Tips & Tricks for Presenting at a Scientific Meeting

Speaking in front of a crowd can be daunting, even for those not presenting complex research findings. If you’re anxious about presenting at AACC’s 2023 Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo, you’re not alone. About 40% of the population has glossophobia—anxiety about public speaking—according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

But sharing your work with colleagues doesn’t need to be a harrowing experience. We asked Mari DeMarco, PhD, DABCC, FADLM, FCACB, a clinical chemist at St. Paul’s Hospital and a clinical professor at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, for her advice.

Tell a story. Giving your presentation a narrative structure will engage the audience more than “just throwing up data points,” she said. When DeMarco is preparing a talk, she “thinks of the story I’m trying to walk the audience through, and what’s the conclusion I’m trying to arrive at.”

Prepare your materials. Make sure your slides are easy for the audience to read, DeMarco said. Slides with too much text, or text in small fonts, will disengage the audience. If you have a table with a lot of important data, DeMarco suggests thinking of “what are the key findings, and pull that out to make an easy-to-interpret graph,” she said. Unsure if a slide works? Ask a colleague to give you honest feedback. Additionally, DeMarco recommends rehearsing your presentation with slides beforehand and practicing in the presentation mode you will have to use at the event.

Get a lay of the land. If possible, check out the space where you’ll be speaking in advance of your presentation. Will you be sitting? Standing behind a lectern? Walking around the stage? What does the microphone look like? Will it be in a stand, your hands, or a clip that goes on your clothes? Not only can having this information help you decide what to wear (a clip-on microphone may not work with a necklace, for example), but it will ensure you’re not surprised by an unknown element right before you take the stage.

Practice in front of colleagues. Getting early feedback can sharpen your talk. Your test audience can help identify if you’re staring too much at your notes, hesitating at certain moments, or using filler words like “um” too often. “I had the unpleasant experience of someone taking notes on the number of times I repeated a word, and handing that in at the end of a presentation,” DeMarco said. That may not be the best way to give feedback (and she doesn’t recommend doing that to someone else), but it helped her recognize a shortcoming in her presentation skillset and work to remedy it.

Remember, you’re the star. It's natural to feel anxious before presenting, but don’t forget that “the audience is there because they want to learn from you,” DeMarco said. “So if you have nerves, just remember that the audience chose to attend your talk because they want to learn from an expert on the subject—you!”

Jen A. Miller is a freelance journalist who lives in Audubon, New Jersey. +Twitter: @byJenAMiller