Member Presentations

Student presentations are a centerpiece of every Alpha Chi convention; in fact, this focus on students distinguishes us from other honor societies. We’re also excited when our alumni members come to conventions and want to present as well. Here are a few benefits of presenting:

Gain valuable presentation experience with a small, receptive audience of 20-30 people.
Field questions from interested peers and faculty.
Earn an excellent resume enhancement.

Presentation Prizes
Each presenter is eligible for one of the endowed $100 convention presentation prizes announced on the final day of the convention! See the list of prizes on the Convention Presentation Prize page along with the competition details.

Varieties of Presentations: Performance, Poster, PowerPoint

Performances: A good performance presentation should include a discussion of the academics and/or process behind the piece performed. Discussions of creative presentations should help non-specialists understand the craft present in the work. These presenters may use PowerPoint, if so desired. Upon check-in at AX Central on Thursday, musicians, dancers, or other presenters who may need to practice/warm-up may arrange a practice time and place.

Posters: Students wishing to present a poster will do so as part of an oral presentation in a regular, timed slot on Friday or Saturday. During the intermission interval before a presentation, your poster may be affixed using binder clips and removed from the easel board immediately after your presentation. Poster presenters may invite the audience to assemble around their poster if that is their preference. Remember that a poster is a visual communications tool. Since you will be presenting it live, do not include a great amount of small text, as you will be able to present the material orally as well. Posters should be 4’ x 3’ (landscape). Check out these poster tips from Purdue OWL!

PowerPoint Presentations should be compatible with the most recent version of Microsoft PowerPoint and brought on USB drive. You must bring your presentation to the convention yourself on a USB drive. The national office will not be collecting and loading presentations this year. Most of your audience will be at least 10 feet away from the screen, so plan your fonts accordingly. Due to the tightly timed presentation schedule, we suggest you bring an extra copy of your media and a printed copy of your slides for your own use in case technical issues arise during your session.

Visual Art PowerPoints: Visual art presenters are asked to prepare a PowerPoint for presentation during a regular, timed presentation section this year. Do not bring your original artwork. Include a description of each piece with its title, medium, dimensions (H” x W” x D”), and year created.

Audio-Visual Equipment Provided by Alpha Chi

Each presentation room will be supplied with an LCD projector & screen package, a laptop, and an easel board for affixing a poster. A piano (or professional electronic piano/keyboard), music stand, and audio equipment will also be available in the room assigned for performing arts presentations.

Alpha Chi will contact registered presenters by email or phone 2-3 weeks before the convention with any last-minute details. Once the program is ready, an email notification will be sent to all delegates and the program posted on the conventions page at AlphaChiHonor.org.

Click here to view a sample member presentation judging rubric.

Alpha Chi’s Professional Presenter Standards

Wear business attire and behave professionally.
Regardless of order, arrive before the start of the section to identify yourself to the Section Moderator.
As a courtesy to your fellow presenters, we ask you remain present for your entire section.
Be sure your presentation fits comfortably within the time limit. (likely 12 minutes, followed by a mandatory 4-minute Q&A period)
These are presentations, not manuscript readings.
Practice (preferably for an audience), so your presentation is smooth and audio-visuals well integrated. Most presentation rooms are small, and microphones aren’t provided. Be prepared to speak clearly with good projection.
Be prepared in case of technical problems; have a backup plan that will allow you to proceed if technology fails.

Presenter Preparation

Convention presentation is not a required element of the Sledge/Benedict, Gaston/Nolle, or Pryor/Freeman/Organ national scholarship competitions. However, regional scholarships and prizes may have similar sounding names but different rules. Consult your region for its requirements.
The total number of presenters per chapter isn’t limited, but each student is limited to one presentation. If you’re presenting on a Student Collaborative Research Project team, you may make one other regular presentation, but it must be in a different field or cover different material than your part in the collaborative project.
You won’t submit your entire presentation when you register. You’ll be asked for your presentation title and a description designed to help our program director verify your proper field and optimize your program placement; that description will not be included in the program. Your title, academic field, and college are usually all that are listed in the program to help people select what they wish to attend, so consider your title thoughtfully. Use proper title case and punctuation and select the most applicable discipline and presentation type.
You’ll also be asked for a 1-sentence “sales pitch” to advertise your presentation in an engaging way. If it is clear and concise, we hope to include those in the event app this year.
The program director will contact you by phone or email if there are questions. Please respond quickly to any communication from the national office regarding your program placement.