July 2011 Fiona Kennedy Preparing abstracts for conference

Common questions What could I possibly present about? I’m not doing formal research – can I still prepare an abstract? How do I put together an abstract? Where should I go for help?

What to present – research only? No – research is just one thing that can be presented at conference. Think about what you do on a daily basis; what have you been involved in – any projects, innovations, new practices, examples of good practice, any CPD related activities, any audits and quality monitoring of services? Remember if it is of interest to you, then it may very well interest others too. Don’t presume you have not been involved in innovation – what you take for granted as good practice, may be new and unknown to others.

How to do it / getting help COT website has helpful information – see the call for papers 2012 and conference related documents to help guide presenters Work together in teams – you don’t have to work alone and sometimes working together makes it less daunting. Look at abstracts and titles of previous conference presentations/posters/workshops to get ideas. Look at BJOT and OTN to get ideas.

Activities to help you prepare – 1. Discussing ideas Working in pairs, discuss an area of practice/research that you are currently involved in, and could present to conference. Use these pointers to help initiate your discussion: What is your project/ innovation/ example of good practice? Why might it interest others? Who might benefit from hearing about your work? What messages / info would you want to give to the audience?

2. Looking at others work Look at the posters that have been put up for you to review. Using the sheet provided, think about how the posters catch your attention – this may give you ideas for producing your own poster. Have a discussion about ideas that you can use from reviewing these pieces of work.

3. Reviewing abstracts CAOT have produced ‘tips for preparing abstracts’ which although specific to CAOT conference, gives helpful information. They go on to list several abstracts and then give their opinion on the strengths and areas for improvement for each of these abstracts. They can be sourced at:

4. Planning the next step How can you take this forward? Use the ideas generated from the discussions – can you develop these into abstracts? Can Scottish Board members promote it’s work through the conference? (e.g. Scottish Board activities as CPD opportunities etc.) Supporting each other – can you work as part of a team to generate some work for conference? How can we share the information and activities from today with colleagues?