Tips for Presenting at American Translators Association Conferences
Several first-time presenters have asked for some tips on presenting at the ATA conference so I thought I’d write a post with some tips from presenting over the years since the mid-1990’s and also from watching others present.
Tip #1
Review the original abstract that you submitted to the ATA for your presentation, and make sure you present on the topic that you proposed. More than half a year passes between the time that proposals are submitted and the time you make your actual presentation. The ATA uses your abstract as the description that will be printed in the conference program and attendees use this information to decide if they want to sit in on your talk.
Tip #2
Be knowledgeable about your topic and be well-prepared. Practice your presentation out loud as many times as you can before the big day. It will make you feel more at ease with your material and allow you to enjoy interacting with your audience more.
Tip #3
Be sure to back up your slides and notes. This will give you peace of mind and Murphy’s Law dictates that if you have back-ups, you won’t need them, and if you don’t, you will! Put your presentation slides on a CD, flash drive and/or mail it to yourself for online access (I usually do all three!).
Tip #4
Show up early to the presentation room and test that your computer will work with the conference set-up. Know how to “throw” your computer image to an external projector (on my machine, for example, its “Function + F8″). You may wish to ask a friend to be on hand to lend you his/her computer if anything goes wrong (see tip #3 above on file back ups), and should even be ready to speak competently without slides if need be (although this is highly unlikely, I have seen it happen).
Tip #5
The conference is a dynamic environment. Do not feel bad if attendees walk out during your presentation (and others may walk in). They may have a conflict with another presentation they wish to see, a work emergency or other urgent issue that came up, or they may have decided that your topic is not what they thought it was (see tip #1 above). Either way, there will be attendees who will be engaged in your presentation and excited to learn what you have to share.
Tip #6
So that you may fully focus your energy on the content of your presentation and avoid distractions, ask a colleague to change slides for you as you speak. I recently started doing this with a friend of mine and it freed me up to focus on the topic and the audience and to not worry about where I was in the slides.
Tip #7
Be sure to include your contact info (including twitter name!) on slides at both the beginning and end of your presentation. While this is not a place for a sales pitch, you will be seen as an expert presenting on an area in which you have specific knowledge. Benefit from this exposure and be sure to let people know who you are!
Tip #8
Bring a lot of business cards to your presentation and set them out where people can easily take one at the end. They may want to ask you additional questions, contact you about a future project or simply network. This conference is a great place to network with colleagues and your presentation gives you additional exposure.
Tip #9
If you have a blog or other online presence, go green (and make it easier on yourself by not having a lot of papers to keep track of) by putting any handout-type information in a blog post that you reference at the end of your presentation. For example, you may reference URLs during your presentation and they are easier to access online than to write down. One of your last slides should provide your audience with an easy-to-remember link to this blog post, such as http://yourwebsite/ata51.
Tip #10
Be well-prepared but also relax and have fun. Your audience is full of colleagues and industry friends who are interested in your topic and cheering you on. Being nervous is natural, but know that you are in a supportive environment and enjoy yourself!
Tags: American Translators Association, Professionalism, Translation
Posted in: Articles
