Your Career: How to Make Conference Talks More Interesting

Short of banning panelists from reading papers aloud, what are some ways to liven up a presentation? ADVERTISEMENT [Academe Today Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. Short of banning panelists from reading papers aloud, what are some ways to liven up a presentation? It’s conference season in academe and, after a lot of virtual-only meetups prompted by Covid, higher-ed groups are back to offering a good, old-fashioned face-to-face option, in addition to online participation. Whatever way you attend, chances are you will be hearing a lot of experts reading their papers aloud. It doesn’t have to be that way. Here are some ways to transform a talk from a dreary snooze-fest into an energizing encounter: - Flip the presentation. Make the presenters’ papers available in advance and replace the typical read-through with a discussion of their arguments. Attendees could come prepared with questions, with a quotation that they want to discuss, or with ideas about how a particular paper might apply to other research areas. Each panelist could begin with a quick summary, for those attendees who have not done their “homework.” - Use your smartphone for something other than checking the time. Encourage people to live-tweet the panel proceedings. The moderator could open real-time discussion questions. Presenters could make their work available on Google Docs for collective editing or annotation by the audience. Hit your attendees with a pop quiz using Quizlet or an interactive exercise from Book Widgets. There is no limit to the possibilities for innovative, multimedia engagement via social media and educational apps. Continue reading: “[Academic Conference Panels Are Boring]( by Randy Laist Share your suggestions on the newsletter with Denise Magner, an editor at The Chronicle, at denise.magner@chronicle.com. 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