Academy of Human Resource
Development
2010 International Research
Conference in the Americas
Presenter Guidelines
Definition: A scholarly symposium is a meeting or conference for discussion on a specific
topic or issue area. The AHRD conference can be thought of as a symposium focused on
the topic of HRD, and the individual sessions provide more in-depth scholarly dialogue
on specific content.
The symposium presenters are researchers who have conducted inquiry within a
designated HRD symposium topic. The symposium chair is the person responsible for
establishing and guiding the symposium to a successful conclusion. Symposium
participants are scholars and reflective practitioners interested in HRD who attend the
symposium but do not report on their own research.
The AHRD member survey (March, 2009) made it clear that members want more engaging and rigorous
symposia at their annual research conference. Towards that end, we are offering this resource for
presenters who are passionate about learning, developing a community of scholar/practitioners, and
sharing diverse perspectives in authentic conversation. We hope you are interested in contributing
towards this very important learning opportunity!
Introducing: New Learning 2010
Building on the research conducted at the 2005 and 2006 AHRD conferences, the 2010 conference will
again be a host site for continuing the New Learning research and evaluation study. New Learning
focuses on enhancing adult learning at conferences, and the research has uncovered several ways to
enhance the learning outcomes for conference attendees. One important way to enhance learning is to
create a learning space for presenters and attendees in the symposium rooms. In each symposium
room, the symposium chairs and presenters can create exciting, innovative, and engaging learning
‘spaces’ for attendees to learn, debate, and share differing perspectives.
This short information sheet provides some ideas on how presenters can help to generate these learning
‘spaces.’
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Guidelines for AHRD Conference Presenters
The purpose of your presentation is to spark lively scholarly exchange, not to present your entire paper.
Remember that every participant will be able to read your paper from the conference CD. The power of
the conference is in the interactions, questions, and discussions that can be generated through scholarly
dialogue and debate. You can learn as much from your audience as your audience can learn from you!
You should anticipate between 10-15 minutes to present your work. Individual symposiums may have
different time allotments, depending on the number and type (e.g., full paper, abstract, or research
roundtable) of papers. You will know before the conference, through communicating with your
Symposium Chair, how much time to expect.
To enhance the capacity for sparkling scholarly exchanges and communication of your ideas and
research efforts and results, we suggest following these guidelines:
Five Point Format for Presentations
1. What was your main research question?
a. Why does this interest you?
b. Why is it important for the development of the HRD profession?
2. How did you try to answer your question?
a. What are the main characteristics of the method you chose?
b. What problems did you encounter while carrying out the project?
c. Details of the design and data collection should be assembledinto a handout (not a PPT
slide)
3. What was most striking in the information you collected?
a. What did you expect to find and what did you actually find?
b. You can reference tables and other complex information in your handout
4. How does this material help you to answer your main question?
a. Did you find support for an answer?
b. How did aspects of the data collection and analysis affect your ability to answer the
research questions?
5. What do you conclude? What limitations do you put on the conclusion?
a. What would you like your audience understand about your findings?
b. What in your research findings is especially interesting to you?
c. To make progress in the area you investigated, what additional research is needed?
The elements of item 5, in particular, should invite participants into a scholarly discourse. This
discussion is often the most valuable part of the presentation. This last section also gives you an
opportunity to elaborate on elements of your work you could not cover in full detail during the first part
of the presentation.
Creating PowerPoint Slides for your Presentation
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You are strongly encouraged to make only five key PowerPoint slides to support your
presentation, one slide for each of the five key points described above
Provide a title for each slide
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Use landscape orientation (horizontal display)
Use 24 point font size or larger
Use upper and lower case letters (not all caps)
Limit each slide to six lines, six or fewer words per line
Use only the upper two-thirds of the slide
Delivering your Presentation
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Stand to one side of the projection screen
Read or reference each slide before you elaborate (otherwise, attendees will be reading
the slide while you are elaborating)
Presenters are responsible for:
Pre-conference: provide your Symposium Chair with a short (3-4 sentence) bio; read all
papers in your assigned symposium (the Symposium Chair will distribute these); create
your presentation following the guidelines above.
During the symposium: arrive to the room 15 minutes before scheduled start time;
agree on the order of presentation and Q&A format; stay within your allotted time
(max: 15 minutes per presenter); thoughtfully discuss the papers of other presenters
and their underlying theories/issues. Always remember this is a scholarly exchange—
reasoned questioning, doubting, and not knowing are okay and can be downright
scholarly!
Concluding Thoughts
The overall intent for the AHRD conference is to lead Human Resource Development
through research. These scholarly presentations are the product and the future of our
collective work to continue developing a scholarly, reflective, and relevant Human
Resource Development profession.
If you have any questions about presentation format, contact Julia Storberg-Walker, Program Chair, at
julia_swalker@ncsu.edu
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