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Giving a Talk?

Preparing a talk or a poster for conference presentations can be a bit intimidating. We have provided a full set of guidelines for each type of conference presentation to help you prepare for PEEC 2024. We have also prepared some broader suggestions to help ensure your presentation is understandable and accessible to a general scientific audience.

What will you choose?

12-minute Presentation

The 12-minute presentation is the bread and butter for any conference symposium. Mastering the art of this presentation type will ensure success at any future conference. These talks are typically guided by a PowerPoint presentation. If you are presenting in person, you will have access to a presentation pointer to advance slides and point out information on the PowerPoint slide itself using a laser pointer.

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Guidelines:

  • 12 minutes allocated to introducing the speaker and presenting on the information of the research project.

  • 3 minutes allocated to a Q&A period regarding the presented material by the audience.

3-minute presentation

3-minute talks are difficult due to their brevity; they are almost like elevator pitches of your research. One of the more famous applications of this presentation format is known as the 3-minute thesis (https://threeminutethesis.uq.edu.au/). These talks are typically guided by one or a few PowerPoint slides. If you are presenting in person, you will have access to a presentation pointer to advance slides and point out information on the PowerPoint slide itself using a laser pointer.

Poster presentation

Posters are also a common sight at conferences. The main goal of a poster presentation is to highlight and summarize the most important points of your research with visuals. This allows you to be quite creative! Poster boards will be provided by the PEEC organizing committee. Posters are to be printed off by the presenters. Posters can typically take a day to print, so be sure to allow enough time to get them printed!

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Guidelines:

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  • Maximum dimensions of the poster are 48”x48” (standard conference posters are

48”x36”)

General Presentation

General Presentation Suggestions

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  • Avoid jargon that a general scientific audience would not be aware of where possible or at least provide one explanation during the presentation

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  • Be sure to explain the impetus and implications of your research

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  • Be sure to identify the take-home points of your presentation (if they only take one thing away from your presentation, what should that be?)

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  • Avoid having too much text; pictures can speak a thousand words!

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  • Avoid small text, this may be particularly hard for online attendees to read

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  • Try to read out what the words say on the slide, otherwise, it can become quickly confusing when what is written and spoken differ

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  • Avoid red/green in figures where possible as colour blindness is fairly common
     

  • Include acknowledgements

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  • Providing a framework of what you are going to talk about can help the presentation flow, especially if you refer back to this framework at the end in the conclusions

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  • Sans-serif fonts (e.g., Calibri or Arial) are generally better for presentations as they are easier to read in a PowerPoint or on a poster

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  • Try to avoid a lot of blank space

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  • Background aesthetics are worthwhile to consider, visually interesting presentations can drive the audience to be more engaged with the material

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  • Make eye contact with the audience

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  • Be confident; you know more about your research than anyone in the room

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