There are usually three steps for giving an excellent research talk: designing the presentation (not slides), creating the materials (e.g., slides), and rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal! Do not just open PowerPoint and start to make slides without carefully thinking about how you are going to give the talk. Remember that you are presenting your ideas, not slides; slides, or any other tools or materials, are there to assist the speaker. Always keep in mind that “Presenting is a fundamentally different form of communication than writing.” Do not just copy and paste tables and figures from your paper to the slides or move text in the paper into bullet points (even worse into paragraphs).

Designing your presentation

Almost every great speaker will advise you to know your objectives and audience before crafting the presentation. Asher proposes the “Speechworks Formula” with the following steps:

1. Come up with a message objective (MO).
2. Come up with no more than three points in support your MO.
3. Determine the evidence to support each of your three points and all subpoints.
4. Determine your hook.
5. Determine your wrap-up.

This formula is suitable for all kinds of presentations from a three-minute elevator pitch to a one-hour research talk. The underlying logical structure is critical and that is why you start with designing your talk but not your slides.

<aside> 📖 *Even a Geek Can Speak by J. Asher*

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Schwabish advocates speakers to think about the below questions and follow these steps when making a presentation (which shares a similar vein as the above formula):

1. What type of presentation are you giving?
2. Who is your audience?
3. What is the headline message of your presentation?
4. What do you want your audience to do with your conclusions?
5. Craft your opening statement.
6. Craft your closing statement.