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Whatever your motivations to participate in a conference, first you should craft a strong proposal that gets your project selected. A compelling proposal briefly outlines the essence of your work and clearly articulates a plan to involve participants. Nevertheless, it is much more than just an abstract. Your conference proposal will tell an experienced juror not only about the speech you propose but a lot about yourself, the passion you have for the topic, the core competencies of your project and the obeisance you pay to the conference and its attendees.
Learn the tricks of the proposal writing and you’ll have a ticket in hand for a smooth ride of publishing and speaking opportunities.
Know your audience
You may love it or hate it, but you will have to target two audiences in your proposal. Yet the conference organizers make the final decision on which speakers will be added to the program, they pick the projects that resonate most with interests and tastes of the conference visitors.
Thereby, you need to address to the broader audience first.
In your abstract you should clearly articulate your main ideas and goals. Set forth how your project will fill in the gap in existing knowledge, and where it would lead the ongoing discussion to. Remember that most of the event visitors are not necessarily experts in your field. Think a little bit more deeply – what is likely to be on their minds? Does your proposal meet the readers’ expectations and answer questions they care about?
Withal, try to connect with the people who organize the event. Bear in mind that they want to see a compelling description that will attract more visitors to their event. Your presentation should make a valuable part of the product they offer, so sell it!
Write small, communicate big
A good abstract outlines how the idea of the original research provides value to the conference. It is obviously impossible to squeeze a whole research into a few paragraphs, so you should focus on giving an answer to one specific question.
An effective proposal covers four main points:
- The background to the research
- Methods and approaches to the problem
- Key take-aways and conclusions
- Practical influence on the subject (in other words, whom and how it would affect)
Make sure to cut out any flowery language or words that can be removed without changing the meaning. Keeping to the word count is easier if you enter into the subject and put the problem straight from the beginning. Your aim is to impress your readers and keep their attention through the competition at the conference.
Mind the structure
The conference proposals are highly formulaic, precisely of their laconic style and fixed structure. Yet the disciplines are very different, the abstracts generally are broken down into four parts:
- Big picture problem in your field
- Focus of your project and its relevance to the debates in your field
- The specific material that you examine and your original argument
- A strong conclusion and derivations
Some people introduce the context of their study right after the beginning; others start the introductory paragraph with a bold and challenging statement. Whatever you choose, you have to set the background for your talk and demonstrate your scholarship. As you outline your argument, refer to the existing literature and contributions of the authors, who underpin your research. However, consider the overall awareness of your auditory. If your paper is very niche, you will need to provide a more general consultation to the readers. If you are writing for the audience of specialists in your field, don’t explain basic concepts. In brief, don’t insult your audience’s intelligence.
Seal the deal
As a result of your proposal, your readers should get an explicit answer to “So what?” question and gain a clear understanding of the problem posed.
The proposal should plainly state the practical and/or theoretical value of the problem you investigated in your research. You may explain the benefits and methods of applications of your study both in the research community and the outer world. Incorporate facts, charts or illustrations wherever possible or permissible. Make it clear to your broader audience what exactly they will learn during the session and whether they can participate in your project.
Show respect
Preparing a conference requires a lot of efforts and time investments from many people.
If it seems to be complicated for you to write a conference proposal you could follow students’ example and buy argumentative essay. You can express your attitude and respect to the event by checking out if your topic conforms to the theme of the event. Always check the instructions first – they usually contain all the key information needed for crafting a successful abstract. Use a template if provided and check out grammar, spelling and punctuation. Garbled sentences or more than a few even minor typos will raise a serious doubt in your competence. Feel free to ask for help with your writing, if you need it. And of course, you must stick to the deadlines. If you fail it or submit a hastily written proposal you will demonstrate yourself as a person, who takes serious opportunities superficially. Your application may be rejected as curators can presume that you will be as careless when preparing your speech itself.
Some additional guidance for proposing a conference
In addition to being coherent with other panel’s papers and conference theme, mind the diversity of attendees. Together with their gender, racial, ethnic and religious background, pay attention to their professional diversity. Craft your presentation in a way to engage both senior scholars and graduate students. This will help to make your session more vivid and boost your chances to network with other researchers.