By Megan Bohn, Ph.D., Jennifer West, Ph.D., & Susannah Goodman, M.A.
Spring is finally here, and that means the 2023 NIAID Three-minute Talk Competition and NIH Postbac Poster Day are fast approaching. Regardless of whether you plan to participate in either of these events, now is the perfect time to evaluate your presentation skills because they are a crucial component of any scientist’s professional toolkit. Here are four tips for designing a compelling presentation that will inform and captivate your audience.
First, define your goals
As with any other project, a best practice for creating an effective presentation is to define its purpose and goals. Why are you giving this talk? What do you want the audience to learn? Do they need to be convinced about a specific aspect of your research findings or approach? Step back and look at the big picture. Defining clear goals helps you work backward to design a presentation that contains only the relevant information packaged with the right tone. Too much extraneous detail or off-target messaging muddle the story and create confusion. And if your audience is confused, they will not leave with your intended takeaways.
Know your audience
Consider who will be in the audience for your presentation and their familiarity with the research field. Beyond their level of expertise, you should consider what will motivate them to keep listening. To keep an audience engaged, you must clearly convey the significance of your research while giving them the tools they need to understand the technical details. Do not assume that the importance of your research is obvious - this is especially true when speaking to a broad scientific audience or members of the public.
Time your dives
Think of your scientific presentation as an oceanic swim where some participants are equipped with scuba gear (experts) and others only have snorkels (novices) to make it through the excursion. If you go on extended deep dives, some may drown. For scientific presentations, our audience often comprises both novices and field experts. It is your job as the presenter to engage with the experts without losing the novices. This can be accomplished by periodically providing key takeaways and relating back to the big picture to ensure that everyone remains engaged throughout your presentation.
Avoid overstuffing your visuals
A common temptation – perhaps the most common temptation – of scientists is to show too much data. The temptation is often rooted in insecurity, the need to demonstrate productivity or boost the perception that the research approach is robust. The result is often a miserable experience for the audience. No one can possibly consume all the data you have ever obtained in one brief sitting. Only show the data you need to make your point. If there is a key control or set of additional experiments that are relevant but not useful to show in detail, don’t show them! Simply mention in passing that you conducted additional experiments to check your results. Also, consider how to combine some results into a graphical model or summary. It may be a cliché, but a picture is truly worth a thousand words. If you’re concerned about needing that extra data, consider creating a set of supplemental data slides at the end of your presentation that you can refer to if someone wants to talk more about your work. Remember, one of your goals is to make at least a few members of the audience want to chat with you afterward, not run straight for the coffee as soon as the session ends.
Looking for more strategies to take your presentations to the next level? In preparation for the upcoming NIAID Three-minute Talk Competition, NIAID Training is hosting a virtual seminar on Tuesday, April 4, led by renowned leadership and communication skills teacher Scott Morgan.