Oral Presentation Guidelines
All presentations must follow the Oral/Paper Presentation Rules & Guidelines.
Oral/Paper Presentation Rules
- You must be the sole author of your oral presentation, though the research may have been conducted collaboratively.
- Oral Presentations are 12 minutes long for formal presentation, 5 minutes for questions and answers, and 3 minutes for set up/presenter change. It is okay if the presentations end earlier than the allotted 17 minutes; however, presentations must not go beyond the allotted 17 minutes. Proctors will be on hand in each room to assist and to keep judges moving within the alotted time so that all presenters have equal time. Exceptions to this policy will only be made in extreme extenuating circumstances (e.g., a fire alarm requires evacuation of the building during a poster talk, a medical emergency occurs, etc.).
- PowerPoint or other presentation format is permissible.
- Presenters are expected to be on time for their presentation session. Tardiness may result in disqualification or non-judging.
- Presenters are expected to remain for the entirety of the session they are presenting in. Barring a major emergency (with approval by the Hayes Chair), leaving prior to the end of the session may result in disqualification. Exceptions will not be made for teaching, lab, class, or other routine obligations.
- The Hayes forum is not responsible for technical issues or presenter slides/content not working. Proctors will do their best to address and be flexible if situations arise.
Tips for More Successful Talks
- Your presentations should include the following information: (a) Purpose of the study/piece; (b) Research method; (c) Findings or Predicted Findings; and (d) Implications. These categories may need to be adjusted to fit your particular research area and the scholarly traditions of your field. For example, you may need to be explicit about the theoretical perspective underlying your research or the data analysis methods you employed.
- Oral presentation will be evaluated in the academic area you select from the 10 oral academic areas for graduate students, or 3 oral academic areas for postdoctoral scholars.
- Students' and postdoctoral scholars' work will be evaluated by professionals from the general academic area, so proposals need to be understood by those in a fairly broad range of related fields. This ability to explain complex material in a clear and convincing way is part of the judges' consideration. Remember judges signed up for generic academic areas. Therefore, your judges may not be experts in your area of expertise. Please remember to speak to a broad audience when presenting.
- We suggest you practice your talk in advance of the forum with a varied audience for feedback, and to practice timing.
A/V and Technical Information
On the day of the Forum, each room will be equipped with a provided laptop computer that has USB access, and will have amplified sound via microphone for all our presenters. We ask that you bring your presentation on a USB drive with you so that we can load them onto the laptop and do sound/video checks before the presentations begin. In order to provide the smoothest transitions and most timely presentations on the day of Hayes, you will not be permitted to use your own laptops on the podium, and will not be able to login to email or other services to download your presentations. We know this might seem particular/pedantic, but we have found its the best solution to issues with the internet or technical problems that we cannot account for through the plugging and unplugging of devices, and time to transfer and turn on different devices in the short 3 minute period between presentations. We thank you for your understanding and adherence to this policy.
Performance as part of Oral/Paper Talk with Q&A
Applicants who intend to make a performance in the presentation period (such as a dance, theatrical demonstration, etc.) are eligible to participate in both oral and poster presentations. We ask that you contact the Hayes Forum Chair (contact info below) as soon as possible if you have particular needs or questions about performances as a part of Hayes presentations.