Making a Gift of Yourself: Preparing for Successful Conference Presentations

Cathy Belben is a Library Media Specialist at Burlington-Edison High School in Burlington, Washington, and can be reached at cbelben@be.wednet.edu.

The woman scheduled to present sat behind the table at the front of the small, windowless hotel conference room, watching as the be-tagged, pamphlet-laden, canvas-tote-bag-lugging participants checked the easel outside the door and then entered. A few swept by the front table, helped themselves to photocopied handouts, and then casually slid back out of the room as the presenter watched, and then busied herself with her back to the room, fussing with her handouts and smoothing her t-shirt over her wrinkled cotton pants.

When the presentation began, she sat back at the front table, introduced herself, and proceeded to speak to the small crowd of conference-goers seated before her. She rose only once, to hand out another set of photocopies—she ran out before the last person received one--and then settled back in her chair to talk at her audience—which was dwindling, as participants tried to slip out the door unnoticed. Her lecture—and it was a lecture—lasted the entire hour, with little room at the end for questions or group discussion, and the attendees left, relieved to be on their way to another, more engaging presentation.

Creating an Entertaining and Educational Presentation

You’ve agreed to present at the next state or regional library media conference, and you want to avoid having your audience walk out, fall asleep, or warn others away from your presentation. You also want to share your knowledge, inspire others to try a new technique, interact with and meet others in your profession, and gain valuable experience as a speaker. How do you do it? How do you plan and present a successful conference session that educates and entertains?

“The only gift is a portion of thyself,” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote. Think of your conference presentation as a gift to your audience. Like all gifts, it should:

1. Please the recipients. Your presentation should make participants happier. It may sound corny, but adult professionals attending conferences are no different than children on Christmas morning in many ways: they’ve anticipated and looked forward to this event, and they hope to get something from it that pleases them—a new idea, a new perspective, a new cohort.

2. Suit the recipients. Don’t perfect a presentation and refuse to alter it. A presentation will need tweaking for different audiences, even within the same profession. Find out as much as you can about your listeners, and tailor the session to them. Concentrate on what the audience wants and needs, rather than on what you can or want to deliver.

3. Be different. Buying dad a tie is cliché. A box of chocolates is enjoyable, but ordinary. Strive to make your presentation unique. You don’t have to perform the entire session in Elizabethan English or resort to acrobatics, but you should escape from thinking that there is a “right” way to present information. Think outside the podium-shaped box.

Use Psychology in Your Planning and Presenting

There are, however, strategies that will work with a wide variety of audiences representing numerous professions. They are designed with some basic psychological principles of human behavior in mind.

1. Be inviting. Everyone, whether infant or elder, wants to feel welcome and appreciated. Here are a few basic strategies for welcoming your conference audience:

· Wear a nametag and have nametags available for your audience if they aren’t already wearing one.

· Stand at the door and greet your attendees as they enter. Shake hands with as many as possible, and time permitting, ask them where they are from.

· Have small treats available—I have a basket of candy in my hand and offer it to my attendees as they enter, and then I pass it around the room later.

· In lieu of, or in addition to the treats, have something ready to give participants as they enter. A packet of handouts or a questionnaire work well, as do tickets for door prizes (I give away pencils, small notepads, and other freebies I’ve collected). Games or quizzes related to the subject are a great filler for participants to complete as they wait for you to begin.

· Play quiet background music.

· Give the participants something to do as they wait—I usually have a silent, looping PowerPoint of photos or images up on the screen for attendees to watch.

2. Be organized. “The worst presentations,” says librarian Kathy Kugler, “are when the speaker just rambles or gets lost or forgets to tell important things like where or how to get the handouts.”
• Write your name and the session title on the board or on a poster in front.
• Post a basic agenda of what you will be presenting and doing in the session.
• Organize handouts for easy distribution. I use a portable hanging file folder. I also hand out the items as I present to avoid having them all whisked away by drop-ins.
• Time yourself and bring a small clock with you so you can be sure to pace yourself and allow time for everything you want to say.

3. Plan a variety of presentation methods. English teacher and former soccer coach Anna Johnson says, “I don’t like sessions where the presenter’s whole schtick is a regurgitation of the PowerPoint projected behind them.”
• Avoid talking the whole time. Pause to allow participants to read information and discuss ideas with each other.
• Use multiple presentation techniques. In an hour-long session, 2-3 are probably sufficient, but necessary to keep the audience’s attention. Some options are: overheads, video projected images from computer; PowerPoint presentations, photographic slides, handouts, music, video clips, table-top displays, and posters.

4. Provide handouts and practical information participants can use.
• Make more copies than you think you’ll need.
• Put your name, address, email address, and website URL on all handouts.
• Color-code the copies for easy reference for yourself and attendees. Many of us have been in sessions where the speaker referred to the “third hand out” and then found ourselves shuffling madly through a dozen white photocopies in frantic search of the correct page. Color-coding allows you to refer to “the pink sheet” or “the green packet.”
• If possible, make copies of handouts available on your website or copy the materials to floppy disks and hand them out.
• Bring a stack of business cards to share.

5. Be enthusiastic! High school Spanish teacher Sandy Wark says she appreciates sessions that offer practical suggestions she can use in her classroom. “In the best session I attended at a recent conference, the presenter modeled every activity she was presenting.” Mount Vernon High School librarian Cathy Pfahl adds that good presenters “Made me laugh or otherwise be emotionally moved.”
• Speak about what you know and love.
• SHOW, don’t tell. As often as possible, demonstrate a technique or show slides of students doing it, rather than just telling about it. Pass out examples. “One of the best sessions I attended was at a coaching conference, where the presenter actually brought players with him who demonstrated the drills and skills he was telling us about,” Anna Johnson says.
• Stand up, move around, be animated, aim to educate and inspire. High school guidance counselor Laural Ringler notes that presenter Ruby Payne, who speaks nationally on issues of poverty and learning, was exceptionally good. “She was funny, lively, and had knowledgeable command of the material, and she shared good anecdotes that illustrated the material.”
• Smile. This can be easy to forget when you’re nervous.

6. Get the audience involved, but be conscious of their comfort level. Laural Ringler says that one of the most uncomfortable sessions she attended required participants to act. “It incorporated bodily movement and drama. We were asked to do things like ‘create a three person body sculpture showing rage.’ The session description hadn’t been billed as being this interactive.”
• Deliver what you promise.
• Allow participants the opportunity to “opt out” of activities if they wish.
• Plan time for questions and comments at the end.
• Ask for ideas—pass out forms or cards and have participants write down their own ideas. Post them on your website.
• Pass around one sheet to get participants’ email addresses.

7. Plan for your own comfort.
• Wear comfortable shoes.
• Dress in clothes that you would ordinarily wear—be professional, but don’t overdress. Layer clothes in case you warm up when nervous.
• Bring water—don’t assume it will be provided.
• Have a small table clock—not a watch—that you can glance at subtly.
• Arrive early to set up and check your technology.
• Enlist a helper if possible—either bring a friend or recruit an audience member. This person can hand out papers, check tech equipment and act as a “runner” if you need anything.

Concluding Thoughts

A successful presentation is one that leaves its audience feeling good—they feel welcome when they arrive, attended to as they listen and share, and fulfilled when they leave. They leave with the feeling that their hour has been an investment, and that they are already receiving some of the payout in the form of useful, practical ideas and a new professional colleague they can contact in the future.

Careful planning and organization are the basic foundation to a good conference presentation. A great presentation, however, results when a speaker has a solid base of knowledge and communicates—no, radiates--a love for that subject. Presenters who are knowledgeable, enthusiastic, warm, and attentive to the needs and wants of the audience the presenters who make a gift of themselves to those who attend.