Now that you have put your knowledge of interacting during conference sessions to the test, try your hand at these learning activities.
A1 — At the next poster session you attend (or perhaps just in the hallway of your laboratory if it displays enough posters), select a few posters and perform the following analysis. Stand one meter away and identify what you can and cannot read on the poster from this distance. Then identify what you feel like reading and what you do not. Ask yourself why: Is it the amount of text, the typography, the presence of distracting elements, or other issues? Decide how you could improve these posters and draw lessons for your own posters.
To make the above activity directly useful, carry it out on the draft poster of a colleague, then share your analysis and proposed improvements with him or her.
A2 — As you are about to create a poster, imagine that the conference has a new rule: Your poster cannot include text except for five sentences with a maximum of 15 words each, but it can include as many illustrations (drawings, photographs, etc.) as you wish. Which five statements would optimally tell about your work to your audience? How would you illustrate these statements? How would you arrange the five blocks (statement + illustrations) logically on your poster? What you come up with is probably a good basis for your poster. Now relax the rule slightly: Allow yourself just a few more statements, if useful, or a few words of explanation in addition to the illustrations. Do so only if the proposed extra words really add value to the poster.
A3 — Imagine that you must introduce your best friend in exactly three minutes before her presentation at a conference. Obviously, you want her to look her best on all counts: You want the audience to think highly of her, to feel like listening to her, and to like her. Write such a three-minute introduction. When you are ready with it, bring it down to exactly 90 seconds by cutting unnecessary or boring (even if conventional) details and by writing more concisely. Look at what you would keep and what you cut out; keep it in mind when you must introduce someone else.
A4 — You have been asked to chair a session at a conference. Imagine everything that could go wrong, from a microphone not working to a drunk (and loud) attendee disrupting a presentation to a fire alarm interrupting the session. Make a short list of the 10 issues you are most afraid of, then think of how you should react as a chairperson. If some of these reactions involve resources other than yourself (the audiovisual support team, a fire extinguisher, etc.), make sure you know how to secure these resources.
A5 — Imagine you are taking part in a panel discussion. A respected scientific authority, also on the panel, just stated that oral presentations at conferences are unavoidably boring for most attendees, that this is inherent to today's high specialization, and that there is nothing we can do about it. You disagree strongly; in fact, you think that this statement is nonsense: Oral presentations can be fascinating, even to less specialized attendees, you just know it. Find at least ten different ways to express your own opinion and show your disagreement with this authoritative person without making him lose face in front of the audience. You can combine words and intonation.
Unit 5: Interacting During Conference Sessions
