Writing for Publication

There will be a call for conference papers and the selection of speakers will be decided by submission of an abstract.  Conference abstracts vary in length and can be between 200 and 500 words.  This is an opportunity to pitch your ideas to the conference organisers. Ensure your topic addresses the theme of the conference, and be sure to present your ideas clearly and succinctly.  If you haven’t written the complete paper when submitting the abstract, be careful not to over promise on what you can reasonably deliver within the timeframe before the final submission date.

Tips for preparing for a conference

If your abstract is accepted, you should

• Check the guidelines for presenting with the conference organisers

• Find out who your audience is.  This will help you to decide how much background and context you will need to include and the level of technical language you should use.  Expert or fellow professionals in the field may not need as much context as a more general audience.  This is particularly important if you are addressing the general public where you will need to avoid highly technical language and may need to simplify your message

• Think about other conferences that you may have attended. 
  • What were the most engaging and enjoyable aspects of the presentations that you attended?
• Get organised
  • Your presentation should have a beginning, middle section and an ending. Use the beginning to capture the attention of the audience and introduce your topic.  Develop your idea and present supporting evidence in the middle section and provide a summary and conclusion in the end section. 
• Think about the best way to present your information with the aid of slides or other visual aids
  • Consider the length of speaking time you have; this will dictate the number of slides
  • Follow any conference guidelines for the type or version of software you can use
  • Use fonts and colours that comply with good accessibility guidelines.  Further information can be found at WebAIM
  • Avoid putting more than one idea or concept on a slide
  • Visual aids are just that.  Don’t put blocks of dense text on the slide for people to read
  • Use charts, graphics and images to reinforce your message
  • Be prepared to repeat your main message 2 or 3 times for impact. Using different methods such as text, images and a contextualised examples
• Pace yourself, give yourself 1-2 minutes per slide.
  • Think about how you will change slides smoothly.  Use transitional words or phrases.  
  • Practice
• Be prepared for questions

Include your contact details and affiliations.  Include your ORCID number.

Presenting a poster at a conference is an effective way to convey information quickly using images, graphs and illustrations to augment small amounts of text. Remember to include references where appropriate.

Poster presentations at conferences provide an opportunity for you to publicise your research, increase your professional profile and meet other researchers. 

• You should consider
  • Your message.  What information do you want to convey?
  • Your audience.  What do you want them to know from looking at the poster?

• Look at posters delivered at previous conferences and review the format, layout and use of visual aids.  Conferences may give guidance or have specific requirements regarding style, format, etc or may require you to use IMRaD sections to structure your poster
• Check the guideline on the size and style (landscape or portrait) of poster with the conference organisers
• The amount of text can vary from 300 to 800 but should not go above 1000 words.  Avoid including large blocks of text.  When you do include text, remember it should be possible to read your poster from a distance.  Think about using bullet points, numbering and headings to break up the text, this will also allow you to highlight the most important aspects of the work
• You want your poster to attract people from across the room so begin to think about how you can use images, graphics and other illustrations to create impact and interest in your work
• This is a visual presentation but be prepared to speak for a couple of minutes (1-2) as an introduction when people approach
• Consider making a handout that includes information about the research and your contact details and affiliations.  This could be done by creating an “online” handout by including a QR code on the poster that links to this information

For more information on creating effective posters please look at the guides below.

The dos and don’ts of academic posters.  Information and good tips on creating posters.  From a researcher’s perspective. Colin Purrington, PhD.

Practical tips on planning, layout, colour schemes, etc.  Hunter Library Research Guides (Western Carolina University).

Presentations and posters can be created using different software packages.  This is a selection of some popular products. 

Presentations

Creating an effective presentation  (Microsoft) (read)

Using Canva for presentations (Canva) (watch 27:18 mins)

Your presentation assistant (Prezi) (read)

Posters

Microsoft PowePoint can be used to create posters.  For a short video on using Microsoft PowerPoint to make a poster (13 mins).  Microsoft also provides free templates for posters.

Using Canva to create posters (16:11 mins).  Canva also provides free templates for posters.