How to Prepare for a Platform Presentation

Welcome!

Congratulations on reaching this exciting milestone in your academic journey. Your research experience plays a key role in your professional growth, and presenting your work is an important part of that process.

Know Your Audience

Your listeners may come from outside your discipline. Provide essential background, define key terms, and keep concepts accessible. Use your time wisely—include only what the audience needs to understand your project.

Presentation Options

FlashTalk: 5 minutes
Long Talk: 10–12 minutes + 3–5 minutes of Q&A

Be clear and concise. Include points that may prompt questions—this lets you demonstrate your deeper understanding.

Structure Your Talk

Use a logical, familiar organization:

Sciences: Introduction/Background → Question or Hypothesis → Methods → Results → Conclusions
Other disciplines: A strong beginning → a clear middle (story, argument, analysis) → an ending with a memorable take‑home message

For a 10‑minute talk, plan to share no more than three main findings.

Deliver with Confidence

Know exactly how you will start and end your presentation. Work toward giving your talk without reading from slides or notes. Maintain eye contact and use purposeful pacing and pauses.

Design Effective Slides

Avoid text‑heavy slides and overcrowded figures. Explain any graphs, equations, or images clearly. Review best practices for PowerPoint design and, if possible, record yourself to identify areas for improvement.

Acknowledge Contributions

Clearly distinguish your work from others’ contributions and provide appropriate acknowledgments.

Relax and Enjoy

Remember everyone in the audience is there to support you and learn from you. This is a time for celebration, so relax and enjoy! Give yourself some positive self-talk. Visualize a positive and rewarding outcome.