Schieffer Showcase

The Schieffer Research and Professional Development Committee will select the following awards among participants. Individuals contributing to each award-winning project will be receive a $100 gift, the latter to be shared among all project contributors.

• Best undergraduate research project
• Best undergraduate creative production
• Best undergraduate team project
• Best DEI project
• Best graduate strategic communication project
• Best graduate communication studies project

• Prepare to speak for no more than three minutes. Practice your presentation. Don’t read a script to your listeners; speak naturally from notes.  Stand up straight, be confident, speak clearly and be as professional as you can.
• Dress professionally.
• Look at people and smile. Use your appearance and your demeanor to invite people to step toward you and hear about your project. When they do, introduce yourselves and then speak clearly and compellingly. After all, you could win an award, bestowed by the faculty research and creative activity committee for excellence at the showcase!
• If you will be presenting with a partner or group, decide how you to split the speaking duties. Are you going to take alternate turns making your short remarks? If that’s what you decide, when you are asked a question, will the other person (who didn’t present) answer it? Your goal is that both of you participate in the conversation about your project.
• Do not leave early. If there’s a lull in attendance, one member of your pair at a time can step away to check out other projects being presented or have a refreshment.

• Size, software and printing Instructions
  • Your poster should be 24 x 36 inches, and the orientation can be vertical or horizontal.
    • Design the poster in a program such as PowerPoint or Canva. No one program is required, but you will want to ensure the Fab Lab can print from your program.
    • Right-click (PC) or ctrl-click (Mac) and “Save As…” to download the PowerPoint template poster here.
  • You can print it at no charge at TCU’s Fab Lab.
    • You need to make a reservation at the Fab Lab to print your poster. This video walks you through how to make a Fab Lab reservation
• Use good written and visual communication:
  • You’re designing on a big scale – a poster is not a research paper.
  • A poster should be bold and visually inviting. Use color and visual elements to gain attention.  Then balance those elements with text that demonstrates your conclusions, so you show your audience there is substance to the project.
  • Consider short, to-the-point bullet points with key findings in 24-point text.
• Include a short main headline or title. You may add a sub-heading. Try for something more insightful than “Ethical profile project: An interview with Such-And-So.”  Reflect the substance of your interview findings about ethics.
• Include your names, your majors and the title of the course.
• Organize from left to right (horizontal) or top to bottom (vertical) in the same way you’d organize a page for a reader. Would organizing the content in boxes or columns help?
  • Summarize how you gathered the information you’re presenting.
  • Summarize what you learned.
  • Summarize why it matters what you learned.
• Visual elements
  • Use high-resolution visual elements in ways that invite attention. Low-resolution images, photos or graphics may become grainy when enlarged to poster size.
  • Use correct logos. You can read how to properly use TCU logos at brand.tcu.edu.
  • Use copyrighted and trademarked photos, logos and graphics correctly.  Be sure you understand the legal principle of one-time fair use of trademarks and copyrights.

• Video presentations should include a scoped clip of the completed work that is no longer than two minutes.  For audio only presentations, consider creating a visual soundbite to accompany the audio file.
• Download your file and don’t rely on streaming in order to play back your clip in case there are any Wi-Fi connection issues.
• Presenters are responsible for providing all materials needed for screening their video and/or audio clips on a laptop or tablet device.  Bring your laptop and any necessary cable cords/adapters to the event. Students may provide headphones. We will have tables available for you to display your presentation.
• Ensure your display is playing back at full brightness, in order to provide the best viewing experience.
• Be sure to introduce your presentation and provide context as to what the viewer is seeing or hearing, prior to inviting them to play your clip.

• Students will present in the Schieffer Media Insights Lab (MOUS 165)
• Bring a laptop or borrow a PC from the lab to access the appropriate software and present on one of the lab’s large screens.
• Tell a three-minute story by showcasing key data within the social media listening software or work from a short PPT presentation that highlights important data and insights. The presentation should take no longer than three minutes.