Being able to describe your work quickly and succinctly, to a diverse audience, is an important skill for graduate students.
Think of the myriad contexts — a reception at a conference, meeting a dean at a job interview, on LinkedIn or other social media, seeing the CEO in the hallway, at a neighbor’s party — in which you may be called upon to talk about your work with a very short time frame before your listener (or reader) tunes out.
The 90-Second Thesis Competition exists to give Rice graduate students an opportunity to hone this skill, and the resources listed below will help prepare you for the competition.
Information about 90 Second Thesis
- “Crafting a 90 Second Thesis (2017)” – Updated presentation slides from Dr. Elizabeth Festa, Associate Director of the Center for Written, Oral, and Visual Communication (2017)
- “Crafting and Delivering a “90 Second Thesis” – Presentation slides from Dr. Elizabeth Festa, Associate Director of the Center for Written, Oral, and Visual Communication (2013)
- “Preparing and Delivering an Elevator Pitch” – Presentation slides from Dr. Mark Embree, former Director of the Rice Center for Engineering Leadership (RCEL), on crafting and delivering an elevator ptich
- Video of Dr. Embree’s 2012 elevator pitch workshop
- Scoring Rubric – This is the judging criteria given to the judges at the competition
Sample Scripts
- Sample Scripts – 90 Second Thesis Scripts that have been annotated to describe how the pitch conforms to the conventions of this genre.
- Scripts from participants in SREECH, RCEL’s competition (Fall 2012)
Videos from past 90 Second Thesis Competitions
*Required: To participate in the 90-Second Thesis Competition, you must schedule an appointment with a CWOVC peer consultant for feedback on your script. Appointments will be available January 30 – February 23 for the 2017 Competition. More information about coaching here.
