Do’s and don’ts of presenting research

1. Do’s and don’ts of presenting
research
A few things to remember – and
never to forget!

2. Do’s

3. Prepare ahead
• Sounds obvious, right? Amazing how many
people postpone their slide and material
preparation to the last minute as if they are
postponing a torture session. Taking the time
ahead (i.e. at least two weeks ahead) will
enable you to build a solid presentation and
rehearse it (see below).

4. Limit slides number
• How much time do you have? 15 minutes or a
full hour with a question session? Plan
accordingly with the aim to limit your slides to
between one slide per 1-2 minutes, depending
on your tendency to talk (more on that later).

5. Choose your most exciting topic
• If you have several projects, go for the one
that excites you most.
• Recruit this excitement to engage your
audience. Most of them will remember your
presentation even if the data presented is
limited. The "how" is much more important
than the "what".

6. Write a script
• Prepare a text of what do you want to say at
each slide. It'll help you capture quite quickly
how much time you need for every slide.

7. Tell a story
• A presentation is basically telling a story
(hopefully an interesting one!). A story can
make your talk interesting and captivating!
Think about how to approach the audience so
that you will draw them into your world and
keep them fascinated, instead of having them
sitting there with their heads bowed down,
sleepily looking at their watches.

8. Practice, practice and… practice
• Yeah, practice. And not in your head. Run the
slides in full screen, stand up and start telling
your story in a clear voice as you would do in
front of an audience. It's no fun at all, at first.
But as you repeat the process, you will gain
more confidence and the slides will flow
without the need to read from them all the
time. When you think you're ready, practice
one more time, and then, give a lecture in
front of your friends/spouse.

9. Prepare for the question session
• People will ask you questions, even if they
found your topic boring. They often do this
out of courtesy, or because they want to show
off their cleverness. Either way, analyse your
presentation and locate its weak points, areas
where the data is not strong enough or your
motivation is not clear enough. Plan what and
how to answer each question, it will make you
sweat less on stage.

10. Don’ts

11. Stand still & talk monotonously
• You want people to listen to you, right? Being
idle is a good way to make people go to sleep,
especially after lunch time in a dark
auditorium with the heater on. Walking a bit
to this or that side of the stage, changing the
tone of your speech to highlight a point or
generate tension can make a difference. Look
at people's eyes, talk to them, and convince
them your story is interesting.

12. Use a wide variety of colours and
fonts
• Visual aids are important in presentations, because
our eyes are the most powerful sensing tool
we've got. Try your best to keep the same slide
background for all slides, choose a pleasant colour
that’s easy on the eyes and limit your font's colour
gamut to 2-3 options. You are not promoting a
circus, right?
• This slide is absolutely horrendous and a great
example of what your sllides SHOULDN’T look like.

13. Talk too much/ slow/ fast
• Either one of these will make your audience
either move uneasily in their chairs or worse,
go to sleep. Make sure you're talking to the
point, at a normal pace (ask
friends/colleagues for this feedback).

14. Tell your new joke
• Humour can break the ice, recharge interest
and make people engaged. However, use
humour wisely and according to the
atmosphere. You can plan a place to insert a
humorous comment, but if you feel people are
already engaged you might want to pass it.
You're presenting a scientific talk, not stand-up
comedy.