Proper knowledge of the subject matter,Good and legible slide preparation if necessary,Good and articulate presentation,ability to maintain your stand during question time,Receptivity to other's suggestions and finally,Salutation of your audience for their time.Regards!
Try to give the audience a summary according to your understanding to the topic of the lecture or research that you try to present
also you should be concerned with the formulation of the title of the research or the research with a brief formulation covering all aspects, dimensions and variables of the subject, idea or research in order to attract them.
The presentation becomes nice if its clear, precise and concise. In addition to these the presentation should be supported with informative tables, images and diagrams.
One has to present a thesis following several steps in order to be successful. There are rules to start with, to present the core of the work and to end the presentation as well as to interact with or evaluate the acceptance of the audience withing a set limit of time.
The success of presentation can be evaluated on the basis of content as well as the satisfaction of the audiences.
· The core ideas contained in the presentation should be up to date, well organized, figurative, pictorial, easy and clear. These things will attract the participants and there by deliver the intended idea and message successfully.
· Likewise, the presenter has to be well prepared for presentation and need to have sufficient knowledge and experience about the presentation topics. This will enable the presenter manage the different quires raised by the participants and thereby get appreciation from the participants. Consequently, presentation success will be achieved.
Last but not least, confidence is important. If the presenter is not confident enough during presentation; whatever knowledge and experience the presenter have and whatever attractive the topic is, the success of presentation will be significantly affected if the presenter lacks confidence during presentation.
In case of international seminars in India or abroad, one can present by Powerpoint(PPT).But most national conferences in India neither give the facility nor adequate time.Here a successful presentation means that you have been able to effectively summarize your paper.In conferences like All India Sociological Conference, you have to present within 5 to 7 minutes.To effectively present in such seminars requires practice.
All above answers are wonderful and I agree with all. I may add a simple suggestion as to record the lecture of presentation and always hear it specially before bed. you may can say without papers before the presentation. During questions I think that you can usually answer by: I agree with You and then complete your view politically.
How do you judge the success of a particular presentation at conferences, workshops and seminars?
All are different.
For a conference, basically it is about innovation and research, so the audience should get some thread to carry forward or able to find a new dimension or to motivate them to pursue research.
For workshop,
Audience should feel that they have done something, or they also can do or complete a task.
For seminar,
It is about updating the audience knowledge. So they should feel that they have captured some information.
I would like to present the above mentioned points for measuring the success.
Look in internet with the usual search engines and suitable search terms (see above). You will easily find all kinds of lists with quality criteria for presentations. Take one which is also validated by empirical research (look at Google Scholar).
Or set up your own list of criteria suitable for your own course and expressing your own points of view.
Good universities will have departments which offer help in quality teaching and quality testing, so that is another way to get support.
But always remember:
authentic assessment is not quite so easy, you have to prepare scoring sheets which can be filled in quickly, and you have to train yourself in using them. If you don't do it, the first few students who do a presentation will be your "guinea pigs" in assessing, so they will get very biased scores (points, marks, grades).
The discussion on this question has been very interesting. Previously I said how lack of time or lack of facilities at the venue of a conference can impact on the quality of your presentation.After me a number of researchers like Games, Ramachndran and Vossen whom I recommended , made very interesting observation which widened my professional understanding on the technical aspects of presentation.Now I will speak of my long experience as a teacher in Burdwan University.I started with chalk and talk which I still use sometimes.In 2002 ,I presented a paper in the 15 World Congress of Sociology in Brisbane.That was the first time I used Overhead Projector.When I participated in 16 World Congress at Durban in 2006 we were still using OHP .Then , following NAaC recommendations semester system was introduced in Burdwan University.Teaching time was short.One had to cover a big syllabus in a short period of time.I had to adopt technology.So I made OHP an integral part of my teaching. I found that this method was more popular among students as it enabled them not only to listen to what I say but also see the lecture as it develops.I also trained students to give seminars with the aid of OHP.With the passage of time OHP is becoming outdated.So again I have to technologically upgrade myself.Powerpoint is superior to OHP as it enables us to make better presentations.Now in Ph.D seminars , workshops ,etc. PowerPoint presentation is use.We have smart classrooms.But we have not totally discarded chalk and talk .
When did you look for alternatives to Microsoft Powerpoint (PP) lately? Surely you know that there alternatives, like Prezi *. Slides like PP can be boring or exhausting if you don't spend a lot of time on them, making them attractive and effective, alternating between text and graphics or even intermingling the two.
Remember:
People are not primarily textual minds, they are first and foremost visual minds, next oral minds and at the very last textual minds. Go from visual to oral to text. Not the other way around. That works even in highly abstract courses like mathematics, I have tried it myself. OK, it may not work so well in linguistics or history, but ... did you really try? See the chart below on history's Napolean war. Or look for a famous (ironic) criticism of MS PP following the link below, and other works of the master of visual presentation: Edward Tufte.
peaking at academic conferences can be a scary prospect. Here is some advice from "How to give a conference paper" by Edward James, emeritus professor of medieval history at University College Dublin, and Farah Mendlesohn, professor of literary history at Anglia Ruskin University
A conference paper is not an article. You can fit about 2,100 words into a 20-minute paper session. If you try to fit in more, you will either gabble or run over time. Both are not just embarrassing, they are plain rude.
If it is an international conference, there will be people there to whom English is a second or third language. Even if their English is good, they may not be familiar with your accent. Speak clearly.
Smile when you start. The importance of this cannot be overstated. Smiling lifts the voice (this is why singers often smile on high notes). It makes you sound enthusiastic even if you aren’t. The audience is on your side. It doesn’t want you to fail. On the whole, this should be an enjoyable experience, and it will be the more so if you start by realising we are all in this together.
Do not read to the desk. If you hold the paper up at nose level, you will be talking to the room. This helps both to project the voice and to maintain contact with the audience.
You can fit in only one theoretical idea. There is time to expand on it and to explain how it applies to the texts you are discussing, but you do not have time to discuss more than one.
Start the paper with your thesis. Even if this isn’t how you write, you need to think of a paper as a guided tour. Your audience needs some clue as to where it is going.
There is a good chance [that your study of a subject] is incomplete. This is good. It will make the paper seem open to argument. The trick is not to let it look directionless.
Encourage questions, leave things open, say things like “I haven’t yet thought xthrough fully” or “I’m planning to consider y at a later date…”. It will enable the audience to feel they can contribute to the development of your ideas. [With] really beautiful papers, all that is left for the audience to do is say “wow”. It’s awkward for the audience: they want to be able to comment; and it’s embarrassing for the presenter who thinks no one liked their paper.
“Preparation” is important but not “rehearsal”. Too much rehearsal may make you sound dull. The aim is for a paper that sounds spontaneous, but isn’t. Do not practise reading the paper aloud (it will sound tired by the time we hear it), but dopractise reading to punctuation from a range of texts.
Whatever you do, do not imagine that you can take a section of a paper written for a journal, or a chapter written for a book, and simply read it out. A paper written for academic publication is rarely suitable for reading out loud. Get used to the idea that you should write a paper specifically for the conference. It will be less dense, less formal, with shorter sentences, and more signposts for the listeners.
Presentation successful is based on how much you take care of:
1-Content:
Introduction - Topic & central idea - Body - Support - Transitions - Conclusion - Credibility - Visual aids - Adaptation to audience - Ending & Departure
2-Delivery:
Nervousness - Eye Contact - Speaking Rate - Expressiveness & Enthusiasm - Voice - Gestures - Posture, poise & Movement - Use of notes - Use of visuals - Language
Our Fellows recognise that they don’t always feel comfortable when they have to make a public presentation. Cardenes muses that his state of mind depends highly on how many times he has practised it. That’s why our first piece of advice on making a successful public presentation would be “Practice as much as you can in front of someone”, in the words of Goudoulas. This will ensure your speech runs smoothly. What’s more, it is also important to know your topic beyond your presentation so as to anticipate questions. With this in mind, Goudoulas recommends reviewing all the details of experimental technique, for instance. It will make you feel stronger in front of your audience. “Just have a good rehearsal” says Cardenes.
Tip 2: Find information about the audience
Knowing information about your audience (academic level, industrial partners, etc.) is crucial, to the extent that this will help you to structure your presentation. According to Andersen, if the people who are listening to you come from a field very different to yours, you have to “start much simpler than you would do” and to “ensure that your presentation is pedagogical and easy to follow”. On the other hand, if your audience has the same background as yours, an over-simplified presentation is bound to become a bit annoying. Andersen advises speakers to put themselves in the shoes of the people who will listen to you and to think about how they would like the presentation to be. And don’t forget to breathe deeply, as Serefoglu advises, especially if the audience appears to be larger than expected!
Tip 3: Tell a story – unveil the best part at the end
According to Andersen, a good presentation has to be structured like a story, even like a “fairy tale”. Here is the structure that he advises “Introduce the background, build up the problem slowly and in an easy-to-understand way, but with more and more tension. People will then feel the frustration. Then you can bring the release in the form of your solution to the problem. I find this structure to work well, because everybody is used to the structure of a fairy tale”. Goudoulas echoes this: “You have to gradually increase the interest, and never communicate the most important information at the beginning of your presentation.”
Tip 4: Catch the attention of your audience
Make your presentation as interactive as you can by using slides. Goudoulas remembers his first presentation with amusement – he used transparent sheets at a time when presentations were performed without computers. What Serefoglu advises, when using slides, to show information little by little instead of displaying the whole content from the beginning, so as to keep the audience’s attention focused on what you are talking about. For Cardenes, having an object linked to the research that he can show to the audience also adds to a presentation. Andersen advises dropping in “teasers” about your results at the beginning of your presentation and then grabbing the attention of your audience by saying “I will try to convince you that…”. In this way, he explains, “people will feel provoked, and will make an effort to follow your talk in order to discuss”.
Tip 5: Boost your career: take any opportunity to present your work
All of our four Fellows agree that making presentations is a key component of a successful career. It is therefore crucial to practise as much as you can so as to improve your skills. You have to be prepared to answer questions, sometimes not even related to your topic, as Cardenes remembers when he talks about his first presentation “I had to answer one question which had nothing to do with my research”. Andersen concludes that practising will also benefit your personal development.
To help ensure that your presentation stands out for the right reasons, following top tips are valueable:
Prepare carefully
Give yourself plenty of time to prepare thoroughly, as a last-minute rush will leave you flustered when it comes to delivering your presentation. Gather the information you need and set it out in a logical order, with a clear introduction and conclusion.
You can make detailed notes as part of your planning, but don't rely on these on the day, as reading from a prepared text sounds unnatural.
If you want to take a memory aid with you, you should use small index cards, as referring to A4 sheets of paper during your presentation can be distracting and highlight your nerves if your hands shake.
Use visuals wisely
'Visuals should complement your oral presentation, not repeat it,'. 'You are the main focus - your slides should offer a brief summary of points, or an illustration supporting the concept that you're discussing. Don't fall into the trap of merely reading aloud what is written on the slides.'
Advertisement
Make sure you use a clear and suitably sized font. Andrew adds that you should use short phrases or sentences so you don't overcrowd your slides.
Images can be a great way to grab the audience's attention, but there are other tricks you can use. 'Can you use humour to make a point?'. 'Can you use a thoughtful question instead of a sea of words?'
Slides are a starting point from which you should expand and develop your narrative. 'Make sure the substance is there over the fancy fonts and animations,'.
If you intend to provide hand-outs for your audience, distribute them at the beginning or end of your presentation. Doing it halfway through can be distracting and disrupt your flow.
Consider your audience
There are many different elements you can include in a presentation - sound, video, hand-outs and questions at the end, for example - so you'll need to think about which ones are suitable.
For example, whether your tone is serious or light-hearted might depend on factors such as the subject you're studying, or whether the presentation is an assessed piece of work.
'Show that you have thought about the audience,' advises Andrea. For example, consider how much background information they will need. Do they already have some knowledge of the topic you're presenting?
Spending the first half of your presentation telling an audience what they already know will be frustrating for them; equally, if you go straight into the detail they may get lost. It's vital you get the balance right, which means knowing your audience is the key.
Practise with a friend
You should practise your presentation in full more than once, ideally in front of an audience. 'Visit the room in advance if you can, and ask your friend to sit at the back, checking the speed and clarity of your speech,' Andrew advises. 'Check that the visuals of your presentation are visible too.'
This will enable you to work out whether your presentation is the right length when spoken aloud, and give you the chance to get used to expressing yourself in front of others. 'Vary your tone and pitch,' recommends Andrew. 'Speak normally - do not sound monotonous.'
Be positive
Developing a positive attitude over the days leading up to the presentation. This may seem obvious and easier said than done if you're shy, but pull it off and it will make a huge difference to how you perform.
'Acknowledge your nervousness, but don't give in to negative thinking,' he adds. 'Counteract it by telling yourself, "Yes I'm nervous, but I can do this".'
'Think about a time in your life when you are more confident,' she explains. 'It could be on the dance floor in a club, in a workplace mentoring others or helping a class of small children. In the days approaching the presentation, imagine stepping into that version of yourself. Bring this to mind just before you start, along with a few calming breaths.'
It might feel like the room is against you, but this isn't the case. 'Don't assume your audience wants you to fail,'. 'I meet students who have absolute dread when approaching presentations, yet their friends in the class are there to support them and really want them to succeed.'
Don't rely on technology
We've all witnessed the agony of a presenter struggling with a faulty USB stick or failing to get a projector to work. However, with a little bit of planning, you can minimise the risk of technology tripping you up.
If possible, test your presentation beforehand with the same equipment that you'll be using for the real thing. Otherwise, try to arrive early on the day and have a run through. Bring back-ups of your documents and print out a few copies of the slides to share if things go wrong.
However, you shouldn't rely too heavily on your slides. Always be ready to give your presentation without them if necessary, using your notes or index cards as memory aids. And if a piece of technology does fail, don't panic. It will happen to everyone in the room at some point - and if you get through it without being fazed, it might even impress your tutor more than if everything went perfectly.
Suggestions for effective presentations at academic conferences.
(Tyrus Miller, 2013)
You have identified a great conference to attend, sent in an abstract of your paper, and voilà! received notice that it has been accepted. Now what? It’s time to think about how to prepare and deliver a successful paper that will communicate your work effectively, leave a good impression on your listeners, and spark further conversations that can help you network and learn.
Each discipline can have somewhat different expectations of what constitutes a good conference paper. You should discuss conference presentations with experienced presenters in your field (e.g. your advisor or other faculty), as well as observe a variety of talks in your field to figure out what worked and what was less successful in a given talk. Chances are, if you consciously and consistently try to imitate the good features you’ve observed and avoid the bad ones, you will be well on your way to becoming an effective presenter.
So the first tip for successful academic paper presentation is:
Inquire about, observe, and seek to imitate the best practices and models of paper presentation in your discipline.
Some additional tips that follow may seem obvious or elementary, but you can be surprised at how many speakers fail to observe them. Unfortunately, one hears way too many poorly presented, ineffectual academic paper hampered by their author’s failure to follow a few basic guidelines and principles.
Listening to an oral presentation is cognitively different than reading a paper on a page. In general, listeners, in comparison to readers, require more road-mapping of where an argument has been and where it is going, more redundancy and reiteration of key points, and more variety to hold their attention through the twenty, thirty, or fifty minute duration of a typical academic talk. Some of the things that you can do to help your listeners are:
State the structure and main points of your argument explicitly and clearly at the outset and again in summary.
Don’t be afraid to restate or reiterate in paraphrase, especially where a point is complicated. A good conference presentation will typically have several pivotal moments in which the presenter says: “In other words. . .”; “To put it more simply. . .”; “Just to sum up that point. . . “; and other such constructions that allow your listener to pause on an important argument and get another chance to take it in.
Visual props and key word slides are helpful for offering variety and illustration of your arguments. However, reading your talk from PowerPoint slide is deadly. You will likely bore and irritate your audience, who after all could read your slides perfectly well—if you would just shut up and stop reading for them. This is not the state of mind you want to put your listener in.
It may require more time for an audience to take in spoken or printed discourse than the time in which you deliver it. You already know your argument. They don’t. Slow down and give them enough time to absorb, look at your slides, read your quotes, and jot down notes. Don’t try to jam in too much material to your allotted time by reading really fast—you are wasting your time and irritating your audience. Never, ever flash a slide with a quote or complex diagram up on the screen and then not let people have sufficient time to take it in. Either don’t show it at all, or give enough time for it to be read and be explained if necessary. The burden is on you to select and scale your talk and its supporting materials appropriately for your available presentation time.
A few other tips, and you will be on your way:
Rehearse your presentation out loud several times, if possible in front of a listener who can give you feedback on both form and content. Ask your listener if there was anything they had a hard time taking in or following, and if so, clarify and simplify to make it clear. Anything that you were stumbling over in presenting, you should clarify and practice till you can present it well.
If you will be showing slides or media along with a text, mark in your text where each slide or clip will occur. Rehearse going through your media along with the text.
Speak up and don’t drop your voice. You will need to speak at a volume that will seem to you to be excessively loud in order to be well heard in a room. Remember that you are hearing your voice transmitted, in part, through your own body, which is a more proximate and compact carrier of sound than the air between you and your listeners. It’s a useful trick to write reminders to yourself in your margins from time to time—“Speak up.” “Don’t drop volume”
Time your talk and adjust it to fit your allotted time. Don’t indulge in wishful thinking that you can “fit it in.” Know how much time you have and don’t kid yourself: make your presentation fit it. No one has ever said at a conference, “I was so glad they went on an extra twenty minutes instead of reading only fifteen minutes of this fascinating work.” But at almost every conference, sadly, lots of people leave sessions saying, “That jerk. He went on fifteen minutes too long, ignored the chair’s signals, and there was no time for discussion.” People remember abusive presenters, and avoid inviting them to participate on future panels they are organizing.
If there are things about your topic you want to get help finding out, or if you want to steer the discussion to a particular issue, end your talk with a query or question. Point out an area of continuing controversy, uncertainty, or interpretative debate and invite your audience to weigh in. With a slightly open-ended presentation, leaving room for and inviting further discussion, you are more likely to draw questions towards your paper, receive comments, and get useful references and contacts from the occasion.
Lastly, if you prepare and present academic papers aware that reading a paper is an important professional performance, you will learn and improve with accumulated experience. No one can be a master without a lot of practice; however, no one becomes a master without practicing not just a lot, but also well. Treating each conference paper as a serious public profiling of your work and an occasion to consciously develop your professional communication skills will ensure that you gain the maximum benefit of your efforts.
To keep the audience fully involved try to keep the presentation interactive, involve audience with video clips and asking question directly from the audience
In a well-used phrase, 'own the stage' or auditorium. Claim the space around you, and be continually mindful of your board or screen; never block it or divert attention from it, but always reference it.
Great views Dr. Andrew, Dr. Abdallah, Dr. Mohammed, Dr. Stanley, Dr. Abbas, Dr. Nihad, Dr. Rai, Prof. Amir, Dr. Dr. Mahesh and Dr. Borden. I thank you for your support to the discussions.
Who is in the audience on some occasions. There is nothing worse than people who look uncomfortable and/or ask deliberately obtuse questions. A supportive audience is much better.
Great point Dr. Neil. Indeed, when audience at conferences show great support to presenters, even giving gestural feedback such as a smile, wink, nod, wave etc. (Not distractive though but supportive) during their presentations help a lot. In addition, carefully thought out questions that are constructive, helpful, subject-targeted, well-coated in construction, and devoid of personal attack aimed at helping presenters improve and enhance their studies are refreshing, making academic gatherings very memorable.