poster presentations/speaker paper

[shock-me-sane]

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I am going to be registering for WPA convention. I am a first timer and was hoping someone could give me some idea of what actually goes on there? I am pretty sure you just stand there by your poster and answer questions, but what about the speaker paper? Oral presentation, read portions of the paper? Do you get asked questions?

also, can I put this on my CV as a pending activity?

thanks.

 

[Ollie123]

You were pretty dead on for the poster.

The oral presentation should just kind of be a shortened version of your paper in lecture format, with a Q&A at the end. Usually they're around 15 minutes but it varies by conference. Some give you less, and I've seen up to an hour given for something seriously groundbreaking, though those are usually "invited talks" or something, and not the usual paper presentation.

I would definitely not "read portions of the paper" though. I can't imagine anything less interesting. Put together a powerpoint and spice it up a bit, people can read portions of the paper on their own time😉

 

[JockNerd]

Focus on take-home messages, wide concepts, and applications to other areas in the presentation. No one is going to remember any specific details about values of correlations and such. DON'T read from the paper, and DON'T read off the slides. Keep the number of slides to a minimum and practice enough that you don't even have to look at the slides. If a lot of things are going on at once at the conference, don't take it personally if you have a small audience.

Same thing for the poster--for the love of people walking by, don't fill it with data charts. Make it pretty. I'd have a handout with relevant analysis stuff for anyone who's interested, and be sure you have some sort of card with your name on it.

I don't know your student status... are you applying to grad school this year? Your adviser, if he or she is there, should be networking you with potential grad advisers.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

It is ALL ABOUT the take-home.

A couple years ago at a conference my team (not 'mine', but I was a main presenter) gave an hour-long talk about the applied aspect of our research. We focused on the take-home message and geared our hand-outs to things the clinicians could bring back and utilize at their schools. We didn't do anything 'special', we just tried to find points that could easily be translated into something useful. I've always been a fan of handouts because I can go back to the information later, especially when I'm trying to share it with a colleague.

The funniest thing about the who conference was our time-slot. We were a relatively late addition, and we got a spot right after lunchtime, which can often tank the attendance. I guess we had a 'hot' topic, because it became standing room only and we actually ran out of hand-outs (we made a ton, but I guess not enough). People kept filing in as we were setting up, and I was like..."uhm...okay. No pressure!" Between running out of supplies, the projector they provided dying (we had back-up overheads), and the last minute room change......it was an adventure.

At least it was a gorgeous day!

-t

 

[JockNerd]

we had back-up overheads

Ooh, ooh, I forgot to mention that. Essential. Also, bring multiple sorts of adhesive tools (tacky clay, short pins, long pins, stapler, and tape) because even if you know what the poster support is *supposed* to be, you still might be the odd person out who got a wood board instead of fabric.

Get the poster printed far enough in advance that you can do another one if the colours that looked fabulous on your monitor come out an abomination.

If multiple people from a lab (or uni!) go, everyone should use the same backdrop, colors, and fonts.

And, NETWORK!

Oh, and the CV.... if you're registered to go, in my experience it's kosher to just list it.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

One of the most important things I learned in my biz world was be prepared. We had a rule at my first firm, you had to have at least 3 ways to give the presentation (laptop, CD, and hand-out...jump drives were later added). I've had 2 or 3 things fail on me during work presentations, a complete nightmare btw, but this method saved me.

I always show up to school presentations with:

1. My laptop
2. CD / Jump Drive
3. Hand Out
4. E-mailed copy

I gave a presentation earlier this year where I had to go to my E-mail because the first 3 options didn't work (laptop couldn't hook up to the projector, my jump drive went MIA, and the copier broke after a few copies). Thank god for technology!

-t