Presenting at Conferences

Although attending professional conferences is a great way for graduate students to network and learn from others in the field, presenting at a conference is even better. When you present at a conference, you gain visibility and make positive impressions on professors, recruiters, other students, and future colleagues. To help you prepare for your presentations, follow these suggestions:

• Find out how long your time slot is and make sure your talk is the right length.
• As you prepare your presentation, organize it logically as you would a research paper, with an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
• Practice in front of an audience of people who will give you useful feedback. You can also record your presentation and analyze your own performance. Move about as you plan to during the actual presentation so it will feel natural to you.
• Know who your audience will be and tailor your presentation and amount of detail to their level of knowledge and interest.
• Present a professional, relaxed appearance: dress appropriately, speak slowly, and maintain eye contact.
• If you are using presentation software to make slides, plan to spend about two minutes on each slide. Make sure the text on the slides is readable: a good rule of thumb is no more than five words to a line and seven lines to a slide. Also include pictures and other graphics to illustrate your ideas.
• Do not read from a script or from the slides. Have notes and paraphrase the slides.
• Before the presentation begins, check to make sure that any equipment you need, such as a projector and computer, is set up and working.
• Prepare handouts of your presentation so the audience won't have to take extensive notes.