Give a conference talk with confidence

Our guidelines will help you successfully deliver a technical presentation at a conference.

Jon Titus, Editorial Director -- Test & Measurement World, 7/1/2001

You’ve probably attended a conference and sat through sessions in which speakers talked about new technologies or problems they solved. Perhaps you wondered how the speakers got selected and how they knew what to talk about. In most cases, the speakers themselves made those decisions. They took the initiative and proposed topics and even daylong courses to the conference sponsors. You can do the same thing.

You might wonder why someone would volunteer his or her time and energy to present a talk. The benefits are many: career enhancement, an opportunity to tell your peers about something you have done, the chance to publicize your company, and an occasion to meet others who have interesting work to describe. You’ll have to balance those benefits against the time you’ll need to prepare your talk, the effort it takes to polish your presenting skills, the time you’ll need to travel to a conference, and the costs involved.

Although some sponsors seek a few specific speakers based on their stature or experience, most rely on industry and academic people to supply ideas that turn into presentations. In fact, conferences regularly announce a “call for papers” months in advance to solicit ideas. The call for presentations for Etronix 2002 (www.etronixexpo.com), for example, lists more than 50 areas of interest that point prospective speakers in the right directions. Magazines and Web sites carry links to similar announcements to help future speakers find conferences. (Many people say they “delivered a paper” at a conference, when in fact, they gave a talk.) Conferences usually require a paper version of a presentation for publication in conference proceedings—a formal record of the information presented by speakers.

Of course, you shouldn’t talk about a topic unless you have something worthwhile to say. Successful conference topics can center on your experience solving a problem, a new technical development, a new technique for solving problems, or even an old technique applied in a new way. Many conferences reject presentation proposals that simply tout a new product, although they may provide a special forum in which companies can briefly describe new products.

If you’re intrigued by the thought of delivering a talk at a conference, think about your idea as you would an idea for a new product or project. Prepare a proposal that includes a clear objective, a general outline of what you want to accomplish, and a budget. Talk with peers about your proposal and check with your boss for his or her general approval. Before you do further planning, you and your boss need to ensure your talk won’t cover proprietary information, reveal a trade secret, disclose patentable technology, and so on. You also want to learn whether your boss will spend money for you to travel. You might cut expenses by considering a local conference.

Check conference lists

As an active professional, you probably know some of the electronics-industry conferences that might have an interest in your topic. If you need assistance finding appropriate conferences, check the Web sites of publications such as T&MW (www.tmworld.com) and EDN ( www.ednmag.com), and check an electronics-industry portal such as e-insite (Ref. 1). A site such as Tradeshow Week (www.tradeshowweek.com) lists many conferences and trade shows you can consider. Also, check the publications and Web sites sponsored by professional organizations such as the IEEE (www.ieee.org), the ASM ( www.asminternational.org), and the American Society of Test Engineers ( www.astetest.org). Editor's note: e-insite has now become Electronic News (www.electronicnews.com).

To narrow your search, look at the Web site for each conference that looks interesting. You often can find calls for papers, lists of past topics, and other information that describes the focus of a conference and its sessions. A bit of Web research will help you narrow your list of possible conferences. Be sure to note the deadlines for submitting proposals, abstracts, and completed papers.

You’ll find two general types of conference programs: those run by professional societies and trade associations and those run as part of trade shows. It can prove difficult to tell them apart. The society-run conferences generally provide a forum for research and theoretical work, thus they attract people from academic, government, and commercial R&D labs. If your work falls into an R&D category, by all means evaluate one of these meetings, such as the International Workshop on Image and Signal Processing and Analysis, or the IEEE VLSI Test Symposium, as a place to give a talk.

A more practical atmosphere prevails at conferences associated with trade shows such as Etronix, the Design Automation Conference (DAC), the International Test Conference (ITC), SuperComm, the Optical Fiber Conference (OFC), and others. The talks presented at these conferences usually highlight real applications of technologies. If you plan a talk that will cover your hands-on experiences, one of these conferences may offer an excellent forum.

Choose three or four meetings

As you make plans, don’t limit your prospects to one conference. Settle on three or four that might be applicable and timely. A conference may not occur for a year, which seems to give you plenty of time to prepare. On the other hand, a high-tech talk about something done more than a year ago will show its age. Concentrate your search on conferences that occur 8 to 10 months from now.

As you review conferences’ information, find out what type of people attend, so you can deliver information at an appropriate level. You don’t want to talk to a group of high-level managers about circuits involved in a new test technique, nor do you want to talk to junior engineers about technology-management issues.

You must have your boss’s blessing before you go further, so now’s the time to talk with him or her in more detail about your plans. Your proposal should include your idea for a topic, an abstract, names of several relevant conferences, and a rough budget that includes costs and time. Remember, you’ll need time to prepare and rehearse your presentation. Be sure to include the benefits of delivering your talk and possible liabilities, such as the time you’ll be out of the office. Your boss may need to get approval from higher management before giving your conference plan the go ahead.

After you get approval to present a talk, you have to prepare a proposal in the format the conference organizers need. Usually the title of your presentation, your name and employer, and an abstract will satisfy their requirements. Depending on the conference, you may have to supply a short autobiographical sketch. Based on this information, the conference organizers will decide whether to include your paper in the program.

Don’t get discouraged if you receive a rejection letter. Not all ideas get accepted. Reasons for rejection may include a duplication of topics or a poor match with session topics. It can’t hurt to ask the conference organizers why they rejected your paper so you can make a better proposal at another time. Don’t count on a personal reply, though. Conference organizers may not have time to respond. But rejection by one conference doesn’t mean rejection at all conferences. Try one of the others you identified as a possibility.

Prepare your presentation

Now, assume your talk got accepted. Most conferences group talks by subject, so in all likelihood, your talk will take place in a session that includes from three to five other speakers. The acceptance letter should state the session you’re assigned to. You’ll want to ensure your topic belongs in that session, and that the other talks cover the same general subject. If you plan to talk about failure analysis of solder joints, for example, you belong in a failure-analysis session, not in one on solder. If you discover your paper grouped with unrelated topics, let the conference organizers know immediately so they can switch your talk to a relevant session.

The acceptance letter also should include information about the length of your presentation—usually about 45 minutes—and the deadline for submitting your talk in a format that can appear in print or on a CD-ROM. The conference organizers have their own specifications for laying out the pages, placing line drawings and photos on pages, and so on. Follow their requirements carefully. The organizers may have some general guidelines that will help you prepare your paper, and they may have suggestions for ways to make your talk successful.

As you prepare your paper, you must also prepare your oral presentation. Don’t expect to simply read your paper; the audience will drift away. Your talk can summarize your key objective and provide enough information to explain what you accomplished. Graphics such as 35-mm slides, overhead transparencies, or computer-generated displays can reinforce your points and provide new information. Don’t plan to read your slides, either. Conference attendees can find your paper in the published conference proceedings on paper or on a CD-ROM. Thus, they can get the details of your work if they wish.

Other sources can help you polish your oral-presentation skills. (See “For more information,” at the end of the article.) Here are some suggestions, based on good and bad experiences:

1. Practice your presentation before your co-workers, and ask for suggestions that will help you polish your delivery. Criticism may seem personal or harsh, but in all likelihood, your colleagues want you to succeed. (When you put your work in public view, you have to develop a thick skin.) Use the same slides or graphic aids you plan to use in your talk. Watch your time and plan to finish a few minutes before your time slot ends. Audiences appreciate on-time presentations.

2. Keep the information in your talk basic and easy to understand. Distill complex information into simple concepts. People don’t want a lecture; they want a “chunk” of useful information. Provide an introduction, the body of your information, and a simple conclusion or wrap-up. Don’t let your presentation wander.

3. Be ready to talk about yourself—briefly. The session chair may ask you to introduce yourself. Or the chairperson may want to introduce you, so have a copy of your short autobiography handy. Two or three sentences should suffice.

4. Most sessions include time for questions, so prepare for them. That means you need to thoroughly understand what you’re talking about. If you don’t know how to answer a question, just say, “I don’t know” or “I’ll find out for you.” Don’t bluff.

5. Use simple overhead slides, computer-generated images, or 35-mm slides to list or illustrate key points. Most people can’t absorb more than three or four bullet points per slide. Cut down on the “clutter” of artistic backgrounds, changing typestyles, and clashing colors. Use dark lettering or images on a light background to make items easier to see. If you plan to use many colors in diagrams, have a colorblind person check the art to ensure he or she can distinguish the various items you’ll point out in your talk.

6. Don’t use PowerPoint visual effects and backgrounds that distract attention from your material. (You can find helpful ideas for using graphics effectively at: www.kodak.com/US/en/digital/av/slideProjectors/consortium/easier.shtml.) Carry your own laser pointer or collapsible pointer. If you’re using overhead slides, take along several blank slides and a marker or two, in case you need to illustrate an answer for the audience.

7. Prepare to give your talk without your graphical aids. Bulbs burn out and slide projectors jam. Instead of waiting for someone to repair equipment, you should continue with your talk as best you can. Practice your talk several times without using your graphic aids. As insurance, you might prepare 35-mm slides and overhead transparencies, just in case of problems. Always carry graphic aids with you when you travel. Don’t ship them in advance, and don’t put them in checked bags.

Now you’re about ready to present your talk. If your session chairperson hasn’t contacted you a few weeks prior to the conference, give him or her a call to check on any last-minute changes. Be sure this person knows your travel and lodging arrangements. Planes get delayed, people get sick, and so on, so you need to be available for last-minute communications. For the same reasons, you should know how to contact the chairperson before and during the conference.

If no one has mentioned a short meeting with the other speakers prior to your conference session, take the initiative and suggest it. A brief meeting lets you introduce yourselves, go over the order of speakers, determine when to take questions, and so on. Conferences usually provide a speakers’ lounge where you can get together. Also, meeting for breakfast or lunch prior to a session breaks the ice and helps people calm down a bit.

After you give your talk and answer questions, you’ll feel a sense of relief. But the session isn’t over yet. At the end of the talks, some audience members may want to talk with you individually, so keep your schedule flexible. And don’t forget to gather your transparencies or slides before you leave.

A few weeks after the conference, the organizers should provide a critique of your session and of individual talks. They gather this information from questionnaires filled out by the audience. The comments and ratings can help you gauge the audience’s interest in your topic, as well as your presentation skills. Most people seem willing to provide advice or comments that will help you make a better presentation next time. If you have colleagues in the audience, they should offer honest critiques, too.

Keep in mind that no matter how many times you face an audience, you’ll always feel some nervousness, and you’ll always find ways to improve. But providing an audience with useful information is a rewarding experience. In fact, you may find yourself proposing another talk, or even an entire session for which you select four or five speakers who can talk about a general topic. T&MW

References
1. T&MW is owned by the same parent company that owns EDN magazine, e-insite, and Etronix.

For more information
Krannich, Caryl Rae, 101 Secrets of Highly Effective Speakers: Controlling Fear, Commanding Attention, Impact Publications, Manassas Park, VA, 1998.

Wilder, Lilyan, 7 Steps to Fearless Speaking, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY, 1999.

Jon Titus has written real-time software and designed embedded systems and computer/instrument interfaces. He worked in electronics for 10 years and spent nine years at EDN magazine prior to joining T&MW in 1993. He has a BS from WPI, an MS from RPI, and a PhD from VPI.