Tips for Presenting and Connecting at Conferences
“The success of your presentation will be judged not by the knowledge you send but by what the listener receives.” - Lilly Walters
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Conferences are a great way to connect with other educators and develop your Personal Learning Network (PLN). Many conferences will give you a discount or provide free registration if you present. I've keynoted and presented at hundreds of conferences in over 20 countries. Below are my tips for getting the most out of your conference experience and rocking your presentations. I've also included my slides for my recent webinar, Top Tips for Presenting at Conferences. For more conference tips check out my article on ESL Library, Top Tips for Presenting at ELT Conferences.
Tips
- Show your passion or enthusiasm about your topic.
- Integrate storytelling. Check out this article by Sparkle with 8 Storytelling Techniques with illustrations and video examples.
- Focus on a few key points you'd like your audience to take away.
- Engage your audience with an icebreaker, poll, activity, or backchannel.
- Design engaging slides:
- Invite your audience to connect on social media or on email.
- Attend events, tweetups, and meet ups. There is often free food and you can create memories and new friendships.
- Add your profile and connect with others on the conference app.
- Use hashtags to connect with attendees before, during and after:
- Follow attendees you find on the conference hashtag and share your slides and resources with the conference hashtag.
- Sometimes conferences will have a Twitter chat you can join or check to see if you can join a Twitter chat hosted by teachers in the area or hosted by local teacher associations. Find associated hashtags with Hashtagify.
- For more fun, try my Conference Selfie Adventure Challenge.