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How to prepare and deliver an effective oral presentation

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• Peer review
• Lucia Hartigan , registrar 1 ,
• Fionnuala Mone , fellow in maternal fetal medicine 1 ,
• Mary Higgins , consultant obstetrician 2
• 1 National Maternity Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
• 2 National Maternity Hospital, Dublin; Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Medicine and Medical Sciences, University College Dublin
• luciahartigan{at}hotmail.com

The success of an oral presentation lies in the speaker’s ability to transmit information to the audience. Lucia Hartigan and colleagues describe what they have learnt about delivering an effective scientific oral presentation from their own experiences, and their mistakes

The objective of an oral presentation is to portray large amounts of often complex information in a clear, bite sized fashion. Although some of the success lies in the content, the rest lies in the speaker’s skills in transmitting the information to the audience. 1

Preparation

It is important to be as well prepared as possible. Look at the venue in person, and find out the time allowed for your presentation and for questions, and the size of the audience and their backgrounds, which will allow the presentation to be pitched at the appropriate level.

See what the ambience and temperature are like and check that the format of your presentation is compatible with the available computer. This is particularly important when embedding videos. Before you begin, look at the video on stand-by and make sure the lights are dimmed and the speakers are functioning.

For visual aids, Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Mac Keynote programmes are usual, although Prezi is increasing in popularity. Save the presentation on a USB stick, with email or cloud storage backup to avoid last minute disasters.

When preparing the presentation, start with an opening slide containing the title of the study, your name, and the date. Begin by addressing and thanking the audience and the organisation that has invited you to speak. Typically, the format includes background, study aims, methodology, results, strengths and weaknesses of the study, and conclusions.

If the study takes a lecturing format, consider including “any questions?” on a slide before you conclude, which will allow the audience to remember the take home messages. Ideally, the audience should remember three of the main points from the presentation. 2

Have a maximum of four short points per slide. If you can display something as a diagram, video, or a graph, use this instead of text and talk around it.

Animation is available in both Microsoft PowerPoint and the Apple Mac Keynote programme, and its use in presentations has been demonstrated to assist in the retention and recall of facts. 3 Do not overuse it, though, as it could make you appear unprofessional. If you show a video or diagram don’t just sit back—use a laser pointer to explain what is happening.

Rehearse your presentation in front of at least one person. Request feedback and amend accordingly. If possible, practise in the venue itself so things will not be unfamiliar on the day. If you appear comfortable, the audience will feel comfortable. Ask colleagues and seniors what questions they would ask and prepare responses to these questions.

It is important to dress appropriately, stand up straight, and project your voice towards the back of the room. Practise using a microphone, or any other presentation aids, in advance. If you don’t have your own presenting style, think of the style of inspirational scientific speakers you have seen and imitate it.

Try to present slides at the rate of around one slide a minute. If you talk too much, you will lose your audience’s attention. The slides or videos should be an adjunct to your presentation, so do not hide behind them, and be proud of the work you are presenting. You should avoid reading the wording on the slides, but instead talk around the content on them.

Maintain eye contact with the audience and remember to smile and pause after each comment, giving your nerves time to settle. Speak slowly and concisely, highlighting key points.

Do not assume that the audience is completely familiar with the topic you are passionate about, but don’t patronise them either. Use every presentation as an opportunity to teach, even your seniors. The information you are presenting may be new to them, but it is always important to know your audience’s background. You can then ensure you do not patronise world experts.

To maintain the audience’s attention, vary the tone and inflection of your voice. If appropriate, use humour, though you should run any comments or jokes past others beforehand and make sure they are culturally appropriate. Check every now and again that the audience is following and offer them the opportunity to ask questions.

Finishing up is the most important part, as this is when you send your take home message with the audience. Slow down, even though time is important at this stage. Conclude with the three key points from the study and leave the slide up for a further few seconds. Do not ramble on. Give the audience a chance to digest the presentation. Conclude by acknowledging those who assisted you in the study, and thank the audience and organisation. If you are presenting in North America, it is usual practice to conclude with an image of the team. If you wish to show references, insert a text box on the appropriate slide with the primary author, year, and paper, although this is not always required.

Answering questions can often feel like the most daunting part, but don’t look upon this as negative. Assume that the audience has listened and is interested in your research. Listen carefully, and if you are unsure about what someone is saying, ask for the question to be rephrased. Thank the audience member for asking the question and keep responses brief and concise. If you are unsure of the answer you can say that the questioner has raised an interesting point that you will have to investigate further. Have someone in the audience who will write down the questions for you, and remember that this is effectively free peer review.

Be proud of your achievements and try to do justice to the work that you and the rest of your group have done. You deserve to be up on that stage, so show off what you have achieved.

Competing interests: We have read and understood the BMJ Group policy on declaration of interests and declare the following interests: None.

• ↵ Rovira A, Auger C, Naidich TP. How to prepare an oral presentation and a conference. Radiologica 2013 ; 55 (suppl 1): 2 -7S. OpenUrl
• ↵ Bourne PE. Ten simple rules for making good oral presentations. PLos Comput Biol 2007 ; 3 : e77 . OpenUrl PubMed
• ↵ Naqvi SH, Mobasher F, Afzal MA, Umair M, Kohli AN, Bukhari MH. Effectiveness of teaching methods in a medical institute: perceptions of medical students to teaching aids. J Pak Med Assoc 2013 ; 63 : 859 -64. OpenUrl

Reference management. Clean and simple.

5 tips for giving a good scientific presentation

What is a scientific presentation?

What is the objective of a scientific presentation, why is giving scientific presentations necessary, how to give a scientific presentation, tip 1: prepare during the days leading up to your talk, tip 2: deal with presentation nerves by practicing simple exercises, tip 3: deliver your talk with intention, tip 4: be adaptable and willing to adjust your presentation, tip 5: conclude your talk and manage questions confidently, concluding thoughts, other sources to help you give a good scientific presentation, frequently asked questions about giving scientific presentations, related articles.

You have made the slides for your scientific presentation. Now, you need to prepare to deliver your talk. But, giving an oral scientific presentation can be nerve-wracking. How do you ensure that you deliver your talk well, and leave a good impression on the audience?

Mastering the skill of giving a good scientific presentation will stand you in good stead for the rest of your career, as it may lead to new collaborations or even new employment opportunities.

In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know to give a good oral scientific presentation, including

• Why giving scientific presentations is important for your career;
• How to prepare before giving a scientific presentation;
• How to keep the audience engaged and deliver your talk with confidence.

The following tips are a product of our research into the literature on giving scientific presentations as well as our own experiences as scientists in giving and attending talks. We advise on how to make a scientific presentation in another post.

A scientific presentation is a talk or poster where you describe the findings of your research to others. An oral presentation usually involves presenting slides to an audience. You may give an oral scientific presentation at a conference, give an invited seminar at another institution, or give a talk as part of an interview. A PhD thesis defense is one type of scientific presentation.

➡️ Read about how to prepare an excellent thesis defense

The objective of a scientific presentation is to communicate the science such that the audience:

• Learns something new;
• Leaves with a clear understanding of the key message of your research;
• Has confidence in you and your work;
• Remembers you afterward for the right reasons.

As a scientist, one of your responsibilities is disseminating your scientific knowledge by giving presentations. Communicating your research to others is an altruistic act, as it is an opportunity to teach others about your research findings, and the knowledge you have gained while researching your topic.

Giving scientific presentations confers many career benefits , such as:

• Having the opportunity to share your ideas and to have insightful conversations with other scientists. For example, a thoughtful question may create a new direction for your research.
• Gaining recognition for your work and generating excitement for your research program can help you to forge new collaborations and to obtain more citations of your papers. It's your chance to impress some of the biggest names in your field, build your reputation as a scientist, and get more people interested in your work.
• Improving your future employment prospects by getting presentation experience in high-stakes settings and by having talks listed on your academic CV.

➡️ Learn how to write an academic CV

You might have just 10 minutes for your talk. But those 10 minutes are your golden ticket. To make them shine, you'll need to put in some homework. You need to think about the story you want to tell , create engaging slides , and practice how you're going to deliver it.

Why all this effort? Because the rewards are potentially huge. Imagine speaking to the top names in your field, boosting your visibility, and getting more eyes on your work. It's more than just a talk; it's your chance to showcase who you are and what you do.

Here we share 5 tips for giving effective scientific presentations.

• Prepare adequately for your talk on the days leading up to it
• Deal with presentation nerves
• Deliver your talk with intention
• Be adaptable
• Conclude your talk with confidence

You should prepare for your talk with the seriousness it deserves and recognize the potential it holds for your career advancement. Here are our suggestions:

• Rehearse your talk multiple times to ensure smooth flow. Know the order of your slides and key transitions without memorizing every word. Practice your speech as though you are discussing with friendly and attentive listeners.
• Record your speech and listen back to yourself giving your talk while doing household chores or while going for a walk. This will help you remember the important points of your talk and feel more comfortable with the flow of it on the day.
• Anticipate potential questions that may arise during your talk, write down your responses to those questions, and practice them aloud.
• Back up your presentation in cloud storage and on a USB key. Bring your laptop with you on the day of your talk, if needed.
• Know the time and location of your talk. Familiarize yourself with the room, if you can. Introduce yourself to the moderator before the session begins.
• Giving a talk is a performance, so preparing yourself physically and mentally is essential. Prioritize good sleep and hydration, and eat healthy, nourishing food on the day of your talk. Plan your attire to be both professional and comfortable.

It’s natural to feel nervous before your talk, but you want to harness that energy to present your work with confidence. Here are some ways to manage your stress levels:

• Remember that your audience want to listen to you and learn from you. Believe that your audience will be kind, friendly, and interested, rather than bored and skeptical.
• Breathing slow and deep before your talk calms the mind and nervous system. Psychologist Amy Cuddy recommends practicing open, confident postures while sitting and standing to help you get into a positive frame of mind.
• Fight off impostor syndrome with positive affirmations. You’ve got this! Remember that you know more about your research than anyone else in the room and you are giving your talk to teach others about it.

Giving your talk with confidence is crucial for your credibility as a scientist. Focusing on your delivery helps ensure that your audience remembers and believes what you say. Here are some techniques to try:

• Before beginning, remember your professional goals and the benefits of giving your presentation. Start with a smile and exhale deeply.
• Memorize a simple opening. After the moderator introduces you, pause and take a breath. Welcome the audience, thank them for coming, and introduce yourself. You don’t need to read the title of your talk. But briefly, say something like, “today I’m going to talk to you about why [topic] is important and [what I hope you will learn from this talk]” in 1-2 sentences. Preparing your opening will settle your nerves and prevent you from starting your talk on a tangential topic, ensuring you stay on time.
• Project confidence outwardly, even if you feel nervous. Stand up tall with your shoulders back and make eye contact with individuals in the audience. Move your focus around the room, so everyone in the audience feels included.
• Maintain open body language and face the audience as much as possible, not your slides.
• Project your voice as much as you can so that people at the back of the room can hear you. Enunciate your words, avoid mumbling, and don’t trail off awkwardly.
• Varying your vocal delivery and intonation will make your talk more interesting and help the audience pay attention, particularly when you want to emphasize key points or transitions.
• Pausing for dramatic effect at crucial moments can help you relax and remember your message, as well as being an effective engagement device.
• A laser pointer can be off-putting for the audience if you are prone to having a shaky hand when nervous. Use a laser pointer only to emphasize information on the slide while providing an explanation. If you design your slides thoughtfully , you won’t need to use a laser pointer.

Not all parts of your talk may go according to plan. Here are some ways to adapt to hitches during your talk:

• Handle talk disruptions gracefully. If you make a mistake, or a technical issue occurs during your talk, remember that it’s okay to skip something and move on without apologizing.
• If you forget to mention something but the audience hasn’t noticed, don’t point it out! They don’t need to know.
• As you give your talk, be time-conscious, and watch the moderator for signals that the time is about to expire. If you realize you won’t have time to discuss all your slides, skip the less important ones. Adjust your presentation on the fly to finish on time, prioritizing content as needed.
• If you run out of time completely, just stop. You don’t have to give a conclusion, but you do need to stop on time! Practicing your talk should prevent this situation.

The ending of your talk is important for emphasizing your key message and ensuring the audience leave with a positive impression of you and your work. Here are some pointers.

• Conclude your talk with a memorized closing statement that summarizes the key take-home message of your research. After making your closing statement, end your talk with a simple “Thank you”. Then pause and wait for the applause. You don’t need to ask if the audience has questions because the moderator will call for questions on your behalf.
• When you receive a question, pause, then repeat the question. This ensures the whole audience understands the question and gives you time to calmly consider your answer.
• In a talk on attaining confidence in your scientific presentations, Michael Alley suggests that if you don’t know the answer to the question, then emphasize what you do know. Say something like, “Although I can’t fully answer your question, I can say [this about the topic].”
• Approach the Q&A with interest rather than anxiety by reframing it as an opportunity to further share your knowledge. Being curious, instead of feeling fearful, can help you shine during what might be the most stressful part of your presentation.

Communicating your research effectively is a key skill for early career scientists to learn. Taking ample time to prepare and practice your presentation is an investment in your scientific development.

But here's the good part: all that effort pays off. Think of your talk as not just a presentation, but as a way to show off what you and your research are all about. Giving a compelling scientific presentation will raise your professional profile as a scientist, lead to more citations of your work, and may even help you obtain a future academic job.

But most importantly of all, giving talks contributes to science, and sharing your knowledge is an act of generosity to the scientific community.

➡️ Questions to ask yourself before you make your talk

➡️ How to give a great scientific talk

1) Have a positive mindset. To help with nerves, breathe deeply and keep in mind that you are an authority on your topic. 2) Be prepared. Have a short list of points for each slide and know the key transition points of your talk. Practice your talk to ensure it flows smoothly. 3) Be well-rested before your talk and eat a light meal on the day of your presentation. A talk is a performance. 4) Project your voice and vary your vocal intonation and pitch to retain the interest of the audience. Take pauses at key moments, for emphasis. 5) Anticipate questions that audience members could ask, and prepare answers for them.

The goal of a scientific presentation is that the audience remembers the key outcomes of your research and that they leave with a good impression of you and your science.

Take a moment to exhale deeply and collect your thoughts after the moderator has introduced you. Don’t read your talk's title. Instead, introduce yourself, thank the audience for attending, and provide a warm welcome. Then say something along the lines of, "Today I'm going to talk to you about why [topic] is important and [what I hope you will learn from this presentation].” A rehearsed opening will ensure that you start your talk on a confident note.

Prepare a memorable closing statement that emphasizes the key message of your talk. Then end with a simple “Thank you”.

Preparation is key. Practice many times to familiarize yourself with the content of your presentation. Before giving your talk, breathe slowly and deeply, and remind yourself that you are the expert on your topic. When giving your talk, stand up tall and use open body language. Remember to project your voice, and make eye contact with members of the audience.

Argonne National Laboratory

Guide to oral research presentations.

An important aspect to any research project is the oral presentation of the experiment to other people.  As with a research report, you want to tell the story of your experiment: why the experiment was done, how it was done, the results, interpretation of the results, and why the experiment matters.  

However, a good presentation is different from a good paper.  The presentation should not consist of simply reading from a paper that was previously prepared.  Care should be taken to not overwhelm the listener with needless detail.  Much more detailed information can be presented and understood in a written paper than in an oral presentation.

The style of a presentation is also important.  The presenter must try to keep the listener focused on the key information that is being conveyed.

The following are specific things that should be considered when preparing an oral presentation.

Organization

Oral presentations should be organized to have introduction, body and conclusion sections.

Introduction

This section should be brief.  It should provide enough background information so that the listener understands the general hypothesis and why the experiments were done.  It should also state the specific research question that was studied.

This section is the major portion of the talk.  It should include research methods as well as research results.  The methods should be briefly stated, providing detail when necessary for understanding a particular result.

This section should also be brief.  A clear, concise statement of what the results prove should be made.  The data can be related to experiments others have performed, but this should not be overdone.  Future experiments to test unanswered questions could be suggested.  State why this experiment matters.

Presentation Style

The following are things that should be considered when designing a presentation.

Pay attention to the time.  Most research talks are short and no more than 15 minutes.

Do not talk too quickly.  Slow down so that the listener has time to hear you. 

• If you think you are speaking too slowly, then you probably are going at the right pace.

Volume/Tone

Talk loud enough so that your listener can hear you.  Use a variety of voice inflections and pitches so that the listener stays interested. 

• Nothing is more boring than a monotone presentation. 
• Alterations in volume/tone gives the listener the feeling that the presenter is interested in the topic.

Eye Contact

Try to maintain eye contact with the listener; this helps them stay focused on the talk. 

• DO NOT SIMPLY READ YOUR PAPER !  Whether or not you are presenting from notes, a fully prepared script, or from memory, eye contact must be made frequently.
• Face the audience: DO NOT READ OFF OF YOUR SLIDES !  You are talking to the people so look at them.

The presentation should be made in a formal, professional manner.

• Dress appropriately.
• Maintain good, erect posture
• Refrain from informal speech patterns and actions.
• Minimize unnecessary movements such as excessive walking, hand motions, etc.
• Keep your hands out of your pockets

Visual Aids

In general, all research presentations need some sort of visual aid.  This is most often done using PowerPoint. 

• Graphs, tables, photographs etc. of data help the listener sort through the material. 
• Complex methods can be presented clearly through visuals. 
• A list of conclusion statements helps the listener focus on the final statement. 
• A clearly stated research question when visually presented helps.  
• Be sure that the visuals are not too complicated.  Include only the information you will be discussing.
• Be sure the visual is large enough to be clearly seen by the listener.
• Point to the visuals during the presentation
• Leave the visual up long enough so that the listener can assimilate it.

Present Information Clearly

The information in a presentation should be organized logically and clearly in a way that the listener can understand and follow. 

• Use of visuals helps here. 
• Details should be included when they are important in reaching a particular conclusion.  They should be omitted when they get in the way of seeing a particular point. 
• Remember: it is not what you say that is important, it is what the listener hears, understands, and takes with him/her that is important.

Subject Knowledge

The presenter should demonstrate that he/she understands the subject being presented.  This is done by:

• presenting accurate information,
• by responding to controversies in an appropriate way,
• by answering reasonable questions from the audience.

How to Prepare and Give a Scholarly Oral Presentation

• First Online: 01 January 2020

Cite this chapter

• Cheryl Gore-Felton 2  

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Building an academic reputation is one of the most important functions of an academic faculty member, and one of the best ways to build a reputation is by giving scholarly presentations, particularly those that are oral presentations. Earning the reputation of someone who can give an excellent talk often results in invitations to give keynote addresses at regional and national conferences, which increases a faculty member’s visibility along with their area of research. Given the importance of oral presentations, it is surprising that few graduate or medical programs provide courses on how to give a talk. This is unfortunate because there are skills that can be learned and strategies that can be used to improve the ability to give an interesting, well-received oral presentation. To that end, the aim of this chapter is to provide faculty with best practices and tips on preparing and giving an academic oral presentation.

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Strategies for the Preparation and Delivery of Oral Presentation

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Gore-Felton, C. (2020). How to Prepare and Give a Scholarly Oral Presentation. In: Roberts, L. (eds) Roberts Academic Medicine Handbook. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-31957-1_42

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Tips for Oral Presentations at Scientific Meetings and Conferences

By Nina Lichtenberg

Tis’ the season for the biennial, annual, or semi-annual life science conference; and this time around, you’re scheduled to give a presentation in front of every known expert in your field of study (yikes!) Your thoughts may range from “I can’t wait to share my shiny new data with a room full of scientists!”, to “Why me?”

Never fear, whether thrilled or terrified, follow these tips below to engage your audience and give a stellar presentation. Please note that the advice below applies to all forms of presentations but is focused on those that take place at scientific meetings or conferences. If you don’t have any presentations scheduled but would like to give one, check out the last section on seeking presentation opportunities.

You have an upcoming conference presentation scheduled, now what?

The first step to giving a talk is creating a presentation. The book Designing Science Presentations by Matt Carter is an excellent visually-oriented guide to designing and delivering presentations, and even offers tips on other forms of science communication, like creating figures for manuscripts. Plus, it’s free to download via your university network (see link here ).

Prior to your presentation, and generally throughout your PhD, it’s a good idea to take notes on presentation organization, style, voice, and audience engagement techniques. As a graduate student, you’ve probably attended dozens of talks – both good and bad. Take notes on what stood out to you and what you thought made each presentation successful (or unsuccessful) at getting the speaker’s story across. What made the talk engaging? Was it the way they introduced their research using a witty, real-life or pop culture example? Perhaps it was the way they paused during transitions between topics to ask if the audience had any questions. Maybe it was simply the speaker’s demeanor, or the font, color, or layout of their slides. Integrate what you learned into your presentation. About 25% of the notes I jot down during talks are about the actual manner in which data are presented.

Practice, practice, practice – but don’t over practice

In the few weeks leading up to your presentation, you may be tempted to practice alone, or maybe even to your beloved, non-judgmental furry friend in the comforts of your own home. As tempting as this may sound, practicing in front of a real human audience is key. It’s important to practice in front of others, professors or your peers, for a few critical reasons: this experience will be the closest to the real deal, allowing you to work on your voice and audience engagement, and importantly, your audience will give you feedback on how to communicate your data. They may point out topics you rushed through and/or give you tips on organization. Work on the timing – one slide (or less) per minute is a fairly universal rule. This is especially important for short data blitz style presentations, which are often strictly limited to just 5 or 10 minutes.

Even if you don’t have an imminent conference presentation scheduled, presenting your work throughout your PhD will well prepare you for future conferences and job talks. At my university there are several opportunities for graduate students to present their recent findings in short (5-20 min) and long (1 hr) formats in seminars open to professors, postdocs, and fellow students. If you prefer an informal audience, practice your talk in lab meeting. Additionally, there are often graduate student led organizations that host informal after-lab meetings exactly for this purpose.

If such resources are not available on your campus or at your institution, create them yourself! Not only will these forums give you the chance to practice your talk, but they may expose you to research topics, presentation styles, and individuals from across disciplines. If you’re short on time, gather a handful of science and/or non-science friends and practice your talk on campus or at home. Practice in front of non-scientists (roommates maybe?) – this will benefit you in the long run. “Talking shop” with those outside of your field will strengthen your skills in communicating your data to a broad audience, which is critical for publishing in high-impact journals, getting grants, and for so much more.

Practice, but don’t over practice. Some scientists, including myself, need to spend the time going through what they plan to say for each slide many times before the talk. But for others, this results in a presentation that sounds too rehearsed and a bit robotic. During the presentation, you may need to deviate from the talk that’s drilled into your head to answer unexpected questions or to speed up if you’re running short on time. Preparing an over-rehearsed talk will make adaptation difficult.

So, practice until you’ve memorized every line, or go over your talk just a few times? Practice until your nerves are calm in front of your mock audience, then quit practicing and brush up on some background knowledge that will help you answer tricky questions from audience members.

Tips for the actual real-life presentation

If you’ve but the time into creating a well-organized presentation and have practiced, even a little bit, you will be fine.

Before the presentation: If you’re speaking as part of a symposium, familiarize yourself with the other speakers (and their research) in the panel and at the conference in general. You don’t want to get caught not recognizing someone important. Upon arriving to the conference venue, check out the room in which you will be giving the presentation so that there are no surprises – make note of where the podium is and the microphone, of course.

During the presentation: Take it slow. This will help calm your nerves or jitters. Pausing for a few seconds after each sentence will help. Speak at an appropriate volume and clearly. Remember to look at your audience members for a majority of the time, and not at your slides or down at the floor! Also, the audience doesn’t know your data as well as you do – don’t be afraid to elaborate a bit or remind them of certain goals of your research, even if a technique or result seems elementary to you.

After the presentation: Take a deep breath (you’re done!) Thank the meeting organizers for the speaking opportunity. If there are any questions from the audience, answer them as best you can. If you don’t have a great answer, it’s not a big deal. Offer to speak with the attendee further after the talk or symposium.

The final tips below may seem obvious, but nonetheless important.

• Check your presentation for any errors in spelling, grammar, and file conversion, and make sure it is formatted as requested by the organizer/your contact person (i.e. the dreaded Mac to PC, or vice versa PowerPoint conversion issues)
• Dress to impress – you and your data will be well-received if you look put together
• Get a good night’s sleep

Getting a speaking opportunity at a conference

The easiest way to find speaking opportunities at conferences is to browse the conference organization’s webpage for calls for abstracts. Typically, a conference organizing committee will ask for an abstract anywhere from 1-6 months prior to a conference. Tip: keep abstract deadlines marked on a calendar!

Word of mouth is powerful. Ask your colleagues and/or other graduate students in your program about conferences they’ve attended, especially more senior students who may have already given talks at a few conferences. Also, don’t be afraid to ask professors if they are organizing any conference symposia. You never know if they’re looking for someone to fill a spot – perhaps your shiny new data would be perfect for what they’re organizing. They may also be able to refer you to their colleagues in charge of organizing other scientific meetings.

Of course, attending a conference requires (many) expenses: abstract submission fees, registration fees, poster printing, flight, hotel – it adds up. Travel awards are excellent resources, especially for graduate students. Typically, travel awards are open to both national and international students and typically cover costs of registration, and often offer a discount (or full coverage) on travel expenses. Travel award deadlines are often different from those of abstract submissions and require a recommendation letter – these details can be found on the conference website.

If you win a travel award, awardees are usually invited to attend professional development workshops and to present their data as a talk at the conference. So, not only does the cover some of your travel expenses, but it gives you an opportunity to present your data – win-win! Don’t forget to put the award (and your talk) on your CV. Tip: outside companies and research foundations, like Hello Bio , offer travel awards to students.

Presenting your research at a conference or meeting is a unique, exciting opportunity. It’s not just a chance to share your newest data with your scientific peers, but a chance to build communication skills and boost self-confidence; thus, benefiting both your career and well-being. So, if a speaking opportunity arises don’t hesitate, jump on it!

Nina Lichtenberg earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park. Currently, she is working on wrapping up her PhD in the Psychology department at UCLA by studying the neural circuitry of memory retrieval and decision making. Apart from research, she spends her time developing a neuroscience outreach program that connects undergraduates with the local LA community and builds their scicomm skills.

You can follow Nina on Twitter @NTlichten or connect with her on LinkedIn . Want to meet Nina in person (and see her present some data)? She’ll be at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego, CA, from November 3-7 giving poster presentations on her outreach and science.

Read Nina’s other blog post: Tips for poster presentations at scientific meetings and conferences

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Delivering Impactful Scientific Oral Presentations

• 1 Department of Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, California

Scientific oral presentations are a cornerstone of an academic surgeon’s career. Oral presentations constitute a critical conduit for research dissemination and personal branding and are a public reflection of the research team and department. However, oral presentation skills are absent from most medical education curricula and typically relegated to individual mentors, iterative self-learning, or innate talent.

We share recommendations on delivering impactful scientific oral presentations and maximizing unique opportunities to deepen research impact, broaden connections, and build a personal brand. We highlight specific challenges of facing a scientific conference audience inundated with information and practical recommendations to overcome these challenges.

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Choi J , Spain DA. Delivering Impactful Scientific Oral Presentations. JAMA Surg. 2024;159(9):965–966. doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2024.2041

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Introduction

Presentation methods, delivering a presentation, study methods, discussion: transform, acknowledgements, how to prepare and deliver a scientific presentation : teaching course presentation at the 21st european stroke conference, lisboa, may 2012.

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Andrei V. Alexandrov , Michael G. Hennerici; How to Prepare and Deliver a Scientific Presentation : Teaching Course Presentation at the 21st European Stroke Conference, Lisboa, May 2012 . Cerebrovasc Dis 1 April 2013; 35 (3): 202–208. https://doi.org/10.1159/000346077

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Background: A scientific presentation is a professional way to share your observation, introduce a hypothesis, demonstrate and interpret the results of a study, or summarize what is learned or to be studied on the subject. Presentation Methods: Commonly, presentations at major conferences include podium (oral, platform), poster or lecture, and if selected one should be prepared to PRESENT: P lan from the start (place integral parts of the presentation in logical sequence); R educe the amount of text and visual aids to the bare minimum; E lucidate (clarify) methods; S ummarize results and key messages; E ffectively deliver; N ote all shortcomings, and T ransform your own and the current thinking of others. We provide tips on how to achieve this. Presentation Results: After disclosing conflicts, if applicable, start with a brief summary of what is known and why it is required to investigate the subject. State the research question or the purpose of the lecture. For original presentations follow a structure: Introduction, Methods, Results, Conclusions. Invest a sufficient amount of time or poster space in describing the study methods. Clearly organize and deliver the results or synopsis of relevant studies. Include absolute numbers and simple statistics before showing advanced analyses. Remember to present one point at a time. Stay focused. Discuss study limitations. In a lecture or a podium talk or when standing by your poster, always think clearly, have a logical plan, gain audience attention, make them interested in your subject, excite their own thinking about the problem, listen to questions and carefully weigh the evidence that would justify the punch-line. Conclusions: Rank scientific evidence in your presentation appropriately. What may seem obvious may turn erroneous or more complex. Rehearse your presentation before you deliver it at a conference. Challenge yourself to dry runs with your most critically thinking colleagues. When the time comes, ace it with a clear mind, precise execution and fund of knowledge.

Over time communication standards between -scientists have evolved along with improved scientific method, increasing scrutiny of analyses and upholding to the highest level of evidence anything we call research. Scientific presentation is a professional way of sharing your observation, introducing a hypothesis, demonstrating and interpreting the results of a study, or -summarizing what has been learned or is to be studied on the subject. Professional presentations help disseminate research, make peers aware of novel approaches, findings or problems. These presentations make conferences memorable for both presenters and the audience. Anyone can recall the most exciting and most boring, the most clear and most convoluted, the most ‘-seriously?!' and the most ‘wow!!' presentations. Most presentations, however, fall in the in-between level of ‘so what?', ‘I did not quite get it …', or ‘maybe'. This means that all the work the authors have put in did not result in a paradigm shift, -advancement, or even ‘well, this is good to know' kind of an impact. We struggle to shape up our young presenters to make their science clear and visible, their presence known and their own networks grow.

Having initially struggled in preparing and delivering presentations ourselves, and having seen the many baby steps of our trainees now accomplished or shy of a track record, we have put together these suggestions on how to start, organize and accomplish what at first sight looks like a daunting task: presenting in front of people, many of whom may have expertise way beyond your own or who are scrutinizing every bit of data and ready to shred any evidence you might have to pieces. Unfortunately, there is no other way to advance science and become recognized than to survive this campaign from conception of a project to publication. This campaign has its own (often interim and hopefully not singular) culmination in a scientific presentation. This presentation also comes with question and answer sessions and importantly, with you and the audience possibly coming out of it with new messages, new thinking and even energy for breakthroughs, no matter how small or large the leap would be. So let's explore how to prepare and deliver a scientific presentation.

Currently, the common types of presentations at major conferences include podium (oral, platform), poster or lecture. Although seemingly different and at times some being more desirable over others, they all share the same prerequisites and challenges for successful execution. We will examine common threads and identify unique aspects of each type of these presentations. However, the first prerequisite for any scientific presentation (successful or not) is you, the presenter.

An effective presenter should have led the study, participated in the analysis and drafting of the abstract and manuscript, i.e. the presenter should know the subject of his or her talk inside out. One should therefore be prepared to PRESENT:

P lan from the start (place integral parts of the presentation in logical sequence);

R educe the amount of text and visual aids to the bare minimum;

E lucidate (clarify) methods;

S ummarize results and key messages;

E ffectively deliver;

N ote all shortcomings, and

T ransform your own and the current thinking of others.

So, as the scuba-diving instructors say: plan the dive, and dive the plan. The most important parts of scientific presentations should follow the logic of delivering the key messages. For the original presentations (platforms or posters), it is easy to simply follow the accepted abstracts, most often structured following the IMRaD principle: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion (Conclusions).

Lecture format, content and logical flow of information often depend on the topic choice, which should be appropriate to the level of audience [ 1 ], time allotment and the target audience. Most competitive conferences offer short times even for invited lecturers as experts are expected to demonstrate cutting edge science, which assumes that the audience is already knowledgeable and the expert is capable of delivering information that sparks new thinking. The suggestion here to both novice and experienced speakers is to quickly summarize why the subject of presentation is important (catch audience attention [ 2,3 ]), where we are now (show the landscape of completed studies that established the common knowledge or conundrums, equipoise, etc.) and to move then to the latest advancements (this may include just-in publications, ongoing or planned future research or the most provocative take on the evidence out there).

Turning back to original presentations, advice is available on how to write abstracts following the IMRaD principle [ 4 ] and how to draft subsequent manuscripts [ 5 ]. We cannot stress enough the need to quickly follow-up the abstract submission with drafting the full manuscript. If the authors complete a manuscript before the presentation at a conference, the presenter will have a luxury of material to work with to compile either a set of slides for the podium or text and illustrations for the poster. If a manuscript was drafted and reviewed by coauthors, the challenge for a presenter is going to be a good one: trim down most sentences as both slides and posters benefit from short statements (not even full sentences) and large font sizes so that text can be easily read from a distance. Put yourself into the audience: your slides should be readable from the last row of a large room or a huge ballroom and your poster should be still readable from at least 2 m. The latter will allow better poster viewing by several people during guided poster tours or when a small group gathers spontaneously to view it.

This logically brings us to the second step: use bare minimum of any type of information to deliver your -presentation. Minimum text, minimum lines, minimum images, graphs, i.e. provide only the essential information as the audience attention span is short. Brevity, however, should not compromise quality: you should always stride to have the highest quality visual aids since these leave an impression on the audience [ 6 ] and good quality graphics are attributes of effective presentations [ 3 ].

At the same time, we cannot overemphasize the need to stick to time limits set for a specific presentation. Presenters should test their presentation in ‘real life' at home to their friends or at work in front of colleagues and ask for criticism. It is better to get criticism from members of the department (including your boss) than in a huge auditorium. Use a simple rule: an average talking time is 1 min per slide in oral presentations. You can then see how little you really can allocate to each slide if you load your talk with the most complicated visual presentation of data.

Let's go to the specifics. The ‘Introduction' slide usually includes a very brief description of background and should explicitly state the research question. Call it ‘Introduction and Study Purpose'. Adding a separate slide for study aims lengthens the talk. Fewer slides also reduce the chance of making an error when advancing them on the podium that can send presenters into further time deficit and stress, a commonplace even with those who know how to right-click.

Methods should have bullet points, not necessarily full sentences since you will be speaking over slides projecting or in front of the poster to connect brief statements showing behind you. The basic rule is not to read your slides or poster, nor tell the audience to read what the slide or poster says. Think of your slides or display material as a reminder to yourself of what you are supposed to say in detail and leave the noncritical words out of the slide and off the poster as it is an even easier source to pack with unreadable information. When you develop a presentation imagine you are a novice to the field who would like to be educated and taken on a journey while seeing and hearing the presentation. What can I learn in these few minutes? As the presenter, also think ‘what can I pass to the audience in these few minutes?' Further advice on how to plan, focus and arrange material to support key messages is available [ 7,8 ].

Results are the key part of any scientific presentation, podium, poster or lecture, and the most time, space and careful ascertainment should be allotted to this section as is necessary and feasible. It is vital to pack your presentation with data that support your key messages. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words but show only quint-essential images or graphs. If appropriate include statistics and make this easy in structure, i.e. use formats or values known by everybody such as odds ratios, Kaplan Meier curves, etc. (do not forget to include these data in the abstract as abstracts without data, numbers and calculations are often low rated or rejected). After presenting data, show what you think of that or what the limitations are since you thought more about this than the audience, at least through preparation of your own presentation.

The last two concluding paragraphs (poster), comments (this section of a lecture), or slides (podium) are supposed to cover study limitations and conclusions. These should be the most carefully thought through, strategically worded and evidence-based part of your presentation. Your reputation depends on the quality of data interpretation. Also, think about a take-home message with the main message you want to be remembered. When practicing your presentations, deliver your talk to your nonmedical spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend: by the end of your presentation he or she should be able to repeat the take home message with best-prepared presentations.

After conclusions, an ‘Acknowledgements' slide is nice to have at the end showing whom you are grateful to, but it will not rescue a hopeless presentation. The ‘thanks to my colleagues' should not come at the expense of time, quality and content of your scientific presentation. There is no need to thank multiple people like they often do at the Oscars. You have to rationally consider who and when to acknowledge if their functions were important to your work but they were not listed among coauthors. If you received funding to support your work, it is very important where appropriate or at the end of the presentation to acknowledge your sponsors or grant providers (such as NIH Institute and grant number, MRC grant, INSERM or DFG labels, etc.). The higher the scientific level of the grant donors, the more your presentation will be recognized.

While preparing any part of your presentation, remind yourself to check whether the included material is any good and worthy of inclusion. You can simply ask, ‘am I wasting time during the oral presentation or space in the poster by including this and that?' The answer lies in checking if this material is directly related to the study aim, data obtained, or in support of conclusions drawn.

Table 1 summarizes how you should structure the sequence of slides for the podium presentation. If you are only given 8 min to present + 2 min for questions (10 min total), you can see that with 8 mandatory slides you are already at the limit of 1 min per slide. In due course, we will give you tips on how to reallocate time within your presentation to expand the Methods and, most importantly, the Results section as needed.

Basic structure for a podium presentation of an original paper

Always clarify study methods. Posters offer a greater freedom since you can show details of your experimental setup or the methodology of your study design. A podium presentation often requires abbreviated mention of key elements of design, scales, inclusion/exclusion criteria, intervention or dependent variables and outcomes. This requires diligent work with your coauthors and biostatisticians to make sure that you are brief but clear and sufficient.

A well-assembled Methods section will lead to a shorter Results summary since your clear statement of the study aim and key methodology logically leads to audience anticipation of the primary end-point findings. There are key messages and delivered data points that distinguish effective and clear presentations from those resulting in confusion and further guesswork.

Effective presenters capture audience attention and stay focused on key messages [ 1,2,3,6,7,8 ]. A study was performed at scientific conferences asking reviewers to identify the best features of effective presentations [ 3 . ]The most frequent comments on best features of presentations with respect to ‘content' were identifying a key concept (43% of presentations) and relevance (43%). Best features in evaluations of ‘slides' were clarity (50%), graphics (27.3%) and readability of the text and font size (23%). Finally, best features in ‘presentation style' were clarity (59%), pace (52%), voice (48%), engaging with the audience (43%), addressing questions (34%) and eye contact (28%) [ 3 ].

Here are some tips on how to avoid forcing yourself to rush during a talk. Before you start (usually in the intermission or just before your session) familiarize yourself with the podium and learn how to advance slides and operate the pointer or point with the mouse. If you stumble at the beginning, you start your presentation with a time deficit.

Get to the podium while you are being introduced and start right away (it is the responsibility of the moderator to properly announce you, your team and the title of the talk and it is the responsibility of the conference organizers to have your title slide showing during the moderator's announcement). Do not read or repeat your study title. Thank the moderators and while the title slide is showing you may consider briefly thanking your coauthors/mentor here in just a few seconds.

Show the ‘Conflicts of Interest' slide next and disclose if any conflicts are related to the study subject. If they exist, conflicts should be acknowledged briefly but clearly. Do not show a slide with several conflicts and tell the audience ‘here are my conflicts' and switch to the next slide. It is important to simply say, ‘pertinent to this study I have …' or ‘this study includes an off-label or investigational use of …'. Now you are logically ready to turn to the subject of your presentation.

Start with a brief summary of what is known and why is it important to investigate the subject. This -introduces the audience to the subject of research and starts the flow of logic. If you are facing a challenge to present a complex study within in a short allotted period of time (such as 8 min for podium or a just a few minutes during a guided poster tour), do not waste time. You may cut to the chase and simply say why you did the study. Coming with straight forward messages, which are authentic and concerned about the scientific question, gets you more credit with the audience than careful orchestration of a perceived equipoise. However, we have digressed.

For an effective message delivery, identify two people towards opposite far ends of the audience and speak as if you are personally talking to one of them at a time and alternate between them. If lights shining in your face are too bright, still look towards the back of the room (or from time to time directly into the camera if your talk is being shown on monitors in a large ballroom) and do not bury your head into the podium or notes that you might have brought with you. The nonverbal part of any presentation and the presenter's body language are also important [ 6 ]. At all cost avoid bringing notes with you to any scientific presentation since you should have practiced your talk enough to remember it or you should be familiar with the subject of your lecture to the point that even if you have just been woken up, you can still maintain an intelligent conversation. Do not count on ‘it will come to me' - practice your talk! Further advice on effective presenting skill is available [ 2 ].

Remember that at international conferences many attendees are not native English-speaking people. Thus speak slowly and train your voice for best possible pronunciation! This recommendation is applicable to natives of English-speaking countries too. Native English speakers from the UK, Commonwealth countries and the USA tend to speak fast, with a variety of accents that international audiences may not understand easily while the interpreters may not be able to keep up. When speaking, do not turn away from the audience and look at your slide projection on the main screen or at your poster all the time. If it is necessary to remind yourself what to talk about next, advance the slide, briefly glance at it, turn to the audience and continue your presentation. Turn to your slide again only if you have to use a laser pointer or a mouse on the computer screen. Do so briefly, underline the important finding, point to the key part of an image and avoid long circular pointer motions around the whole text line or big areas of graphic illustrations. It is distracting. Try to use the pointer only when necessary and do not read your slides with the pointer constantly aiming at where you are reading.

When presenting your methods, clearly state the type of study, e.g. retrospective analysis, case series, -cohort or controlled trials, etc., and describe patient inclusion/exclusion criteria. If too numerous, only list the major ones. As an example, in a clinical trial of a fibrinolytic agent the list of exclusion criteria could be very extensive, so how can you present this on a dime? Your slide should focus on the key inclusion criteria since a patient who did not have those was obviously excluded, and an audience at a stroke conference is generally familiar with multiple exclusion criteria for tissue plasminogen activator treatment. So, your slide or poster may have the following in it (highlighted in bold ) to which you may add the plain text in your (limited) verbal statements:

Our Major Inclusion Criteria: were

• total Pre-treatment NIHSS score >6 points

• Presence of mismatch on MRI determined by -( EPTITHET ) trial criteria

• Age <80 years and

• Time from symptom onset <8 h

After that, you may omit including a slide with the long list of exclusions in favor of time. If there is a -specific contraindication new to the treatment agent in your study, you could say ‘in addition to well-known contraindications for systemic thrombolysis, patients were excluded if they had …' at the end of showing the ‘Major Inclusion Criteria' slide as shown above. Similarly, in a poster, list only the most relevant inclusion and exclusion criteria and walk the audience through the methods without stumbling on too many detail -disclosures. The audience will lose track of where you are going.

It is important to keep a balance between sufficient disclosure of study methods and the length of this part of your presentation. It is always helpful if you have a prior study that used a similar or from which you developed your methodology that has already been published - you may show a reference to this study and move on faster without sacrificing the quality. For example, ‘ultrasound tests were done by experienced sonographers using a previously published standard protocol', ‘CT scans were read independently using the ASPECTS score', and ‘sICH was defined by the SITS-MOST criteria'. Say this while showing or pointing to the line and published source reference on your visual aid.

Clearly organize and deliver the Results section. Include absolute numbers and simple statistics before showing advanced analyses. Remember not to show data in Methods and equally so do not introduce new methods when presenting Results. As a rule, describe characteristics of the general study population or balance/imbalances between target and control groups. Follow this by a slide that shows the primary end-point findings or observations that directly address the study aim or research question. This follows the logic of a scientific presentation and will help you avoid deviations to side observations no matter how unexpected or valuable they seem. Stay the course, address the main question first and only then show additional findings. When presenting a poster, point to the area where the key results are displayed. Unlike a slide presentation or lecture where the audience is forced to see one slide at a time, busy posters could be distracting. Posters that are heavily packed with graphs, images, tables and text are often difficult to follow during a brief guided poster presentation tour. It is the presenter's responsibility to drive the audience attention to key results in a logical sequence. When you present a graph, start by telling the audience what is shown and in what units on each access, and briefly point to the numbers on each axis.

Remember to present one point at a time. It makes common sense but sometimes may be difficult to follow if complex experiments or studies with multiple confounding variables have to be navigated through a brief presentation. Do not lose sight of your original research question or the objective of your lecture. Remember what you have shown so far, and what logically should be shown next. If you are pressed on time or made a mistake while advancing slides, take a deep breath and relax. Clear state of mind will buy you time. Racing thoughts such as ‘I have to cover that and that, and oh, that too' are not helpful. Dry runs, or practice presentations are essential for you to master the material that you need to present.

After finishing the Results part of your presentation, remember not to introduce more new results in Discussion and Conclusions. That surprise is hard for the audience to process. If you'd like to reemphasize the main finding, use the following suggestion. Let's say your goal was to show the prevalence of a new syndrome in your study population and you found it to be 24% (your primary research question). Unexpectedly, you also found that patients with this syndrome have an increased risk of dying (RR 2.08, 95% CI 1.23-4.34). These numbers and statistics obviously belong to the Results section. However, you want to stress in your conclusion once again how important your finding is. You can present it as follows: ‘Conclusions: nearly a quarter of stroke patients can be affected by this new syndrome and, if present, it doubles the patient chance of dying in hospital'. This recaps the main finding and makes practical interpretation of the relative risk estimate.

Before you jump into Conclusions, however, we always encourage presenters to note and openly discuss current study limitations. This improves your own assessment for biases and ranking of the level of obtained evidence. If you do not disclose the obvious study limitations, you will most likely receive questions after your presentation that will point to these shortcomings. Thus, instead of a positive discussion of how your study advances our knowledge, the discussion with the audience will focus on shortcomings and the key message may be lost with the negative audience response. Unlike Twitter™ or future media-based quick popularity scores, science can only advance when it endures the highest scrutiny (even though in the future presenters may be concurrently judged by the audience as our technologies improve). Regardless, if you are a good scientist, prepare yourself to stand the ground if the evidence is behind you. Be proactive, acknowledge study limitations and how you attempted to control for biases, etc.

In a lecture or a podium talk or when standing by your poster, always think clearly, have a logical plan for presentation parts that should be covered next, gain audience attention, make them interested in your subject, excite their own thinking about the problem, listen to questions and carefully weigh the evidence that would justify the punch-line. This will support your conclusions!

With posters, we often see a Discussion section but no conclusions listed, or they are listed in the abstract but not in the poster itself. This will lead to an obvious question after you stop presenting: ‘So, what is your take on this?' Our advice is, have your conclusions listed and be prepared to defend them point-by-point as the question and answer part could be challenging. If you do not understand the question, ask for clarification rather than talk nonsense.

To arrive at the right conclusions, you have to rank scientific evidence in your presentation appropriately. What may seem obvious may turn erroneous or more complex at a closer look by experts. Helpful hints here include you maintaining careful documentation while you are conceiving the project, designing it with your colleagues and consulting with a biostatistician on all steps taken in ascertaining the study population, interventions, end-point data collection and bias verification. Put all methodological issues against your findings and this will give you an idea of the strengths and weaknesses of your study. Preparing and delivering your presentation is a great experience to see if your knowledge and gained expertise stand up to peer scrutiny.

Rehearse your presentation before you deliver it at a conference. Challenge yourself to dry runs with your most critically thinking colleagues. Quite often, it is not the presentation itself but these questions, comments and subsequent late night debates with your colleagues that bring new thinking, advance our understanding and spark new ideas. This is the chance to transform your own current thinking and that of your peers. Think about your upcoming presentation, whether it is a podium, poster or lecture, as an opportunity, a launch pad, a reward for the hard work you did to bring this project to the attention of the scientific community.

When time comes, ace it with a clear mind, precise execution and fund of knowledge.

Before his first oral presentation in English, Dr. Alexandrov was nervous and asked his mentor, Dr. John W. Norris, for a dry run. Dr. Norris generously came to listen to him at 10 p.m. the night before, and Dr. Alexandrov survived his talk.

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Ten Simple Rules for Making Good Oral Presentations

Continuing our “Ten Simple Rules” series [ 1 – 5 ], we consider here what it takes to make a good oral presentation. While the rules apply broadly across disciplines, they are certainly important from the perspective of this readership. Clear and logical delivery of your ideas and scientific results is an important component of a successful scientific career. Presentations encourage broader dissemination of your work and highlight work that may not receive attention in written form.

We do not mean face the audience, although gaining eye contact with as many people as possible when you present is important since it adds a level of intimacy and comfort to the presentation. We mean prepare presentations that address the target audience. Be sure you know who your audience is—what are their backgrounds and knowledge level of the material you are presenting and what they are hoping to get out of the presentation? Off-topic presentations are usually boring and will not endear you to the audience. Deliver what the audience wants to hear.

Rule 2: Less is More

A common mistake of inexperienced presenters is to try to say too much. They feel the need to prove themselves by proving to the audience that they know a lot. As a result, the main message is often lost, and valuable question time is usually curtailed. Your knowledge of the subject is best expressed through a clear and concise presentation that is provocative and leads to a dialog during the question-and-answer session when the audience becomes active participants. At that point, your knowledge of the material will likely become clear. If you do not get any questions, then you have not been following the other rules. Most likely, your presentation was either incomprehensible or trite. A side effect of too much material is that you talk too quickly, another ingredient of a lost message.

Do not be overzealous about what you think you will have available to present when the time comes. Research never goes as fast as you would like. Remember the audience's time is precious and should not be abused by presentation of uninteresting preliminary material.

A good rule of thumb would seem to be that if you ask a member of the audience a week later about your presentation, they should be able to remember three points. If these are the key points you were trying to get across, you have done a good job. If they can remember any three points, but not the key points, then your emphasis was wrong. It is obvious what it means if they cannot recall three points!

Think of the presentation as a story. There is a logical flow—a clear beginning, middle, and an end. You set the stage (beginning), you tell the story (middle), and you have a big finish (the end) where the take-home message is clearly understood.

Presentations should be entertaining, but do not overdo it and do know your limits. If you are not humorous by nature, do not try and be humorous. If you are not good at telling anecdotes, do not try and tell anecdotes, and so on. A good entertainer will captivate the audience and increase the likelihood of obeying Rule 4.

This is particularly important for inexperienced presenters. Even more important, when you give the presentation, stick to what you practice. It is common to deviate, and even worse to start presenting material that you know less about than the audience does. The more you practice, the less likely you will be to go off on tangents. Visual cues help here. The more presentations you give, the better you are going to get. In a scientific environment, take every opportunity to do journal club and become a teaching assistant if it allows you to present. An important talk should not be given for the first time to an audience of peers. You should have delivered it to your research collaborators who will be kinder and gentler but still point out obvious discrepancies. Laboratory group meetings are a fine forum for this.

Presenters have different styles of presenting. Some can captivate the audience with no visuals (rare); others require visual cues and in addition, depending on the material, may not be able to present a particular topic well without the appropriate visuals such as graphs and charts. Preparing good visual materials will be the subject of a further Ten Simple Rules. Rule 7 will help you to define the right number of visuals for a particular presentation. A useful rule of thumb for us is if you have more than one visual for each minute you are talking, you have too many and you will run over time. Obviously some visuals are quick, others take time to get the message across; again Rule 7 will help. Avoid reading the visual unless you wish to emphasize the point explicitly, the audience can read, too! The visual should support what you are saying either for emphasis or with data to prove the verbal point. Finally, do not overload the visual. Make the points few and clear.

There is nothing more effective than listening to, or listening to and viewing, a presentation you have made. Violations of the other rules will become obvious. Seeing what is wrong is easy, correcting it the next time around is not. You will likely need to break bad habits that lead to the violation of the other rules. Work hard on breaking bad habits; it is important.

People love to be acknowledged for their contributions. Having many gratuitous acknowledgements degrades the people who actually contributed. If you defy Rule 7, then you will not be able to acknowledge people and organizations appropriately, as you will run out of time. It is often appropriate to acknowledge people at the beginning or at the point of their contribution so that their contributions are very clear.

As a final word of caution, we have found that even in following the Ten Simple Rules (or perhaps thinking we are following them), the outcome of a presentation is not always guaranteed. Audience–presenter dynamics are hard to predict even though the metric of depth and intensity of questions and off-line followup provide excellent indicators. Sometimes you are sure a presentation will go well, and afterward you feel it did not go well. Other times you dread what the audience will think, and you come away pleased as punch. Such is life. As always, we welcome your comments on these Ten Simple Rules by Reader Response.

Acknowledgments

The idea for this particular Ten Simple Rules was inspired by a conversation with Fiona Addison.

Dr. Philip E. Bourne is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America. E-mail: ude.csds@enruob

Competing interests. The author has declared that no competing interests exist.

Funding. The author received no specific funding for this article.

• Bourne PE. Ten simple rules for getting published. PLoS Comp Biol. 2005; 1 :e57. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bourne PE, Chalupa LM. Ten simple rules for getting grants. PLoS Comp Biol. 2006; 2 :e12. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bourne PE, Korngreen A. Ten simple rules for reviewers. PLoS Comp Biol. 2006; 2 :e110. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Bourne PE, Friedberg I. Ten simple rules for selecting a postdoctoral fellowship. PLoS Comp Biol. 2006; 2 :e121. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Vicens Q, Bourne PE. Ten simple rules for a successful collaboration. PLoS Comp Biol. 2007; 3 :e44. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]

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Lumos Pharma Announces Abstract Accepted for Oral Presentation at the 13th Biennial Scientific Meeting of the Asia Pacific Pediatric Endocrine Society, APPES 2024

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AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lumos Pharma, Inc. (NASDAQ:LUMO), a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on therapeutics for rare diseases, announced today that an updated analysis of data from its Phase 2 OraGrowtH210 clinical trial has been accepted for presentation at the 13th Biennial Scientific Meeting of the Asia Pacific Pediatric Endocrine Society , or APPES 2024, to be held October 2-5, 2024 in New Delhi, India. This analysis of data from the OraGrowtH210 Trial evaluating oral LUM-201 for Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency (PGHD) will be presented on October 3 rd by Professor Paul Hofman, MD , Liggins Institute, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Abstract Presentation : Thursday, October 3 rd – Oral Session: Growth & Puberty – 2:30PM Local Time

Abstract entitled, Growth, IGF-1 and IGFBP-3 Responses to the Oral Growth Hormone (GH) Secretagogue, LUM-201, in Paediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency (PGHD) in the OraGrowtH210 Trial (Paul Hofman, MD, et al )

About Lumos Pharma

Lumos Pharma, Inc. is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapeutics for rare diseases. The Company was founded and is led by a management team with longstanding experience in rare disease drug development. Lumos Pharma’s lead therapeutic candidate, LUM-201, is a novel, oral growth hormone (GH) secretagogue, seeking to transform the ~$4.7B global GH market from injectable to oral therapy. LUM-201 is currently being evaluated in multiple Phase 2 clinical studies in Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency (PGHD) and has received Orphan Drug Designation in both the US and EU. For more information, please visit  https://lumos-pharma.com/ .

Investor & Media Contact:

Lisa Miller Lumos Pharma Investor Relations 512-792-5454 [email protected]

Source: Lumos Pharma, Inc.

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• CAREER FEATURE
• 27 September 2024

I botched my poster presentation — how do I perform better next time?

• Nikki Forrester 0

Nikki Forrester is a science journalist based in Davis, West Virginia.

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The problem

Dear Nature ,

I’m a PhD student studying plant biotechnology at a university in South Africa. I recently attended an international conference to give a three-minute flash talk, discussing my research using just one slide, and it went really well. The audience was engaged and showed interest in my work. Later in the day, I had an overwhelming experience while presenting my research during the informal poster presentations. When people came over to chat with me, my mind went completely blank. I could see the spark of interest drain from their eyes as I struggled to remember basic things like my name.

Part of the issue was that I experienced sensory overload in the busy surroundings — I’ve been diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and feel this is one of the ways it manifests for me. The poster room was cramped, so people were constantly moving around and bumping into each other. My station was also nestled in a corner, making it hard to work out where to stand. I felt so awkward compared with how I did in the more controlled environment of the presentation room. Am I the only one who feels overstimulated and out of place at conferences? How do I avoid panicking while trying to promote my research in challenging environments? — An overthinking introvert

Nature reached out to two researchers and an ADHD coach for advice on how to manage nerves and deliver a great conference presentation. All three emphasized that it’s completely normal to feel nervous and overwhelmed in a conference environment.

“I have so much empathy for this situation,” says Susan McConnell, a neurobiologist at Stanford University in California. “At a poster, it is chaotic. You can’t control when people come and go, or if they’re having side conversations. The first thing is to acknowledge that presenting a poster is much more challenging to control than giving an oral research presentation.”

McConnell recommends that, before going to a conference, you prepare two versions of your poster presentation and practise each out loud several times. “The first one should be very short, no more than three or four minutes,” she says, noting that most people don’t like to stay at a single poster for too long. This version should cover the main research question, what you did, what you learnt, and why your project is exciting and ambitious. “It’s exhausting, because you’re going to have to do that over and over and over again as each group comes to the poster,” she says. “But you can start to recapitulate that sense of control that you have in a talk.”

How I became the ‘hoodie girl’: attending conferences as a neurodiverse scientist

Another benefit of preparing a short version of your presentation is that it can help you to navigate the ebbs and flows of conversation. “Even though it’s chaotic, everyone who comes to your poster walked over there for a reason, so it’s important to give them some portion of your attention,” says McConnell. When someone new arrives, you can pause your presentation to briefly welcome them and say that although you’re in the middle of talking through the poster, you’d be happy to start from the beginning if the person is willing to stick around. “If you rehearsed your talk and know exactly how much more time you have, you can even say, ‘It will be about three more minutes before I finish up this version.’”

McConnell also suggests preparing a longer version of your poster presentation that is no more than 15 minutes, for those people who seem particularly interested and want to spend more time discussing your work. “If you rehearse it, then you have a lower chance of forgetting where you’re going,” she says.

For Mark Freiermuth, a linguist at Gunma Prefectural Women’s University in Tamamura, Japan, seven is the magic number for practice talks. During his practices, Freiermuth places a photo of his smiling seminar students at the top of his computer monitor to mimic an audience and records himself to assess his performance. “The first time I practise, there are lots of gaps because I can’t remember what I’m supposed to say. The second time, there are fewer gaps, but I usually discover I didn’t present certain information clearly. By about the sixth time, my talk is pretty good. And by the seventh time, it’s always smooth,” he says.

What is it like to attend a predatory conference?

Freiermuth, who wrote the book Academic Conference Presentations: A Step-by-Step Guide (2023), also suggests practising a poster presentation three times in a big auditorium with fellow students and colleagues. Not only does this approach help presenters to get acquainted with where to stand and how to use their poster effectively, it also gives them a chance to answer questions and receive feedback from familiar faces. “When similar topics come up at the actual conference, you’ve already fielded those questions, which helps you feel much more relaxed,” he says.

Laurie Dupar, founder and director of the International ADHD Coach Training Center, says that once you arrive at a conference, it might be helpful to explore the presentation room to work out where you’ll be speaking. “I would make sure that you’re comfortable in the space,” says Dupar, who is based in Blaine, Washington. The centre says it trains ADHD life coaches to be able to “increase awareness of ADHD in their communities and empower their clients to live with ADHD”.

If you feel uncomfortable in your presentation space, Dupar says, it’s completely OK to advocate for yourself and ask the conference organizer to move your location to a more open spot, for example. “You might say, ‘I’m really looking forward to giving this presentation and want to ensure it’s as effective as possible. I think a different location might better support that goal. Would it be possible to discuss a more suitable space?’ or ‘I understand that making changes might be challenging, so I’m open to any suggestions that might help create a more comfortable environment for the presentation,’” says Dupar.

Collection: Conferences

She also emphasizes the importance of relaxing before your presentation. “I think most people have no idea how overwhelming it’s going to be to go to a conference,” she says. “If you’re someone who has an introvert energy, it might be better for you to sleep in that day or take a break for two hours in the afternoon to regroup.”

Even with ample preparation, nerves can still throw even the best public speakers off balance. If you start feeling anxious during the poster session, it’s completely fine to step away for a few minutes. “Do some breathing, get something to drink, use the bathroom, stretch, recover and come back. It’s really important to take care of yourself during the poster session,” McConnell says, adding that practising physical relaxation techniques, such as controlled breathing or taking a brisk walk, can help to slow down your heart rate and calm your nerves.

Although it’s easy to feel bad about yourself for not giving a great presentation on your research, McConnell emphasizes that people often overestimate how memorable their performances are. “I would encourage you to practise self-forgiveness and remember that the audience wants you to succeed. They’re cheering for you to do a good job. When speakers are struggling, most audience members tend to feel sympathetic rather than judgemental.”

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03171-1

This article is part of a series in Nature in which we share advice on career issues faced by readers. Have a problem? E-mail us at [email protected]

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