You’ve Submitted, You’ve Been Accepted, Now What?

Shelly Romero
Midwest Student Representative
Alpha Epsilon Eta Chapter
Stephens College, Columbia, MO

Submitting to the Sigma Tau Delta 2016 International Convention is a daunting task. You spent weeks, months even, revising and editing a piece or two, perfecting it in time for the deadline. Soon after, you’re stuck waiting from October to December, with every “bloop” and “bleep” notification ring making you anxious as you wait for that fateful email.

Then, like an early Christmas (or in my case, a belated birthday present), you get the email one December day congratulating your acceptance to convention. You update your Facebook status, notify your chapter and your Sponsor, and tweet it loud and proud.

About a week or so later, the glow vanishes; the giddy butterflies leave as worry seeps in, realizing you’ve actually been accepted. You’re going to be standing in front of your chapter members and strangers to read your piece along with a Q&A session following your session’s presentations. Now what?

Don’t panic. Seriously, don’t panic. You’ll do a great job. Presenting at convention is one of the most exciting aspects of the whole shindig.

To prepare for convention you must keep a few things in mind:

Read, Read, Read—one of the most important things is to read your piece several times in advance. This allows you to also time yourself, as paper presentations must only be read within or under 15 minutes time. Re-reading your piece also allows you to learn how to enunciate your words, practice your voice and tone, and make sure you’re under time.
I Like Big Fonts and I Cannot Lie—when you present to an audience, don’t obscure your face with your papers because you can’t read it. Print your piece in a font size larger than you typically use. For example, I’m a pt. 12 user, but for presentations, I like to use a point size 14 or 16 to ensure I can read it clearly.
Print It Out—Printing costs at hotels are absurd and you could spend that money elsewhere on books or at the hotel’s in-house Starbucks. Before you board your flight to Minneapolis, be sure to print out your paper and reread it to make sure all your edits are final.

The most important thing to remember is that your paper was accepted; you did it, congrats! Be sure to relax and enjoy convention to its fullest because you’re part of the cream of the crop.

What are some of your tips for preparing to read your works in front of an audience?