Attending and Presenting at Conferences

A symposium is a small-scale conference, typically where a limited number of presenters explore one main topic in depth over one or two days. By contrast, an academic conference often covers a panoply of topics over several days and features a wide range of presenters. 

Watch your department emails and bulletin boards for announcements. If you know the main scholarly organizations in your field, check their websites and social media posts for information about upcoming events. If you don’t know them, ask your advisor or colleagues.

Conference announcements also appear in academic journals and on disciplinary listservs. To stay on top of important upcoming events, consider joining relevant academic societies. Many offer discounted membership rates to students. 

Online resources highlighting upcoming conferences include:

• COMS conference listings: conference-service.com/conferences/index.html
• Conference Alerts: conferencealerts.com
• U-Penn’s database (English/Humanities): call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/category/american
• WikiCFP (STEM fields): wikicfp.com/cfp/

Most conferences charge an attendance fee, and some offer a discounted rate for graduate students. Even with the discount, the fee can appear hefty to someone on a graduate school budget—especially when you factor in travel costs such as gas, airfare, lodging, and food. 

If you find a conference you’d like to attend but feel daunted by the expense, talk to your advisor and mentors about your proposed research and interest in presenting. They might know about funding opportunities to help defray your out-of-pocket costs. For example, you might be eligible for internal funding through your department, your college within the university, the Graduate College, or the Graduate Student Association. Alternatively, you could seek external funding in the form of grants or travel support offered by the organization hosting the conference.

A conference panel is a special session featuring speakers who focus on one particular topic within a field of study. Accepted panel participants each present a unique research angle and evidence on that topic. One panelist’s research may complement or even challenge the research and conclusions of other panelists. These sessions can generate a particularly vigorous and stimulating exchange of ideas during the follow-up Q&A. 

Some conferences invite proposals for pre-formed panels centering around a particular topic. Depending on your discipline, you may have an opportunity to collaborate with a faculty member and propose your own panel. As the panel organizers, you and the faculty member would submit a rationale for proposing your panel topic, including its goals, relevance to the conference theme, elements that distinguish it from the other panels offered, and the names and titles of your panelists and their proposed research angles. If you have a panel idea, talk to your advisor. 

Practices vary by field of study, but always begin by reading the CFP or “Call for Papers” closely. What is the conference theme? What are the specific tracks, categories, or topic areas? Pay special attention to the submission requirements, including the word count, style guidelines, section headings, directions for uploading your submission, and deadline.

Once you have a research topic that fits the CFP and you know you can meet the deadline, start crafting a proposal or abstract. While “proposal” and “abstract” each have distinct meanings outside academe, when you’re responding to an academic CFP, they’re often used interchangeably. An abstract covers the main points of the research you wish to present. Think of it as a concise paper summary.

As you write, try to link your points not only to the CFP requirements but also to the conference theme (if there is one). Pull out key terms from the CFP and highlight them in your proposal to show the clear connection between your research and the proposed topic. 

Strive for concision and clarity. Keep in mind, if the reviewers do accept your proposal, you will only have a finite time to present—usually 15-20 minutes for a paper and about 10 minutes for a poster presentation. It’s important to have professional consideration for your fellow panelists and your listeners by remaining within the time allotted you.  If you think you might not be able to cover all the points in your abstract within that timeframe, consider: What can I cut while still maintaining the integrity of my research and conclusions? 

Before you submit your abstract, it’s a good idea to read it out loud to your colleagues and mentors and ask for feedback. Double-check the CFP to ensure you’ve included all the necessary info in the correct format. For example, some conferences require supplemental materials such as author bios and funding disclosures. Neglecting any part of the submission requirements can undermine your proposal. 

Finally, go to the official conference website and look for a submission portal or directions on how to submit. Some conference organizers will ask you to attach your proposal to an email with a specific subject line. Whatever the case, read carefully and follow the directions precisely when you’re uploading your abstract and accompanying materials. 

Response times vary, but you can usually expect to hear whether your proposal was accepted or rejected within a couple of months. Meanwhile, concentrate on your other work and, if time allows, begin writing or finalizing the paper you wish to present. Review your documentation and verify your sources. 

Recognize that you’re not alone! Conference organizers will often field way more proposals than they can possibly accommodate during the conference. A rejection doesn’t mean your work isn’t significant or valuable; it just means the organizers found other presenters whose work offered a better fit on this particular occasion. Just start looking for other conferences and keep submitting. 

First, reply to the organizers promptly and confirm your participation. Then, register for the conference. You will not be able to present unless you’re registered, and sooner is better than later because you may be able to take advantage of early bird discounts. Registering will also help ensure you stay in the loop about any conference developments. Make your travel plans early, as well, since conference hotels have limited capacity. 

Next, review the conference website for information about presentation length and audiovisual options and requirements. Do you plan to use slides, a video, or a poster? What will you need to bring with you to avoid any IT hiccups? If you are presenting a poster, plan to print it well in advance so you have time to re-print if you spot an error. 

As you revise and finalize your paper or poster, keep in mind that you’ll need to present it, not merely read it. Decide where you might want to add a pause or emphasize a specific word or point. Which ideas would come across more clearly if you included a photo, graph, or other visual component? Then, as you create your visuals, strive to economize your words and use relevant, eye-catching images. 

When your presentation and AV materials are complete, begin practicing your delivery—ideally before a live audience. Your audience could be an advisor, mentor, colleague, friend, or family member. Time yourself and verify you can finish within your allotted time frame. Were you able to transition smoothly between your talk and your slides, poster, or other visuals? Did you answer any questions from your test audience confidently? Ask for feedback, and repeat the presentation until you’re comfortable with the material, flow, and timing. 

Watch the conference website for an event schedule, and make a list of the sessions that interest you. In most cases, you should plan to attend the plenary session, which typically features a well-known, respected member of the academy who discusses relevant issues and developments in the field.  Many conferences also offer opportunities to visit nearby sites of interest, such as historic homes or museums. Aside from the pleasure of sightseeing, this is another opportunity to meet and talk with people in your profession.

Is a conference app available? If so, download it and familiarize yourself. You may be able to create a custom schedule for yourself through the app. If there isn’t an app, bookmark the conference website page that provides program details and instructions about attending any social functions. 

Also, think about what you’ll say when you do go to those social functions. If you don’t already have an elevator pitch, write one and practice delivering it. An elevator pitch is an engaging one-minute summary of who you are as a researcher. What is your area of study? What problem or question are you trying to solve, and why is it important? Practicing now will help you when you need to network later. 

Before you leave, try to clear your work calendar so you can completely immerse yourself in the conference experience. If you have responsibilities that will require your attention, look for someone to cover for you. Also, set up an out-of-office notice online so people won’t expect to hear back from you until you return from the conference. 

You want to look neat and professional at conferences and still feel comfortable presenting and networking. Appropriate attire varies based on your academic field, but business or business casual are safe choices. If you’re attending a large conference, wear comfortable shoes since you’ll have a lot of ground to cover. 

For starters, even if the host has already announced your name, it’s a smart idea to introduce yourself again so people can associate your name with your face. As you begin your talk, note your start time and, more importantly, your projected end time.

Make it your goal to have more eye contact with your audience than with your written and AV materials. You want to engage the session attendees, not just read aloud to them. Pace yourself as you speak, adding pauses here and there to give your audience time to digest. 

While you don’t want to rush, you don’t want to exceed your allotted time, either. It helps to note the halfway point on your notes so you can stay on target to finish on time. Public speakers tend to speed up when they’re nervous, so keep an eye on  the clock and your progress. As a general rule, it takes about two minutes to deliver one double-spaced page of text, so one 20-minute presentation will require about a 10-page paper. 

Toward the end of your talk, invite feedback from your listeners. One of your most important conference goals is to network, so you might say you’re available and happy to talk more after the session. Finally, thank your audience for their time and attention. This courtesy helps avoid awkward pauses by signaling to the panel host that you’re finished. 

Introduce yourself to visitors who stop by to look at your poster. Ask if they would like you to walk them through it, but don’t feel offended if they want to read on their own. When visitors want to lean more, you could begin by asking if they’re familiar with the topic so you know how much background information to give. Then, briskly explain the elements of your poster and pause for questions. Stand to the side so everyone watching can see the poster, and point to relevant visuals to help the audience follow along. 

Pro tip: Prepare a short (2-minute) and long (7-minute) poster presentation to accommodate attendees who want a brief overview and those who want to dive into the details. Take notes on the feedback attendees give, so you can adjust future presentations as needed. 

Often, graduate students will spend most of the session stationed by their poster so they can promote their research. Some conferences will assign specific hours for poster presentations. Any time outside that window is yours to circulate and learn more about the research of your colleagues. Whenever you leave your poster (for whatever reason), include a note stating when you’ll return. 

Even the most esteemed and prepared researchers sometimes find themselves in this situation, so try not to panic. There’s no need to fabricate an answer, either. Instead, thank the audience member for the question and say that’s something you’d like to think about and research further. You could also try to reframe the question in a way that will allow you to respond effectively.

If the question is beyond the scope of your research, you can say so. You might add that you appreciate their interest and would welcome an opportunity to continue the discussion after the session. 

Pay attention to questions directed at other panelists, too. Any of those exchanges could lead to a discussion that connects to your topic, and you might be asked to comment. Another presenter could also defer to you on a question that more closely matches your experience. For these reasons, stay engaged for the whole session, not just your presentation. 

For starters, be flexible. Before you left for the conference, you probably identified the sessions you planned to attend. But that doesn’t mean you can’t pivot and go to a different session if you hear about a particularly good upcoming speaker or a don’t-miss roundtable.

At the sessions, write down notes and questions as the presenters are speaking. What ideas intrigued you? Did anything contradict your own research and experience? What can you take away from the session? How might you bring what you learned into the classroom?

Before asking a question during the Q&A, verify that it is, indeed, a question and not a statement, anecdote, or other aside. Your fellow attendees may look askance if you begin “This is more of a comment …” or “That reminds me of …” Instead, ask a single (not multi-part) direct question. If the presenter does not answer as specifically as you’d like, save your follow-up questions for a session break. 

Breaks and receptions also provide ideal forums for you to introduce yourself to new colleagues and strike up conversations. Networking can feel intimidating, especially for introverts, but take confidence in knowing that most attendees want to meet new people, too. They will likely welcome your approach. Sitting next to people you don’t know at meals also offers a natural opportunity to introduce yourself and visit with other attendees. 

First, add your conference presentation to your resume or CV and update your Individual Development Plan to reflect this new credential. Then, review your notes. Which key ideas did you take away from the sessions and discussions? What did you learn that could help with your research? What information should you add to your teaching notes? How might what you learned help with your job search? What would you like to share with your WMU colleagues? Jot a few notes so you remember to follow through. 

Next, think about the interesting people you met at the conference. If you exchanged contact info with those colleagues, send a brief follow-up email to them. Say how much you appreciated meeting and discussing (whatever you discussed) with them, and that you hope to stay in touch. Reinforcing those ties now may help you later in ways you cannot foresee.

Finally, consider the feedback you received on your presentation and research.  What questions did your paper elicit? If you plan to send out the paper for publication, those responses can serve as an informed guide as you prepare your manuscript for the peer review process.

Goetz, Elizabeth Bidwell. “How to Respond to a Call for Papers in the Humanities.” CUNY Academic Commons, 9 October. 2018, https://careerplan.commons.gc.cuny.edu/blog/humanities-cfps-part-2.

Tobin, Thomas J. “How to Make the Most of an Academic Conference.” The Chronicle of Higher Education, https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-make-the-most-of-an-academic-conference.