Annual Celebration of Excellence by Students (ACES)

Guidelines for Oral Presentations  (2011-03-13)

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. There will be five to seven concurrent sessions with a twenty-minute break at approximately the midpoint. 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 may 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. It is considered proper professional etiquette to attend all the presentations in your session. You should make every effort to arrive prior to the first presentation and stay for the all the presentations given during your session.

Rehearsal is crucial to a successful presentation. You should be thoroughly familiar with your work. The most fluent papers are those presented from notes; reading your manuscript is generally not desirable unless you are presenting prose or poetry. You are advised to practice your presentation before a group of your classmates or your instructors. Ask your advisor if you can practice in front of one of his or her classes. After your presentation, ask for a critique and revise your presentation as necessary.

Because the ACES audience is so diverse, you must strive to make your work intelligible to non-specialists. Do not assume that everyone is familiar with your field. Avoid technical jargon and define specialized terms. Focus on the creative and innovative aspects of your project. Your audience will respond better to your creativity than to your mastery of obscure terminology.

No single format will fit all presentations. The following format is a suggestion for those who will be presenting experimental data or exploratory works. Again, the best resource you have on how to present your work will probably be your faculty advisor.

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

Rooms will be equipped with basic presentation equipment (laptop and data projector only) but you must notify us of your additional needs when submitting your abstract. We will make an effort to accommodate your request but if that cannot be done, we will notify you and you will need to make your own arrangements. We will assist you with setup and tear-down if needed but be mindful that this extra work must be done within your allotted presentation time.

The laptops in the presentation rooms run Windows XP and Microsoft Office 2007. You should test your presentation in this environment ahead of time to find any problems. The laptops only have those fonts that are part of the typical software installation of Windows and Office. We cannot install other fonts so choose from the typical pool of fonts. Wireless remotes will not be provided in rooms. The close proximity of the rooms can cause one remote to interfere with an adjacent room. Atypical equipment requirements should be organized by the presenter. The laptops will have a network connection but are not be part of the UT Arlington domain.

Session moderators will follow the schedule strictly; thus it is imperative that you be punctual. Some members of the audience will plan to attend specific presentations in different sessions. In the event that a speaker cancels a presentation, the session moderator will call a recess until the time for the next scheduled speaker.

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