Oral presentations are a condensed version of a specific topic delivered to impart knowledge and stimulate discussion with the audience. It is a learned skill and gets better with practice.

Format

Guidelines 

Resources 

Presenters have twenty minutes to complete their presentations with another five minutes reserved for questions from the audience. The length of the presentation is not negotiable due to the number of presentations on the day of the event. The presentations are timed by SSD Volunteers.

Oral presentations during SSD will take place at the Kirkhof Center. Before the day of the event, it is important that you check your assigned location and time of presentation. You can access the current presenter information from the SSD home page, www.gvsu.edu/ours/ssd/

Oral presentations come in many different forms. If you will be preparing PowerPoint slides to go with your presentation, please use the following guidelines:

• Save your slide deck/PowerPoint/Google Slides on your Google Drive for quick, easy access. In addition, be sure to also save your presentation in pdf format in case of technical difficulties.
• Each slide should contain only a few key ideas in large font. Bullet or number the main points
• Every presentation has been assigned a QR code to facilitate feedback for the presenters. We encourage you to download this and add it to your presentation. This will allow attendees to point out strength within presentation and suggest improvements for the future. 
  •  To download the image, go to the SSD registration system. Log in. On the upper right, you can select “Presentations”. Click on “View this presentation” and then scroll to the bottom. 
• Prepare an outline of the topic. Outline form is preferable to complete sentence structure. You will say more than what is written on the page. It is often helpful to prepare separate "note sheets" for discussing each slide
• Pictures or sketches are a good way to convey information. They may be presented individually or in conjunction with a few words
• You should spend about one minute on each content slide, so you should be conscious of the number of slides you have in your presentation: you should include a title/introduction slide and a slide of references
• Include the following statement for any project involving human or animal subjects: This project has been approved by Grand Valley State University’s {HRRC or IACUC}, {approval number}, {expiration date}
• If applicable, clearly state when a project is a literature review or theoretical exercise.
• When speaking to an audience, slow down your speech and use your best clear and loud voice. Think of your presentation as a professional experience. Prepare well, be organized and practice!

Contact the following for more preparation assistance:

• GVSU Speech Lab: www.gvsu.edu/speechlab/
• Oral Presentation Guide from the GVSU Speech Lab