DRUID Academy CONFERENCE 2020 

RULES OF THE GAME

Student presenters are given a maximum of 15 minutes for presentation. That is 15 minutes and only 15 minutes. It is an important part of the abilities of successful academics to be able to present the most interesting and appealing features and findings of their work within a short amount of time. The chairs of the sessions will ensure that presenters stick to the schedule.

TEN TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL PRESENTATION 

  1. Practice your presentation ahead
  2. At the very beginning of your talk, identify the main research question and how you will answer it. Let us know exactly, what you are doing. Do not make it a mystery to the audience.  
  3. Only touch on the topics that directly apply to your topic. Assume that the audience is familiar with the general topic and proceed accordingly. Literature review must be very succinct. Do not provide elaborate descriptions of data sets. Nuance arguments must be stated quickly.
  4. Practice ahead of time and time your presentation. It is your problem, if you have not reached the conclusion or even any results by the 15 minutes mark.
  5. Try to focus your presentation on a few “take-aways”. Focus on the biggest and most important findings. Don’t try to fit all aspects and findings into the short presentation. Stick to main story. Let us know why we cannot live without reading your research and discover the other great things that you find.
  6. The DRUID Academy Conference is for students who are not finished with their research, so do not hesitate to say how far you have gone (or not gone) in meeting your research goals. It is often useful to provide an idea about where you would like to go (see again points #2 and #5).
  7. Practice ahead of time. Time yourself. Have a friend watch you.
  8. Bring a usb-stick and/or a laptop with your presentation. Projector systems will be available in the presentation rooms. Bring you own laptop just in case or coordinate (in advance, by e-mail) with the other presenters in your session to make sure that at least one of you bring a laptop.
  9. Practice ahead of time
  10. Remember to relax. It is only a presentation. The DRUID Academy community is open, helpful and friendly. 

A FEW TIPS FOR JUNIOR DISCUSSANTS

All students that present papers are also assigned as junior discussant on another student’s paper. You should try to focus on giving comments that are clear, to the point, sharp, but constructive, acknowledge the significant contributions, and focus on aspects, where improvements can or must be made. Give the author something useful to bring home. Make sure your comments are precise and workable. Time your discussion in advance. You only have five minutes. Five minutes is much shorter than you think, so focus your comments. You are welcome to bring slides (see point #8 above). Many inexperienced students find it hard to discuss, but do not worry. Seniors were also juniors at some point.