Selected strategies from PresentBetter programming

10+ Years, 500+ Workshops & 10,000+ Researchers Trained

Small Group Workshop Sign-Up

Some Helpful Content Development Keys

This is a fillable pdf to help develop a 2 sentence description of your work. What may heave been referred to as your WAIAD statement: What Am I Actually Doing.

And here's 3 more worksheets to help you then develop the talk:

Remember: find an opening that will both trigger curiosity to know more and be useful foreshadowing for the rest of the talk. The right opening sets the stage in a way that is much more effective than your biography and a table of contents. Weave those in as you go. — Remember: find an opening that will both trigger curiosity to know more *and* be useful foreshadowing for the rest of the talk. The right opening sets the stage in a way that is much more effective than your biography and a table of contents. Weave those in as you go.

Start with goals and then work backwards through memory, comprehension and finally feeling to become more strategically aware about your content development and the style in which you want to deliver. This sheet helps you prioritize the specifics of each presentation.

Sample Trajectory for moving from WAIAD statement to a talk trajectory that doesn't start with background.

Change your relationship with your slides:

Try to move away from the slides being so central to your presentation. Remember people come to your presentation to hear from you, not to watch you narrate a slide deck.

Practical strategies for building more effective slides

Keys for better delivery:

Yes you need to be professional and objective. But you also need to be engaging and credible. For both authenticity is the answer. We want glimpses of the human behind the research--not so much it feels like you're acting, but enough so we feel like we genuinely know a bit about how you feel.

All done from a solid base: how and where you stand establishes your confident presence.

And, remember, your voice comes from your body. Learn to move your body effectively, and your voice will follow.

Voice trajectory gif: how we learn to move out of the monotone middle

Remember the audience wants more than just the confident, professional middle. We want glimpses of the human behind the research. We need to hear about some of the highs and lows in order for your presentation to come alive.

And last but not least:

Better managing speaking anxiety

Two things here:

an intro to some big picture thoughts on speaking anxiety with a link to a personal story of a PhD who overcame it (click on pic),
a Newsletter I wrote with research based strategies to help better manage speaking anxiety (link button) .

Link to 3 research based strategies for decreasing speaking anxiety

Lesson Module

The PresentBetter Newsletter

Where Great Research Meets Great Communication

With sign-up, as bonus I'll send you immediate, free access to my new masterclass series: Presenting Better On Camera. Then, every other week, you'll get the newsletter focused on tackling a specific presentation issue with research based, experience proven strategies.

For Researchers - Maximize every talk, thesis defense, or keynote—so your work gains the recognition, interest and support it deserves.

For Supervisors - Equip your research team with advanced presentation skills, ensuring they represent your lab’s excellence wherever they speak.