I'm at the end of my first year and been to one conference where I presented a poster. I'm going to another conference next month and wanted to present another poster, but they have asked me to give a 10 mins talk instead. I'm not sure if I can ask to just do the poster without being rude. I don't think my work is good enough to talk about and I'm worried I'll get ripped to shreds in the Q&A. Does being 'invited' really mean you have to do it?

JA

Sounds more like a confidence thing than a content thing. If you have enough detail for a poster, you probably have enough for a presentation. If it helps, just think of the presentation as a poster, with sections. You'll be surprised how quickly 10 minutes passes. It depends what your topic is how you present it... there's are formats to follow if it helps... but depends if you've completed empirical work or are just planning empirical work as to how you pitch it. I say go for it.

Do it. Do it.

It's only 10 minutes of your life and will fly by I promise. Once you've done it - you'll be so much the better for it and probably really want to present at more things. Don't worry about getting ripped to shreds in Q&A- I have never seen this happen to anyone at a conference ( well only once where the presenter was VERY senior Proff and there was obviously something a bit personal going on).

Explain at the begining that you're only in your first year and developing a thesis outline - no-one will expect you to provide a solid work of genius - you're doing a PhD ergo are learning, it is OK to say I don't know or I haven't actually thought about that etc. Questions are good because they provide info on where you need to make your work clearer etc and you need to look on it as usefull.

Go for it!!!!! I am also at end of first year and am giving a 20 min presentation at a conference next month. I was also terrifeid at the thought of it but once I started to get my outline together I really thought 'I can do this'. Do say its a work in progress and at the end rather than ask if there are any questions ask if "anyone would like to contribute to or discuss' your thoughts so far...that way it conveys a shared discussion around ideas rather than a more confrontational conception of q&a. Also I think you will be surprised at how quickly 10 mins will go and they will not be able to ask anything too indepth off the back of a 10 min presentation. Great for confidence, great for CV...DO IT!!!!!

10 minutes is really not long at all: you'll probably find once you start writing the presentation, that you wish you had longer!

Look upon it as a chance to show people what a great research topic you're working on. And you won't get ripped to shreds: most people remember their time as a PhD, and will be nothing but encouraging.

You probably spent more than ten minutes describing your poster.

Definately go for it! To be asked to do a talk means they think your work is good enough - so CONGRATULATIONS on being offered a talk! You might feel your work isn't good enough, but I think all of us phD students feel that - I always feel like one day someone will uncover my secret, that I actually haven't a clue what I'm doing but just feeling around blindly. Also with a talk, you make so much more of an impact - so many more people will know who you are and talk to you about your research, and you won't get torn apart in a conference Q&A! Great experience for your final viva too - where you have to be able to talk about and defend your work. To give yourself more confidence, practice on colleagues. Good luck

p.s. I get a much harder time presenting to my department than to a conference... but I always find giving talks even to tough audiences like my department helps - makes you think laterally about your topic - and makes the end result better... and gives you more confidence for the viva...

I think its got to be well worth your while doing, I know I presented a paper and basically went beyond what was in the paper to give a sort of story so far with my PhD. I don't think its a bad thing to say at the start 'I'm a PhD student and this is my work' No one really wants to put you on the spot, its meant to be a learning process. If anything supportive members of the audience may ask you to clarify things they didn't understand or you didn't explain enough.

At the first conference I gave I was asked questions by the very man who's lined up to be my external examiner!

Tiggs

Thanks for all the replies and advice. I replied to the conference organiser today accepting their invitation, so fingers crossed I do a good job so they don't regret asking!

Hi JA - well done! It's a great thing to be invited to present, and it's really good news to hear you're going for it. I was seriously nervous before my 1st presentation with exactly the same worries you mention, but like the other forum users say... just go for it!
However, I would advise against apologising before you start you talk for your early-stage research or being 'only' anything for that matter! This was the first thing I was told when I was gearing up to present. Apparently this starts you on a downbeat note - if you don't mention your rookie status and present confidently, they'll be looking at your work as peers....and they won't notice minor slips etc. as they won't be looking for them (unless you advertise your 'only' status at the outset)! If you get questions you can't answer at the end its perfectly acceptable to say you don't know or its a work in progress.
Best of luck, It'll fly by and you'll feel so great afterwards!!

I agree with Eppi. Never apologise in advance. I was at a big international conference recently and one speaker - a widely published, renown scholar - started her talk by saying: 'I apologise, this is my first power point presentation...'. Audience was puzzled and I started to look for faults in her presentation. So definitely go there with confidence and everything will go well. Good Luck!