Presenting the paper

1. If your paper is accepted, you may be required to become a member of the conference and pre-registered for it. Probably, you will be expected to mail a copy of the paper to the panel discussion and panel chair, 2-4 weeks before the conference. At some conferences, you may also be expected to bring 30-50 copies of the paper with you for distribution

2. Most panels last 1/2 to 2 hours. Three to five papers are presented with each panelist given about 15 minutes, sometimes less. One or two discussants will be given similar amounts of time to comment on the papers. Do not read your paper. At first, it’s only possible to read 5-8 pages in 20 minutes. Therefore, you may cover only the essentials. At second, the audience is more attentive to the speaker than to those who read their papers. For your first conference, time your presentation. If handouts are helpful, prepare 20-25 (bring more if somebody famous is present at your panel).

Note: If you are require an overhead projector or other equipment, you have to make a special request after your paper is accepted.

3. Upon arriving at the conference, locate the room where your panel will be held. Check out the room and remember how to get there. Beware: the elevators in the conference hotel become jammed as dozens of panels end; do not be late to your own panel! When you arrive, go to the table at the front of the room and introduce yourself to the other panelists.

4. There are three difficult tasks at the panel.

The first is looking as if you do not pay attention at the first panelist when you mentally rehears your own paper; try to relax and enjoy listening to the other papers.

The second challenge is presenting your paper in the allotted time. A good panel chair will pass you a note after 13 minutes which says “2 minutes left”. Here you may need to pause for a second and map out a strategy for summarizing your conclusions in less time than you have planned.

The third problem is carefully listening to the discussant —especially if you feel the discussant did not understand your paper or did not like it. Take careful notes and try not to over-react when you get a chance to respond. If the discussant has potentially valid criticisms, it is OK to agree. Some people seem naturally better at such presentations than others and some people are more comfortable interacting with other panelists. But everybody gets better with experience.

Grammar focus III The Gerund

Герундій – це неособова форма дієслова, яка має властивості іменника і дієслова. Форми герундія утворюються за допомогою закінчення -ing, яке додається до основи дієслова.

Форми герундія:	Active	Passive
Simple	She likes reading	Nobody likes being punished
Perfect	The bank denied having received money from criminal sources	These event occurred without any influence having been made by her father.

Simple Gerund, активного і пасивного стану, означає дію, що відбувається одночасно з дією, вираженою дієсловом - присудком в теперішньому, минулому чи майбутньому часі.

Perfect Gerund, активного і пасивного стану, означає дію, що відбувається перед дією, вираженою дієсловом-присудком.

Герундій разом з іменником або присвійним займенником, що стоїть перед ним і вказує на виконавця дії, утворює герундіальний зворот і передає самостійну думку.