Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi all,
I understand that at a science fair, all you really get is several minutes to present your work in a short, concise speech, and that judges can ask questions along the way or after the presentation. Might you be able to give me some suggestions on what I should and shouldn't go into (without being asked, I mean)? I want to let the judges know that I am well-versed in my research topic, but I also do not want them to think that I have spent too much time on superfluous information...

If it helps at all, my research topic is about the effect of intron length on gene expression levels. I artificially altered the length of a gene that was fused to a reporter gene with recombinant DNA methods, and then used that same reporter gene to measure gene expression levels. I used yeast as my model organism.
Thank you for your help!

-M

methoionine,

Without having a detailed knowledge of your project, it is very difficult to tell you what to say or not to say. Let me provide some general advice: You are trying to tell as story with your project. Your presentation should therefore, have a beginning, midddle, and end. Just like an essay, you should start your presentation off with a "hook," something that will get the judges attention. Then tell the judges what you did, how you did it, why you did it, and what you found out. Lastly, conclude with a summary of what you, what you found out, and why it is important. One of the worst things to have happen is to have a judge walk away from your project thinking "So what? Why the heck do I care about ____?" Moral of the story: Make your beginning interesting, and your ending memorable. Judges will remember more about the beginning and end of your presentation than they will about the middle.

Let me know if I can be of any more help,