15-minute papers

Guidelines for 15-minutes Papers

We hope you really enjoy the challenge of trying out ideas in this supportive environment and we welcome feedback afterwards.

Presentations should be a short and sharp 15 minutes; don’t offer a 15-minute extract from a longer paper, and definitely not a summary of your whole research, but develop a complete presentation in its own right.

Read the guidelines for writing an abstract to help you think about the main argument or question of your paper: What do you want people to know? (one main idea)?; How do you want people to be able to respond? How might you communicate your ideas to interested people who don’t know your specific field? How can you excite people with your ideas…? How can you excite yourself?

We know people will have different experiences of presenting, so please consult the suggestions of different methods below. Read them before you decide how to present and exactly what you will say.

Don’t forget to rehearse your presentation, preferably in front of a friend or two; make sure you can keep to 10 minutes, that your paper is coherent, and that you engage with the audience in some way. Ask friends for advice.

Different Presentation Styles & Methods

Use whatever method helps you to communicate your ideas in the best way possible to a CWS audience; practise, practise, practise; and make sure you (and your slides, if you use them) are coherent, and that you can keep to time. Speak 'out loud' when you practice, as if to an audience in a large room.

Reading a Paper

Although this is often frowned upon, think about how lovely it is to listen to someone read a story, how a good reader lures people into their world to really listen. Reading also often makes sense if you have a complex theory to develop.

Power Point

Almost ubiquitous. Helpful as ‘note prompts’ for you, but NEVER just read from your slides. Always think – how is this slide helping people understand my work? Work on how little you need on each slide, not on how much you can fit! There are plenty of online guides for using PowerPoint, but do check who they are aimed at (general talks, business meetings, academic conferences etc).

Pecha Kucha

20 slides in 6 minutes 40 seconds (can be adjusted for 10 minutes), slides progress automatically. This is an image-based aid (not the system to use if you want to use quotes, or charts). You speak to these images, which do not present but represent your ideas, often bringing challenge, irony, and humour to your talk.

Pecha Kucha

How to use PowerPoint to make a Pecha Kucha presentation

Speaking without visual aids

A few people can talk without prompts, or with minimal prompts (e.g. index cards). Only do this if you have a good memory and are *sure* you will be sharp, and not ramble. Usually only for advanced presenters who like performing.

Prezi

This is a bit like PowerPoint, but allows for a non-linear development of your ideas, and for presentations which show ideas in context. You produce something a bit like a spider diagram, and can show the ‘whole picture’ as well as zoom into specific areas. Free for educational use: Prezi.com

10 slides in 10 minutes

A variation of Pecha Kucha where you can control the slides with your mouse, and can offer a more straightforward presentation.

Any queries, contact the organising team members (cws.sisterhood@gmail.com ).

Page updated

Report abuse