Oral Presentations and Board Shorts

Oral Presentations and Board Shorts

A requirement of the STAR Program is that participants are expected to give two oral presentations of their research during the STAR Program summer session: 

Board Shorts - a 3-minute, technology-free overview of your project at the beginning of the summer. Students are permitted to use the whiteboard and can bring in a prop to help explain their research. Dress code is casual. These talks take place over the course of several days, and are attended by STAR students and their mentors. 

Oral Presentations - a 10-minute PowerPoint presentation of your findings at the end of the summer. Dress code is business casual. These talks take place over the course of several days, and are an opportunity for the students to present their hard work to their peers, mentors, faculty and staff.

A few pointers for a successful oral presentation are included below:

  • When speaking, point to the area on the slide to which you are referring
  • When presenting data, indicate if the differences are statistically significant
  • Always define your abbreviations
  • Make certain that you understand the basis for each assay you are performing
  • Aptos is the preferred font for all SVM communications, including presentations

Templates for your PowerPoint presentation can be found on the SVM Communications Resources page, under Tools and Templates. Scroll down the page until you come to the PowerPoint Templates section, and download your favorite template. 

PPT Template Key (pdf)