J-WEN & CFJE

English Presentation Master Class March 3, 2013 (TCER & J-WEN)

Tips for Conference Presentation v  These tips came up during the Master Class, many (most) of them

provided by Prof. Kathleen McGarry (UCLA & NBER)

v  Before your talk ²  Know your audience (and other presenters). You need to do your

homework learning about their research interests and background. Mention their papers in your talk.

²  Everyone is nervous. Present your work many times: Practice makes perfect.

§  Ask your friends to listen to your practice run. Or practice in front of a mirror.

²  Be enthusiastic! If you are not excited about/interested in your own work, your audience will not be.

²  Don’t worry too much about being a non-native English speaker. Economists are used to non-native English speakers.

§  Speak very slowly and pronounce each word clearly, especially in a large conference room where your voice may bounce off the walls and echo.

²  When you use non-US data, extra efforts are required to make your talk relevant to your audience.

§  For example, if you give a talk about Japanese unemployment at UCLA, you need to know the recent unemployment data and relevant policy changes in the US AND in California, and incorporate them into your talk (in your introduction).

March 3, 2013 Japanese Women Economists Network (J-WEN) 1

J-WEN & CFJE

Tips for Conference Presentation

v  Introduction ²  Start with examples to motivate your talk/work. Make it clear why we

care (both speaker/author AND audience).

§  For example, using data, charts, graphs showing dramatic changes over time, or differences across regions/countries.

§  Great idea when writing papers

²  Make your Main Question clear early in your talk.

§  Note: NOT main questions, but the main question (singular).

§  Good idea to say “The main question we address is…” and have a separate slide.

§  May also want to restate why this question is important and worth answering.

²  Place your work in literature. Do all three below in order:

1  Mention what has been done by others (relevant to your current work),

2  What you have done differently, AND

3   Why the differences matter. (Why do we care?)

²  Personal stories are great. Try to connect with your audience early in your talk.

²  Outline can be helpful, though not everyone uses it.

§  Outlines are often provided in a longer talk (very often in 60 to 90 minute seminars)

March 3, 2013 Japanese Women Economists Network (J-WEN) 2

J-WEN & CFJE

Tips for Conference Presentation v  Throughout your talk

²  Look people in the eye. Look at all corners of the room; not just one spot in the room.

²  Come out from behind the podium/desk. Eliminate barriers between you and your audience.

²  Avoid being monotone. Change your tone & speed.

²  To emphasize something, you can use phrases like “This is important ...” or “Let me repeat this...”.

§  Using lower voice can attract attention. You can also raise voice to attract attention.

²  Avoid having too much material in slides. §  If people have your paper, you can ask them to look at Table X on Page Y,

for example.

²  Don’t stop talking when you walk to your computer to change slides. §  Unnecessary pauses can be awkward.

§  You can ask your audience a (rhetoric) question and change your slide while they are thinking about it.

²  In a short talk, use figures and diagrams (instead of tables/math)

²  Avoid using animations and slide transitions §  Can be annoying when skipping slides or going back to previous slides to

answer questions.

§  May be effective when talking to undergraduate students.

²  Take time and listen to questions carefully and do not interrupt (even when you know the question and the answer).

§  It is polite to repeat the question before answering. (Also, a great way to make sure that everyone knows the question you are answering, and to give yourself some time to come up with the right way to answer.)

March 3, 2013 Japanese Women Economists Network (J-WEN) 3