Student Conference Home > Presentation Formats
Presentation Formats:
Poster
Sample Poster Configuration
Posters offer the opportunity to present data and have serious discussions with interested colleagues. The audience circulates among the posters, stopping to discuss papers of particular interest. Authors present their papers using a visual medium with key excerpts from the papers displayed on one-half of one side of a four feet high by six feet wide free-standing bulletin board: i.e., the area for your poster is 3 feet wide by 4 feet tall. Poster presentations should incorporate illustrative materials such as tables, graphs, photographs, and large-print text, and materials should be clearly readable from a distance of three feet (primary text font should be 20 points or larger, and headings font at least 30 points). Posters are organized by last name of the first author and assigned a bulletin board number.
Oral Presentation
To prepare your talk, you should consider how best to get your points across to the audience. You will want to provide a clear introduction of your topic, clearly identify and fully support your main points, and reinforce your central idea in your conclusion. Don't forget to consider proper sentence structure, word usage, and vocabulary. Finally, do your best to make a professional presentation with effective use of eye contact, body movements, and vocal quality.
You will be provided a total of 15 minutes for your oral presentation. You should plan on using 12 minutes for your talk and allowing 3 minutes for questions. Practice your talk ahead of time, to make sure you do not go over the time limit. A moderator will let you know when you have 5 minutes left and 1 minute left in your time.
Presenters are required to arrive at least 15 minutes before the beginning of the session in which their paper is scheduled (not 15 minutes before your own paper) in order to register and to prepare their presentation. Students making PowerPoint presentations must bring the presentation with them on a CD-ROM or USB drive. Presenters will not be able to log onto their university accounts to retrieve their presentations.
Performance
If you are planning to present a musical or theatrical performance, remember that you will be limited to 15 minutes. You should plan on using 12 minutes for your performance and allowing 3 minutes for questions. Practice your performance ahead of time, to make sure you do not go over the time limit. A moderator will let you know when you have 5 minutes left and 1 minute left in your time.
It will be helpful to the audience if you provide some context for your performance. Why did you choose this particular musical piece or dramatic scene? What does it mean to you? Where does it fit into the context of the overall piece or artistic history? What should the audience take away from your performance?
Table-Top Display
Sample Tri-Fold Display Configuration
Tri-fold displays offer the opportunity to present information and have serious discussions with interested colleagues. The audience circulates among the displays, stopping to discuss papers of particular interest. Authors present their papers using a visual medium with key excerpts from the papers displayed on a standing tri-fold display board. You will be allotted one-half of an 8-foot long by 30 inches wide table: i.e., the area for your display is 48 inches wide by 30 inches deep . Displays should incorporate illustrative materials such as tables, graphs, photographs, and large-print text, and materials should be clearly readable from a distance of three feet (primary text font should be 20 points or larger, and headings font at least 30 points). Displays are organized by last name of the first author and assigned a bulletin board number.
NOTE: If your group plans to present more than one tri-fold display, then each member of the group should register separately, to ensure that there will be sufficient room for your displays.
For more information about communicating your research, see the WebGURU, a webpage designed to help undergraduate researchers.
