Gina Fisk

gina@lanl.gov

Good presentations take time to prepare. Students can’t throw them together at the last minute and expect them to go

well.

Students should practice their presentation in an empty room, in front of peers, and in front of adult volunteers until they are comfortable with all aspects of it.

Students should have the slide order and slide content memorized in case of disaster!

Allow students to use creativity in their presentation, but don’t allow them to go overboard.

Students might try to think of a clever title or a non-obnoxious theme for their presentation.

Students should not let their creativity get in the way of the scientific aspects of their project.

When the judges enter the room, the students should be standing at the front looking ready, not scampering around working on last-minute details.

The front table and computer should be neat, and should not be littered with notes, boxes, transparencies, etc.

Lights in the room should be dimmed, so only the front lights are shining on the students. This helps draw attention to the presenters right away and sets the tone.

Students should be dressed in nice clothes without stains, tears, ragged edges, etc. No jeans, cut-offs, mid-drifts, or visible tattoos.

Students should not eat, drink, or chew gum during the presentation, whether it is their turn to talk or not.

Students should pay attention to their team members when others are presenting.

Students should show respect by referring to the judges as Dr/Mr/Mrs and should use Ma’am and Sir as needed.

Avoid “verbal voids” such as uhhh, so, and, etc,

Avoid slang such as: like, man, dude, etc.

Avoid nervous habits such as jiggling change, popping pen tops, etc.

Aim for 3 minutes per slide.

Don’t allow your presentation to get off of topic by questions from the audience members. The response: “That is beyond the scope of this project” will help keep your students on track.

Don’t over-analyze the information on a slide. Have your students practice being brief yet informative.

Each team member should present a portion of the project, and the timing with these portions should be discussed beforehand.

Eye contact with your audience is important. Have your students examine the audience members and be able to tell you some piece of information such as the ratio of men and women in the audience. (They can’t do this if they are looking at the floor!)

Answer questions first directly to the person who asked, and then more generally to the rest of the audience.

Have your students practice not reading the slides, but summarizing and rewording them.

Don’t put all information that you are going to say on the slide. Aim for less than 25 words per slide and then expand on that information.

Use general graphics on the slides such as charts and graphs, and have the students explain them.

Before the presentation your students should write a paragraph on each slide that they can read before the presentation to refresh their memory.

At the end of the presentation, your students should ask if there are any questions or comments from the audience.

If an audience member presents a good new idea, the students should think quickly of a way to incorporate it into their future work and tell the audience how they could incorporate it.

Students should strive to answer all questions, but if time is running short, they should say “We have time for one more question…”

When the students are done with their presentation, they should turn off the overhead projector, wait 3 full seconds, and then thank the judges for their time.

Students should remain at the front of the room to answer individual questions and should not start breaking down the computer until all audience members have left the room.

eXtra time eXplore creatively eXterior preparation eXtreme professionalism eXterminate noise eXpedite progress eXamine audience eXpand on ideas eXchange ideas eXit gracefully