Research presentations: where science and art meet

This past Wednesday and Thursday, I had the pleasure of attending the fifth annual BioProNET Science Meeting. I got to hear about some super cool emerging technologies in bioprocessing. There were some really great speakers…and some not-so-great speakers.

And that's as far as the problem went. Their science was robust and interesting. They were conducting unique research. It was the presentation of the science that was just, well, lackluster.

Presenting your research is a difficult task. You have to organize your results into a compelling narrative, you have to arrange your data aesthetically-pleasing way, and you have to convey your message clearly, concisely, and confidently. And after all of that preparation, the audience gets to ask you questions.

This is NOT easy.

These are the moments when scientists have to be visual and performing artists. Their slides, their voice, and their posture are their medium. This is not a medium most of them typically work with. Laboratories are usually their stages. Reagents and bottles are their typical palettes and paints. They are a little bit out of their element.

But we need to present our work. We need to convey what we’ve done to others. We need it to be easily understood.

Though they may seem simple, here are a few tips for presenting scientific research*:

1. Breathe. (This is the most important one.) 
2. Speak slowly. (It may already seem like you are speaking inhumanly slow. You are not. Speak slowly.) 
3. Keep it simple. (There’s no need for paragraphs of text or fancy slide transitions or quirky animations or graphics that you don’t intend to explain.) 
4. Have a beginning, a middle, and an end.
5. Number your slides. 
6. Choose a color scheme and stick with it. (If temperature is expressed as a blue line in your first graph, I will expect all future blue lines to be temperature.) 
7. Use the fancy software. (We all know a quick and dirty excel chart when we see one.) 
8. Time yourself. (You will inevitably be the presentation before the coffee break and, though no one will say it to your face, we will all be annoyed that you took those extra 2 minutes.)
9. Stand up straight and try to smile occasionally. (You don’t have to be the pinnacle of confidence, but if you seem to like your work a little bit, then we will too.) 
10. Give credit where credit is due. 
11. DO NOT wildly gesticulate with the laser pointer. (If possible, don’t even touch the laser pointer.) 
12. Acknowledge that you are human. (“I don’t know” is a perfectly acceptable answer to a question – as is the slightly more passive aggressive version, “I believe that your very interesting question extends beyond the scope of my research, but I would love to chat with you about it during the break.”) 
13. Go to the bathroom beforehand. (The question and answer portion will be 10 times worse if you also have to pee.) 
14.  Be a good audience member. (Be engaged. Ask interesting questions. Clap when appropriate.) 
15. Design your talk with your audience in mind. (Presenting research is so much more than “Here, look at what I did”. It’s a conversation. Give your audience something to talk about.)

I love hearing about other people's research. I love when some is excited to tell me about what they're working on. I'm really excited for my next conference. I know that there will undoubtedly be some very nervous speakers, but I know that there will also be some truly passionate ones. Those are the ones that inspire me to keep working hard and contributing to our field. One day, if I'm luckily, I'll be able to present my research like they do and inspire someone else!


*There are plenty of courses and seminars on “How to Present Scientific Research”. There are legitimate experts in this field. I am not one of them. I am simply a theater kid with a passion for color-coding sitting uneasily in the audience and trying her darnedest to understand your science.