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Oral Presentations/Exhibits/Performance
Following submission of your abstract, you will be informed as to whether you will be presenting a poster, oral talk, or a performance.
Oral talk presenters and performers will have a 10 minute timeframe to present your research or creative performance/reading followed by a 5 minute Q&A session.
Preparing Your Presentation Slides
- Microsoft PowerPoint is a commonly used program for designing research talks and other oral presentations.
- Slides should be informative and graphically appealing with minimal wording.
- The presentation title slide should include presenter name, co-authors, academic program, home university, faculty advisor(s), funding sources (if applicable), and project title.
- For performances, please be sure to check the specifications of your performance location so you are prepared to perform given the location’s accommodations (microphone, stage size, lights, etc.)
- You are strongly encouraged to work on drafts of the presentation with your faculty advisor and get their approval before presenting.
- For performances, you are strongly encouraged to rehearse with your faculty advisor and get feedback before your performance.
Preparing Your Presentation or Performance
- Practice and prepare to complete your oral presentation/performance within the 10 minute time frame.
- Practice your presentation so it is concise, clear, evidenced, and effectively delivered.
- Practice Q&A with your advisor to anticipate and prepare for questions you may receive.
- Seek editorial assistance and a practice audience from peers and/or faculty advisor(s).
Day of the Conference
- Check the program to confirm your presentation time and location, and plan on arriving
- 15 minutes early to load your slides and familiarize yourself with the location.
- Volunteers and signs will direct you to your specific location.
- Present yourself well: dress business casual or business professional, wear your name tag, turn off cell phone or personal computer (or turn off volume).
- Consider bringing business cards, resumes, or contact info to distribute to people interested in your work, including your name, home university, academic program, email and/or phone number, title of your poster and/or abstract of your project.
- Plan to bring your own fully charged laptop/tablet and relevant adaptors in the case that there are technical issues.
- Be prepared to learn! This is an excellent opportunity to confidently share your hard work and humbly look forward to respectful questions and constructive feedback.
- Good news: Being nervous does not hurt your credibility or authority. Have fun and enjoy!
Guidance for students attending SURC at Binghamton University
- Sticking to the 10 min presentation + 5 minute Q&A is imperative so that attendees can move from room to room to attend the talks of interest. Room moderators will provide warning signs and indicate when your time is up.
- Each oral presentation or performance block will be one hour long with 4 presenters per block and location.
- There will be four (4) distinct one-hour Oral Presentation Sessions (two in the morning and two in the afternoon) and presenters will be assigned and informed of their Session prior to arrival.
- Each room will have audio visual technology that is HDMI compatible.
If you have questions, please contact SURC@suny.edu
Contact Us
The SUNY Center for Professional Development (CPD) supports a wide range of professional development opportunities for the academic, technical, and leadership communities across the SUNY System.