Annual Celebration of Excellence by Students (ACES)

Guidelines for Oral Presentations  (2013-03-08)

The Guidelines page is being updated. It will be available by Friday, March 13.

Oral presentations will take place in the E. H. Hereford University Center throughout the day. Students will be assigned a room and a presentation time. Presenter Room and Time assignments are available here.

Each speaker will have twelve minutes for the main presentation, followed by a three-minute discussion period to allow the speaker to address questions from the audience. Judges will deduct points if a presentation exceeds the allotted period.

As a courtesy to subsequent speakers, please be ready to start on time; session moderators have been given strict instructions to start all presentations on schedule. In the event that a speaker cancels a presentation or is not present during their scheduled time, the session moderator will call a recess until the time for the next scheduled speaker.

It is considered proper professional etiquette to attend all the presentations in your session. Presenters should make every effort to arrive prior to the first presentation and stay for the all the presentations given during their session.

Because the ACES audience is so diverse, presenters should strive to make their work understandable by an educated, multi-disciplinary audience. Avoid technical jargon and define specialized terms. Focus on the creative and innovative aspects of your project.

Rehearsal is crucial to a successful presentation. You should be thoroughly familiar with your work. Reading your slides or notes word-for-word is not encouraged. Presenters are advised to practice their presentations before a group of classmates or instructors.

Each presentation will be judged by a panel of alumni and/or faculty judges. Oral presentations will be scored based on the Oral Presentation Rubric.

Rooms will be equipped with basic presentation equipment (laptop, projector, and speakers). It is the presenter's responsibility to notify us of any additional equipment needs at the time the abstract is submitted. Atypical equipment requirements may need to be organized by the presenter. Any additional setup and tear-down required for a presentation must be done within the allotted presentation time.

Basic Structure of a Talk
Background/Purpose  —  1-2 Minutes
Methodology  —  2-3 Minutes
Results  —  7-8 Minutes
Summary/Conclusion  —  1-2 Minutes
Oral Presentation Time  —  12 Minutes
Q & A  —  3 Minutes
Total: not to exceed 15 Minutes

A workshop focused on effective oral presentations is offered each year. Visit https://grad.pci.uta.edu/programs/edge/events/ to register or for more information.

> Enhancing the Effectiveness of Oral Presentations (Powerpoint file. Right-click and Save to download.)
> Room and Time Assignments