Course Description

Though there are similarities between teaching and presenting at a conference, there are also some key differences. There is a feeling that teachers must be good at giving talks because they spend so much of their time in front of an audience, but in fact the two activities require some different skills and strategies. One of the important distinctions is that teachers are almost always in front of their own students, who they get to know very well. Speaking at a conference means speaking for a relatively short time in front of an audience of unknown people. 

This is the second course in a series of how to write conference presentations. In this course, you will learn about writing presentation summaries and abstracts. You’ll also learn how to plan and structure your presentation. Finally, you’ll pick up some useful tips for giving your presentation.

What are learners saying?

5 star rating

Giving a Conference Presentation

Maria Fernanda Rodriquez

Sometimes “abstract” and “summary” are taken as synonyms but this course clearly shows the difference between both words. The abstract is shorter than the s...

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Sometimes “abstract” and “summary” are taken as synonyms but this course clearly shows the difference between both words. The abstract is shorter than the summary, but it is the one shown in the conference program. Although it is a short text of about 50 or 60 words it has a structure and must be clearly written whether it is theoretical or practical, for the attendees to know what will the presentation be about This course gives practical ideas for writing good summaries and engage the students and an audience. It is very interesting and useful.

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Course Author

Course Author Sue Leather

Sue Leather is an ELT Consultant, Trainer and Writer. She is Director of Sue Leather Associates, an ELT Consultancy group which supports international ELT projects, both face-to-face and online. Sue has also written some 30 graded readers with publishers such as Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press and Cengage/National Geographic. She won the Language Learner Literature Award in 2005 for her reader Dead Cold and has been nominated twice. She is a board member of the Extensive Reading Foundation. ​An enthusiastic proponent of extensive reading, she has talked to teachers about using graded readers around the world.