Students who present oral ten-minute papers (TMPs) in the Student Competition for the President’s Prize will be evaluated in two areas:

• Scientific Content (60%)
  • Abstract (maximum of 250 words) from the paper presentation request form (10 points)
  • Talk content (50 points)
• Presentation (40%)
  • Organization (10 points)
  • Slides (10 points)
  • Delivery (20 points)

Each paper is judged independently by three judges who were selected by the Section Presidents.  In the event of a tie or a major discrepancy in scores, the judges will meet with the Co-Chairs for the Student Competition to resolve the issue(s).  Students who finish in second place will be identified for honorable mention.

Students compete only against the students in their session and not against other students in the same section/subsection but assigned to a different session.  Students have been grouped into judging sessions (held in different rooms) that typically include no fewer than 5 and no more than 15 students.  The size of each session is dependent upon the initial number of TMPs submitted to a specific section or subsection.  Some Sections are subdivided to accommodate the large number of submissions.  Some Sections are combined because of the low number of submissions for some Sections.  If a student cancels a presentation after the program is printed, the moderators announce the cancellation and must wait the full 12 minutes before resuming the competition.  We strongly encourage students to avoid cancellation to prevent disruption of the program.

The oral TMP evaluation form is divided among Scientific Content (60%) and Presentation (40%).  The letter scale used is similar to those of classroom instructors or granting agencies:  E = Excellent or “A”, VG = Very good or “B”, G = Good or “C”, F = Fair or “D”, and NI = Needs improvement.  Numerical scores are proportioned accordingly.

Under Scientific Content, the abstract (submitted with the paper presentation request form) will be judged for information and accuracy, correlation with the presentation, and effective conveyance of the results.  The presentation content includes:  introduction and background with literature cited, objectives, materials and methods (study design) or approach to problem, results and discussion, and significance to the field of study.  Quality of research will be judged on its scientific rigor and significance as conveyed by the student. Students should address why the research was done and why the results are important.

A student's verbal presentation will be judged for organization, slides, and delivery.  The judging criteria for organization include logical order, minimum redundancy, and smooth transitions.  Slides (visuals) are judged on both their format (legibility, grammar, and spelling) and relevance to the talk.  The delivery is judged on clear and audible speech (effective use of microphone when needed), effective use of figures and/or tables, eye contact with audience, and effective use of time.  Judges may provide written comments on any aspect of scientific content or presentation categories.

Each presentation is allotted a total of 12 minutes—10 minutes for the presentation and 2 minutes to address questions from the audience.  Moderators are instructed to enforce the time limit, and the moderator will stop a presenter who exceeds the time limit of 12 total minutes.  Please time your presentation accordingly to avoid this embarrassing situation.  Also, speak clearly and loudly so both the audience and the judges can hear what you have to say.  A Sample TMP Evaluation Form is included in the information sent to all student competitors.

Suggestions for Presenters

Visual aids can significantly enhance or severely diminish the effectiveness of your presentation.  The following guidelines are general considerations:

• Avoid red-green combinations.  Approximately 10% of men and 0.4% of women have some form of red-green color-blindness.  If in doubt, print the figure or slide on a black and white printer.  This visual is what a severe red-green deficient viewer will see.  (Remember, this person may be a judge.)
• Enhance contrast between background, text, and figures, but do not use excessive contrasts.  Avoid dark-colored text and figures on dark-colored backgrounds and light-colored text and figures on light-colored backgrounds.  Avoid bright contrasts that are figuratively or literally painful to view.
• Use large and legible text fonts.  Text should be read easily from at least 10 meters away (minimum 18 point font, Arial).  Use easy to read, san serif fonts like Arial.  Do not crowd slides with text.
• Simplify graphs and tables or consider alternative visuals.  Complex graphs and tables filled with an excess of numbers are difficult to read and will detract from an explanation of results.

Project your draft visuals in a large room to check legibility and color contrasts.

There are Internet sites you may wish to consult on creating effective presentations.