• Prepare and practice a 2-3 minute oral explanation of your poster and your work.
• Do not read the poster to the audience!  The poster is there as a visual aid and illustration of the research.  The presenter should be making eye contact and engaging with the audience.
• The presentation should explain the big picture and why the project is important.  It should provide a \”take home\” message.  Too much detail will lose the audience.
• Refer to graphics/charts/data on the poster to illustrate and support findings and conclusions.
• Do give the audience some time to absorb the information on your poster.  Do not stand directly in front of the poster so that they a full opportunity to view it. 
• Prepare a summary handout so that people will remember the highlights of your work.  Be sure to include full contact information in the handout.
• Know your poster well so you can refer to any section if questions arise.
• Expect questions!  Questions may be very broad asking about the overall project or they may be specific, such as asking about the type of statistical analysis used.  Be prepared!
• Admit when you do not know the answer to a question or when it is beyond the scope of the project.
• Have business cards, summary handouts, or contact information ready for those who may want to contact you to discuss it further at a later date.

• Dress professionally.  It lends credibility to your work. Wear comfortable shoes as you will be standing for long periods of time.
• Wear your nametag, smile and make eye contact with potential viewers.
• Be on time for the poster session and stay until the session is over.
• Stay next to your poster so that you are available for discussion.
• Do not get too in depth with any one viewers or others will not have an opportunity to learn about your research and ask questions.
• Do not take criticism personally. The ability to get feedback is an advantage of a poster session.  This may be especially helpful if you plan to submit a manuscript for publication.
• Focus on the viewers.  Do not get involved in social conversations with other presenters and colleagues at the expense of the audience.
• Do not force handouts on those that do not seem interested.

These sessions usually begin with explanatory or introductory information and then move on to involve the audience in some type of interactive, participatory activity.  Workshops and interactive presentations are particularly well suited for demonstrations, learning new skills or procedures, debates, exhibitions and so forth.

It is often a collection of papers from a number of contributors.  Each contributor will have an opportunity to present and a time for discussion.  This type of session is valuable when multiple perspectives on a particular subject may be of interest to the audience and can be put together in one session.  A symposium is also a time for networking and collaboration with peers and colleagues since these sessions are often comprised of experts in the field who have come together to share ideas.

All presenters will speak individually (15 minutes approximately) and there will be additional time for discussion and questions.  These sessions have a more narrow focus and therefore attract attendees with a genuine interest in the topic. However, while the audience is well-educated, they are usually not specialists or experts on the topic. 

The presenter typically prepares a short oral summary that can be given to those who are interested.  Attendees are free to move about the room and examine posters and talk individually to the presenters.  This format does allow the opportunity for a research target those that are genuinely interested and engage them in discussion that often allows for more detail.  Another advantage of this type of format is that researcher can receive valuable feedback from the attendees.  

• Individual Presentations – These may be contributed or invited talks that are often 15-30 minutes in length and leave just a short time, if any, for questions from the audience.  The presenter will prepare a conference paper that will be presented and is typically a more focused, narrower version of their overall project. Paper presentations are assigned to the appropriate session and the most common formats include:    
  • Themed Session – These sessions at conference primarily include completed research or scholarly work.  The presentations will be grouped by topic or theme into sessions that include several related presentations.  This facilitates audience attendance and organizes topics at the conference.
  •  Roundtable Session – Roundtable sessions allow the presenter the opportunity to interact and converse more with the audience.  Presenters are assigned to a table in a conference room for the duration of the session and interested attendees may join them at their table. These sessions are typically best for position papers, policy analyses, and other types of topics that benefit from extended discussion time.
• Panel Discussions – In panel discussions, two or more speakers will present different aspects, perspectives or thoughts on a particular topic, research problem, or question.  Each speaker will have an opportunity to present their information and when all the speakers are finished, there is typically time for discussion.

The interaction should be moderated by a chairperson with a prepared set of questions. Half of the presentation time should be devoted to response to audience questions. The main abstract should identify the topic, why the topic is of interest to evaluators, and the contrasting positions of the debaters. An alternative format would be to debate a specific proposition that would be directed towards a specific organization or institution, such as the EduINDEX.

The abstract should detail both the background of the lecturer as well as the importance of the material to be presented. Please note that an expert lecture is longer in duration than are standard paper presentations. As such, the breadth and depth of the content, and the expertise of the presenter, should warrant such an extended exploration. Each presentation should be no longer than 45 minutes, with an additional 10 to 15 minutes for questions.