HOW TO GIVE AN ORAL
RESEARCH PRESENTATION
Professor Phillip Nagley
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular
Biology
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
IN SCIENCE
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
 Content
 Audiovisual
 Delivery
aids
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
 Content
 Audiovisual
 Delivery
aids
CONTENT
Telling a story about
your research
Content of presentation
Statement of the problem
 Background
 The issue or question to be addressed
 Specific aims
 The approaches used
 Results
continues…...

Content of presentation
Continued……
Interpretation of data
 Summary of research findings
 Implications in a wider sphere
 Conclusions

Statement of the problem

Headline

Sets context

Encapsulates the gist of the talk
Tell them what you’re going to tell them
Background

What is known already

Some indication of significance in
broader context
Keep it relevant to your talk
Issue or question to be addressed
Possible aspects…….

What you wanted to find out

Issue to be resolved
Keep it general at this point
Specific aims

List the particular goals of your
research

These should be carefully chosen to
match what you actually carried out or
what you achieved
Don’t raise unrealistic expectations in
your audience
(but don’t undersell yourself, either)
The approaches used

Experimental system

Methods in general

Highlight any novel methods used or
invented for this research
Don’t go into too much detail here ……
It’s NOT a Materials and Methods section!
Results

What you did for each experiment (or
phase of the investigation)

What you observed (i.e. the data)
Specific methods can be mentioned
here……
This helps in the description of the
experimental set up or technique used
Interpretation of data
What you…….
 found out
 discovered
 measured
 re-evaluated
 identified as being an artefact
 realised had not answered the question
This is often integrated with the
presentation of individual Results
Summary of research findings

Outline succinctly what you found

This is what you know today, that you
did not know before you started
This helps the audience absorb the salient
features of what you have been telling
them in detail
Implications in a wider sphere
This can be …….
 what you would like to find out further
 experiments or techniques to solve the
problem or extend the field further
 why others may have got it wrong
 new insights or opportunities
 application of novel methods to other
biological or clinical issues or topics
…….or anything else relevant
Implications in a wider sphere
The integration of your talk
into the “bigger picture” is
very important
Conclusions

Summarise the main points of your talk

Relate these back to the initial question

Link these to the specific aims

Outline the implications
Try to do this on one slide (or transparency)
Conclusions

THIS IS THE TAKE HOME MESSAGE
Do not finish your talk without it!
Do not let your audience leave without it!
Content

The organisation listed above may not
be applicable to all talks

Use your judgment in arranging your
talk to achieve the optimal organisation
GOOD ORGANISATION IS ONE OF
THE THREE ELEMENTS OF
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
 Content
 Audiovisual
 Delivery
aids
Display items

Transparencies

Slides (35 mm)

PowerPoint slides
Clarity of logic

Relevance of content to the intended point

Logical links (wherever possible) to the
preceding and subsequent display items
These only need to be cues (words or
images) that you use, as presenter,
to help the audience follow the talk
Number of slides to be as few as
possible

Do not use more than required

Omit irrelevant items
The audience will appreciate a small
number of slides, handled well, rather
than a large number that induces
“PowerPoint Fatigue Syndrome”
Keep slides non-cluttered

Avoid too much data

Do not show schematics that are too
detailed

Omit unnecessary or irrelevant
information
Keep slides non-cluttered
A
0 scans
128 scans
Rh123
Rh123 retention
(mean % of Fafter/Fbefore)
C
100
80
60
40
20
0
Rh123 Rh123 Rh123
+CMXRos +CCCP
CMXRos
Irr
-
+
+
Rh123
-
B
0 scans
128 scans
High de lta-ps i-m (% ce lls )
D
100
80
60
40
20
0
Rh1 2 3 + CM X Ros
Rh1 2 3
Keep slides non-cluttered
Rh123 retention
(mean % of Fafter/Fbefore)
C
100
80
60
40
20
0
Rh123 Rh123 Rh123
+CMXRos +CCCP
Irr
-
+
+
Rh123
-
High de lta-ps i-m (% ce lls )
D
100
80
60
40
20
0
Rh1 2 3 + CM X Ros
Rh1 2 3
Figure 1. CMXRos photosensitization on a
subpopulation of mitochondria induces rapid  m loss
in non-irradiated mitochondria. (C) Quantitative
determination of Rh123 retention in non-irradiated
mitochondria of cells. Control cells to indicate either high
m and low m were either treated without or with
CCCP (20 M) respectively (n=20, n=15 respectively),
loaded with Rh123 but not photoirradiated (Irr-). Other cells
loaded with Rh123 alone (n=13) or with Rh123 and
CMXRos (n=9) were subjected to partial irradiation (Irr+).
Three regions of interest in the non-irradiated zone from
each cell were arbitrarily selected to determine the
fluorescence intensity of Rh123 in pixel units. The mean
fluorescence intensity ( SEM) of Rh123 in each cell was
obtained by averaging the pixel values of the three regions
of interest. Measurements were taken before and after
partial irradiation. The fluorescence intensity of Rh123
retained in non-irradiated mitochondria (Fafter) following
irradiation was expressed as a percentage of the initial
fluorescence intensity (Fbefore) in the same cell prior to
irradiation. Cells containing non-irradiated mitochondria
with Rh123 retention values above 60% and below 20%
were considered as manifesting high m or loss of m
respectively. No cells tested showed intermediate levels of
Rh123 retention. (D) Fraction of cells manifesting high
m in non-irradiated mitochondria (see above). Cells were
loaded with Rh123 and CMXRos (n=21) or Rh123 alone
(n=16). Black bars indicate cells before irradiation. Open
bars indicate cells after 128 scans under partial irradiation
condition.
Slides must be easy to read
Font sizes must be big enough
 Don’t use black font on dark
backgrounds
 Avoid the “serif” fonts like Times New
Roman or Courier

Avoid small fonts like Times New Roman
Avoid small “skinny” fonts like Courier

Use “sans serif” fonts like Arial
Use Sans-serif” fonts like Arial
Use Sans-serif” fonts like Arial
(use bold if it needs to be very small)
Slides must be easy to read
Avoid abbreviations that are not
defined
 Do not use lab jargon, if there is a
conventional term in wide use
Certain fields are particularly prone to
this problem
Ask yourself if the audience can be
reasonably expected to understand the
terms you use on the slides

Proper sizes of text and graphics

Use the available space

Keep the font sizes large and readable

Make sure the graphics are big enough
Don’t show a very small image or table
surrounded by a sea of blank space
Rh123 retention
(mean % of Fafter/Fbefore)
Improper size of graphic
100
80
60
40
20
0
Rh123 Rh123 Rh123
+CMXRos +CCCP
Irr
-
+
+
Rh123
-
Rh123 retention
(mean % of Fafter/Fbefore)
Better size of graphic
100
80
60
40
20
0
Rh123 Rh123 Rh123
+CMXRos +CCCP
Irr
-
+
+
Rh123
-
Decoration

Make sensible use of colours and
borders

Don’t let PowerPoint Backgrounds
dominate your data or statements
It is the content that the audience should
remember, not the colours and the
special effects!
Order of display items
Make sure the order is correct before
you start
 If an item needs to be repeated during a
presentation, make sure there is a
duplicate in the correct place

Avoid shuffling through items during a
presentation: the audience will (rightly)
think you are not properly organised
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
GOOD ORGANISATION AND WELL
PREPARED VISUAL AIDS ARE
TWO OF THE THREE ELEMENTS
OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
 Content
 Audiovisual
 Delivery
aids
EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION
GOOD ORGANISATION
 WELL PREPARED VISUAL AIDS
 INFORMATIVE AND
ENTERTAINING PRESENTATION

ARE THE THREE ELEMENTS OF
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION