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Guidelines on Academic Presentations

Please bear these points in mind:

  • Please incorporate the conference’s theme in your abstract and presentation- as well as providing opportunities for networking, and presenting, the conference is about progressing ideas and exchanging insights.
  • Choose a focus for the presentation, to discuss an aspect of your research in depth. This promotes more focused debate and feedback from the audience.
  • Rule of thumb: each slide takes about 1-2 minutes depending on your speaking style.
  • The slides for a presentation should convey ideas, not details, use bullet points and avoid long paragraphs.
  • Backgrounds- limit blocks of text and paragraphs, stick to bullet points and images, videos, audio.
  • PowerPoint is optional- you don’t need to use PowerPoint. Go for a Prezi; or even ditch the technology and speak/read. We are open to presentations in a range of formats.
  • Please practice your presentation before the day.
  • Please keep within the time limit. Aim to finish with a few minutes to spare.

There are many web resources on preparing and delivering academic presentations. The links are listed below:

1. http://getalifephd.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/how-to-give-fabulous-academic.html

2. http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2015/02/20/how-to-win-at-academic-presentations/

3. http://graddiv.ucsc.edu/about/blogs/grad-deans-blog/11-2013.1.html

On the day

We ask that presenters are responsible for their presentations. Please bring your presentation to the conference on a USB stick and e-mail it to your own account as a backup. You should arrive 10 minutes early before the session starts to load your presentation.

Poster Presentations

  • Poster presenters may choose the dimensions they desire.
  • The recommended poster size is A2.
  • Please design for a general/related audience.
  • The word limit is 300-400 words.
  • Font style Arial, Calibri, Verdana or Times New Roman.
  • Font size: Main text should be minimum font size 16 (readable from 2 metres away). Headings should be minimum 42. Sub-headings can be smaller.
  • Images and graphs should have labels.
  • Group related text and images. Consider the flow of information, could someone understand the poster without being talked through it?
  • To proof-read your poster, convert it into a PDF and print in A4 size.
  • Please space out sections, avoid complicated backgrounds (single colour works best), and ensure the poster is legible