38 Posters & Presentations

Types of Conference Presentations

Conference presentations take many forms. Before submitting an abstract to a conference, be sure to consider what kind of presentation you want to make. Below, we discuss some common presentation types:

• Traditional Paper/Oral Presentation: This is the standard oral presentation (usually 15 minutes plus additional time at the end for questions) where one or more speakers (joint-presenters) share research results, completed works, innovative concepts, theoretical applications, methodologies, or tools.
• Student Presentation: These are similar to the traditional paper/oral presentations described above, but with an emphasis on students’ work. By providing a separate avenue for students to share their work or labelling the presentation as “students”, the pressure can be lessened. Sometimes, students have separate sessions, but other times, they are grouped with other paper presentations. If this is the case, the presentation is usually identified as student presentations in the program.
• Poster Presentation: This is a less formal opportunity to share your work in a visual format. We discuss this in greater depth later in the chapter.
• Panel Presentation: This is where multiple speakers present their perspective on a common issue, usually for 60 to 90 minutes. While many students prefer to present posters or shorter oral presentations, if a group of students has a common research interest or concern, they can apply to a conference to present on a panel. The speakers are responsible for coordinating the panel and assigning roles (such as moderator). Each speaker on a panel is usually given at least one individual question as well as an introductory and closing remark.
• Roundtables: are similar to panels in the sense that a group of discussants seated around a table comment on a theme. Roundtable presenters bring targeted questions to pose to participants at the table in order to learn from and with those attending. It is quite unlikely that you will present your work on a roundtable, but you can check out conference websites if you wish to learn more (see Box for a list of potential conferences).
• Lightning Round-Tables: These are opportunities to network by briefly summarizing your work to a small audience (usually in 15 minutes or less), followed by an interactive discussion. Discussants will then move to another table and repeat the procedure. This provides the opportunity to get more intimate connections for other participants and attendees.

In addition to the above presentations, at a conference, you will likely see expert lectures, keynote addresses, and debates. These are presented by established academics in the field, so we will not discuss them. However, it is a great idea to go to these presentations at conferences. For the rest of the chapter, we will focus on oral presentations and posters because these are what you will most likely present at conferences. If you wish to submit an abstract for other presentation types, be sure to discuss it with your advisor, supervisor, or mentor.

Oral Presentations

A well-organized oral presentation typically has the following elements: a background, research question, outline of research and the talk (methods), findings/discussion, and conclusion. Below, we elaborate on 12 tips to help you successfully showcase these elements and execute a noteworthy presentation.

Planning

Planning is fundamental to you delivering a successful oral presentation. Almost every conference you attend will have a set of guidelines for you to adhere to (e.g., the time limit). Begin by familiarizing yourself with those guidelines. Remember that you will not be able to share your entire research project or all the interesting findings on one 18×24 poster or in a 15-minute presentation. You will need to zoom in on a specific issue or research question from your project.

Table 38.1 shows an example of how one might plan a 30-minute oral presentation. When planning, highlight the significant portions of each section: the introduction, positionality, literature review, methods, findings, discussion, and conclusion. Give rough outlines of how much time each section will take, and test this outline to ensure you will not be going over (example of fifteen-minute speech plan in Box 12.3.1.1). It is best to try to get your practice done at least one to two minutes less than the designated time (e.g., aim to finish a 30-minute presentation in 28 minutes). On the day, nerves, technical issues, and other factors can make you go for longer than you practiced. In general, program chairs keep very strict timing and give you frequent time updates during your presentation. Planning with built-in flexibility can help calm your nerves before and during your presentation.

The Introduction

Because oral presentations at conferences are short, you must aim to quickly entice your audience. Common ways to do this include starting with a historical anecdote or story related to your topic, unpacking a key quote from your qualitative study, introducing a paradox in your field, asking a provoking question to your audience, and inquiring what a seemingly straightforward concept in your field really means in practice.

Positionality Statement

Make sure to briefly describe who you are and why you conducted this research. Highlight other team members and identify their positionality and connection to the research topic. Include aspects of your professional and personal identity that help you understand the research topic in nuanced ways. Make sure to keep this brief.

Research Question(s) & Order

Once you have introduced your topic, immediately state your research question(s) and use that momentum to guide your listeners through the methods and findings. If outlined on a slide, put it on the same slide or on the next. After this, aim to incorporate it in the context of your presentation. Answer how your presentation will be structured and tell your audience how this structure will address your research question.

Literature Review (optional)

This is a section that you can skip in a presentation, but if you do decide to keep it, make it sparse. We suggest picking one or two key authors that inspired your study or separating the key concepts in the literature that have inspired your study. As with all types of research, outline the literature with close attention to the gap you are going to fill.

Methods (necessary, but shortened)

Give the short version of your methods. You are allowed, in an oral presentation, to just be as simple as saying a “grounded theory approach”. Suggest to your audience that they can ask you further about your methods in the question period. This is a place where you should also consider talking about the limitations of your research. However, saving it for after the conclusion to make clear to your audience that the implications of your study can be strengthened in future research is another useful strategy.

Findings (the heart, but keep it concise)

Consider shortening your findings to just two or three themes. Especially in qualitative research, going down every rabbit hole with regard to your findings will distract from the core point of your presentation: your contribution. Highlight only those findings which you think are (1) unique, (2) useful to others, (3) best answer your research question, and (4) capable of being conveyed in your very limited timeframe. For instance, Wilson’s (2021) research on Uber had five themes which he shortened to three for his fifteen-minute conference presentation. As he explained, “I chose the three themes that addressed the legislative impact of Uber’s framing in order to best address one of my RQ’s: “did Uber’s framing in the media affect the final legislative decisions?”

Discussion

The discussion is a section that can be easily truncated into your conclusion or at the end of the findings section. It is essential, however, that you implicate the meaning of your findings for the field. What was the gap you filled? How do your findings corroborate with past research on your subject? Whenever covering any of your findings, consider how they affect the field of your audience: what does your work say about their work? Likewise, in disseminating your research for the community, this final part is essential: how do your findings affect their day-to-day lives? Will it affect a policy that governs their behavior, etc?

Conclusion, Limitations, and Implications

The conclusion is where you outline what you have said, what is missing from your study, and what can be done in the future. Clearly summarize the key findings of your talk before talking about what is missing. Once you have summarized the findings, be humble! Talk about the limitations of your research and briefly discuss how they could be addressed in future studies. Once the ground is laid, you are now ready to resoundingly end your presentation: summarize the major themes of your research into implications – the contribution of your work. Why should everyone remember the work you do? It is entirely based upon your ability to convince them that the research is worth remembering into the future: in future work, research, and reflection. Implications often take two forms: for future research and for action outside of research. When speaking to academics, the first is more important. When discussing with the broader community, the latter will likely be higher valued.

Designing Your Slides

The most important thing to remember about designing your slides is to keep them clean, clear, and engaging. Do not include too much text on one page and ensure that the colors used are accessible. You might also consider using concept maps (Google slides has lots of pyramid animations). Whatever you do, keep slides sparse, do not pick Roman fonts, be consistent, and use bold quotes. For additional tips, see Brian Campbell’s website for suggestions.

Trimming the Excess

It is unlikely that you will get the timing right on your first practice run. It is okay to allow yourself to go over (or under) to begin, but ensure you can make the necessary adjustments to each section of your presentation. If you are still extremely over the time limit (and you should aim to go a little under, so you can take it slow for your presentation), then you should cut full sections. Consider removing your literature review, compressing your discussion into your findings or conclusion, and/or taking off one of your findings sections. If you are still over the limit, consider shortening your research question or focusing on fewer research questions. If your presentation is too short, consider expanding on your findings and the discussions.

Fear of Public Speaking/Cooling Off Before You Speak

Composure and confidence will make your presentation go over smoother. Speaking with confidence—in a clear, steady voice—is essential to winning the confidence of your audience. However, sometimes you are just overrun by nerves. If that is the case, you are not alone. Fear of public speaking is extremely common, but there are things that you can do to help calm those nerves. See Mayo Clinic’s website for a list of suggestions.

Poster Presentations

All of the rules for oral presentations apply to some degree to poster presentations, but with some important qualifications. As most poster presentations do not have the same oral component (online conferences excepted), the structure of your talk is not constrained by what you can say in ten minutes. It is constrained by what you can put in an 18×24 poster. Most people will not spend more than ten minutes on your poster, and if they do, their eyes will have to be flagged by vital information early. It is therefore important that your poster is able to quickly convey the bigger picture of your argument, quickly shouting why your audience should care about it before going into the other relevant details. The following tips are aimed at that purpose.

The General Rule about Font and Spacing

Posters typically use a 16 pt font, and it is an unspoken rule that 60% of your poster should be empty space and the rest image and text. We suggest picking two fonts: 18 pt for bolded statements and titles, and 16 pt for regular text. Also, academic conferences will often state their own rules for the poster presentation. Write down these rules and organize everything else accordingly.

Titles Are Your Vitals

The titles will give your reader a sense of the direction of your entire paper. It is therefore important that they are exceptionally clear and purposeful. While it is okay to say “introduction, RQ, Methods,” we suggest that you be even more to the point: “Washington School Districts Reading Scores, Single Case Analysis, Results: Bilingual students’ growth, etc.” Make use of subtitles (even with a slightly different colored font which thematically fits your color schema) to etch the entire purpose of your poster and grab the reader’s attention.

Put That RQ in Bold

Try to put your research question in a separate, bolded, enlarged section so your reader will be able to immediately decide if your poster is related to their interest.

Concept Maps & Diagrams

Even if you do not use the concept map, it is good to draw out your poster or oral presentation on a concept map before constructing your final script. This way, you can easily narrow down the structure of your presentation. And just as it makes things easier for you to conceptualize, so will it make things easier for your audience, so consider adding them as an outline of your paper or to explain a complicated relationship in your findings. PowerPoint and Google Slides both have solid tools for designing diagrams and concept maps.

Avoid Big Text Blurbs

Do not use wordy paragraphs on your poster. A poster must aim to balance telling with showing. Make use of diagrams, select key quotations, and one-sentence summaries of your key findings. In quantitative research, this task will be much easier, since the poster can be simply structured to highlight graphs of the key findings.

Data Visualizations

Data visualization is important on posters, especially for quantitative research. Consider the types of graphs that present your findings and are easy to understand.

Aesthetic Considerations

Aesthetic concerns apply, but balanced alongside clarity. You want to grab your audience’s attention, but then justify that attention by elucidating an important point in their field. Use consistent and complementary color schemes. Try primary colors, but nothing too gaudy like neon. Look up a color wheel and research a scheme that will work for you. Consider downloading and using the templates of posters. Do not use different fonts, etc.

Engaging Your Audience

At academic conferences, it is not necessary that you talk to everyone who looks at your poster. You are more than welcome to play the sheepish store clerk who smiles and waits patiently to see if the customers in their store will buy their goods. An alternative to this, however, is to attempt to engage passersby in your work. For instance, ask them politely if they want an overview of the work or if they have also done research in the same field. Direct them to the research question and to the key findings of your research. Let them know if you think your research will have implications for their field. By touching on these questions near the heart of their disciplines, you can show them your value as a contributor.

Video 38.1. How To Present an Academic Research Poster by Syracuse University iSchool

Equity Activity: Non-traditional dissemination of research

Posters, presentations, and research papers are the traditional ways researchers disseminate research. The purpose of research dissemination is to make sure that the data gets into the hands of the communities that it is serving. There are some limitations on who can access our research findings. However, there are creative ways to share research, such as podcasts, infographics, and even TikTok videos! Here are some examples for you to consider (select the image to enlarge):

Video 38.2. Indigenous Research: Beadworking as an Indigenous Research Paradigm by Tiffany Prete