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Section 5

FORMAT FOR MINI-SYMPOSIUM ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Oral presentations are an important means of presenting the results of your research to other scientists. We will use the same format for presentations that biologists use when they attend national meetings of scientific organizations. As such, you will gain experience with a standard oral report format that you will use throughout your career as a biologist.

Your laboratory group will work together to present your research. The organization of your presentation should parallel the organization of a written laboratory report. Divide the oral presentation into four sections as follows:

1. Introduction
Include background information and a clear statement of your research and null hypotheses. Use the background information to stimulate audience interest in your question.

2. Methods
Describe the design of your experiment, especially the variables, treatments, and controls. Remember that your audience consists of me and the students in the lab and present only the information they need to understand the study. For example since everyone will have performed cellulose acetate electrophoresis, you need not present a detailed account of those protocols. Instead, explain any unique procedures or reagents that your group used.

3. Results
Distill your data down to only the important descriptive statistics. Use figures or tables to present the major trends in the data. Be sure to note whether each trend was significant or not significant. Make sure figures and tables are easy to read and interpret.

4. Discussion
Return to the question you posed in the introduction and use the results of the study to answer that question (e.g., "We cannot conclude that the caffeine dose in a single cup of coffee influences blood pressure in college aged subjects, since we found no significant difference in blood pressure between the caffeinated and decaffeinated treatment groups."). Compare your findings with those of similar studies and offer possible explanations for any differences between the current study's results and those of the other investigations. Make suggestions for future research.

Time Limit: 15 min total. Plan to speak for 10 - 12 min so we will have 3 - 5 min for questions.

Each group member must speak during the presentation. For groups of four people, each of the major sections can be presented by a different group member. For groups with only 3 individuals, the results and discussion sections can be combined and presented by one group member.

Visual aids are critical to the success of your presentation. Use transparencies or Powerpoint slides to present important questions, methodological steps, results, and conclusions.

Delivery
1) Speak loudly and clearly.
2) Interact with your visual aids by pointing to key features as you describe them.
3) Avoid distracting behaviors, clothes, and accessories. For example, do not chew gum, lean on the podium, twirl your hair, or wear hats or distracting clothing.

Acknowledgement: Adapted from a handout authored by Dr. Valerie Banschbach. Many passages were take directly from Dr. Banschbach's guidelines.

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