Kickstart Your Research 2018: Successful Presenting: Sharing your research

Successful Presenting

Academic research is not conducted to be kept to ourselves. Rather, researchers must present their work in both oral and written formats in various kinds of public arenas. In this module we will workshop effective oral presentation skills, including powerpoints, the use of notes, and being a good audience member.

Sharing your research

Many people become quite nervous when they have to speak in public. In fact, this task is often cited as people’s greatest fear! However, the fact of the matter is that when you are dealing in research, as all of us are, we must disseminate it. Research is not designed to be kept to ourselves, and we must distribute it somehow. One of the most common forms of disseminating your research is through the oral presentation, in the form of seminars, lectures, and conference papers. You will have to give many of these throughout your career – your upcoming assignment is just the first of many! What I hope you’ll get out of this module is an understanding of what makes for an effective research presentation – effective not only for your audience, in terms of their understanding of what you have presented, but also for yourself, since audience feedback is one of the most valuable tools you will have in developing and refining any research project.