Presentation Guidelines

Oral Presentations
Poster Presentations
Applied Learning Presentations
Psych in Media
Presentation Evaluation Forms
Awards

Oral Presentations

Oral presentations provide an opportunity to tell others about empirical or non-empirical research you have performed. An empirical presentation is one where you present the results of a project in which you collected actual data. A non-empirical presentation is one where you are not presenting any original data, but you are reviewing and integrating previous studies that have been reported in the literature.

Presentations are limited to 12 minutes. This allows for 3 minutes in between presenters for questions.

Each room will have a digital projector, laptop computer with PowerPoint and a transparency project. Save your presentation on at least two different media (e.g., disk, CD, zip disk, memory stick). It's also a good idea to print out all your slides as a backup. If there are any other special needs, please contact the conference directors.

A moderator will be present to help you get set up for your presentation, to introduce you, and to monitor your time. Practice your presentation so that you will not get cut off abruptly before you have a chance to finish making your main points.

Try to arrive at the room for your session several minutes before the session starts, even if you are not the first presenter. This will give you a chance to get your presentation loaded on the computer.

The evaluation forms below may help you think about what information to include in your presentation and how to organize it.

Additionally, Psi Chi offers several excellent articles on doing oral and poster presentations.

Poster Presentations

Poster presentations give you the opportunity to tell others about empirical or non-empirical research you have performed in a visual format. An empirical presentation is one where you present the results of a project in which you collected actual data. A non-empirical presentation is one where you are not presenting any original data, but you are reviewing and integrating previous studies that have been reported in the literature.

Posters will be mounted with blue painters tape (tape will be supplied at the conference) to the wall or you may prefer to bring your own folding display boards.

Posters should be 5 feet or less in width.

Please try to arrive a few minutes before your poster session is to begin so that you can put up your poster. Take your poster down immediately after the end of your poster session so that the next group of presenters have time to put up their posters.

Be prepared to answer questions about your poster and to offer a brief "walk through" explaining the essence of your research in 1-2 minutes.

Your poster should communicate the main points of your research. Remember that this is a visual medium, so use large text and graphics easily readable from a distance of three feet. Do NOT simply print out a paper.

The evaluation forms below may help you think about what information to include in your poster and how to organize it.

Additionally, Psi Chi offers several excellent articles on doing oral and poster presentations.

Applied Learning Presentations

Applied learning presentations give you the opportunity to tell others about an internship, a practicum, a volunteer position, a paid position, etc. that you have undertaken.

Applied learning presentations are limited to 12 minutes. This allows for 3 minutes in between presenters for questions.

The evaluation forms below may help you think about what information to include in your presentation and how to organize it.

Additionally, Psi Chi offers several excellent articles on doing oral presentations.

Psych in Media Presentations

New to the conference this year is the opportunity to discuss an analysis of a television program or movie in an oral presentation. Either select an episode from a popular television program or analyze a feature film for psychological content. The presentation should provide the title of the work as well as its television network or production company as appropriate. Briefly describe the plot and then select key scenes that illustrate three or more psychological principles. Describe or define the principles and then explain how each principle is illustrated in the program or movie. For example, in the popular children's cartoon program The Rugrats, the children often refer to objects with inappropriate words. Discuss these errors in terms of language development. Other examples from the same program may focus on fear or attachment styles.

Presentation Evaluation Forms

Awards

Each poster, oral presentation, psych in media, or applied learning session will have a first place award and second place award.

Awards will be determined by two judges (faculty volunteers) in each session. They will use the evaluation forms located under Oral Presentation Guidelines and Poster Guidelines.

Awards will be announced at the Awards Luncheon.

Remember that the main point of the conference is not to compete for awards. The main point is to gain experience in presenting your research and in attending a research conference. Everyone who presents at the Missouri Undergraduate Psychology Conference is a winner. The awards are simply a little bit of additional recognition.

Northwest Missouri State University