Presenting at a conference

Another way to communicate your master thesis research to a wider audience is to present your work at an academic conference. Few master students present their work at conferences, but it gives you valuable experience and makes you stand out from the crowd. Try to find a relevant conference for your research topic and ask your supervisor or research group about which ones they attend. If you are part of a research group they may have funding available for you to attend the conference, but be prepared that you might have to cover the expenses yourself. Usually, there is no problem registering for a conference as a master student as long as you have some interesting results you want to convey.

Abstract

Often you need to submit an abstract of your presentation, which should give a short summary of your research and your main findings. The abstract is extremely important as it is the only thing the conference committee will use to assess your contribution. If you want to have a presentation they will use the abstract to assess whether they want to include you in the program, or whether they want you to make a poster instead. If you are not yet done with your thesis work by the time you submit the abstract, it is possible to change the actual content of your presentation from what was presented in the original abstract.

There are two main ways to present at a conference, a poster, or a presentation.

Poster presentation

Most master students and first-time presenters chose to present a poster. This is a large wall poster where you present your research through photos, figures and tables, and short text. It can be either landscape or portrait format, depending on the instructions from the conference hosts. The posters are usually displayed in a lobby or in a part of the conference venue while the conference is ongoing. Most conference participants take time during the conference to go through and look at all the posters, so if you are presenting one you need to take it seriously.

Making a poster requires extensive work on the design to make it attractive and readable to others:

Work with backgrounds, colour schemes, and make tables and figures clear and easy to read.
Keep the text as brief as possible - most people do not spend time reading long texts on posters.
Include photos from your work or at least related to your topic - maybe they can even serve as a background.
Maybe include a small picture of yourself so people interested in your work can approach you during the conference.
Include acknowledgements or logos of contributing institutions.
There are sometimes competitions at conferences on the best poster and the design is vital to attracting attention - make an effort!

Presenting your poster

During the conference, there will be a poster session. All the participants are then invited to go around to look at all the poster you will get the opportunity to stand by your poster and present it to people who are interested in learning more. Spend some time in advance in doing a short presentation of your poster. Remember that your audience might be both scholars and other interested people that come through the conference with different levels of insight into scholarly work. Be prepared to receive questions about your work.

Presentation

You may also give a presentation at a conference. Usually, the most important work or a variety of topics are chosen for presentations. If you apply to give a presentation, but your talk is not accepted you may still be able to present a poster. A conference talk usually lasts only 15-20 minutes and most people that present use powerpoint or a similar presentation tool. Spend time preparing your presentation and use visual tools to get your message across. Remember that the conference participants have probably been listening to presentations all day. Try to create something different and visually engaging to grab their attention. Take a look at the page about how to defend your thesis for some more power points tips.

Preparations

A talk may take place in front of the whole conference or in parallel sessions, where the participants are free to choose which talk they would like to attend. To avoid nervousness spend time preparing and practising your presentation beforehand. Make sure you keep within your assigned presentation time slot, most conferences are very strict about that. There will always be time set off after your presentation for people to ask questions. Be prepared for critical questions about your research and think about potential responses.

Attending a conference is a great way to network with other scholars, gain insight into other research, as well as showcase your own work. It is worth attending to present your own work or simply as a participant.

Additional resources

8 tips for presenting a paper

Conference presentations

Avoid death by powerpoint