Presentation structure

Public speaking tips

Introduction

Conference presentations

UNIT 12

Ask questions to the words in italics. There might be several questions to one sentence.

1.Many journals demand authors who want to publish their articles in the journal to write astructured abstract. 2. For example, The New England Journal of Medicine divides articles into Background, Methods, Results and Conclusion. 3 .The author should remember whatever type of abstract he is going to write, it is very important to think about the first impression.

4. Mortality was higher in employees who retired at 55 than in those who continued working. 5. The goal of the abstract is to give sufficient information to a reader to decide if it is worth to read the whole article or not.

To give a presentation is not an easy task. It requires substantial research, organization, public speaking skills, and self-confidence. It demands choosing an appropriate presentation structure: topical, chronological, classification by categories, problem and solution, or cause and effect. It is recommended to divide the presentation into three to five main points.

The conclusion should include a summary of the main points of the presentation. Don’t forget to include questions in your presentation and use them every 10 minutes to engage the audience.

The final slide should contain a message thanking the audience, your contact details, and information about the availability of speaker notes, materials and feedback tools.

It is recommended to avoid slang and jargon. It is better to use anecdotes and practical examples to make complicated concepts more comprehensible. The presenter should speak in various tones and pitches to give emphasis to certain words and ideas. The speech should be slow and clear. It is necessary to pay attention to gestures, not to lean forward or backward. Very important thing is to have an eye contact with the audience.

Typically any conference (or congress) presentations are divided into Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussions (IMRaD) as it was given in the unit 10.

If the presentation has a different form, the speaker can start with outlining its structure. This helps to orientate the audience:

First of all, I'll...

I'll begin by...

I'll then...

Secondly, I'll...

Finally, I'll...

Some speakers like to start a new section with a signal word as:

Moving on to X,...

As far as X is concerned,...

Now,...

An alternative way is to use a question:

How did we research this problem? (to introduce Method)

What did we find out? (to introduce Results)

How is it compared with previous studies? (to introduce Discussion)

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