These requirements are modeled on the professional conference. Your professors attend and present research at conferences once or twice a year. (The last few years saw me at the International Communication Association, National Communication Association, Eastern Communication Association, New York Communication Association, and the Media Ecology Association conferences - not all in the same year, of course!)
Presenting at a conference takes two forms, both of which you will do for your thesis.
Presentation Requirement
You have 10-12 minutes to talk about your research. Since this is a limited time, you are not expected to read your paper. You should review the entire project but concentrate on the results and discussion about what you found out. The audience then has a chance to ask you questions about it. For some reason, many students find this a terrifying prospect, but it is not at all threatening or difficult.
You may use visual aids if you like, but you are not required to use any. You should use them only if there is some benefit to using them. Do not use power point for the sake of using power point, especially reading the slides to the audience.
Be organized. Have an outline and follow it.
Poster Requirement
Most conferences include a poster session. This is where presenters who are not on panels get to display their research to each other in a digested form. Typically, posters are set up in a ballroom or hallway at a conference so people can browse them at leisure and then there is an hour scheduled when the researchers stand by their posters so that people can stop by to talk to them about their studies.
The standard poster is a tri-fold cardboard 36"x48" Please use that size only. You can pick one up at Staples for $8 to $15.
Some tips on creating a research poster:
http://writing.colostate.edu/guides/speaking/poster/
http://classweb.gmu.edu/biologyresources/writingguide/Poster.htm
http://www.isanet.org/portland/posterguide.html
Some examples: