Leaning WAY TOO FAR in
June 22, 2019 11:03 AM Subscribe
So, I am attending my first-ever conference. Oh yeah, and I'm presenting. And I'll be alone. And it's halfway across the world. In a region I've never even visited before. In less than a month. Please share all your advice for preparing?
So I was originally supposed to be doing this alongside someone much more experienced, but life happened and now here we are. I have no idea where to even start for this...I've got a deck, and an idea of what I want to communicate, but otherwise I'm completely over my head when it comes to practicing my presentation, what to expect there, how to act when I'm there & get the most out of it, basic logistics, what to even wear, etc.
It's a medium-sized conference (I think? I'm not even sure how to tell), in a hotel, attended by a mix of academic, industry, and nonprofit folks (I'm industry.) I'm a woman in my mid-twenties with some public speaking experience, but nothing like this. I'm generally something of an anxious extrovert, though definitely with an emphasis on the anxiety in situations like these.
I realize it's a broad question - but do you have any advice for me? Things to do, know, think about, consider, remember?
So I was originally supposed to be doing this alongside someone much more experienced, but life happened and now here we are. I have no idea where to even start for this...I've got a deck, and an idea of what I want to communicate, but otherwise I'm completely over my head when it comes to practicing my presentation, what to expect there, how to act when I'm there & get the most out of it, basic logistics, what to even wear, etc.
It's a medium-sized conference (I think? I'm not even sure how to tell), in a hotel, attended by a mix of academic, industry, and nonprofit folks (I'm industry.) I'm a woman in my mid-twenties with some public speaking experience, but nothing like this. I'm generally something of an anxious extrovert, though definitely with an emphasis on the anxiety in situations like these.
I realize it's a broad question - but do you have any advice for me? Things to do, know, think about, consider, remember?
Most important thing with presentations is to practice them beforehand. First practice on your own, with your slides and an eye on a timer to shake out initial flow and problems. You’ll be changing your slides and delivery a lot at this stage. Would your coworkers like to hear an early version of your talk? Get a handful of friendly colleagues together, deliver it, and then ask for their constructive feedback. A good note will highlight an issue and provide a suggestion on how to fix it.
For hints on slides and constructing your message, read this series of posts from Russell Davies who’s very good at public speaking. Make it big, make it clear, make it bearable, and show the thing.
When you’re giving your talk, remember to breathe. Speak in full and complete sentences leaving a lot of space between them. Speaking slowly and keeping oxygenated will stave off symptoms of anxiety. Audiences perceive slow and deliberate talks as better and more confident.
Do not go over time.
Everyone in the audience wants you to do well.
You’ll do great!
posted by migurski at 11:38 AM on June 22, 2019 [14 favorites]
For hints on slides and constructing your message, read this series of posts from Russell Davies who’s very good at public speaking. Make it big, make it clear, make it bearable, and show the thing.
When you’re giving your talk, remember to breathe. Speak in full and complete sentences leaving a lot of space between them. Speaking slowly and keeping oxygenated will stave off symptoms of anxiety. Audiences perceive slow and deliberate talks as better and more confident.
Do not go over time.
Everyone in the audience wants you to do well.
You’ll do great!
posted by migurski at 11:38 AM on June 22, 2019 [14 favorites]
Can you practice with the person who was supposed to go with you?
posted by raccoon409 at 11:39 AM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by raccoon409 at 11:39 AM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
It will be fun. It will also be over before you know it, and no-one will have noticed any of the things you thought were glaring errors.
Find out as soon as you can how long your preso is supposed to run. Practice it such that you can present it comfortably inside that time. Check your preso in the speaker ready room well in advance: everything should work, but better to know that ahead of time than be thrown off by messed-up slides. For instance, missing fonts and display aspect ratio mismatches can make a great deck look terrible.
If it's an international conference, don't forget to allow pacing for simultaneous translators.
Your panel moderator (if there is one) should have contacted you in advance. Turn up for your session when they say you should. Make sure you know their five minute / one minute / full stop signals. Do not talk over time. That's what question times are for.
Around the conference itself, there are likely (and unfortunately) still some guys who think that whatever happens at conference stays at conference.
posted by scruss at 11:46 AM on June 22, 2019
Find out as soon as you can how long your preso is supposed to run. Practice it such that you can present it comfortably inside that time. Check your preso in the speaker ready room well in advance: everything should work, but better to know that ahead of time than be thrown off by messed-up slides. For instance, missing fonts and display aspect ratio mismatches can make a great deck look terrible.
If it's an international conference, don't forget to allow pacing for simultaneous translators.
Your panel moderator (if there is one) should have contacted you in advance. Turn up for your session when they say you should. Make sure you know their five minute / one minute / full stop signals. Do not talk over time. That's what question times are for.
Around the conference itself, there are likely (and unfortunately) still some guys who think that whatever happens at conference stays at conference.
posted by scruss at 11:46 AM on June 22, 2019
Regarding the presentation can you reach out to a more senior colleague at work to advise on the presentation? It might be worthwhile to ask for a dry run presentation to higher ups, and whether the higher ups can help brainstorming common questions. I would also consult with your boss/ others about the purpose of attending the conference, and what they would like you to get out of it. Bring business cards, and check if there are any promotional materials from your company that you should hand out. If you aren't presenting first thing, you can probably scope out the presentation setup (or a similar one) before hand. The conference should have some guidelines for presenters (will a computer be provided, will there be a "clicker" or are you encouraged to BYO, etc.). You might also wish to bring your slides in multiple places (flash drive, email), and formats (ppt, pdf... with animation and w/o).
Regarding conference logistics, there will probably be some sort of program (either paper, online, or phone app). At a midsize conference you won't be able to do everything, but it can be helpful to plan one's schedule in advance. (Don't forget to leave yourself some downtime). Bring an external battery pack, since it can be tricky to access outlets. The closest place(s) for food and coffee will probably have long lines at peak times, so you might also want to check out the food/ coffee situation in advance, and bring snacks. If you are staying at the same hotel as the conference, then elevators will probably get congested at peak times as well.
You might be able to find photos online of what attendees wore in past years. Re: clothing, bring comfortable shoes (possibly multiple pairs) and clothes that can handle inside temperatures ranging from arctic to Hades. You might also want to bring a professionalish bag/ backpack to accommodate the cool swag you will be getting.
posted by oceano at 11:55 AM on June 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Regarding conference logistics, there will probably be some sort of program (either paper, online, or phone app). At a midsize conference you won't be able to do everything, but it can be helpful to plan one's schedule in advance. (Don't forget to leave yourself some downtime). Bring an external battery pack, since it can be tricky to access outlets. The closest place(s) for food and coffee will probably have long lines at peak times, so you might also want to check out the food/ coffee situation in advance, and bring snacks. If you are staying at the same hotel as the conference, then elevators will probably get congested at peak times as well.
You might be able to find photos online of what attendees wore in past years. Re: clothing, bring comfortable shoes (possibly multiple pairs) and clothes that can handle inside temperatures ranging from arctic to Hades. You might also want to bring a professionalish bag/ backpack to accommodate the cool swag you will be getting.
posted by oceano at 11:55 AM on June 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
Congratulations! I'm sure you'll knock it out of the park.
Practice as much as you can, ideally in front of another person but in front of a mirror is fine too. Watch your body language. Some fields have a convention that a paper is read with any slides as pure visuals; other fields have a convention that slides contain most of your content. Know which convention fits your field and stick to it. When you get up on stage, scan the audience quickly and find the person who is rooting for you (there's always at least one) and deliver the talk to them.
For conference attire, I (mid-30s woman who began attending conferences around your age) tend to stick to knee-length A-line dresses. NY and Company has a good set of basic solid-color dresses with pockets (I've scored them for as little as $10 on sale), which are machine washable and don't wrinkle. So great for traveling. I usually pair these with a contrasting cardigan, and comfortable flats or low heeled shoes. The downside is that they don't have much waistband support for a mike, but the pockets are beautifully generous and will actually fit a battery pack.
There will probably be some sort of networking reception. Go, even if you're nervous. It's a great opportunity to meet people in your field, even if you feel like you have nothing to contribute. Ask people about their work or what they are presenting at the conference. Or ask them something totally unrelated to work, like where they are staying while they are in town, or what their favorite activity in ConferenceCity is. Try to make time to explore the conference city a bit, especially if you've never been there before. There is a reason conferences tend to happen in Paris, France and not in Paris, Texas. (No offense to Texans.)
posted by basalganglia at 12:13 PM on June 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
Practice as much as you can, ideally in front of another person but in front of a mirror is fine too. Watch your body language. Some fields have a convention that a paper is read with any slides as pure visuals; other fields have a convention that slides contain most of your content. Know which convention fits your field and stick to it. When you get up on stage, scan the audience quickly and find the person who is rooting for you (there's always at least one) and deliver the talk to them.
For conference attire, I (mid-30s woman who began attending conferences around your age) tend to stick to knee-length A-line dresses. NY and Company has a good set of basic solid-color dresses with pockets (I've scored them for as little as $10 on sale), which are machine washable and don't wrinkle. So great for traveling. I usually pair these with a contrasting cardigan, and comfortable flats or low heeled shoes. The downside is that they don't have much waistband support for a mike, but the pockets are beautifully generous and will actually fit a battery pack.
There will probably be some sort of networking reception. Go, even if you're nervous. It's a great opportunity to meet people in your field, even if you feel like you have nothing to contribute. Ask people about their work or what they are presenting at the conference. Or ask them something totally unrelated to work, like where they are staying while they are in town, or what their favorite activity in ConferenceCity is. Try to make time to explore the conference city a bit, especially if you've never been there before. There is a reason conferences tend to happen in Paris, France and not in Paris, Texas. (No offense to Texans.)
posted by basalganglia at 12:13 PM on June 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
I used to train doctors - mostly Russian and East European - on giving presentations at conferences. Here's a couple of suggestions:
- Organize your presentation to start with the conclusion and then an outline of what you're going to say. For example: "My presentation is on some best practices in xxxxx. What we've found is that successful programs are aaaaa; bbbbb; and ccccc. Today I'll first say just a few words about how we arrived at those findings, and then talk about how we've applied each of those three principles in our work..."
- If there's a section on methodology, keep it to a minimum. One slide if you're doing slides. Say you're happy to discuss more in Q&A (and there will ALWAYS be someone who faults your methodology; don't let them rattle you) or in a separate follow-up.
- Find out from the presenters as much as you can about the format. Is it just you? A panel? Seated? Standing? Practice accordingly.
- Speak in short simple declarative sentences. Be conscious of when sentences start and stop. Don't just trail off and let your voice tone drop at the end of a thought. Avoid compound clauses and qualifiers. Explain acronyms. Don't use slang specific to American English, especially for a foreign audience or when there's a translator.
- Finally, and this is the hardest thing to do, so painful and embarrassing but ultimately the thing that makes you better: video yourself practicing the presentation. An iphone is fine. Watch by yourself or with others if you dare and see what you like and don't like about what you see.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 12:27 PM on June 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
- Organize your presentation to start with the conclusion and then an outline of what you're going to say. For example: "My presentation is on some best practices in xxxxx. What we've found is that successful programs are aaaaa; bbbbb; and ccccc. Today I'll first say just a few words about how we arrived at those findings, and then talk about how we've applied each of those three principles in our work..."
- If there's a section on methodology, keep it to a minimum. One slide if you're doing slides. Say you're happy to discuss more in Q&A (and there will ALWAYS be someone who faults your methodology; don't let them rattle you) or in a separate follow-up.
- Find out from the presenters as much as you can about the format. Is it just you? A panel? Seated? Standing? Practice accordingly.
- Speak in short simple declarative sentences. Be conscious of when sentences start and stop. Don't just trail off and let your voice tone drop at the end of a thought. Avoid compound clauses and qualifiers. Explain acronyms. Don't use slang specific to American English, especially for a foreign audience or when there's a translator.
- Finally, and this is the hardest thing to do, so painful and embarrassing but ultimately the thing that makes you better: video yourself practicing the presentation. An iphone is fine. Watch by yourself or with others if you dare and see what you like and don't like about what you see.
posted by RandlePatrickMcMurphy at 12:27 PM on June 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
A lot of conferences are reunions and networking events more than lecture venues, so make time to socialize.
As for practice the talk, this will be excruciating, but so valuable:film yourself delivering the talk, and then watch yourself and take notes.
You don't mention where you're from or where you're going, but find a local newspaper and skim the headlines for the last few months. Especially if you don't speak the language. You don't want to accidentally walk into a protest, and a lot of places are having those right now for various reasons (off the top of my head, New York, Paris, Hong Kong, London, SF). Also, you'll want to figure out how your race is perceived over there, and adjust your plans accordingly.
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 12:32 PM on June 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
As for practice the talk, this will be excruciating, but so valuable:
You don't mention where you're from or where you're going, but find a local newspaper and skim the headlines for the last few months. Especially if you don't speak the language. You don't want to accidentally walk into a protest, and a lot of places are having those right now for various reasons (off the top of my head, New York, Paris, Hong Kong, London, SF). Also, you'll want to figure out how your race is perceived over there, and adjust your plans accordingly.
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 12:32 PM on June 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
Getting the most out of it is probably a combination of meeting interesting new people and watching interesting presentations. You may as well assume that everyone is interesting (unless they prove otherwise) so you can ask them about themselves, what they think of the conference, which papers they've been to etc. If you find a particular presentation relevant or interesting, then find the presenter and ask them more about it, people might do this to you. Look at the attendee list in advance and see if there's anyone you know or you would like to meet. Bring business cards.
For clothes, I tend too wear my most comfortable good work shoes (so flat shoes, but then I almost never wear heels) and a dress, plus I bring a jacket or cardigan. This way I can handle whatever the air conditioning is doing. In my field people are fairly fashion forward so I tend to pick my most up-to-date outfits. YMMV. I tend to take a large-ish leather tote bag with not a great deal in it, so that I can carry any paperwork easily and have it to hand. I don't carry my laptop with me.
If you are an introvert, make time for downtime in your schedule.
posted by plonkee at 12:43 PM on June 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
For clothes, I tend too wear my most comfortable good work shoes (so flat shoes, but then I almost never wear heels) and a dress, plus I bring a jacket or cardigan. This way I can handle whatever the air conditioning is doing. In my field people are fairly fashion forward so I tend to pick my most up-to-date outfits. YMMV. I tend to take a large-ish leather tote bag with not a great deal in it, so that I can carry any paperwork easily and have it to hand. I don't carry my laptop with me.
If you are an introvert, make time for downtime in your schedule.
posted by plonkee at 12:43 PM on June 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
You've got a deck? What kind? Simplicity, Brevity, Clarity! Handouts to distribute after presentation? Remain calm, think clearly, respond appropriately.
posted by X4ster at 1:07 PM on June 22, 2019
posted by X4ster at 1:07 PM on June 22, 2019
Lots of good advice in this thread.
Practice your pitch over and over. If you practice it to the point that you dream about it the night before the presentation - you got it right.
It can be helpful to video-record yourself during a practice run - but don’t freak out over the replay. Don’t show it to anyone else, either. But you can pick up on things like your pacing (too slow? too fast?), enunciation, volume, and also keeping your gestures appropriate to your space - that is, if you watch Colbert or Jay Leno when they’re talking to a guest and the camera is focused on them, they keep whatever hand movements they make close in. If you watch some TED Talks (for instance) you can see speakers making gestures that are somewhat larger and more open, because they’re in a larger space. But in general, keep your hands close to your body and try not to move around a lot. (I’m tall with long limbs - I looked terrible presenting until I saw myself on video and learned to reign in my gestures and my ‘dancing’).
If you can, scout out the presentation space you’ll be using in advance. Figure out how to get your presentation to whoever is wrangling the projector. Make sure it’s formatted correctly and try *real* hard not to pester them with updates. If you can, spend 15 minutes in advance with the A/V person and test your voice through the microphone and figure out how to sequence through your presentation - note you’ll probably need to do this before or after conference hours.
Many conference presentations have a designated Q&A period after the talk. But people will sometimes attempt to interrupt you in mid-presentation with questions or comments. Try to ignore this and don’t let it phase you. If you can drop a smooth “I’ll take questions afterwards”, that’s a bonus but not required.
Try to smile and look happy to be there. If someone introduces you, say “Thank you [name], and hello everyone”. If there’s no introduction, just say “Hello everyone.” I know this seems trivial but I’ve seen sooo many people mess this up. In short, practice a warm opening. Watching other presenters will be educational.
You can do this. Break a leg!
posted by doctor tough love at 1:10 PM on June 22, 2019
Practice your pitch over and over. If you practice it to the point that you dream about it the night before the presentation - you got it right.
It can be helpful to video-record yourself during a practice run - but don’t freak out over the replay. Don’t show it to anyone else, either. But you can pick up on things like your pacing (too slow? too fast?), enunciation, volume, and also keeping your gestures appropriate to your space - that is, if you watch Colbert or Jay Leno when they’re talking to a guest and the camera is focused on them, they keep whatever hand movements they make close in. If you watch some TED Talks (for instance) you can see speakers making gestures that are somewhat larger and more open, because they’re in a larger space. But in general, keep your hands close to your body and try not to move around a lot. (I’m tall with long limbs - I looked terrible presenting until I saw myself on video and learned to reign in my gestures and my ‘dancing’).
If you can, scout out the presentation space you’ll be using in advance. Figure out how to get your presentation to whoever is wrangling the projector. Make sure it’s formatted correctly and try *real* hard not to pester them with updates. If you can, spend 15 minutes in advance with the A/V person and test your voice through the microphone and figure out how to sequence through your presentation - note you’ll probably need to do this before or after conference hours.
Many conference presentations have a designated Q&A period after the talk. But people will sometimes attempt to interrupt you in mid-presentation with questions or comments. Try to ignore this and don’t let it phase you. If you can drop a smooth “I’ll take questions afterwards”, that’s a bonus but not required.
Try to smile and look happy to be there. If someone introduces you, say “Thank you [name], and hello everyone”. If there’s no introduction, just say “Hello everyone.” I know this seems trivial but I’ve seen sooo many people mess this up. In short, practice a warm opening. Watching other presenters will be educational.
You can do this. Break a leg!
posted by doctor tough love at 1:10 PM on June 22, 2019
If you can handle heels and if you have comfortable heels, I'd suggest wearing heels. There is something about being able to look a man at a conference directly in the eye (or much closer to it), that helps even the power imbalance. When I was attending a lot more conferences involving travel, I was lucky in that I had one pair of super comfortable but still very stylish black heels and an equally comfortable (although slightly less stylish) pair of brown heels. I can't even calculate the number of miles I walked in those shoes.
For presentations, I prefer a jacket and pants (so a pants suit). You never know about what sort of seating situation you'll encounter, and especially these days, with the increase in bar-stool type seating, the last thing you want to be worried about is climbing up some tall piece of furniture while keeping your skirt down. Also, I figure A/V guys know how to mic a person wearing pants and a jacket.
There will likely be a lot of receptions or cocktail hours or whatever they're calling them these days. I never tended to change--the suit I wore to the conference was the suit I wore to those events--but a lot of people (especially the women) did. The wardrobe was still business, but it was lighter more relaxed business (if that makes any sense).
Depending on the conference and the location, there may be other activities. I've seen everything from going to the theme park to taking a boat cruise, to attending a sporting event to getting a tour of some place of interest, so it also helps if you've got a casual but versatile outfit or two that could be put into use for something recreational but also conference affiliated.
Somebody mentioned business cards above. You can never have too many business cards at a conference, and since people will be handing you their cards, make sure you've got a convenient place to put them (either a slot in your purse/briefcase/work bag or a card-case/card holder).
One thing at conferences it that often times you're not really in control of what you eat or when you eat. You may get the choice of one or two varieties of sandwiches, or at a certain point you may get herded to a buffet that has a lot questionable food choices. The one thing you can control, however is breakfast. I'm not really somebody who enjoys room service, but I learned very early on, that ordering a decent breakfast and having it delivered allows you the energy to get through long days, and also is the quickest, most efficient way of eating (especially when compared with going down to the restaurant, ordering, waiting, coming back to the room to freshen up, etc.) Sure, the conference will likely have a breakfast buffet table, and there is nothing stopping you from taking advantage of that, but especially on the first day (before you know what to expect) set yourself up right and make sure you order yourself breakfast (I find it best to put in the order the night before and specify what time you want it brought up). On that same note, get the hotel to give you a wake-up call as an added measure in case your own device doesn't go off.
If you're going somewhere nice/interesting, try to book yourself a couple of extra days there before or after (I prefer after) the event to take advantage of your travel. If you do this, you don't have to stay in the same hotel (although it definitely makes things easier), but definitely ask if you can get the conference rate (which might be cheaper).
Feel free to post any more specific questions here, or MeMail me. I'm always happy to offer advice based on my experiences.
posted by sardonyx at 1:23 PM on June 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
For presentations, I prefer a jacket and pants (so a pants suit). You never know about what sort of seating situation you'll encounter, and especially these days, with the increase in bar-stool type seating, the last thing you want to be worried about is climbing up some tall piece of furniture while keeping your skirt down. Also, I figure A/V guys know how to mic a person wearing pants and a jacket.
There will likely be a lot of receptions or cocktail hours or whatever they're calling them these days. I never tended to change--the suit I wore to the conference was the suit I wore to those events--but a lot of people (especially the women) did. The wardrobe was still business, but it was lighter more relaxed business (if that makes any sense).
Depending on the conference and the location, there may be other activities. I've seen everything from going to the theme park to taking a boat cruise, to attending a sporting event to getting a tour of some place of interest, so it also helps if you've got a casual but versatile outfit or two that could be put into use for something recreational but also conference affiliated.
Somebody mentioned business cards above. You can never have too many business cards at a conference, and since people will be handing you their cards, make sure you've got a convenient place to put them (either a slot in your purse/briefcase/work bag or a card-case/card holder).
One thing at conferences it that often times you're not really in control of what you eat or when you eat. You may get the choice of one or two varieties of sandwiches, or at a certain point you may get herded to a buffet that has a lot questionable food choices. The one thing you can control, however is breakfast. I'm not really somebody who enjoys room service, but I learned very early on, that ordering a decent breakfast and having it delivered allows you the energy to get through long days, and also is the quickest, most efficient way of eating (especially when compared with going down to the restaurant, ordering, waiting, coming back to the room to freshen up, etc.) Sure, the conference will likely have a breakfast buffet table, and there is nothing stopping you from taking advantage of that, but especially on the first day (before you know what to expect) set yourself up right and make sure you order yourself breakfast (I find it best to put in the order the night before and specify what time you want it brought up). On that same note, get the hotel to give you a wake-up call as an added measure in case your own device doesn't go off.
If you're going somewhere nice/interesting, try to book yourself a couple of extra days there before or after (I prefer after) the event to take advantage of your travel. If you do this, you don't have to stay in the same hotel (although it definitely makes things easier), but definitely ask if you can get the conference rate (which might be cheaper).
Feel free to post any more specific questions here, or MeMail me. I'm always happy to offer advice based on my experiences.
posted by sardonyx at 1:23 PM on June 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
A lot of excellent advice already here -- particularly practicing your presentation out loud, while standing up (I find standing makes it easier to breathe and project, and you want to mimic as much as possible the physical conditions of the actual talk). Run a timer in your practice run, and have a notepad to jot down changes you want to make to your slides (rather than interrupting your dry run to make them). If your talk is too long or too short, correct it by deleting or adding slides, not by talking faster or slower.
Dress like you would dress for work, in clothes and shoes that you are very comfortable with. The last thing you want to do while giving a talk is to be struggling with weird shoes or an awkward dress you're not used to. Do not wear heels if you are not used to wearing heels! Do not buy new shoes to wear for the first time at the conference! Wear layers that you can remove if needed. I find that conference hotels are often freezing, but I get hot while presenting, so I'll strip off the extra layers before getting up for my talk.
Bring a notepad so you can take notes during the other talks. I'll typically write down the name of the speaker and talk title, and then jot down anything particularly interesting from the talk. It helps you stay focused on the proceedings and to remember afterwards any interesting tidbits that you might want to use or follow up on. Bring a water bottle that you can refill (but try to avoid drinking water during your talk, it's really distracting). If you are prone to coughing, bring a fistful of cough drops (of a kind you're familiar with) and in that case you can have water with you at the podium.
If you can, find out in advance whether you will be expected to upload your slides before the talk, deliver them to an organizer by email or on a USB stick, or connect your own laptop to the projector. I generally try to come prepared for any of the three. If you'll be connecting your own laptop, make sure you have the charger (along with adapter plugs if you'll be going to a country with different electrical sockets) and any dongles you might need for VGA or HDMI connectors (and DVI if you have it, but I've never actually seen that one; VGA still seems to be most common).
posted by heatherlogan at 1:25 PM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Dress like you would dress for work, in clothes and shoes that you are very comfortable with. The last thing you want to do while giving a talk is to be struggling with weird shoes or an awkward dress you're not used to. Do not wear heels if you are not used to wearing heels! Do not buy new shoes to wear for the first time at the conference! Wear layers that you can remove if needed. I find that conference hotels are often freezing, but I get hot while presenting, so I'll strip off the extra layers before getting up for my talk.
Bring a notepad so you can take notes during the other talks. I'll typically write down the name of the speaker and talk title, and then jot down anything particularly interesting from the talk. It helps you stay focused on the proceedings and to remember afterwards any interesting tidbits that you might want to use or follow up on. Bring a water bottle that you can refill (but try to avoid drinking water during your talk, it's really distracting). If you are prone to coughing, bring a fistful of cough drops (of a kind you're familiar with) and in that case you can have water with you at the podium.
If you can, find out in advance whether you will be expected to upload your slides before the talk, deliver them to an organizer by email or on a USB stick, or connect your own laptop to the projector. I generally try to come prepared for any of the three. If you'll be connecting your own laptop, make sure you have the charger (along with adapter plugs if you'll be going to a country with different electrical sockets) and any dongles you might need for VGA or HDMI connectors (and DVI if you have it, but I've never actually seen that one; VGA still seems to be most common).
posted by heatherlogan at 1:25 PM on June 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
Was this conference held here before, or somewhere else? Have your colleagues attended this conference before? Do what you can to understand the scope and layout of conference to reduce that uncertainty. Also, are there people from other companies or agencies who will be there that you'll know? Having a friendly face or two can make it less daunting.
While at the conference, you might see other presentations that you can connect to yours, so once you're comfortable with your presentation, you can start ad-libbing in some material, or use these connections to fill in Q&A time, if no one asks questions, as may happen.
Speaking of questions and answers, be sure you're comfortable answering questions outside the scope of the presentation, but you can always say "let me follow up with you after I look into this some more" and exchange business cards.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:46 PM on June 22, 2019
While at the conference, you might see other presentations that you can connect to yours, so once you're comfortable with your presentation, you can start ad-libbing in some material, or use these connections to fill in Q&A time, if no one asks questions, as may happen.
Speaking of questions and answers, be sure you're comfortable answering questions outside the scope of the presentation, but you can always say "let me follow up with you after I look into this some more" and exchange business cards.
posted by filthy light thief at 1:46 PM on June 22, 2019
I have presented at international conferences (small ones). I'll not offer advice on clothing or speech, but there is one thing that I and my colleagues did - it may or may not be relevant or appropriate for you though. As we were from Oz, we had a supply of kangaroo stick pins (lapel pins), that we would keep at our stand (under the counter) and also pinned to our business cards for handing out to the VIP types. We were knocked down in the rush, and always had to ration them. Obviously, you would need to pick an animal/whatever relevant to your country if you wanted to do this.
It sounds twee, but it was a PR goldmine, as well as opening doors much more easily than might have been the case without them, and their popularity was unaffected by how 'sophisticated' the host country/organisation might be.
posted by GeeEmm at 5:37 PM on June 22, 2019
It sounds twee, but it was a PR goldmine, as well as opening doors much more easily than might have been the case without them, and their popularity was unaffected by how 'sophisticated' the host country/organisation might be.
posted by GeeEmm at 5:37 PM on June 22, 2019
I do a little of this and my company helps people prepare for their first big presentation as well. Lots of good advice here. Mine would be, if you have been allotted (say) 20 minutes to present, practice a presentation that's two minutes short of that.
This allows for little errors and glitches in slide-switching (which no one notices or cares about, believe me, as someone else said the audience is on your side), and if there are none of those, you can feel confident taking your time with something you feel at the last minute (I always have this feeling) that you've under-explained or something.
If you plan for 20 minutes on the dot it will be excruciating and you'll be agonizing over every word!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 9:30 PM on June 22, 2019
This allows for little errors and glitches in slide-switching (which no one notices or cares about, believe me, as someone else said the audience is on your side), and if there are none of those, you can feel confident taking your time with something you feel at the last minute (I always have this feeling) that you've under-explained or something.
If you plan for 20 minutes on the dot it will be excruciating and you'll be agonizing over every word!
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 9:30 PM on June 22, 2019
While at the conference, you might see other presentations that you can connect to yours, so once you're comfortable with your presentation, you can start ad-libbing in some material, or use these connections to fill in Q&A time, if no one asks questions, as may happen.
This is great advice. (An example: in an early conference talk of mine, I spotted someone in the audience whose talk had essentially been a deep-dive into an area I covered more as an overview. I made sure to call him out and recommend that the audience watch his talk on video, if they hadn't already seen it.)
Another thing you can do to fill in time, if you have to, is keep back some extra slides at the back of your deck, after the final slide. Then you have material for the event that your talk runs short/your timeslot is longer than you thought, but it's not in your way for the usual case.
Make sure that your slides are in the right aspect ratio for the projector - this can vary between rooms at the same conference, so be sure to check all the information the organisers have given you (or ask them). I usually present from Google Slides, but I also make sure to have a PDF copy saved onto my desktop, where I can open it immediately after startup. (I once gave a talk with a laptop whose battery was so old that, in the time it took to unplug from the mains, walk from the front row to the podium, and plug in again, it died. The PDF on the desktop was a lifesaver.) Be aware that you might end up not being able to see your speaker notes in such a case.
Try not to rely on having wifi to show your slides: conference wifi is not always great. When using Google Slides, I usually use my phone as a wifi hotspot and/or present in offline mode (only available in Chrome).
Oh, if presenting from your own laptop, make sure your desktop is clean and has no embarrassing files saved on it. :) You should turn off apps that might create pop-up messages, too. I think Macs have a 'do not disturb' setting that does this for you.
I am an anxious introvert and I love presenting, because it's a great way to meet people. Once you give your talk, expect people to come up to you and introduce themselves in the coffee breaks, because it's an automatic ice-breaker. They might have questions, or they might just want to tell you that they enjoyed the talk. For me, that means a lot lower need to approach people myself or stand around alone. :)
There will likely be a speakers' dinner or drinks early in the conference. If you make friends with another speaker, you can make a point of attending each others' talks: a friendly face in the audience can make a big difference.
Related to the last point: if there's a conference hashtag, posting with it on Twitter can make a big difference in your conference experience. You can tweet out interesting things you learn from the other talks, you can read tagged tweets to see if anything interesting is going on, and you can sometimes get into conversations with other attendees as well.
I would find out if there's a quiet room or green room where you can take breaks from the bustle of the conference. Be prepared for an adrenaline crash after finishing the talk and don't feel bad for needing some downtime afterwards. Likewise, you don't have to go to a talk in every single slot. Doing the 'hallway track' (talking to other attendees) in some slots is useful too.
You mentioned that your conference is halfway around the world. If you take any medications, make sure you stick to your schedule despite the time change! Last weekend I messed this up and gave a presentation while in withdrawal from my antidepressant, which I really don't recommend.
Take a couple of deep breaths before you start - before you even introduce yourself - and try to remember to speak a bit more slowly than you want to, especially if there's a big difference in accent between you and the rest of the audience. Remember that (as bilabial said above) they want you to succeed.
Drink lots of water - conference hotels are often air-conditioned, and you'll be speaking (and maybe sweating, if your anxiety is like mine) a lot.
If you'll be travelling in the city to get from your hotel from the conference, take screenshots of your route in Google Maps so you don't have to rely on having wifi or signal. Also take a screenshot of the name and address of your hotel, to show to taxi drivers.
Good luck! You sound pretty prepared already, to be honest, and I'm sure you'll do well.
posted by daisyk at 3:01 AM on June 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
This is great advice. (An example: in an early conference talk of mine, I spotted someone in the audience whose talk had essentially been a deep-dive into an area I covered more as an overview. I made sure to call him out and recommend that the audience watch his talk on video, if they hadn't already seen it.)
Another thing you can do to fill in time, if you have to, is keep back some extra slides at the back of your deck, after the final slide. Then you have material for the event that your talk runs short/your timeslot is longer than you thought, but it's not in your way for the usual case.
Make sure that your slides are in the right aspect ratio for the projector - this can vary between rooms at the same conference, so be sure to check all the information the organisers have given you (or ask them). I usually present from Google Slides, but I also make sure to have a PDF copy saved onto my desktop, where I can open it immediately after startup. (I once gave a talk with a laptop whose battery was so old that, in the time it took to unplug from the mains, walk from the front row to the podium, and plug in again, it died. The PDF on the desktop was a lifesaver.) Be aware that you might end up not being able to see your speaker notes in such a case.
Try not to rely on having wifi to show your slides: conference wifi is not always great. When using Google Slides, I usually use my phone as a wifi hotspot and/or present in offline mode (only available in Chrome).
Oh, if presenting from your own laptop, make sure your desktop is clean and has no embarrassing files saved on it. :) You should turn off apps that might create pop-up messages, too. I think Macs have a 'do not disturb' setting that does this for you.
I am an anxious introvert and I love presenting, because it's a great way to meet people. Once you give your talk, expect people to come up to you and introduce themselves in the coffee breaks, because it's an automatic ice-breaker. They might have questions, or they might just want to tell you that they enjoyed the talk. For me, that means a lot lower need to approach people myself or stand around alone. :)
There will likely be a speakers' dinner or drinks early in the conference. If you make friends with another speaker, you can make a point of attending each others' talks: a friendly face in the audience can make a big difference.
Related to the last point: if there's a conference hashtag, posting with it on Twitter can make a big difference in your conference experience. You can tweet out interesting things you learn from the other talks, you can read tagged tweets to see if anything interesting is going on, and you can sometimes get into conversations with other attendees as well.
I would find out if there's a quiet room or green room where you can take breaks from the bustle of the conference. Be prepared for an adrenaline crash after finishing the talk and don't feel bad for needing some downtime afterwards. Likewise, you don't have to go to a talk in every single slot. Doing the 'hallway track' (talking to other attendees) in some slots is useful too.
You mentioned that your conference is halfway around the world. If you take any medications, make sure you stick to your schedule despite the time change! Last weekend I messed this up and gave a presentation while in withdrawal from my antidepressant, which I really don't recommend.
Take a couple of deep breaths before you start - before you even introduce yourself - and try to remember to speak a bit more slowly than you want to, especially if there's a big difference in accent between you and the rest of the audience. Remember that (as bilabial said above) they want you to succeed.
Drink lots of water - conference hotels are often air-conditioned, and you'll be speaking (and maybe sweating, if your anxiety is like mine) a lot.
If you'll be travelling in the city to get from your hotel from the conference, take screenshots of your route in Google Maps so you don't have to rely on having wifi or signal. Also take a screenshot of the name and address of your hotel, to show to taxi drivers.
Good luck! You sound pretty prepared already, to be honest, and I'm sure you'll do well.
posted by daisyk at 3:01 AM on June 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thank you all for your advice so far - this is all exactly what I need to hear, and it's super useful. Without getting too identifying, I'm American, the conference is in an East African country, and the audience should be fairly broadly international. It's one of those events that rotates location every time it's held and the attendance seems to vary a lot based on where it is.
Point taken especially about practicing the presentation as much as possible. Thanks to y'all, I finally did my first out-loud try yesterday and it was, um, worse than expected, so I'll keep working on it and schedule a few more-formal practice runs with any audience that'll have me.
Anyways - this is all SO helpful and reassuring, thank you, and please feel free to keep it coming :)
posted by mosst at 10:42 AM on June 23, 2019
Point taken especially about practicing the presentation as much as possible. Thanks to y'all, I finally did my first out-loud try yesterday and it was, um, worse than expected, so I'll keep working on it and schedule a few more-formal practice runs with any audience that'll have me.
Anyways - this is all SO helpful and reassuring, thank you, and please feel free to keep it coming :)
posted by mosst at 10:42 AM on June 23, 2019
I'm in here late but the best comment above is the one about fields, and even events within fields, differ in the nature of the presentation: read a paper with deck as visual aid, talk through the bullet points on your deck, etc. If you possibly can access video of last year's version of this very conference ... ideally the same track in which you're presenting ... and see what your peers do.
If there is simultaneous translation ... cut your script (or potion of deck you intend to present live) down big time. Simultaneous translation roughly triples the amount of time it takes to get through any given content.
Do NOT be afraid to drink seltzer or diet coke at cocktail events. You can EASILY start at 4 p.m. and end at 11 p.m. and that's a long time to be drinking booze, even if you're a regular drinker (and especially if you are not). Nothing good is likely to happen after 4 or 5 drinks.
Research the level of air conditioning at the hotel so you can dress appropriately if it ends up being a lot hotter than you are used to.
If you are traveling alone, have the hotel book a driver to pick you up at the airport with a name-sign.
Have your deck in as many media as possible: hard copy, thumb drive, lap-top and CD-ROM. You truly never know.
posted by MattD at 2:21 PM on June 23, 2019
If there is simultaneous translation ... cut your script (or potion of deck you intend to present live) down big time. Simultaneous translation roughly triples the amount of time it takes to get through any given content.
Do NOT be afraid to drink seltzer or diet coke at cocktail events. You can EASILY start at 4 p.m. and end at 11 p.m. and that's a long time to be drinking booze, even if you're a regular drinker (and especially if you are not). Nothing good is likely to happen after 4 or 5 drinks.
Research the level of air conditioning at the hotel so you can dress appropriately if it ends up being a lot hotter than you are used to.
If you are traveling alone, have the hotel book a driver to pick you up at the airport with a name-sign.
Have your deck in as many media as possible: hard copy, thumb drive, lap-top and CD-ROM. You truly never know.
posted by MattD at 2:21 PM on June 23, 2019
Oh, if presenting from your own laptop, make sure your desktop is clean and has no embarrassing files saved on it. :) You should turn off apps that might create pop-up messages, too. I think Macs have a 'do not disturb' setting that does this for you.
Make a separate account on your laptop and use it exclusively for presentations. That way, the worse case scenario is you unexpectedly get some default garbage that came with the laptop, and everyone sympathizes with you.
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 3:25 PM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
Make a separate account on your laptop and use it exclusively for presentations. That way, the worse case scenario is you unexpectedly get some default garbage that came with the laptop, and everyone sympathizes with you.
posted by meaty shoe puppet at 3:25 PM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
heatherlogan wrote:
If your talk is too long or too short, correct it by deleting or adding slides, not by talking faster or slower.
Emphatically 2nding this. Some of the worst presentations I’ve ever seen involved someone trying to cram an hour’s material into 20 minutes.
A good moderator will cut you off if you begin to go over your time. Which is embarrassing, but better than *not* getting cut off and running 15+ minutes over and throwing off the entire conference schedule, which will result in everyone hating you. The last presenter of the day will hate you with particular intensity.
But you won’t go over.
It sounds like you’ve got a presentation deck that was assembled without much thought to the actual presentation time. I’m not your boss or co-worker, and I’m not going to share the stage with you - and as it happens, neither will they. It’s gonna be *you* up there presenting - so make cuts as needed to make your presentation a success. I’ve had to deal with “remote micromanagement” in the distant past. If someone 2,000 miles away makes “suggestions” or insists that you need to do something that you *know* will be a FAIL, you can tell them you’ll try but for God’s sake, do it the way *you* need to do it to make it work.
If stuff happens and you’re on-stage and your pace is slower than planned, go ahead and jump past a slide (or two) if you need to.
I agree that you should try to avoid drinking on-stage - but make sure you’ve got a small bottle of water anyway, and if you start to go dry, then drink. It’s not a big deal.
Smile if you can do it naturally. I’m not trying to be a sexist pig - this is good advice for every gender. If smiling is not your thing, try to be positive and upbeat about being there.
posted by doctor tough love at 3:35 PM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
If your talk is too long or too short, correct it by deleting or adding slides, not by talking faster or slower.
Emphatically 2nding this. Some of the worst presentations I’ve ever seen involved someone trying to cram an hour’s material into 20 minutes.
A good moderator will cut you off if you begin to go over your time. Which is embarrassing, but better than *not* getting cut off and running 15+ minutes over and throwing off the entire conference schedule, which will result in everyone hating you. The last presenter of the day will hate you with particular intensity.
But you won’t go over.
It sounds like you’ve got a presentation deck that was assembled without much thought to the actual presentation time. I’m not your boss or co-worker, and I’m not going to share the stage with you - and as it happens, neither will they. It’s gonna be *you* up there presenting - so make cuts as needed to make your presentation a success. I’ve had to deal with “remote micromanagement” in the distant past. If someone 2,000 miles away makes “suggestions” or insists that you need to do something that you *know* will be a FAIL, you can tell them you’ll try but for God’s sake, do it the way *you* need to do it to make it work.
If stuff happens and you’re on-stage and your pace is slower than planned, go ahead and jump past a slide (or two) if you need to.
I agree that you should try to avoid drinking on-stage - but make sure you’ve got a small bottle of water anyway, and if you start to go dry, then drink. It’s not a big deal.
Smile if you can do it naturally. I’m not trying to be a sexist pig - this is good advice for every gender. If smiling is not your thing, try to be positive and upbeat about being there.
posted by doctor tough love at 3:35 PM on June 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
My big one is think of all the ways the audio crew might attach a microphone to you. Usually a waistband battery pack and a lapel clip. Sometimes an over the head microphone that keeps a tiny floating thing near your chin. So. Make sure you wear an outfit with a waistband that can support some weight, and a lapel is some sort. This rules it most dresses and anything with a scoop neck.
Pee about 20 minutes before you present. Stay hydrated throughout the day. Snack according to your personal needs, there’s no one size fits all or even most model for this.
Write your talk out word for word, attach notes about where to change slides, and practice reading it aloud once a day all the way through. Eventually you’ll think you have it memorized. Now record it and read along, note where you went off track. And also note the time. Keep practicing.
posted by bilabial at 11:25 AM on June 22, 2019 [6 favorites]