham

B r adl e y

Cha r lotte

Reagan National

Philadelphia

1:20 a.m. ET

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