Lightning Talk Competition

We invite abstracts for the lightning Talk competition on September 24, 2020.  Submitted abstracts will be selected based on the criteria given below.

If you want to be selected to be one of the five selected lightning talk presenters, submit an abstract that can be understood by a lay audience, that conveys the main goal of your research, broader impact, any benefit to the society and how it extends the knowledge boundaries of your discipline. 

Specific guidelines for abstract selection:

·       Abstracts cannot exceed 50 words in length( very important!)

·       Title is informative and matches up with abstract content

·       Abstract is a good synthesis of the research being done

·       Abstract an indicator for an interesting lightning talk

·       Abstract is written in a way that makes the research accessible to an audience with diverse specialties

Timeline: Submit abstracts for the Lightning talk competition by September 3, 2020. Judging of abstracts for presentation will be by a selection committee. 2. Abstracts selected will be informed by September 10, 2020. This will give the presenters ample time to prepare their talk. Judging of talks will be by invited judges during the presentations.

All participants will receive further details by email when they register. If you have any questions, please contact Chloe Drummond, czd429@psu.edu

Judging criteria for Lightning talks are

Evaluation Criteria (Keep these in mind when preparing):
- Content/Narrative-clear narrative flow, thesis/take away message is communicated in the
allotted time of 4 minutes
- Presentation Style- slides are relevant and clear, the presentation can be understood by a
general audience. Speaker is engaging.
- Communication style: was the thesis topic and its significance communicated in language
appropriate to an educated but non-specialist audience?
- Does the presentation have a clear beginning (background/motivation), middle (what you
did), and end (what you found)?
- Slides: Were the slides relevant and clear and good visual aids? Not too much content or
technical jargon?
- Comprehension: did the presentation help the audience understand the research?
- Engagement: did the presentation make the audience want to know more?
- Can the presentation be understood by a general audience? Is jargon avoided?


- Does the presenter speak clearly and avoid reading from the slides?
- Does the presenter keep to the allotted 4 minutes?
- There are many resources online which you can use to prepare. We recommend
reading: http://cisils.web.unc.edu/what-is-a-lightning-talk/

Prizes for all competitions are contingent on the availability of funds, adequate submissions, and availability of judges. Information on prizes will be updated over the coming weeks.