Seminar Guidelines for the New Millennium

Baker University Chemistry Department
Seminar Guidelines and Tips

I.   The seminar is an opportunity for you to present the results
of your library or laboratory research.  As not everyone in the
audience will see the formal written results, the seminar must
explain the topic clearly and "stand alone" in its explanations.

II.  Each seminar presentation should run approximately fifteen
minutes, with an additional five minutes (or so) for questions
[ Note:  15 + 5 = 20 ].  Obviously it is a good idea to practice
the presentation at least once (the more, the better).

     Each presentation should have approximately 10-12 slides,
including the following (1,2,...,11,12):

     1.  Title page, with title, your name, course, and date
     2.  Outline, limit to one page, so that people have
          some road map to show where you will take them

     11.  Summary/Conclusion--a 3-5 sentence paragraph/list
     12.  References--a separate page which shows references
          in standard American Chemical Society format

III. The Seminar Evaluation form lists criteria by which the
seminar will be evaluated formally.  Another useful guide is
common sense.  Pretend you are in the audience watching your
presentation:

1.  Can you hear each word distinctly?
2.  Can you see clearly each letter or number on each slide?
3.  Do transparencies contain too much information (too "busy")?
     Do they contain too little information?
4.  Are slides left up long enough for people to read?
     Since most people can read and listen at the same time, it
     is usually best to leave words displayed while you are
     talking, rather than flash them quickly.
5.  Is the speaker blocking the screen?
6.  Is the speaker using repetitive phrases or utterances to the
     extent that you are wondering how to spell them (for
     example, "uh", "unh", "er", "anh", etc.)?
7.  Does the presentation flow logically?
8.  Is there enough background information to allow a junior-
     senior chemistry major to understand the intricacies of
     the topic that is presented?  In addition to general
     information, background information typically includes a
     discussion of events/developments in chronological order.
9.  Are the concepts presented vaguely, or are there clear
     supporting examples?