Presentation Guidelines

Please Note: The goal of the SOARS Conference is to foster academic curiosity and scholarly research. It is not a competition. The format of the presentation should be approprriate to the discipline and subject matter.

Presentation Guidelines: Oral Presentations

• The oral presentation should be 10 to 12 minutes long.
• Presentations will be followed by a 5 minute question and answer session during which the audience may pose questions.
• The use of Powerpoint for presentations is strongly encouraged, but optional.

NOTE: If Powerpoint is not being used for the entire presentation, the student should submit the following content in Powerpoint slides:

• One Powerpoint slide as a “title” page with his or her name and project title.
  • The title page will be projected during the presentation.
• PowerPoint slides with the references used in preparing the presentation.
  • The references will be projected during the question and answer session.

Presentation Guidelines: Poster Presentations

• On the day of the conference, students presenting research posters will participate in a poster session.
• During the poster session multiple posters will be on display simultaneously.
• Students are stationed near their own posters.
• Attendees may move from poster to poster at will.
• Attendees will engage the students in one-on-one conversation regarding the content of their posters.
• Students should provide a list of the references used in preparing the poster.
  • The references can be affixed to the poster or typed on a separate page that the student has available on the table with the poster for review by audience members.

Presentation Guidelines: Creative Research Projects

• On the day of the conference, students presenting creative research projects will present their work to an audience in a format appropriate to the genre of the scholarly work.
• Examples :
  • If a student submitted a poem in this category, then the student will read the poem and answer questions from the audience during the time designated for oral presentations.
  • If a student submitted a creative project such as a painting or sculpture, then the creative project will be displayed at the same time as the research posters, such that the audience may view the work and pose questions to the artist regarding the visual piece.