Title: Step 3 - Read - A Student's Perspective on Delivering Presentations
Course: The Art of Effective Scientific Communication

A Few Opening Words…

by Naveen Jain and Princesa VanBuren Hansen

Presentations. From delivering a memorized speech in front of the classroom to giving a proposal to a full room of business executives, we all will face demanding presentations on a regular basis. Even though they are so common, presentations can strike fear in the hearts of many. Indeed, many presenters melt like popsicles when faced with even mundane presentations.

Fear not! This course is designed to help presenters of all public speaking backgrounds develop the confidence and skills to design audience-swaying presentations.

Why focus on professionalism?

In the world of presentations, professionalism goes a very long way. Take a minute to ponder about your previous presentation experiences. From college applications to job interviews, nearly every presentation situation you will be presented with in the coming years will demand professionalism.

However, this course is designed to help you maximize your science fair success. In a perfect world, science fair judging would consist merely of evaluating the scientific merit of a project. Unfortunately, science fair judging on planet Earth will always contain a human element in which appearance is everything.

Your project’s appearance is a statement about yourself. A professional looking project is a clear sign to judges that you care about your project. In an environment which lacks a noticeable disparity between most projects, professionalism will give you an invaluable leg up on the competition.

Now, let’s see how we can maximize your project!