Introduction
International conferences are necessary for career success in academia but are scary for many academics. Conference survival skills are usually not taught in the university and students struggle to adjust to a new country, a new language and an unfamiliar presentation format.
New attendees need confidence to select the conference, write and submit an abstract, travel to and attend the conference, present, handle questions and design and show their poster.
Experienced conference-goers still look for ways to improve their presentation and PowerPoint skills and make their speech more interesting. They also want to maximize their opportunities for networking with other scholars and create long term connections with editors and reviewers that could lead to book or journal publication.
Finally, some scholars plan to organize their own conference and need tips on marketing their conference, getting speakers, planning the sessions and social events and introducing guest speakers using the correct English format.
My goal in writing this book is to help all three groups of conference-goers get the maximum benefit from their conference experience. The book is organized into specific tips and strategies you can use to be more confident at your next international conference.
The material for this seminar was collected over seven years after talking to PhD students about their greatest conference fears, for my presentation class at NCTU. I interviewed many scholars for their tips and advice and presented at 24 conferences in engineering, business, technology and education in the last 5 years. The material will be presented in simple English.
I hope that you find this book helpful in preparing for your next international conference. I hope that the tips here can give you the confidence you need to take advantage of the great opportunities that conferences offer.
-Steve Wallace
●HANDLING Q&A
〈Why Are Questions and Answers Important? 〉
Questions and answers are important for several reasons; they get attention, create interest, get feedback, make points easy to remember, create audience interaction and promote new thoughts.
However, if a question and answer session is attached to a presentation without a plan, the audience thinks the presenter is not interested in talking with them. The presenter will probably get no response when he asks "Any questions?" Now there are twenty minutes to fill and no plan; a very scary situation. To get comfortable with Q&A sessions and questions, start asking questions throughout your presentations. Use them before your presentation when analyzing the objectives and designing the presentation. Use them during the presentation as you deliver the speech. Finally, after your presentation, use them when evaluating your speech’s effectiveness.
〈Before the Presentation 〉
Expect and prepare for the questions you might be asked. Usually presenters can anticipate 80 to 90% of questions an audience will ask. Go to panel discussions the day before your session to see what kinds of questions people ask, and to find out what the tone of the conference is. Prepare for criticism by telling your ideas to a critical friend.
節錄自Chapter 9 Handling Q&A
Steve Wallace,為華樂絲學術英文編修創辦人,現任職於交通大學電機資訊學院講師,主授學術英文寫作、口語溝通、工程英文。他亦曾於工業技術研究院以及清華大學任教,從2001年開始,Steve親自編修交大博士班學生之期刊論文,並花上數百個小時研究整理其中資訊,研究如何讓台灣研究者更有效率的發表論文於國際期刊。他亦收集相當多的期刊評審委員之評論,從中了解如何增進論文登上國際期刊之機會。
Steve已經出版了十本的英文教科書,去年一年便大賣超過20000本,被全台灣28所大專院校指定使用。此次最新大作: “How to Attend, Speak, Network or Present a Poster at an Academic Conference:A Guidebook for Taiwanese Researchers” 是一本專門為台灣的研究者所出版的國際研討會指南工具書,是由Steve多年鑽研學術英文編修,並配合自身多次參與國際研討會的經驗,以及大量訪問博士班學生及知名學者所整理出來的。無論是教授用來指導學生或是個人自行使用,皆是欲參加國際研討會之研究者不可或缺的好書。