At SEAC 2006, the SEAC Committee for Student Affairs sponsored a student workshop on tips for developing and delivering effective posters, papers, and PowerPoint presentations. The following are some notes from the workshop.

Developing and Delivering Effective Presentations                     SEAC 2006 Little Rock, AR Theresa McReynolds, David Cranford, Casey Barrier, and Claire Nanfro, organizersDiscussants: Christopher Rodning, Victor Thompson, Tanya Peres, Gregory Wilson, and Charles Cobb Delivering an effective paper or poster presentation is an art that can be learned through practice.  Here are some tips to help you with every stage of the process, from developing an idea to turning it into a journal article.  The tips were compiled from the 2006 student workshop facilitated by Drs. Charles Cobb, Tanya Peres, Christopher Rodning, Victor Thompson, and Gregory Wilson.   Getting Started

• Why should you give a paper or poster?
• Get feedback on your research.Use the presentation as a stepping stone for a publication.Gain visibility, especially when you are on the job market.
• You can enter student paper or poster contests.
• What could you talk about?
• BA or MA thesis.Contract report or synthesis.Dissertation chapter.Tips: 
• Scan titles and abstracts of conference papers/posters.Listen to papers and look at posters.Develop topics relevant to recent publications you’ve seen.
• Always respect arguments made by others.
• What should you know about submitting a title and abstract?
• Short titles and abstracts are best, and you should ALWAYS stick to word limits.Abstracts and titles are subject to review.Indicate your audiovisual needs when you submit your title and abstract.Make arrangements to pay membership and registration fees.Submission deadlines are several months to a year before the conference.Papers in symposia are often due to discussants weeks to months before the conference.Tips:
• Thoroughly research your topic and formulate your arguments well BEFORE the abstract deadline.  The longer you’ve pondered the data, the better your chances of making strong arguments.
• Finalize your title and abstract after the paper is written (or at least after you know exactly what you want to say).

 Paper PresentationsDeveloping an Effective Paper Presentation

• How should you prepare a paper presentation?
• Remember that your audience will be LISTENING to what you have to say, not reading it.Provide an outline of your paper in the introduction.Be brief, and be focused!  You don’t have to mention everything that you know.Remember that 10 double-spaced typed pages take 20 minutes to read, and it takes 1-2 minutes for an introduction and projector setup.Write your paper before creating slides.  Once the paper is written, you’ll be able to identify “natural” places for slides.
• Prior to leaving for the conference, PRACTICE the presentation several times for different people.  Be sure to leave yourself enough time to change the slides or text and print out a new copy of your paper.  (Not all hotels have printers!)
• What should you know about slides?
• Use slides to summarize your data and/or show nice pictures (as long as the pictures have a purpose).Don’t show text-heavy slides - people feel obligated to read them and consequently won’t pay as much attention to what you’re saying.  Use the color wheel to choose colors for background and text.
• Use complementary colors (opposite from each other) to create contrast (e.g., to highlight multiple patterns on a graph or when you want your text to stand out from your background).  Good contrasting colors for background and text include black on white, black on orange, white on purple, purple on white, yellow on navy, or purple on yellow.
• Use analogous colors (adjacent to each other) when sharp contrast is undesirable (e.g., when you need two or more background colors that will blend together).  
• Slides to include:
• A title slide with the presentation title, your name and affiliation, and the date (if appropriate).A bulleted slide specifying your research questions/goals.A location map (if you’re giving a presentation about research related to a site).  The map should indicate the state (or country) in which the site is located.A plan map (if you are discussing an excavation area within a site).  Don’t forget a North arrow!Summary and Conclusions, including recommendations for future work if applicable.
• Acknowledgments.  Always publicly recognize those who have given you assistance, a lab that let you use its facilities, and/or sources of funding.
• Data slides
• Graphs are better than tables.Make graphical displays as clear and simple as possible. 
• Present patterns in the data so that they are readily apparent.  Eliminate unnecessary noise.
• Avoid 3D graphs and superimposing multiple distributions on the same graph.
• Text in graphs should be large enough to be read from the back of the conference room.  Arial fonts are good choices, and 24-point size is generally the minimum to use. 
• Tips
• Keep your slides consistent by using a template.  Avoid animated fonts, sounds, or fancy transitions.Avoid using all capital letters. 
• Use high-quality pictures.
• What should you know if you’re entering a student paper competition?
• The paper is due in September - start early!Use a scientific paper style. Focus on novel research.If you address local problems, demonstrate their relevance to larger issues.Enter the competition with friends and colleagues.If you don’t win...
• It doesn’t mean your paper is bad.Make it a positive, learning experience.
• Enter again.  And again.  And again!
• If you win...
• It doesn’t mean your paper isn’t without flaws.
• Acknowledge others - you didn’t win without their help and support.  (If you win the SEAC Student Paper Competition, give them some of your books!)
• Tips:
• The average human attention span is 15 minutes.Number the pages of your paper, but don’t staple them.If you are prone to reading fast, write “SLOW DOWN” in pencil or pen at the top of page 4 or 5; you’ll notice the handwritten note and it will remind you to relax and enjoy the experience.
• Enter a student paper competition!  Competitions to consider include Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Society for American Archaeology, Society for Economic Anthropology, and Florida Anthropological Society.

Delivering an Effective Paper Presentation

• What paper presentation style is best?
• Go to other papers and evaluate the effectiveness of the various presentation styles that you see.Practice emulating a style you admire; if it doesn’t work for you, try another. It’s fine to read if you vary your voice and cadence.
• You may want to read your first few presentations before attempting to “speak” one.
• Take deep breaths, speak clearly/calmly/confidently, and avoid apologizing.
• Tips: 
• Get some rest the day before.Arrive early at the room where you will give your paper and introduce yourself to the session chair.Slow down and enunciate your words distinctly.  If you find yourself stumbling over a word when you practice, take it out and replace it.Project your voice so that people in the back can hear you.  It’s all right to be nervous!People will come and go while you are talking for reasons unrelated to your presentation.
• Have fun!  It’s your chance to share your research with a room full of interested people. 

Poster PresentationsDeveloping an Effective Poster Presentation

• How should you prepare a poster presentation?
• Concentrate on graphics; posters should not have a lot of text. 
• For tips on creating good graphics, see the above section on slides.
• Aim for a poster that grabs attention and is easy to understand at a glance.
• Consult conference guidelines for details about display size and setting.
• Tips: 
• Leave yourself plenty of time - preparing graphics and printing them is very time-consuming.
• Enter a student poster competition!  Competitions to consider include Society for American Archaeology and the R. E. Taylor & SAS Student Poster Awards.

Delivering an Effective Poster Presentation

• Get some rest the day before.Practice explaining your poster to a small audience beforehand.  Many people will come up and ask you to summarize your poster rather than reading it.    Arrive early at the room where you will display your poster.Arrange to stay with your poster throughout the session.  The person you’ve been waiting to talk to could show up during the few minutes you slip away!It’s all right to be nervous.
• Be friendly and enthusiastic!

After the PresentationPay attention to suggestions and feedback from people who attend your paper or visit your poster.  Then revise your presentation and submit it for publication in a journal!  (We’ll have a roundtable dedicated to tips for submitting to journals at the 2007 SEAC meeting in Knoxville - watch the student website for more details this fall.)

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