235  Before you Begin

235.1 Know your Audience

  • The best presenters put the interests of the audience first.
  • Impactful presentations engage the audience on a personal level.

235.2 Building a Character Sketch

Before you start making a presentation, it’s important to know who you’re making it for. Remember, your audience wants you to do a good a job – even if it’s only because nobody likes a bad presentation.

Respect your audience’s time by thinking about their needs. Consider the following questions carefully and build a character sketch of your audience.

For these exercises, think of an upcoming presentation that you have scheduled. This is the time to start preparing for it!

235.3 Who is in your audience?

Think about the background of the individual audience members. Aim to make the majority of the room understand your story.

  • Who is the least experienced person you need to address?
  • What is the scientific background of the audience?
  • How large will the audience be?
  • Do they already know (or know of) you?

235.4 A character sketch

A major pitfall of most scientific communication is to assume too much knowledge from the audience! Don’t talk down to them, but don’t assume everyone knows the details of your system either.

Write a character sketch of this audience. Try to be as specific as possible. e.g. instead is writing “biologists”, describe them in terms of their level of knowledge, familiarity and specialisation.

235.5 Key words

What are the key topics that interest this audience? These should be things that you can address in the context of your presentation. Remember, the things that interest your audience most may not be what you initially want them to be interested in. You have to tailor your presentation to the audience.

Now that you have an idea of who is in your audience, it’s time to think about their needs.

235.6 Why is this happening?

Why are you giving a presentation (i.e. what’s the occasion)? Why are people attending?

Are you presenting for a:

  • Lab progress report?
  • Conference talk?
  • Job interview?
  • Departmental retreat?
  • PhD defense?
  • Group of non-scientists?
  • Committee meeting?

Is the audience there because they are:

  • Genuinely interested?
  • A captive audience?

235.7 Your purpose

Describe why your presentation is taking place and why the audience is in attendance.

For the most part, scientific presentations are given to a captive audience (and by captive I don’t mean they captivated!). Think about all the presentations you’ve seen. What were the reasons that you, and your colleagues, were in the audience?

235.8 What will they get out of your presentation?

If you can imagine your presentation as a product, and the audience as consumers, why should they buy what you’re selling? Your audience wants to understand and be entertained by you.

  • What key take-home message do you want your audience to remember? This is the one thing that you want to be in their heads when the leave the room.

The most engaging presentations deliver on three levels. They give:

  • A clear, solvable problem, packaged in
  • A compelling story arc, leading to
  • A satisfying solution.

Does your take-home message reflect this story arc?

235.9 The Take-home Message

What is your key take-home message?

Having a clear take-home message is just as important for you as it is for the audience. It will guide all your decisions from here on out. That means all content and design choices will be made to support the overall take-home message.

235.10 When and where will the presentation take place?

If possible, familiarise yourself with the time and place for your presentation. Especially if you are in a new location and are not familiar with the room or technology. In addition to making yourself more comfortable, you can use this information to further refine your character sketch of the audience.

How would you handle the following situations:

  • The last talk before coffee break or the end of the day?
  • At the end of a multiple day meeting?
  • In a session that is going over time?

235.11 Setting

Describe the setting of your presentation.

Knowing where your presentation will take place can already aid in calming your nerves, but it’s also useful in thinking about how you’ll connect with the audience.

235.12 How will you connect with your audience?

Building a character sketch of your audience is the first step. Now, you must make a personal connection with them. In this workshop, we’ll begin developing your skills in the following three areas:

Body language
includes all non-verbal forms of communication, such as your posture, but also your gestures and voice. We’ll explore how to understand and use body language to not only make us more comfortable, but to also personally engage with the audience.
Story-telling
builds upon a solid structure to make impactful and memorable presentations.
Slide design
is an important visual complement to verbal descriptions.

All three aid in making a connection with your audience. As well see, much of what makes an outstanding presentation is a great connection with the audience. Let’s dig in!