My abstract was accepted for a grad student conference

[DrFaustus666]

Hi fellow language students,

I submitted an abstract for a paper in a graduate student conference, and to my shock(!) my abstract was accepted!

Woo hoo! But now I have to write the @#&$*@&#( paper. How long should papers be for graduate student conferences? The topic I'm writing on could be covered in 10 pages or 500 pages, depending on how far in depth I go. The conference is in mid-March, so I don't have tremendous amount of time.

Any ideas? How long (how many pages) would be customary?

John

[rsldonk]

how long do you have? 15 to 20 minutes? Figure 2 minutes per page. Make sure you go slow. Practice delivering it before you actually do it. Good luck.

Edited January 15, 2011 by rsldonk

[surprisecake]

what kind of presentation is it?

[DrFaustus666]

First, thank you both for such quick replies!

rsldonk: how long do you have? 15 to 20 minutes? Figure 2 minutes per page. Make sure you go slow. Practice delivering it before you actually do it. Good luck.

They haven't said exactly how long I have to do it, but I can't imagine it's MORE than 30 minutes, and two minutes per page sounds like a reasonable rule of thumb, giving me a range of 15-20 pages, which is just about what I'd guessed myself. And it won't be difficult to go slowly, it's a complicated subject and will need time between paragraphs, maybe between individual sentences, for it to sink in.

surprisecake: what kind of presentation is it?

Just a straight research paper (no special A/V or other media), though I'll have to include some figures in it, as I'll summarize very specific aspects of three different dramatic pieces, from different eras, then compare and contrast the authors' views on these specific aspects.

[history 75]

Just to point out: a 20 min presentation would be max ten pp, times roman 12 font double space and a 30 min (which would be exceptionally long for a grad conf) is max 15 pp, NOT 15-20 pp.

People will get annoyed with you if you go over; the chair may cut you off in mid-sentence; do not try and read extra fast as no one will understand you anyway. and every topic is more complicated than you have time to lay out, which is why people write articles and books

[Medievalmaniac]

Just to point out: a 20 min presentation would be max ten pp, times roman 12 font double space and a 30 min (which would be exceptionally long for a grad conf) is max 15 pp, NOT 15-20 pp.

People will get annoyed with you if you go over; the chair may cut you off in mid-sentence; do not try and read extra fast as no one will understand you anyway. and every topic is more complicated than you have time to lay out, which is why people write articles and books

I have presented at several conferences. In my experience, you want between 8 and 9 pages if you want to read at a steady but not rushed pace. Twenty minutes goes by really quickly when you are reading aloud! "They" say to figure two minutes a page, but in my experience that is too fast for the people listening to be able to follow your argument well.

My recommendation is to try to keep it to no more than 9.5-10 pages, and then do a timed practice to figure out if you need to cut anything.

In a paper being presented, I will often omit textual citations from the reading, but have them as footnotes so if I need them for the Q&A I have them, but I don't have to take up time from my argument in repeating them. This is especially helpful when everyone int he audience is familiar with the text(s) you are discussing, but can work in other situations also - if they want you to recap the story or give the citations, you can do it in the Q&A.

I hope these suggestions are useful to you. Good luck! I love conferences.

[DrFaustus666]

max 15 pp, NOT 15-20 pp. People will get annoyed with you if you go over; the chair may cut you off in mid-sentence;

My recommendation is to try to keep it to no more than 9.5-10 pages,

In a paper being presented, I will often omit textual citations from the reading, but have them as footnotes so if I need them for the Q&A I have them, but I don't have to take up time from my argument in repeating them.

Thank you both for your additional help. I've clearly bitten off more than can be presented adequately in such a short paper --- which I guess is good news, really --- OK, I'll work on just the absolute essentials, as you both suggest, and keep the citations for Q-and-A (excellent idea!). Yes, most people in the conference will have at least a nodding familiarity with the material, some may know it very well indeed, so long citations are a great thing to cut (but keep in reserve if necessary).

Thanks again!