7 tips for creating a successful online presentation

If you’re taking part in a communication contest like Three Minute Thesis (3MT) — or even just sharing your research with an audience of non-specialists — how can you ensure that your presentation is accessible and engaging? And how can you adapt your approach for virtual environments?

Dr Elizabeth Mamali, Postgraduate Researcher Development Officer in the Bristol Doctoral College, shares her top tips in a post that originally formed part of the BDC’s training for the University’s 2020 3MT competition.

1. Your voice is your greatest strength use it effectively

Your voice is a powerful tool in every presentation, but in a virtual environment in particular it becomes the most important part of your delivery.

Unlike face-to-face presentations, where stage presence can be an effective way of capturing your audience’s attention, in virtual presentations it is your volume, pace and pitch that are more likely to score you points for the ‘Engagement and Communication’ category of 3MT’s judging criteria.

Use volume to emphasise important parts. Quicken your pace to convey enthusiasm or urgency, and slow your pace when you introduce a new point.

Public speaking anxiety (and a burning desire to convey as much as possible about your research!) tends to make presenters talk too fast for the audience to absorb the information conveyed. Pay attention to your speech rate, a simple metric for how many words you speak per minute (wpm), and avoid going above the conversational speed of 120-150 wpm.

Lastly, avoid “ums” and instead pause. Strategic pauses prompt your audience to reflect on what you just said and enable them to follow what comes next. Used in the right way, a pause can have the same dramatic effect as a very loud noise.

2. Consider your language

You will be addressing a non-specialist audience, so opt for language that is neither subject-specific, nor replicating stilted conventions loved by academics all over the world such as Zombie nouns.

Language highbrow-ism *pun intended* has no place in the 3MT. As this excellent example of science communication demonstrates, it is possible to be technically accurate and accessible at the same time.

It is of course sometimes necessary and even interesting to use jargon in your presentation, but if you choose to do so you should devote time to explain the concept and why the audience should care. You may also set yourself a challenge: try to ensure that your three-minute talk is conducted within the 10,000 most-used words, which is not as easy as it sounds! Remember that language accessibility is part of the ‘Comprehension and Content’ marking category of the competition.

Last but not least, keep your sentences in active voice as this is more suitable for the spoken word and contributes towards reducing your wpm count.

3. Before you compete… warm-up!

Warming up before physical exercise is meant to prevent injuries and make the main workout more effective.

Warming up before your presentation has the same effect. If public speaking makes you anxious and you dread those minutes before you go on the stage (virtual or otherwise), one simple exercise to take you out of your misery is power posing.

Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist at Harvard Business School, argues that posing for two minutes in stances associated with confidence and power lifted chest, arms high up or propped on the hips and head held up high —  before you give a talk produces sufficient physiological differences in your body (increases in testosterone and reduction in the stress related cortisol hormone) to improve your performance. You can also try voice warm-up exercises to get your vocal cords rolling.

4. Don’t throw jelly at people

It is a given that during the 3MT you will need to communicate the significance and purpose of your research, and this will be assessed by judges under the ‘Comprehension and Content’ category.

How to go about communicating that is not straightforward, though and researchers do have a tendency of explaining things in a way that doesn’t necessarily correspond to how the audience wants to hear them.

Communications specialist Andy Bounds identifies the practice of saying too many irrelevant stuff as a common barren communication tactic, equivalent to “throwing jelly” at people and hoping that something will stick.

Instead of trying to convey every piece of detail about your project, focus on the bigger picture of why we should care. The Thesis Whisperer, Inger Mewburn, refers to this as the helicopter view of your work: how could your research change the way we feel/think/act in the future? What could it help us create or build? It may be that your research only makes a small contribution towards some bigger change that might occur one day, but that doesn’t mean you should shy away from explaining that connection and using it to elevate your pitch.

5. You only get a single visual aid get it right

The 3MT only permits you a single slide as visual aid, one with no transitions, animation or sound. The slide itself is part of what you will be judged upon under the ‘Engagement and Communication’ criterion, so it is important that you make it intrinsic to the presentation. Your visual aid doesn’t have to be complicated to be impactful.

No one demonstrates this better than Rosanna Stevens, the 3MT winner of the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences final 2014, who used an empty white slide to illustrate “white” ways of doing things that white people fail to recognise as such. What this example teaches us is that whatever is in your slide should serve a purpose. For example, it might be that your visual explains something about your research to participants that your words can’t, help you explain the story of your project through a metaphor, or induce some humour in your presentation.

6. Stage your virtual presence (before the presentation)

Stage presence can be as important as content in face-to-face presentations and the 3MT is no exception. This is another aspect that will gain you points towards the ‘Engagement and Communication’ category.

But how do you create impact when your stage is your kitchen and you are no more than a 16-inch video on someone’s screen?

For starters, consider your surroundings. A quiet room (carpeted is ideal as you will avoid echoey sound!) and a neutral background will help the audience to focus on you only. If the latter isn’t possible, just make sure your space is tidy.

You should also take care with where you place your streaming device. Use boxes or books if needed so that your webcam is at eye level, if you are presenting seated, or high enough if you are presenting standing.

The last element of staging is the lightning. If it isn’t possible to use a room that receives good natural light then consider having a desk lamp directed towards you.

7. Stage your virtual presence (during your presentation)

There are also things that you can do during your presentation to improve your stage presence.

While it is counter-intuitive not to look at your video image while talking, to create impact you should look directly into your web-camera. This will make your audience feel like you are addressing and looking at them directly.

Another aspect to consider during your presentation is you hand movements. Whether you are sitting, or standing, don’t be afraid to use your hands as you would in a face to face presentation. Research suggests that presentations where hands do some of the talking are far more popular than those featuring idle hands.


Want to find out more about the University’s 3MT competition? Visit the Bristol Doctoral College’s Three Minute Thesis page.

How the 3MT reminded me why my research matters

Alfie Wearn won the Bristol 3MT final last month for his presentation on predicting Alzheimer’s disease. Here he shares his experience of taking part; from almost pulling out of the competition to winning the Bristol 2017 finals in Colston Hall.

Step out of your comfort zone. Comfort zones are the enemies of achievement.” – Roy T Bennett

I’m not normally a fan of inspirational quotes like these, but I make an exception for this one. I like it because I heard it just as I was about to pull out of the Three Minute Thesis ® (3MT) competition just a couple of days after applying. I told myself that because I was at such an early stage of my PhD, attempting to present a kind of “thesis” summary would be a bit fraudulent – in truth however I think I was wondering what on earth I’d gotten myself in for, and was looking for a good excuse to run away back to the safety of my comfort zone. I lost that excuse pretty swiftly when I was told that plenty of people had taken part in 3MT in their first year. So I bit the bullet and continued with the process. In hindsight – a good decision!   

Training & Practice

I was enticed, in part, to participate in the 3MT competition and Research without Borders because of the various public engagement training courses that were available for all successful applicants. During one course a communications expert at the University taught a group of us 3MT hopefuls the importance of creating a story, and using relatable analogies to engage audiences in our research. I also got a chance to practice a very early draft of my talk to this group during that training course. I got some really helpful feedback which helped shape the final version of the talk.

In the days leading up to the semifinals, I practiced it every time I had a spare 3 minutes. I practiced in front of the mirror, in front of friends, I even videoed myself on my phone to see how I sounded to others, and to see if I was doing anything stupid with my hands (still not sure I’d sorted that by the final…). I probably practiced it about 50 times more than necessary, but it gave me confidence, which, I have learned, is all important in something like this.

Actually doing the talk

Eventually the semi-finals came about and I finally got to perform what I had been practicing so much for the past month. Despite all this practice, I spent the 10 minutes before my turn wondering why I had not gone over the talk ‘just one more time’ – so much so that I completely missed the previous couple of speakers. But when it came down to it, I realised that actually doing the talk wasn’t nearly as bad as sitting and thinking about it. I immediately forgot all the worries and worst-case scenarios I had constructed for myself and just spoke about what I knew, and what I had practiced. And honestly, I really enjoyed it. Of course, by the time the finals came in May, as part of the Research without Borders showcase day in Colston Hall, I had completely forgotten this lesson, and once again spent the 10 minutes beforehand wishing for that one more chance to practice…   

Thoughts, feelings, and lessons learned

I’ve learned that condensing a PhD-sized amount of work into 3 minutes is, if nothing else, a great way of making sure you know exactly what it is you’re doing. Now I realise that sounds like a stupid thing to say. But when you spend so many hours, days and weeks with your head buried in your PhD work, and have little contact with the outside world, as often happens during a PhD, it’s easy to lose touch with the bigger picture. You forget that not everyone knows a lot about Alzheimer’s disease, or the role of the hippocampus in the consolidation of memories. It helps to focus your work, and when you’re having a bad week it is sometimes helpful to be able to remind yourself as to why your work matters.

I urge everyone to have a go at the 3MT and taking part in Research without Borders. You get a snapshot of all the research at the university that you might never even have realised is happening; from ageing kidneys and forest ecosystems, to noise-reducing materials in aeroplanes and the evolution of invertebrate vision, to name but a few. Lifting your head above the water every now and again to see what is going on around you is a habit we should all get into – and what better way, than these two fantastic celebrations of research at the University of Bristol.

You can listen to Alfie talking more about his research, alongside other 3MT finalists, on this Speakezee podcast.

Alfie’s presentation will be judged at a Vitae hosted (virtual) national semi-final next month. Six finalists will then be selected to perform live at the Vitae Researcher Development International Conference during the gala dinner on Monday 11 September 2017. We’ve got our fingers crossed, Alfie! 

Find out more about Alfie’s research:

Twitter: @AlfieWearn

Speakezee: https://www.speakezee.org/speaker/profile/2646/alfie-wearn

University research page: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/neural-dynamics/people/alfie-r-wearn/index.html

PGR Stories: Suzannah Young and researching the homeless

Suzannah Young is a postgraduate researcher in the School of Modern Languages. Her research aims to find out where help with language is needed in homelessness services in Bristol and Cardiff, and what support is already available to people who need it. She wrote a post for us discussing her research, its value and impact, and what her PhD process has entailed so far. 

Before starting at Bristol in September 2015, I worked for FEANTSA, the federation of homelessness services in Europe, for six years.  I am also a translator and have an interest in migration. My research project aims to find out where help with language is needed in Bristol and Cardiff homelessness services and what support is available to people who need help.

When people move to a new country, they can become vulnerable to poverty, isolation and discrimination.  If people who move country do not have access to employment or government help, or cannot find a place to live because landlords discriminate against them, they might end up homeless.  

Homeless people need to use services that give advice, defend their rights and provide material support like food, clothes and showers.  It can be difficult for people with low levels of English to use these services.  The services might not feel able to talk to these people either.  An interpreter (someone who translates a spoken message from one language into another) can help them interact with each other.  

When I was working at FEANTSA, I often came across research or reports on practice that said that language difference was a problem for homeless service providers.  It was a problem because they couldn’t communicate effectively with homeless people who spoke another language.  There wasn’t any discussion of what was done to solve this problem, though.  As I am passionate about languages and believe that everyone should have the right to a decent home, I wanted to set about finding out what was being done to help homeless people who speak other languages.

My research therefore looks at what is being done on the ground, in a context of squeezed budgets: whether people using homelessness services have access to interpreters or other types of language support, like staff who speak other languages, internet translation tools or peers (other service users) who act as interpreters.  The study compares the situations in Bristol and Cardiff.  It may discover good ways of working that services can copy from each other.

I would like to interview homelessness service users, homelessness service providers and language professionals to ask them about their experiences in this area – of accessing language support or of providing it.  The plan is also to ask service users to produce (anonymous if wished) video diaries in which they can say in their own language what they would have liked to have said if they had had access to an interpreter when using a service.  This would reflect their direct voice.  Asking participants to use visual representations also diffuses the tension of language – if they wish, they can ‘speak without words’.  

This project is multilingual because I will be interviewing people who speak a variety of languages.  This will mean that preparation and data collection will involve various time-consuming and expensive language-related tasks.  I will translate materials myself or through translators.  I will employ interpreters to mediate interviews.  I will use external transcribers to transcribe interview data and video diary entries in languages I do not understand.  I will use translators to check the accuracy of the interpreting for languages I do not understand and I will employ subtitlers to translate the video diaries for the languages I do not understand.

The results should reflect the multilingualism of the project itself.  I would like to provide a series of narratives for service users to take away, which can act as a guide to using language support services.  I will need to make this available in other languages (which would require money, time and proofreading).  The video diaries should be subtitled, and I hope the subtitles will be available in all the languages involved, not just in English.

The results of the study could be made available in a usable format to services for homeless people.  They could be made into a briefing document that gives examples of how to work with an interpreter or translator or how to deal with a communication problem.  Another briefing document for language professionals working for homelessness services can give specific guidelines about language requirements in homelessness services.