Information for presenters
All meeting rooms will have a screen/projector, PC (PowerPoint facilities), sound and internet. Please bring your presentation on a USB stick. It is also a good idea to email a copy to yourself as well as a backup. You can also present directly from your laptop or MacBook.
Please note there are no facilities to support any virtual presentations and all presenters must be present in the room.
You can also send your presentation beforehand to conference@bera.ac.uk and this will be uploaded to your session room.
Please
- Assemble in your session room at least 5 minutes before the session is due to start.
- Ensure that you sit near the front of the room with easy access to the stage.
- Ensure that you keep to the time allocated to you, as it will cause disruption to sessions if you run over your allotted time. The chairperson will have warning cards when you have 5mins/2mins remaining.
- There will be presentation clickers available in all rooms
Please plan your presentation in a way to allow some questions within your presentation time. We suggest that presenters end their presentations with a couple of questions in order to stimulate discussion after their presentation.
Please state at the beginning of the presentation if you are happy for your work to be shared via social media or not.
For individual paper sessions you will have between 20-30 minutes. All individual papers are in groups of 4 as standard. If there are 4 papers in your session you will have 20 minutes each to present. If there are only 3 papers in your session, you will have 30 minutes each to present.
BERA does not issue conference proceedings, so you don’t need to hand in a full paper. However, if you are interested in having your paper published you can submit directly in our international peer reviewed journals;
Accessible Presentation Guidelines
Your presentation should be prepared for a diverse audience. While we are encouraging those with any additional requirements to contact us in order to accommodate them, we will not be aware of all accessibility needs prior to the day of the conference. This information should help ensure that your presentation can be accessed by as many viewers as possible.
- Keep the amount of text on any slides to a minimum, using a san serif font and keeping the font size readable, ideally 16 or above. Larger inter-letter/ character spacing improves readability.
- Use high contrast colours, it is recommended to use a plain light, non-white background with dark text. Avoid green and red/ pink colours close together as these are difficult for those who have colour vision impairment.
- Italics and underlines should be used sparingly, with bold recommended. Avoid the use of emojis.
- Sentences should be kept short with simple language used.
- Ensure hyperlinks look different from headings and normal text.
- Heading should be at least 20% larger than normal text and formatting should be used
appropriately. - Consider using bullet points and numbering rather than continuous prose.
- Where possible, colour or images should not be the only method for distinguishing information
- Be mindful of images or graphics used and use alternative text on images.
- Include a descriptive caption of any images, and describe them during your presentation
- Any videos should have closed captioning, closed captioning is built into PowerPoint. Videos or animation should avoid flashing images and should be audio described where possible as part of your presentation.
- PowerPoint also includes a built-in accessibility checker.
- Social media hashtags should use ‘Camel Case’, where the first letter of every word within a hashtag is capitalised, for example #HappyBirthday.
- When speaking, jargon, acronyms, and idioms should be avoided unless explained. Speaking should be clear and avoid speaking too fast.
- When asking for any questions, some people may require extra time to form their thoughts into words. Consider having an alternative method for submission of questions.
- Trigger warnings should be used if required.
- Forms/ surveys should be designed with accessibility built in.
Expectations of our Community
The BERA conference and events programme is dedicated to advancing educational research
through the free exchange of scholarly opinions and evidence-based research. While we recognise that not all remarks, questions and responses may resonate with every perspective, we are committed to fostering constructive discourse and engagement. The Conference and Events Committee firmly supports presenting a wide range of topics and viewpoints. Academic discourse thrives on differences of opinion, and discomfort is sometimes an inevitable but essential part of such dialogue.
We uphold the values of diversity, equity, and the free expression of ideas. We encourage scholarly discourse and critique while emphasising respect for the rights, dignity, and worth of all individuals, regardless of gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, socioeconomic status, age, or religion. All behaviours and interactions at our conference, including those with staff, should align with professional academic ethics and expectations.
Our conferences and events provide an environment in which diverse participants and backgrounds may learn, network, and enjoy the company of colleagues in an environment of mutual respect. We recognise the shared responsibility to create and maintain this environment for the benefit of all. To ensure all participants – including members, speakers, staff, and volunteers – can benefit from the event, we are committed to creating a harassment-free environment for everyone.
Unacceptable behaviours include:
- Sustained disruption of talks or events.
- Aggressive, intimidating, harassing, abusive, or demeaning speech or actions.
- Prejudicial comments or actions that undermine equity or academic exchange.
- Physical assault, including unwelcome touch.
- Deliberate intimidation or stalking.
- Threats of physical harm or professional reputational damage.
- Disrespectful, inappropriate, or unprofessional conduct towards staff that are involved in organising the event.
These rules apply to all conference and event venues (physical or virtual) and social events.
Participants asked to stop such behaviours are expected to comply immediately. BERA members are also subject to our Code of Conduct.