Research Presentation
Check out these websites for outlines on how to prepare
- How to make an oral presentation from your research, great outline available
- Provides nuts and bolts on how to prepare and organize your presentation. Also make sure to check out the links in the references for more information
- Very detailed guide on giving a 20 minute presentation from a former Evolutionary Biology professor
UCSB - How to Create an Oral Research Presentation
- Presentation outlining presentations for research conducted as an undergraduate. The presentation was targeted towards students who completed a summer research program.
How to Create a better research poster in less time
- Mike Morrison presents a break from the traditional research poster and discusses how, what and why to present. See templates here.
Summaries on how to present
The Poster Session
You should prepare two versions of your poster presentation. One, the “short” version in which you run through everything in 2 minutes. This means you still cover everything, why it's significant, your research question, brief explanation of your methodology, most important or interesting results, and implications/applications of your work. Second, the “long” version goes into more detail on all of the same points, but should still by only about 4 minutes. Prepare this answer and be fairly comfortable delivering it, though of course, it will sound natural and spontaneous when you actually deliver it.
Usually you stand next to your poster and walk a visitor through it. But the poster should be understandable on its own. When you’re presenting keep these things in mind
- Don’t do anything distracting
- Speak to your viewers and point out things on your poster, don’t look at notes or only the poster
- Use the poster to ask questions and get feedback. Be open to discussion (don't get defensive)
- Keep extra information (data?, code?) and things like your CV (to give out if someone asks)
The Poster Handout
Prepare a single page copy of your poster (8 1/2 x 11, color or b/w) with your abstract or overview, key references, and contact information printed on the back. If you feel like not wasting paper, put a PDF of the poster on-line (figshare) and put a QR code on your poster. Other’s may also have poster sign-up sheets available where interested individuals give their e-mail to receive the poster later.
Research Talk
Public speaking is one of the most prevalent phobias in the greater public (in fact public speaking is the scientifically supported method of inducing stress in the lab) and a cornerstone how we transmit knowledge in science. Below are some tips for giving a good talk/presentation.
Talk Secrets / Classic Mistakes
- Prepare
- Practice
- Less is more or TMI or don't have more than 3 take home points
- Avoid Unnecessarily Complicated Material / Theory without action
- WHY?
- Undigested text
- Talk to the audience
- Avoid fillers
- Readable/Understandable Graphics
- Be Personable/Use humor (sparingly/appropriately)
- Make use of question period
The question period is almost a second small presentation. Often times the question period is where truly great presentations/presenters separate from everyone else.
Some tips for handling questions-
- Make sure you clarify the question so you understand.
- Go with hypotheticals even if you don’t agree with the direction you’re going, then bring it back to your own area
- If you really don’t know what the question is about, it’s ok to say you don’t know and even ask for help from others in the audience, but try as hard as possible to understand before going to this
- Don’t get defensive if a questioner comes after you. You’ll alway come out for the better if you handle (poor) questions with grace and humility (and will often make the questioner look worse).
Figure out the timing of the talk. Is it 10, 15, 30, 45 or 60? Always make sure to have time for questions and make sure to not rush through the material (less is more below).
Who are you talking to? Experts/specialists, the public? Educated but non-experts? Prepare for the talk and go through it, live, as in, outloud, a number of times. It's always nice if you are presenting to a public audience to drop a few things in for the experts in your field (think of Pixar films for kids with jokes for adults).
When given the opportunity to share, we often try to talk about everything, but it’s better to do more with less. Find the most interesting points and focus on those. Its often easy to hide behind detail and information, but it doesn’t help the audience understand what you’re trying to communicate. What is your purpose and why is this important?
Try to simplify everything so that even non-experts can take away your big points. The question period can be used to go into more detail and nuance/complication if someone asks.
This helps you focus on the point of the talk. Why did you do what you did (introduction) and why is it important (conclusion)?
Try to put as little text on the slides as possible and do not put information on the slides that confuses the audience or is not somehow discussed. This doesn’t mean that you’re reading your slides, just make sure that all information is helping support what you’re talking about.
Don’t read your slides, don’t stare at the computer and don’t stare at the screen. Engage your audience and look at them.
This goes along with practice. Fillers and distracting speech patterns can really alter the audience’s perception of your research.
Make sure your graphics are supporting what you’re saying. Fonts should be readable, graphic should be simple and color should help make the information understandable, not distracting.
Try to personalize your presentation by having your personality show through, all while keeping a professional attitude. Humor, used sparingly is a great way to connect with and engage the audience.
References
Collins, J. (2004). Education techniques for lifelong learning: Giving a powerpoint presentation: The art of communicating effectively. RadioGraphics, 24, 1185-1192.
De Grez, L., Valcke, M., & Roozen, I. (2009). The impact of an innovative instructional intervention on the acquisition of oral presentation skills in higher education. Computers and Education, 53, 112-120.
Mayer, R.E., Griffith, E., Jurkowitz, I.T.N., & Rothman, D. (2008). Increased interestingness of extraneous details in a multimedia science presentation leads to decreased learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 14(4), 329-339.
Purrington, C. Giving science talks. Retrieved from http://colinpurrington.com/tips/science-talks
Ten secrets to giving a good scientific talk. Retrieved from http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/cms/agu/scientific_talk.html
Thesis Whisperer (2010). 5 classic research presentation mistakes. Retrieved from https://thesiswhisperer.com/2010/11/25/5-classic-research-presentation-mistakes/
UCSB McNair Scholars 2011 Summer Program. (2011). How to create an oral research presentation. Retrieved from http://mcnair.ucsb.edu/documents/HowtoCreateaResearchPresentation_000.pdf
USC Libraries. (2016). Organizing your social sciences research paper: Giving an oral presentation. Retrieved from http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/oralpresentation
University of Virginia Center for undergraduate excellence. (2012). How to make an oral presentation of your research. Retrieved from http://www.virginia.edu/cue/presentationtips.html
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