Logo

Competitive paper presentation guidelines

 
Please arrive at your session room at least 5 minutes before the session begins. When you arrive, take some time to familiarize yourself with the set-up at the lectern. Every room is equipped with a desktop PC (Windows and PowerPoint), a sound system, a wireless remote, an overhead projector, and a whiteboard. Laptops can be connected using a standard display port. Display adapters for MACs will be available, however, it is usually safer to bring your own just to be sure. In order to minimize setup time, we recommend that you bring your slides on a USB stick and copy them onto the desktop PC. If you are planning to use presentation software other than PowerPoint, please bring your own laptop. Staff members will be floating between session rooms to assist as needed. These staff members will be wearing special t-shirts so they are easily identified. Our staff members will also have direct access to BI’s technical staff if required.

Every speaker in a competitive paper session has 20 minutes time, out of which 15 minutes should be used for the presentation, and 5 minutes for Q&A. Speaker time is managed by the session chair. While you are talking, your session chair will signal the remaining speaking time using cards (“5 minutes left”, “1 minutes left”, “stop”).

During your presentation, make sure to speak slowly and clearly. DO NOT read from the slide, but explain it. Keep in mind that your audience is not familiar with your research. Therefore it is important that you make your assumptions explicit and that you walk the audience through your chain of arguments. When preparing the talk, try to assume the perspective of your audience and think about points that might require additional explanation. Address the audience when you are speaking. Try not to look down at your presentation. You might also want to involve the audience by asking questions. This is a great way to keep the audience interested in your talk. Lastly, just try to relax and have fun when you are up there.