The public expo is an opportunity for you to share your classwork with members of the campus community. Here are a few tips to make your experience more pleasant and productive!
- Dress professionally, arrive early, and clear your area of excess personal items.
- Focus your attention on visitors to the exhibit: invite and welcome them to view your display. Smile, shake hands, and introduce yourself.
- Take turns conversing with visitors about different sections of your posters. One member of the group should not dominate the conversation, no matter how eloquent they are.
- Encourage visitors to ask questions, so that your conversation is more interactive than one-sided.
When speaking about your exhibit, here are a few tips to keep in mind.
- Before beginning, ask your visitors about their familiarity with the exhibit’s topic and your specific poster content. Avoid making assumptions about your listeners’ knowledge.
- Present what is “common” about your subject matter before presenting your unique perspective on it (how will they know it’s unique if they don’t know what’s common?).
- Move back and forth between your “big ideas” and your “small examples.” Details are important, but only if they fit into a larger context, and a big idea can only make an impact if you illustrate it with specific details.
- Observe your audience while you are speaking–do they seem to be following along? are they showing genuine interest in your work? Change the direction of your conversation if something doesn’t seem to be going well.
Above all, enjoy yourself and this opportunity to express your ideas in a safe and supportive environment beyond the classroom!