INSTRUCTIONS FOR ORAL PRESENTATIONS

Time:  2:00 pm [last or near last lab period]   
 

1. Presentation should be on your fourth experiment, unless a substitution has been agreed upon with the instructor.
2. All students should attend the whole session, and participate in asking questions.
3. Each lab partner will have 12-15 minutes to make a presentation, with a few minutes after each part for questions (such as requesting clarification). There will be time for questions addressed to either partner after both talks. Partners should decide between themselves how they want to divide the material (Background, theory, apparatus, procedure, data, analysis, conclusions, etc.). However, normally each should give a single segment.
4. Title page, outline of talk, graphs, diagrams, summary of conclusions, etc., should be prepared in Powerpoint or on transparencies for the overhead projector. Normally do not include extensive text or long derivations of equations, but just outlines, final equations, or a few sentences of conclusions. The blackboard is also available.
   
5.  I recommend that you practice the talks with your lab partner. In addition to refining the presentation, checking the length, and making sure nothing crucial falls through the cracks, try to anticipate questions which may be raised.
6. After the talk, turn in your Powerpoint file (or transparencies) and abbreviated written report consisting of an abstract and your "Journal" (tables of data, notes, etc.).  A bibliography should be part of the Powerpoint file.  A single joint report for both partners is adequate.
7. Each student should ask at least two questions (overall) of other speakers (besides lab partner). These should not be confrontational, but seek clarification of surprising, intriguing, or unclear points in the presentation.
8. See article by J. Garland for suggestions on presentation. (Note that this is directed at a slightly more formal situation.)