Types of Presentation for a Conference

Every scientific event or conference accepts papers to be presented typically in two types of presentation: oral and poster.

When a scientific and specialized conference is held in a field, the conference secretariat releases a statement that it will receive papers in the field in which the conference is focused. This announcement explains the timeframe and how to submit articles. After the papers have been submitted, the Scientific Committee of the Conference reviews the papers received. Some papers will be accepted and some will be rejected. Types of presentation for the accepted papers at conferences are typically classified into oral or poster.

Articles with good and rich scientific content are selected for oral presentation and others are selected for a poster presentation. The main reason for considering these two types of presentation at a conference is the time constraint.  At many conferences and events, a large number of papers are submitted, and if all of these papers are to be accepted for oral presentation, a one-week conference schedule should be considered, which is impossible.

Oral Presentation 

Obviously, oral presentations are reserved for those topics which are considered “hot” and of higher appeal to the intended audience. The signal-to-noise ratio for oral presentation is higher so that researchers whose papers have been selected to be presented orally will have maximum exposure or visibility to their rivals. Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is the strength of a signal (here scientific work) to its background noise (here what everyone else is talking about).

If you want your paper to be accepted for oral presentation, you should choose hot topics, with higher scientific value. For this, the content of your work should include all of the elements of research, practice, or theory-focused work listed in the proposal submission form.

In fact, there is no special template required for oral presentation at conferences; however, there are generally four key factors that will help you give an effective conference presentation:

1. The structure and content of speech: introduction, body, and conclusion
2. How it is presented: the way you express and deliver content to your audience
3. Using visual aids: using visual aids helps you convey content to your audience in a way that makes it easier to understand
4. Responding to audience questions: questions means the audience is interested and are engaging with your presentation

Poster Presentation

Due to space and time constraints on presenting all accepted articles, it is not possible to present all accepted articles orally and therefore some articles are accepted as posters.

Authors, who are invited to present their papers as posters, will present their papers in a printed form in an area dedicated for poster display at the conference. The poster author is expected to stand by the poster during the scheduled poster session to answer the questions by participants.

Posters are a common way to present the results of statistical analysis, research, paper, or other projects at professional and specialized conferences. After the article has been accepted for poster presentation, the author should refer to the conference site and prepare the paper in the format specified by the conference. On the day of the conference, the author should bring his paper. In many conferences, posters should usually be printed with large format printers.

Tips for poster preparation at a conference

To make the posters more interesting to the viewers, you must note the following points when writing and preparing your article.

• Title: choose the title of your article so that it is short, draws interest, and is understandable to a wide range of audiences.
• Size: the poster should be short and concise; don’t include too much content in the poster.
• Clarity: the poster should include content in a simple and clear way.
• Format: It is better to use tables, graphs, and pictures in a poster to facilitate faster information transfer to the audience.

Tips for poster presentation at a conference

Usually after one and a half hours is allocated to the oral presentation at a conference. After that the attendees are free for 30 minutes to eat something and usually, during this time, they go to the hall where the posters are installed. Presenters will stand near their posters to answer the viewers’ questions.

Following are some important tips for a good poster presentation at a conference:

• Be welcoming: you should do your best to stand at your poster for the entirety of the session.
• The “elevator” pitch: First impressions really count in poster presentations; the aim here is to get your audience hooked and wanting further details.
• Creating a story: once you’ve drawn the interest of your audience and they are eager to learn more, it’s time to build the narrative of your research.
• The importance of practice: presenting your poster is ultimately a form of performance.
• Check the audience’s understanding: ask members of the audience whether you have been clear or if you should go into more detail
• Dress for the occasion: smart clothing is a good idea during your poster presentation.
• The handout: have a handout with additional supporting materials or key information from your poster.
• Dealing with feedback: it is important to welcome feedback, be prepared for discussion and not to be too defensive in the face of criticism.