15 Apr Sergio’s tips for your conference presentation
Sergio Arredondo Alonso
“Although I did not make it to the finals of the Breaking Science pitching competition, I had a blast during this course. I think it was one of the most useful courses that I followed during my PhD. It has dramatically changed the way I focus my talks during a conference.”
All Breaking Science competitors had the same training before presenting their complex research to a laymen audience in only three minutes. Sergio gives us his three most important tips of all things he learnt during the training.
Interpretation of the audience
“In my honest opinion scientists always spend a lot of time preparing our slides for a presentation but we rarely practice nor get feedback after a presentation regarding our presentation style. I found it very interesting to hear how my gestures, attention with the audience, tempo are interpreted by my audience. We need to ask for this kind of feedback! This course provided me with exercises to dramatically improve my presentation style.”
Importance of the introduction
“In addition: always modify your presentation based on your target audience. If people get lost or find your presentation boring at the beginning they will not follow you anymore during your talk. Make an introduction in which you emphasize the importance of your subject.”
Change the structure
“To make your presentation stand out from others and make it easy to be remembered, you may change the basic structure of your talk. For instance start with the problem instead of an introduction and share the challenges that you encounter. Just after that, tell about the methods used and end with the solution you found.“