BIBLIOGRAPHY:
MAKING PROFESSIONAL PRESENTATIONS
DANA MCHENRY(1)
Editor’s Note: Legal writing professors might be assumed to be natural at making presentations. After all, they regularly lead classes, and they teach students to make presentations ranging from office discussions with supervisors to appellate arguments before courts. But making a presentation before national colleagues is a slightly different event, and new teachers might be reluctant to put themselves in the limelight. This short bibliography provides links to websites and articles that guide novices (and remind experienced presenters) on how to prepare and present professional conference presentations. – SER
How to Make Professional Presentations
1. Create a Conference Presentation (University of Technology Sydney/Australia) This short essay begins by explaining different types of conference presentations. (2) Then it breaks down the parts of a presentation and provides specific guidance for making successful presentations, including how to prepare and how to present.
2. Presentation Skills: The Basics (The Centre for Legal Leadership, on Thomson Reuters/UK)
This short article is especially helpful for a presentation moderator (called “chair”). Key points include doing a dry run of the presentation and managing the session effectively. While written for a business audience, most point are directly transferrable to law conference presentations.
(1) Dana McHenry is the assistant editor for this issue of Proceedings. She is a second-year student at the University of Oregon School of Law.
(2) Editor’s note: Legal writing faculty most often participate in panel presentations at national and regional conferences. Many conferences also offer opportunities for poster presentations. Works-in-progress are increasingly popular, for example at AALS and SEALS, and intensive workshops are offered by ALWD (e.g., Scholar’s Forum) and LWI (e.g., Sirico Workshops). SEALS is well-known for its discussion groups. 33 Volume 4 | Issue 1 | Fall 2023
3. Making Your (Power)Point (Jonah Perlin in Journal of Legal Communication and Rhetoric: JALWD). This lengthy article takes an academic approach “to provide an introduction to creating digital presentations for lawyers with a specific focus not only on what legal presentations should look like but also when lawyers should use digital presentations, why they should use them, and the process for how they can make them better.”
4. How to Give a Killer Presentation (by Chris Anderson, in Harvard Business Review) This web story discusses centering your presentation around a story, planning the delivery, developing stage presence (especially useful for those of us who get nervous), and working with multimedia. The story includes a three-minute video summary, with fun and useful suggestions by someone who has been long involved in TED talks.
5. Top Tips for Professional Legal Presentations (Creative Word Training) Highlights of this website include the layout of the presentation and connecting with the audience. It also provides insights for those who suffer from nervousness in making presentations.
6. Do-It: Presentation Tips (University of Washington) This website provides a plethora of guidance, including managing anxiety, visualizing your success, engaging the audience, and incorporating principles of universal design. It notes that a live presentation is often longer than a rehearsal and encourages presenters to seek feedback to continue improving presentation style.
How to Get the Most from Attending a Conference 5 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Legal Conferences (GOOD2BSOCIAL) This website gives concrete guidance on getting the most out of conferences you attend, even if you aren’t presenting. Key ideas include leaving each session with an action item, sharing new ideas with colleagues at home, and following up with new contacts.