Chapter 2在线视频

Hello everyone

I'm Lu Fengxiang from Capital Medical University

Now we are going to talk about Chapter Two

Preparing for International Academic Conferences

Upon completion of this chapter

you are expected to be familiar

with the common types of conference presentations

know the important information

relating to your presentation delivery

Part 1

Common types of conference presentations

When preparing to attend an academic conference

you have to consider the formats of the presentation

In fact

the type of formats depends on

whether or not you submitted a proposal

that was already accepted by the conference

or you were invited to participate in some specific presentation

by the conference organizers

The formats for presentations are varied

The common types include oral presentation

poster presentation

symposium

as well as workshop

1 Oral presentations

Oral presentations

Oral presentations are generally considered

preferable compared to poster presentations

for quite a lot of people feel that

oral presentations are more prestigious

and offer more cache than poster presentations

First individual presentations

Individual presentations can be contributed or invited talks

which often last 15 to 30 minutes in length

and leave a short time

if any

for questions from the audience

As for contributed presentations

anyone who submits a proposal or an abstract

as required by the conference

is potentially eligible to deliver a contributed talk

As for invited talks

the conference organizers invite the experts

in a specific area to share their recent work

It's common that the contributed presentations

are of shorter duration than the invited talks

As for the benefits of the invited speakers receive

that depends on the specific meetings

and the meeting organizers

At some conferences

the invited speakers

may be offered free or reduced registration

lodging

travel

etc

However

there are some cases

that the invited speaker may come with none of these benefits

Therefore

if you are "invited" someday

don't make assumptions for the benefits

It would be clever to ask the conference organizers what services

if any

the conference will provide to you

Quite frequently

being invited to the conference

is considered a significant honor to the researchers

The contributed presenters have prepared their conference paper

before their presentation

and their presentation at the conference is typically a more focused

narrower version of their overall project

Paper presentations are assigned to the appropriate sessions

These sessions generally include

Themed session

Themed sessions primarily include completed research or scholarly work

The presentations will be grouped by topics

or themes into sessions that include several related presentations

This facilitates audience attendance

and topic organization at the conference

Roundtable session

Roundtable sessions allow the presenters an opportunity to interact

and converse with the audience

The presenters are assigned to a table in a conference room

and those interested attendees may join them at their table

These sessions are typically best for position papers

policy analyses

and other types of topics that benefit from extended discussion time

Panel discussions

In panel discussions

two or more speakers will present different aspects

perspectives or thoughts on a particular topic

a research problem

or a question

Each speaker will have an opportunity to present their information

and when all the speakers are finished

typically there is time for discussion

Unless absolutely necessary for the topic

avoid PowerPoint presentations and slides

for they tend to slow down the discussion

keep audience involvement low

and often bore the audiences

Use a small number of slides

only when information or diagrams need to be presented

that cannot easily be explained in words alone

2 Poster presentations

Poster presentations are valuable opportunities

for a large number of conference attendees

to present their work in the form of visual poster presentation

Poster presenters are usually provided a significant amount of space

3 inches * 4 inches or more

on which to fully display their research

in a visually attractive and professional way

The poster presenters generally have the opportunity

to share their research work over an extended period of time

lasting an hour or more

even a whole day at some conferences

This allows the poster presenters to describe

and discuss their research in greater detail

than would be possible in an oral presentation

to those who are genuinely interested in their research

3 Symposium presentations

Symposium presentations

A symposium is a type of conference

or session that focuses on one particular topic

It is often a collection of papers from a number of contributors

Each contributor will have an opportunity

to present and a time for discussion

This type of session is valuable

when multiple perspectives on a particular subject

may be of interest to the audience

and can be put together in one session

A symposium is also a time for networking

and collaboration with peers and colleagues

since these sessions

are often comprised of experts in the fields

who have come together to share ideas

4 Workshop presentations

Workshop

are interactive sessions

varying in length

from approximately one hour to a full day

The sessions usually begin with explanatory

or introductory information

and then move on to involve the audience

in some type of interactive

participatory activity

The interactive presentations at the workshops

are particularly suited for demonstrations

learning new skills or procedures

debates

exhibitions and so on

part 2

Important information relating to your presentation delivery

Preparation is the single most important part

of making a successful presentation

It is important to know the information

like the audience who will attend the conference

the venue where the conference will be held

and the length of time that you will be given to talk etc

1 The audience

The more you know about and understand the background

and needs of your audience

the better you can prepare your presentation

It is worth considering who will be the prospective audience

and it is important to tailor your presentation to the audience

The following three points of the audience should be considered

1 The size of the audience expected

The size of the audience is an important influence on any presentation

In general

the larger the group

the more difficult it is to satisfy everyone

Therefore

you need to know the important qualities of large audiences

First

The members of a larger group are less cohesive

than members of a smaller group

and the behavior of larger audiences is less predictable

than that of smaller groups

Second

The members of a larger group

are likely to have less in common with one another

than members of a smaller group

In any larger group

some members of the audience will disagree with you

Third

The members of a larger group have a greater variation in attitudes

knowledge about the topic or theme

and educational level than members of a smaller group

Large groups present greater challenges

for finding the appropriate balance of technical

and nontechnical information

The attitude of the audience towards you and your topic

can vary in several ways

The audience may like or dislike you and your topic

or take a neutral attitude towards you and your topic

If the audience has a positive attitude towards either you or your topic

you are off to a good start

If the audience dislikes you or your topic

try to discover the source of the negative attitude

and make a special effort

to be positive at the beginning of the presentation

3 The knowledge of the audience expected

What does your audience already know about your topic

and what are their typical educational levels

The answers to these questions determine

what you will need to do to adapt your presentation

to fit this specific audience

When the audience is unfamiliar with your topic

or when your topic is much complex

given the educational backgrounds of the audience

you can help the audience understand you by the following ways

First

Use a vocabulary that everyone will understand

Second

Explain technical terms

Third

Make your organizational plan obvious

and make transitions clear

Fourth

Repeat and emphasize your key points

2 The conference place

It can be of great benefit to have

as much advance information as possible

about the place where you are going to talk

The following points of the conference place should be considered

first

The size of the room

second

The seating arrangements

third

The availability of equipment

e.g.

microphone

overhead projector

and computer equipment

fourth

The position of the light switches

fifth

The availability of parking facilities

so you do not have a long walk

carrying any equipment you might need to take

3 The time for you to talk

Often there is no flexibility in the time of day

that your presentation is made

It may be arranged in the morning

in the afternoon or even in the evening or at the weekend

If you have the opportunity to select the time

the following points should be considered

First Morning

Morning is the best time to talk

because people are generally at their most alert time of a day

However

if it is late morning

there may be other problems

as people begin to feel hungry and think about lunch

Second Afternoon

Early afternoon is not an ideal time to make presentations

for people often feel sleepy after lunch

Mid-afternoon time is better

whereas the end of the afternoon is worse

Third Evening

There is a higher likelihood of audience's attention in the evening

especially when your presentation does not go on too long

The length for you to talk. It would be clever to find out how long you can talk

and check if this includes the time for questions

Beware of over-running time

for other presenters are following you

Also

it is important to remember

that people will find it difficult to maintain concentration

for long periods of time

and this is a good reason for making your presentation succinct

well-structured and interesting

Part 3 Practice

question 1

What are the similarities and differences

between the types of presentation formats

question 2

If your presentation time is arranged in the late morning

and its length is 20 minutes

what preparations will you do prior to your presentation