Guidelines for Oral Presentations
- You will each have five (5) minutes to present with five more minutes for discussion with others.
- Give us a tune we can walk away whistling. What is the main point you want us to remember?
- Tell us what you’re going to tell us (Forecast), give us your evidence and argumentation, and tell us again what you told us.
- Think about your audience. Try to find a hook that will be of interest to everyone. Don’t get too technical, but also don’t assume we are completely ignorant. In other words, try not to pitch your talk too high or too low.
- Make us want to read your paper. It’s okay not to cover everything. Give us a few highlights.
- Consider how we can help you. After everyone has asked you questions or made suggestions, think if there is anything you especially want feedback on.
- Practice in advance. It is hard distilling work down to 5 minutes. If you practice, you’ll realize that you have to focus on what is most important.
- PowerPoint slides are completely optional. If they help you, feel free to use up to five slides. Don’t make them too text-heavy, though. They should be easy to grasp.
- Consider playing with your audience. Can you use the chat function to get us involved? Can you make a joke that is relevant to your topic?
- There is only one mandatory requirement: Come with your whole self. Smile. You can smile with just your eyes if you are not someone who likes to smile or if your topic is itself sad. But take time to connect with us. Remember that we are your support team. We want to hear your paper!
