Comments on: a recap of two stellar conferences

By: the end has come « The Excluded Middle

the end has come « The Excluded Middle — Sat, 10 May 2008 04:20:35 +0000

[...] Relation.’ This was quite the event. I had a blast. I wrote up a recap of the first two here. I wrote up a recap of the UT conference here. ‘On Maximal Rationality’ was also [...]

By: Thoughts On SSP « Justice & Justification

Thoughts On SSP « Justice & Justification — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:52:24 +0000

[...] at UT, Austin. It was a well-run event with good presentations and discussions. I wrote a comment elsewhere about how good presentations involve multi-media elements. At one level, the goal of a good [...]

By: Errol Lord

Errol Lord — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:51:11 +0000

Aidan,

I definitely think powerpoint will help keep things organized. Plus, making a nice looking presentation makes the talk more enjoyable, at least for me.

Christopher,

I didn’t read my paper. It’s about 23 pages in its current form, which would be too long to read in 35 minutes. In the past I’ve read the papers, and I’ve always felt like the audience zones out. Certainly it’s the easiest way to get all of the arguments accurately on the table, but if people aren’t going to pay attention it isn’t worth it.

I have always used handouts, though. Those help the audience keep up very well. When I go to powerpoint I will still use handouts. I also write on the board from time to time to put stuff up that didn’t fit on the handout. I think, though, that I will stop that practice and just start putting that stuff into the powerpoint.

I like your proposal; it’s just I think that reading the paper isn’t very effective in engaging the audience, which I think is the most important part of the talk. You won’t get good comments unless people follow the whole thing; so, you have to engage them throughout.

By: Christopher Cloos

Christopher Cloos — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 19:06:08 +0000

Hi Errol…Just thought I’d ask, “Did you only read your paper?” I just presented at the SSP conference using PowerPoint. I came to the opposite conclusion about PowerPoint and wished I had read my paper. Though the feedback I received was that the slides worked well (weren’t distracting, looked professional,a good summary of talking points) I was not able to deliver my talk with the level of precision possible if I had read my paper. The upside of PowerPoint is it forces you to get comfortable enough to be able to talk about your thesis well. The process of creating the slides is also valuable for tightening your presentation. However, it requires more time because you have to practice your presentation a lot. I’d like to throw out the following suggestion:

* A multi-media approach to philosophy presentations is best.
* PowerPoint – Good for quotes, graphs, pictures. Good for engaging an audience.
* Reading Paper – Good for accuracy.
* Drawing on Board – Good for concepts best explained visually.
* Handouts – Good for outlining arguments, talking points.

I think, if possible, incorporating all four elements into a presentation makes for an accurate yet engaging presentation.

By: Aidan McGlynn

Aidan McGlynn — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 06:20:31 +0000

I also converted to powerpoint after my first few grad conference presentations. I’ve found it a great help.