Presentation Guidelines

MindExpo is equipped to host a variety of presentation formats. See details of the different types of presentation categories below. 

If you are a presenter, take a look at this information page on presenting and attending an academic meeting!

• Poster Presentations- for these sessions, you will be assigned an easel and a foam board to pin a poster or other large paper visual aid to (this is not the correct session if the work is artistic, see the description below). Many posters may take a standard scholarly poster format including an introduction, methods, results and discussion section, but we do welcome alternative visual poster that are more discipline specific. Posters will need to be submitted to a shared google folder by April 20, 2026 as a hard deadline, or your poster will not be printed. Poster sessions are open attendance, so you will be responsible for standing with and presenting your poster for the duration of your assigned session as attendees come and ask questions.

• Oral Presentations- for these sessions, presenters will be given a time slot in a presentation room with a microphone, computer, screen and projector. You may use slides and audiovisual for these presentations. Oral presentations do not need to take a specific format, and there is much flexibility in the types of "talks" that can be given. This could include standard research presentations, group presentations, papers or creative work that is read aloud, design presentations, technical demonstrations of projects or prototypes, etc. Please note that this session type is not for musical performances, due to location, sound and accompaniment constraints (see below) Presentations should be limited to 12 minutes, with 3 minutes of time available for questions or comments.

• Music Performances- there will be limited spots for solo or small chamber music performances in this session, which will take place in Heckman auditorium. Performances in this session should include a 3 minute preamble discussion describing something scholarly about the piece you will perform, such as historical context for the piece or composer, cultural context for the piece, stylistic choices you have made in your performance, or notable musicality in the music. Performance and discussion time should not exceed a total of 10 minutes. All music performance submissions will be reviewed and approved by Music Department faculty, and you will need to arrange with music faculty an appropriate accompanist, if required.

• Visual Arts Presentation- these submissions will be similar to the poster session, but with more capacity for table/easel/wall space as needed (please indicate these needs on your registration form!) Visual arts submissions will be reviewed by Art department faculty. Students wishing to submit more than one piece are welcome to, within reason. Please talk with a faculty member about whether this is appropriate. This session will occur down the side hallway from Nyrop and you will be asked to stand with your piece(s) and be prepared to discuss them with attendees.