Minnesota Undergraduate
Psychology Conference '98

Augsburg College, Minneapolis
Saturday, May 9, 1998

• The deadline for receipt of the Proposal Form and Summary is Friday, April 10, 1998.
• Students who plan to give oral presentations should submit a completed Proposal/Abstract Form, including a long abstract (300 word maximum) and a short abstract (40 word maximum; will be included verbatim in the conference program).
• Each presentation will be introduced by a session moderator who is an Augsburg College Psychology major. Check in with the moderator a few minutes your session begins. For example, Session II runs 1:15-2:15. If your paper is scheduled for 1:30, you should check in with the moderator prior to the beginning of the session as a whole, i.e., before 1:15.
• PLEASE NOTE: Professional conference etiquette requires that you attend the entire session in which your presentation occurs. Again, if your paper were scheduled at 1:30, it is appropriate for you to arrive just before 1:15 and to stay until the session ends at 2:15.
• Oral presentations will be 10 minutes in length. 2-3 minutes will be allowed for questions. The moderator will signal when 3 minutes, and 1 minute are left and will stop the presentation at the end of 10 minutes.
• In general, oral presentations at professional psychology conferences follow APA format: Title, introduction, hypothesis, method, results, discussion, conclusions.
• Presenters should present overhead transparencies to illustrate important points including:
  • Presentation title, author, institutional affiliation, faculty sponsor
  • Introduction, leading logically to your
  • Hypothesis or main point of the presentation
  • Important aspects of the method section
  • Graphs of results (avoid tables of numbers)
  • Discussion points
  • Conclusions
  • Print on overhead transparencies should be NO SMALLER than 18 pt Times; 24 is preferable.
• Present, rather than read. You may use notecards, but should refer to them, rather than reading from them. Engage the audience. Make frequent eye contact. Vary your speaking tone and emphasis.
• End the presentation by thanking the audience and asking for questions.
• Practice ahead of time for style and timing. Consider giving your presentation to the beginning research methods, statistics, or introductory psychology class at your home institution. (This is an opportunity for you to act as a mentor to less advanced students.)
• This is a professional presention, perhaps your first. It is evidence that you are moving from being a recipient of knowledge to one who creates it. Congratulations! List the event in your vita or resume. Send a notice to the campus newspaper and to your hometown newspaper.