Below is a list of some things to keep in mind and think about before your talk. It is advised to read it through and plan your talk accordingly.
Before the conference:
- While neither a slideshow nor handouts are strictly mandatory, having at least one form of presenting aid is strongly recommended. Consider that English is not the native language of most of the participants, so having slides or handouts (or both) will make your talk much easier to follow.
- If you wish to use handouts, print them out in advance or use one of the many copy-shops located near the university, such as the one at the Student Council (they have both printing and copying facilities). It is hard to approximate the number of people attending a talk - try to make a guess based on the number of speakers and if there is one or two parallel sections to yours.
- Once you have submitted your final version of the abstract - stick to it! Your talk should then be about what you promised to present in the abstract.
- The working language of the conference is English. All examples in the presentation should be translated, and preferably glossed following the standard Leipzig Glossing Rules.
- It is always a good idea to have a backup of your presentation file on another usb stick or on your email account; perhaps in another format too, just in case.
At the conference, before your talk:
- It is a good idea to come to the section room where you will be presenting a bit earlier, for example during a coffee break, and upload your slideshow into the presenting computer to save time (or, if you will use your own laptop, to check if it gets along with the projector). If you run into trouble, ask one of the student assistants or your section chair for help.
- Conference rooms will be equipped with projectors and computers for the presentations (with MS Powerpoint 2010 and Adobe Reader installed, internet connection available).
- You may bring your own laptop, but we would strongly recommend bringing your slides on a usb stick and using the pre-arranged computers in the section rooms. If you do choose to use your own laptop, make sure all the connections work before the beginning of the talk, i.e., during a break. If you bring a Mac for the presentation, then also bring your own MiniDisplayPort-to-VGA adapter.
- If you have requested audio equipment, find your section chair (they will be present in the section rooms before the talks begin) and check if the equipment has been arranged and set up, just to make sure.
- While this is by no means a requirement, we encourage to use slides in PDF format (unless you will be using your own laptop, of course). Powerpoints seem to be more likely to get messy when transferred to another computer. If you are using an older version of MS Office, you might want to check out some of the free pdf-converters out there (newer versions, as well as Open Office, have a PDF export option).
During your talk:
- Remember: 20 minutes for the talk, 10 minutes for discussion - plan accordingly and keep an eye on the clock! The section chair will also remind you of your remaining time using flashcards - once you see the "STOP" card, finish your sentence and stop: it's time for questions.
- We would ask you to try to not read your whole presentation word-by-word off the paper, if possible. Using notes, flash cards or other presenting aids is perfectly ok, but this is not the best place to just read aloud your last article. We do recognize that this kind of presentation style is still common in some traditions, but try to think about it this way: you came here to give a talk - so talk.
To save time during the conference day, it is a good idea to read other abstracts in advance, examine the schedule and consider which talks you will want to attend. This way you will also have time to think about any questions you might have to contribute to the discussions (and perhaps even to research & google a little bit beforehand).