Preparing the Presentation
Students submitting research papers will be selected for one of two types of presentations: Oral Presentation or Poster Presentation.
Oral Presentation
If you are selected for an oral presentation for the Tennessee Junior Science & Humanities Symposium, you will prepare an Power Point presentation of your work. The opportunity to present your research to an audience is a major difference between the JSHS and other student science and mathematics organizations.
The research presentation may not exceed 12 minutes (changed from 15 minutes this year), followed by a maximum 6 minute question period conducted by the moderators. After questions from the judges, the moderator may open the floor to questions from the audience if time permits. A session moderator will aid the student speaker in maintaining this schedule and in fielding questions from the audience and judges. The procedure for maintaining the time includes a 10-minute signal for the student, and finally a 12-minute signal. At the 12-minute point, the student speaker must stop the presentation even if he or she has not finished.
During the six minutes of questioning, the speaker should repeat a question before answering so the audience may understand the entire dialogue. At their discretion the judges may conduct an interview in private with each presenter for an additional ten minutes after all presentations have been given before determination of the final evaluation scores.
Use of Audio/Visuals
RULE 1: Students must prepare their presentation in the Power Point Format and bring this media on a memory stick or other readable device. The TN-JSHS will provide the audio-visual projection equipment. Special requests for other media must be made ahead of time to the TN-JSHS director.
RULE 2: All audio -visual equipment must be operated by the presenter during the presentation. Teachers will not be allowed to help the students. Assistance will be provided student speakers with set-up of audio-visual equipment. Students should practice their presentations without the assistance of an audio-visual operator.
RULE 3: No written handouts are permitted. Research apparatus may be used if it is integral to the presentation and only if the apparatus is hand-held.
Hints for the Oral Presentation
- You are the expert. No one in the audience knows as much about your research investigation as you. Therefore, remember to explain your research in enough detail so the audience will understand what you did, how you did it, and what you learned.
- Clearly state your hypotheses and the rationale for your experimental approach. At the conclusion of your talk, summarize the outcomes and conclusions of your work.
- Whenever possible, avoid jargon or unnecessary terminology. If it is essential to use specialized terms, remember to explain the specialized term briefly. Give your audience enough time to understand what you are trying to convey.
- Graphs, tables and other representation help explain your results. Keep them simple and uncluttered. Focus on important information; for example, remember to name the variables on both axes of a graph, and state the significance of the position and shape of the graph line.
- Deliver your presentation at a comfortable pace. It helps to practice your presentation before a non-specialized audience. Practice will help perfect the presentation and timing. Do listen to the advice of your non-specialized audience but also get help from a teacher or other advisors as needed.
Poster Presentation
Since space will be limited for oral presentations, some students will be selected to present their work in a poster presentation format. Posters should be prepared in a manner that summarizes the findings presented in the written paper including:
- Abstract
- Introduction and statement of the Problem
- Methods
- Results and Figures
- Discussion and Conclusions
- Literature References
The Heading of the Poster should include the Student’s name and High School, the title of the project, and the name of the teacher and mentor. The poster size should not exceed 3.5 by 4 feet.