So today letโs talk about presentations. There is a lot to cover so buckle up and take notes. Scientific presentations with real โจdataโจ can be a challenge. You want to share all your super exciting really awesome data with the world but without enough context your data is meaningless to your audience. Instead of throwing all your data onto a slide and hoping some of it sticks. Instead think of your presentation as a story. You want to hook your audience to what youโre showing them and end with some sort of key takeaway or call to action. You need to put a lot of thought into not only the structure but also what data is actually important in the grand scheme and what data is just cool stuff for you.
Since thereโs a lot of different kinds of scientific presentations you can give letโs start with the basics. Who your audience is will determine a lot about how you should structure your presentation. Take a few minutes to fill out the chart below. I will use my own research as an example in the first few bars
1) Audience
| Audience | Prior knowledge | Big picture | Key takeaways |
| General public/students/postdocs not in my field | Probably not a lot | I study how bacteria communicate through small molecule signals and how we can use this system to prevent antibiotic resistance | Like us, bacteria have ways that they can talk to each other and sense their environment. |
| Students/postdocs (in my field) | A little but not the specifics | I study a specific set of molecules in E. coli that may act as second messengers | Weโre trying to figure out what pathways are controlled by these molecules and weโve found some interesting things |
| Professors | More background (sometimes even more than me) but not my methods and results | I study 2โ,3โ-cNMPs in E. coli and how they regulate various cellular functions including genes associated with antibiotic resistance. | Look at my data and how Iโm making progress towards my degree! |
| Policy makers | Not a lot, are busy will need to focus on big picture | I am looking at understudied signals in E. coli that may be able to prevent antibiotic resistance. | There are signals in bacteria that are not being studied that have potential with preventing antibiotic resistance. |
2) Mission Statement
Now that youโve figured out more about your audience next think about your mission statement. What is the overall purpose of your presentation?
There are four main parts to a mission statement:
- What is your research?
- How are your findings significant?
- Why do this research?
- What is the main takeaway/call to action?
Take a few minutes to write out your mission statement. As a guide here is mine for a presentation I gave at a conference a few years ago.
My research is focused on studying how bacteria communicate through small molecule signals. Antibiotic resistance is a rising problem throughout the world and while there has been a lot of exploration on modifying existing antibiotics, bacterial communication has been sorely understudied. Iโve been looking at a specific set of signals, 2โ,3โ-cNMPs, and how their presence alters different behaviors in E. coli. I have found that these signals affect numerous pathways associated with bacterial defense mechanisms which suggests these molecules could be used to prevent resistance to certain antibiotics. I have lots more data that Iโm not including in this talk, check out my poster to learn more cool things weโve discovered.
3) Presentation Structure
Okay so now you have two things. So now you know what information you want to give your audience and your mission statement. Now you can use these to create your story.
So one thing about storys. Every story has a beginning, a problem, a climax, and a solution. Scientific stories are no different. Every scientific story should have background, the gap in knowledge, how this gap is being studied, and whatโs been discovered so far. Fill out the following template as a sort of story board to see what you want to include in your presentation.
| Background | Knowledge Gap | Scientific process | Whatโs been discovered |
| Severity and consequences of antibiotic resistance Antibiotics that are widely prescribed Bacterial communication Second messenger systems | We donโt know what role 2โ,3โ-cNMPs have in the cell | Weโve analyzed transcriptome of E. coli cultures and have found that the presence of 2โ,3โ-cNMPs changes the expression of certain genes We tested these pathways and got these results (data) | Weโve found that 2โ,3โ-cNMPs play a role in these cellular processes but weโre still uncertain about the molecular details and want to do more work. |
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So as you can see your data actually only takes up a really small portion of your overall presentation. If you donโt set up the story, youโre basically giving the end of plot to an audience that has no clue whatโs going on. The amount of background you give will vary depending on your audience but itโs the most important part of your presentation. You need to set yourself up for an audience that is engaged and interested in what youโre about to present. Iโve seen very successful presentations, where Iโve learned A TON, and those presenters had maybe one slide that had a graph. Instead, they used the whole presentation to talk about big picture whatโs going on, while still communicating all of the labโs discoveries. It takes a lot of practice to get to this point though.
2 responses to “Structuring a scientific presentation”
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