Guidelines for Oral Presentations/Exhibits/Performance
Oral presenters and performers will have 8-10 minutes to present your research or creative performance/reading, followed by a 2-4 minute Q&A session (12 minutes total). Session moderators will strictly enforce this timeline. Room moderators will provide warning signs and indicate when your time is up.
Preparing Your Presentation Slides or Performance Logistics
- Microsoft PowerPoint is a commonly used program for designing research talks and other oral presentations. Please use it to prepare your presentation if possible.
- Slides should be informative and graphically appealing with minimal wording.
- The presentation title slide should include the presenter’s name, co-authors, academic program, home university, faculty advisor(s), funding sources (if applicable), and project title.
- You are strongly encouraged to work on drafts of the presentation with your faculty advisor and get their approval before presenting.
- For performances, please be sure to check the specifications of your performance location so you are prepared to perform given the location’s constraints.
- 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 8-10 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
- Plan to bring your own fully charged laptop/tablet and relevant adaptors to present from your own device.
- Check the program to confirm your presentation time and location, and plan on arriving ~15 minutes early to check 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 (or appropriate performance attire); wear your name tag; turn off cell phone or personal computer (or turn off volume).
- Be prepared to network! Consider bringing business cards, resumes, or contact info to distribute to people interested in your work, which would include your name, home university, academic program, email and/or phone number, title of your poster and/or abstract of your project.
- Be prepared to learn! This is an excellent opportunity to share your hard work and look forward to respectful questions and constructive feedback.
- Have fun and enjoy the experience!
If you have questions, please contact SURC@suny.edu
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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.