I love going to conferences, dare I say I am a conference
junkie, hence I attend and speak at around 10 conferences each year. The
conferences I go to are usually academic or technical in nature where the
speakers present their latest research, ideas and innovations. I also help
organise the biannual Workplace Trends
and annual Learning Environments
conferences for which I select the speakers, and also receive feedback from the
audience on the speakers.
After attending 100s of conferences across the globe over
the years I have concluded that, in general, there are two types of technical speaker:
1. those with fantastic content but have poor delivery, and 2. those that
present well but have poor content. Speakers with good content who can also
communicate in an interesting and engaging manner are the unicorns of the
conference circuit – that is they are rare and magical beasts. It always seems
a shame to me that the years of hard graft conducting original and valuable
research is ultimately lost amidst a poorly constructed and delivered
presentation. So here are my top tips for
a terrific technical talk.
Conferences,
especially technical or academic ones, can be quite busy with delegates moving
between sessions or discussing previous speakers. So, hook your audience from
the start and grab their attention and make them want to stay and listen. Try opening
your presentation with a provocative statement (ideally relating to your
research or the conference theme), or perhaps pose a question to the audience,
or offer an amusing anecdote. Above all, be confident, be bold, be passionate
and be audible – project your voice to attract attention. First impressions
count, so don’t mumble or apologise or make some private joke that only a few privy
parties understand.
Remember to introduce yourself, your credentials, and your
interests/purpose. Quite often the audience do not catch the introduction by
the chair or, at larger conferences they confuse speakers and their subject, so
display your contact details on screen (at the start and end of your speech). Also,
if relevant, briefly introduce your fellow researchers and department, without
overtly boasting or making it a sales pitch. Use the first minute to share your
passion and personality to gain the audience’s trust. Also introduce your
presentation and tell the audience what you will be speaking on and why they
will want to hear it.
Psychologists have demonstrated the “serial position effect”
in which people tend to recall better the first and last thing they hear/see.
So, also end on a high. Let the audience know that you have finished by summing
up, ending with a poignant quote or leaving them with a call to action. Practice
your speech, and most importantly practice your opening and ending.
2. Stand out from the
crowd:
Most technical conferences will have at least 10, or if parallel
sessions possibly 30, or more speakers on one day. After lunch and towards the
end of the day, the audience will be flagging. The opening to your speech will
attract their attention, but to maintain it you will need to be engaging,
inspiring and entertaining.
Inject energy through your passion for the subject, consider
your vocal variety changing the volume and pitch. Humour will help keep your
audience engaged – but offer amusing anecdotes or observations relevant to your
topic rather than random jokes. Likewise, offer strong opinions and the
occasional provocative comment, rather than play safe and sit on the fence.
Also, don’t hide behind the lectern but come forward and use
the stage area. Consider your body language, eye contact and movement across
the stage which can all help with audience engagement. If you are confident,
and have time, then ask questions of the audience or perhaps ask them to
discuss an issue in pairs or even complete a short task/puzzle/quiz.
3. Pitch it right:
Know
your audience by listening to previous presentations or find out more about
participants from the conference website or organisers. This will enable you to
pitch the right level of technical detail and understanding – not too little so
you lose credibility but not too much so that you lose the audience or appear
arrogant. When presenting data, don’t get too bogged down by all the details
and caveats – you can offer more details in the question and answer session or possibly
refer to your paper, website or blog.
Offer your personal insights on the research, or technical
matter, and your personal experience of it. Try and say something new that is not
in the conference paper, as the delegates may have already read the paper, or
the research/subject may have moved on (some conferences require papers
submitted 12 months ahead of the event). Refer to previous speakers and links
between your research/subject and theirs – don’t just fly in and present your
work in isolation.
4. Present it perfect:
In
my opinion there are two main speakers’ crimes at technical conferences. Firstly,
an over-use and over-reliance of tables and charts. Speakers present figures
that cannot be easily read, I often hear speakers say “you can’t read this
table but …” – no buts, just don’t show it or show the relevant part only. Often
the charts are complicated but due to lack of time, the speaker does not explain
the axis or the data points and the information is lost. Similarly, avoid
slides and definitely avoid slides of bullet points. Try to simplify your
slides, just present the relevant material to your point, and always leave the
audience wanting more.
Secondly, don’t turn your back to audience and read off the
projection. Ideally, there will be a monitor in front of you which you can
refer to if needed, or even better, practice and know your presentation off by
heart. But the worst crime is presenters reading their speeches, or even worse
reading their papers. This is no fun for anyone, and certainly not interesting.
I appreciate for some presenters, English (or the conference language) will be
their second language – if so then the answer is to practice more. Audiences do
not like being read to, and would prefer to read the paper by themselves. It
also indicates lack of practice which may be interpreted as lack of respect for
the conference participants. Likewise, do not read your slides, especially bullet
points. Some of us find it insulting as people can usually read quicker than
someone can speak and if we read the slides then what is the point of the
presenter being there! If you do use bullet points, then attempt to make each one
a memorable phrase or a soundbite. The audience may include the press or
tweeters who are looking for choice phrases to broadcast beyond the conference.
5. Set it up:
Quite
often speakers turn up minutes before their presentation. As a consequence,
they may not know how to use the audio-visual technology and spend their all-important
opening asking the chair or the AV technician how to advance slides. You will
also miss out on being fitted with a lapel mic and so be tethered to the
lectern. If travelling overseas, then ideally arrive the evening before to
avoid any travel delays.
So, arrive a little early and speak to the technician and
the chair. Ideally you will have confirmed the timing in advance of the
conference but double-check with the chair as programmes change/slip. Remember
to leave time for questions and establish whether that is within or outside
your time allowance. It is always worthwhile giving the chair a question, as
the audience usually require a question before warming up and it can be
embarrassing if the chair wraps up before a question is asked. Also provide the
chair with some interesting information they can use in an introduction – many
will simply read your official bio so offer them a hook.
There is an old speakers’ adage “it’s not what you say but what
the audience remembers that counts”. Practice the above pointers to gain
confidence in speaking and ensure your audience enjoy and remembers you, your presentation
and your research. Follow my tips and become a conference unicorn! Or for even more tips and practice, contact me about running an in-house half-day course for your team.
This blog was first created for Toastmasters International, see their website for similar articles on creating great speeches and presentations.
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