Top Tips for Presenters
Please see below for important information on preparing for UK Kidney Week 2025.
- Thoroughly read the speaker information and other communications about the conference.
- Arrive early: Be at your session are least 10 minutes early to meet with your chairperson and other presenters.
- Keep it simple.
- Use minimal text and diagrams to present your findings.
- Tailor to a broad range of kidney professionals (clinical, professional, researchers).
- Provide a high-level overview of your research, leaving details for Q&A appendix slides (oral presentations) or an online appendix accessible via a QR code (posters).
- Tell a story.
- Background: Briefly introduce the current knowledge in your field to set the stage.
- Purpose: Highlight what is unknown or misunderstood, prompting your research.
- Your Research: Explain the approach you took to address the identified gap or misconception and summarise the key findings.
- Presentation Strategy: Start with a preview of what you’ll discuss, deliver the content, and then recap the key points at the end to reinforce retention.
- Focus on impact.
- Ensure your audience understands the implications of your research for future research, policy, and practice.
- Be excited and well-prepared.
- Practice extensively. Alone, with your research group, and with non-specialists.
- Adhere to your time limit; cut content rather than speak faster.
- Preparation helps manage nerves and improve performance.
- Use Q&A to your advantage.
- Be confident and courteous. You are an expert in your field.
- Use slides and appendix slides as needed to answer more detailed questions.
- Note key questions for later reflection and incorporation.
- Handle unanswerable or tough questions graciously, suggesting further discussion post-talk.
- Use seemingly off-point questions to refine your message clarity.
- Ensure your visual materials are readable.
- Use at least 24-point standard font for the main text.
- Include ample white space for better organisation.
- Opt for a white background with black text for main text to enhance readability.
- Limit the number of accent colours and select them to maintain clarity.
- Use a solid background colour. Avoid distracting or complex background images.
- About 1 in 20 people has some form of colour vision abnormality. Avoid red/green combinations. Use an accessible colour palette, which can be found here. Verify the accessibility of your graphics with a colour blindness simulator, available here.
- Bring business cards and share your contact details in your poster/slides.
- Engage with attendees and fellow presenters.
- Bring a printed copy of your research for more in-depth discussions.
- A poster is, above all, a networking opportunity.
- Have an elevator pitch. Prepare a brief introduction and overview to engage visitors as they approach, prompting a dialogue. Make sure to introduce yourself.
- Display your email and a QR code linking to further details or your research profile on the poster.
- Carry business cards and a printed copy of your research for deeper discussions.
- Organise effectively.
- Follow conventions for headings. Use standard sections like background, research question, methods, findings, and conclusion.
- If you have data visualisations, use as few as possible and make the findings section larger than other sections to ensure that these can be read from a distance.
- Do not write in paragraphs. Use bullet points.
- Your poster is a visual abstract. Do not include an abstract (unless required).
- Print a test copy of your poster in A4 size to make sure you can easily read it.
- Plan ahead.
- Know the lead time for poster printing and add a day or two to be safe.
- Check to make sure all content is inside the print area before printing.
- Your poster must be in one of the below sizes and printed on paper
- Portrait: A0 (841 x 1189 mm)
- Landscape: A1 (841mm x 594mm)
- We have discount at a local printers who will print your poster so that you can collect.
- COPYPLUS | Welcome!
- info@copyplusuk.com
- (0) 1202 293300
- 8 Lansdowne Road, Bournemouth, BH1 1SD
- Please send your poster as a PDF to the above email address
- Allow 2-3 working days for printing
- £20 - Portrait: A0 (841 x 1189 mm)
- £12 - Landscape: A1 (841mm x 594mm)
- Be ready for travel.
- Make sure your poster is packed to survive your trip.
- If you’re flying, poster tubes can be challenging.
- Have fun!
- Start and finish strong.
- Set a compelling tone from start. Open with a hook—a startling statistic or provocative question—that relates directly to your research.
- Tell your audience what they’ll be learning from you at the beginning.
- Conclude in a memorable way. Emphasise the key points from your study so that any member of the audience could explain your research in a sentence or two. Consider ending with a call to action if your research has policy relevance, or a thought-provoking question if your findings should drive future research.
- Master your delivery.
- Speak clearly and vary your tone to maintain interest. Use pauses to effectively emphasise key points.
- Connect with your audience by looking around the room and making eye contact during your presentation.
- Be prepared for the unexpected.
- Be flexible with time adjustments. If you’re running short on time, know what can be skipped without losing the impact of your research findings.
- Be ready in case of technology problems. Check your presentation in the Speaker Preview Room and copy your presentation and all assets to a folder on a USB device.
- Have fun!