Conference Presentation from an Outline

[mwman]

Hello all,

 

So I am getting ready to present some research (Folklore) at a conference (Western States Folklore Society) this weekend and I am getting the jeebies about presenting from an outline as opposed to an already written paper. This will be my third conference, but the first time I am presenting on relatively new research--as opposed to research I have already composed into an article or at least a term paper. I see other presenters both reading papers and presenting more preliminary, open-ended topics all the time, but I am worried about staying on track, explaining my points well, citing everyone who should be, and sounding like an expert on something that is at this stage.

 

Without getting too far into it, I did some research and found problems in the methodologies we use in folklore (fieldwork, interviews) to accurately and effectively deal with the topic I am studying (anonymous internet users). While I have some findings from the fieldwork I did, my presentation is more about how we can develop new methodologies for working in new media channels. I am getting nervous about trying to open up this territory as opposed to the (I looked at this, I found this) format that I have presented before.

 

Any advice on how to have a clear, but open-ended presentation? I want to get opinions on these methodological troubles because it will allow me to do better research in my thesis (next year), but I also want to seem like I am contributing something rather than just asking for advice.

 

Thanks!

 

 

[Gauche]

I was in the same boat as you a few days ago. I hadn't presented anything other than a paper that I basically read aloud and didn't have to worry about messing things up or sounding incoherent (as long as my paper sounded coherent). But I finally decided to present an overview of my senior honors thesis which of course couldn't have all been read, so I made an outline for it instead. It went very well. In fact, I would say it was the best conference presentation I had ever delivered.

 

But I'm not here to gloat. In fact, I was damn terrified about my presentation because 1) I only had 4 hrs of sleep in 48 hrs before my presentation; 2) I literally wrote out 7 pages of my presentation word-for-word during the couple I nights I stayed up before my presentation; 3) I really didn't have solid results to show. Just maybe some cool things to say. So how did I manage to make it successful? I turned the 7 pages into an outline and practiced 5 times in a row (between coffee and bathroom breaks) literally 3 hrs before my presentation. I also had handouts to share, and that helped provide a visual of my presentation (since I'm just not Powerpoint-savvy). I started by providing an introduction of myself, and how my research interests connect with my presentation. Since the conference was interdisciplinary, I defined some technical terms. I explained my project in general, the methodology of my research, why it was important, and the results that I anticipated. And that was it. Hope that helps.

[ShiningInShadows]

I'm a little unclear as to what your goal is. Are you trying to get feedback about where to direct methodology improvement?

 

I'm coming from a different field, granted, but when I put on a presentation the main focus is on telling people about work I (and my team) are doing; better yet, what is special about what I'm doing. On the other hand, if I went to a presentation and was asked about my opinions on an issue I'd fear that the presenter either didn't clearly understand what he or she was talking about or something to that effect.

 

That being said, if I were in your shoes I would probably do one of two things. My preferred option would be to make a group exercise on the topic (methodology analysis) part of the presentation. It would be a way of eliciting some opinions but I personally would want to be confident that I was steering the ship. Also, I don't know how much time you have and this could get lengthy and it might skew to foci of the presentation if not originally a focus. The other option is to propose a discussion group later in the conference or at a later date. At some larger conferences I've been at sometimes they have organized discussion groups to discuss research related issues, usually with one or two people leading the discussion but it's a more open format than one person giving a presentation and asking for that level of group involvement.