30th
Anniversary
Conference

Western Pennsylvania Undergraduate Psychology Conference

PRESENTATION INFORMATION

Saturday,
April 13,
2002

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We will accept submissions for both Paper (oral) and Poster sessions. Although there are many good sources of advice on professional presentations both in print and on the web, below we have listed some information you will find helpful in preparing for this conference.

Paper Sessions

The paper sessions will be 10 minutes long, plus 5 minutes for questions. Participants will be able to use PowerPoint, slides, overheads, and TV/VCR for their presentations. In a paper session you should prepare a clear and concise 10 minute oral presentation of your study. Follow the basic APA style in your presentation: introduction, methods, results, discussion. Be sure that the listener understands: 1) the major problem or question you are studying, 2) the methods that you used, 3) what you found and 4) what it means to the major theories in the field. At the end of your 10 minutes ask the audience if they have any questions and smile and act like you really do want to hear their questions and comments! Never read the presentation to your audience, it is boring and difficult to follow. Rather, practice your talk until your can explain your study in your own words. Remember that no one knows your work as well as you do – YOU are the expert!

You may use visual aids such as overheads, PowerPoint, or brief video clips to illustrate important information to the audience. However, remember that you should never have complete sentences that you read to the audience. Otherwise the audience will read your talk and ignore you! Use an outline or graphical form on your visual aids and then explain in your own words what it means. Try to limit your overheads or PowerPoint slides to things that enhance your talk. Be sure that the audience is focusing on what YOU are saying not on fancy special effects. If you use PowerPoint, you will need to get to the conference early to load your slides from disk onto the hard drive of the machine so that you can start right away when your time begins. Fumbling with your slides will take time from your talk and negatively impact on your presentation. If you are not comfortable with technology, then reduce your stress and just bring overheads. It is always a good idea to bring backup overheads of your PowerPoint presentation just in case something goes wrong with the technology. If you have multiple authors who are speaking be sure to practice your transitions so that the presentation flows. Most people find it distracting to move back and forth between speakers. Most of all, practice, practice practice!!

Poster sessions

We ask that the poster presenters present their posters on the standard poster presentation boards available at most campus bookstores and office supply stores such as Officemax, Office Depot, and Staples. These Tri-Fold corrugated presentation boards cost $7-$10 and measure 36" X 48". Although they are somewhat smaller than the typical boards at major conferences, they will allow the posters to stand on tables for the poster session. Another advantage is that you can put together your poster at home and it will set up quickly the day of the conference, giving us more time for discussion. Students should also bring copies of a one-page handout of their presentation. This handout should have title, authors, affiliation, contact information and time and date of the conference at the top and be followed by a concise summary of the research.

Poster presenters should plan to come 10-15 minutes early to register and set up their posters by 8:15 as the poster session will immediately follow morning registration. When you get to the conference you will get a conference program. In the program will be your poster number. You can find the location for setting up your poster by looking for your number on the tables in the Rossin Campus Center Ballroom where the poster session will take place. Below is a common layout for a professional poster. It is usually easier to read if you use columns and move left to right. It often helps the viewer to read your poster if you number each section. It is usually best to follow the basic APA organization of introduction, methods, results, and discussion. However, you should use whatever headers best fit your project. Use as many graphical representations as possible and avoid long sections of text which are hard to read on a poster. Text should be easily read from 3-4 feet away. The best fonts are large (around 24 point) and easy to read (like Ariel or Helvetica). Use an outline format with main points, and then verbally explain the details to your viewers. You should practice using your poster by preparing a brief, flexible 3-5 minute verbal description of your work.

Other useful suggestions for presenting at a conference can be found at Psi Chi.