Oral presentations
Introduction
The sixth generic quality involves communicating effectively as a researcher in a discipline or professional area and as a leading member of the community. Effective communication means that the higher degree by research student should be able to disseminate research findings within the broad research discipline, both orally and in writing (see Research publication, Research proposal and Thesis), as well as being able to translate the substance of research findings to the public. In order for this to be achieved the research student should participate in relevant research-in-progress seminars and professional conferences, whether they are school or discipline based, national or international. There will be a requirement to present at least once a year at such a venue.
Conferences
Later in your candidacy you will be at a stage of your research where you have information to present to the research community at conferences. Presentations are ideal for:
- gaining feedback on your work
- networking
- getting yourself known as a member of the research community
- keeping abreast with current research.
Your school, institute or centre will provide some funding to cover the cost of attending and presenting at conferences. If you travel to a conference interstate or overseas consider extending your stay and arrange to visit nearby research centres and universities whose staff have similar research interests.
The most traditional means of sharing your ideas is by delivering an oral presentation at a conference. The advantage of giving an oral presentation is that people see what you look like, and if you present well you’ll create a lasting impression on your audience, who are then more likely to remember your ideas and associate them with you. Poster presentations are also an option.
Process
- You will probably be asked to submit an abstract of your talk to the organisers and, if accepted, it will be included in the conference papers so that the audience can decide which talks they wish to attend.
- Each presentation is usually followed by a five or ten minute session during which your audience asks questions.
- Most national and international conferences will also ask you to submit a written copy of your presentation to form part of the conference proceedings. Papers to be included in conference proceedings will generally be peer reviewed to ensure credibility.
UniSA resources
On campus workshops
Research Education Support Activities (RESA) offers on campus workshops relevant to oral presentations as part of the core series (all disciplines). Check the calendar for details of when these workshops are offered.
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Online workshops, courses and resources
Networking index (RESA) provides links to online workshops, courses and resources. Networking in the research community online workshop looks at Face to face networking at in-house events and conferences. This section of the workshop includes tips on presenting your research and socialising to network.
The Graduate Certificate in Research Commercialisation offers the courses Knowledge Transfer and Commercialisation; Entrepreneurial Foundations; Leadership and Workplace Communication; Project Management for Research; Public Policy and Research, which will have relevance for communicating your research knowledge.
Online guides
Making the most of oral presentations (Learning and Teaching Unit) looks at the process of preparing for a presentation, giving the presentation and follow-up to the presentation Managing question time in oral presentations (Research Education) looks at the purpose of question time, responding to constructive questions, preparing for question time, responding to intimidating questions, responding to comments, identifying three main types of questions and provides a checklist for managing questionsOther
Tips for giving presentations (PPT file, 1.2mb) - Prof Roger Horn (Ian Wark Research Institute) provides:
- tips on giving good presentations
- examples and demonstrations of bad habits.
The Division of Health Sciences offers the course Research Communication which covers topics such as conference papers and posters. This may be audited by arrangement with the course coordinator.
Other resources
Obtaining a PhD: Conferences and Presentations (Re-envisioning the Ph.D, University of Washington Graduate School) provides links to resources that cover how to present research at conferences and presentations. Much of this advice is written with the sciences in mind, but the suggestions on delivery and fielding questions are applicable to other fields as well.
Chapter 3. Presentation Tips for Public Speaking (from A research guide for students) provides some basic advice for oral presentations.
Oral presentations (Allen and Unwin, estudycentre) looks at organising your material, building rapport with a group, the medical viva and interview on the basis of the questions: How do you prepare for a viva? How can you keep your audience's attention? How do you know what questions they will ask?
Poster presentation
Posters are a widely accepted form of communication in the sciences because they are an effective way of displaying figures, tables and other graphic information. You usually put your poster up on the first day and, depending on the number of posters being presented, it may remain up for the entire duration of the conference. The major advantage of this is that people who may have missed your talk have an opportunity to view your research at their leisure.
They can also be a good option if you are inexperienced at oral presentations and would rather present your work in a less stressful way. One disadvantage is that the poster is a more ephemeral format, taken down and seen no more after the end of the conference. Some conference organisers will publish poster abstracts in the conference papers and some may publish poster-papers as part of the proceedings, which gives your ideas more durability but these often aren’t peer-reviewed and tend to be regarded as a less prestigious form of publication. However, this depends to some degree on the discipline area.
Some conferences are organised so that poster sessions are at set times during which you may be required to stand near your poster and discuss your ideas with interested people. Such discussions are informal and provide the opportunity to network and share ideas with people with similar interests. Some conference organisers may require you to give a short oral presentation explaining the central idea of your poster during one or more poster sessions.
Preparing conference papers (Claremont Graduate University) looks at
- Conference paper types
- Conference proposals and abstracts
- Presenting conference papers in the Humanties
- Presenting conference papers in the Social Sciences
- Tips for delivering conference papers includes 'How To Give A Talk: Better Academic Speaking in a Nutshell'
- Tips for commentators/respondents
How to prepare a poster (Sven Hammarling and Nicholas J Higham) has the introduction 'Poster presenters and conference organizers alike should take posters seriously, giving thought to their preparation and display and to their role in a conference' and provides a brief outline of how to present your work.
Effective Poster Design (Alex Galvez, University of Guelph) provides the following information: Step 1 - Preparation; Step 2 - Design for impact; Step 3 - Poster construction; Step 4 - Assess your poster, as well as tips and sample posters.
Further reading
Gosling, Peter J, 1999,
Scientist's guide to poster presentations,
Plenum/Kluwer, New York. Available through the
Library.
Lindsay, D, 1995, A Guide to Scientific Writing, Longman
Cheshire, Melbourne (contains a useful section on giving talks, with
hints on presenting and answering questions). Available through the
Library.