Local student makes winning three-minute presentation

May 4, 2016 · 0 Comments

By Bill Rea
It takes a lot of preparation to make a three-minute oral presentation of research thesis with no props, but it can be done.
Caledon resident Carly Cameron was competing in 3MT recently at Brock University. This is a national competition in which graduate students present their research thesis in a three-minute oral presentation. Three minutes is the absolute limit and no props are allowed, although a one static slide can be used.
Cameron won the opportunity to represent Brock through two rounds of speeches (preliminary round had 15 grad students, and there were five in the final round). Eventually, 20 candidates, representing their universities, competed in the provincial competition April 14 at Laurier. Cameron placed in the top five, meaning she gets to advance to the national competition. As well, she was selected by the other 19 competitors as the Participant’s Choice, as their vote for best presenter or presentation.
Cameron, who is the youngest daughter of Stan Cameron, Caledon’s trustee on the Peel District School Board, is working on her master’s degree in Kinesiology and her research is about women’s body image and weightlifting exercise while looking in a mirror.
The title of her presentation is Mirror Mirror on the Wall.
In her presentation, she said that floor-to-ceiling mirrors in gyms don’t have to be the enemy of an inactive woman, if their personal trainer gets her to look beyond superficial appearances.
“My research showed that women can leave the gym feeling happy, healthy and ready to return tomorrow,” she said. “They simply need to be reminded that, when they look in the mirror, they should be checking their form.”
She added that pressures to look slim and beautiful may initially cause many women to be anxious when they view their reflection. But when those women use the mirror to develop correct techniques and form during exercise, that anxiety disappears.