Science in 5-minutes or less!

The Hydrology Days program will feature 5-minute ‘lightning talks’, bite-sized bits of science that showcase the essence of your research. Though it can be more challenging to deliver an impactful lightning talk than a traditional 15-minute presentation, this important scientific communication skill can engage an audience in a wide variety of topics in a short amount of time.

Participants are tasked with presenting an engaging snap-shot of their research, prepared for both academic and non-academic audiences. These “big-picture” presentations should discuss real-world applications, advice, and future research directions.

Slides

All presenters must upload their slides no later than Sunday April 7, 2024. To help the sessions run efficiently, the organizers will build presentation decks that will be pre-loaded to the computers, therefore no modifications can be made to the slides after the deadline. Detailed information and links will be provided to presenters via email.

Audience

Hydrology Days attendees include BOTH traditional academic researchers and non-academic audiences (e.g., consultants/private industry, municipalities/utilities, government, and non-profit organizations working across the Food-Energy-Water sector).

• Focus on these four questions: What was the motivation for conducting your research? What did you do? What did you or do you expect to find? Why does it matter (real-world implications or advice)?

Presenters may be required to upload a 15-minute video of their technical presentation. These videos will be available to all Hydrology Days attendees, posted to our YouTube channel, and used to evaluate the presentations included in the student competition. 

Best practices for video presentations

• Your presentation should be approximately 15 slides, and no more than 25 slides.
• Record your presentation in Zoom, Powerpoint, or other presentation recording platform. For a more engaging presentation, use a platform that allows for you to record the video of yourself presenting with a webcam. Your submission needs to be in a .mp4 or .mpeg4 file format.
• Minimize using “uh”, “um”, or other filler words during your presentation.
• Wear a solid colored shirt and minimize accessories that make noise.
• Record your presentation in a quiet and distraction free location.

Powerpoint Templates

Participants must adhere to the following guidelines:

• Contestants must have a NAME slide – place this slide BEFORE your content slide
• Prepare slide in 16:9 aspect ratio
• Slides must be uploaded to the corresponding folder no later than Sunday April 7, 2024 (you will NOT be allowed to upload your slides right before you present!)
  • To help the sessions run efficiently, the organizers will build presentation decks that will be pre-loaded to the computers, therefore no modifications can be made to the slides after the deadline. Detailed information and links will be provided to presenters via email.

Though not required, presenters may consider using the templates below to organize their presentations.  While there is no limit to the number of slides you may present during your 5-minutes, please keep your slides simple and follow the tips provided 

• Slide templates in MS Powerpoint

• Slide templates in Adobe PDF

Abstract Template

All presentations are to be accompanied by an abstract for publication in the conference proceedings. The format should follow the template and instructions here:

• Abstract template in Microsoft Word format
• Abstract template in Adobe PDF format

Tips for Preparing Your Presentation

Start strong. In the first few sentences, the audience should know why they need to pay attention. You have a fraction of your allotted minutes to establish credibility.

Tell a story. Whether a talk is one minute long or 20, it should be framed by a basic narrative. Start with a research question and follow up with experimental methods and results: the credibility that you established at the outset will build, and the audience can actually learn something.

Pace yourself. It’s normal to speak quickly when the clock is ticking, but that isn’t the best way to convey complicated scientific concepts. Don’t try to fit in more words per minute; instead, find words and images that really matter.

Keep slides simple. Some lightning speakers try to cram many concepts into each slide, but that’s a mistake. Images should be as economical as words, holding just enough information to make important points without visual overload.

Practice. Don’t follow a script, but you should practice your talk enough to know where you’re going and how long it takes to get there.