Presentation Skills: Narrow the Focus of Your Topic

The Question:

How can I take a wealth of research or information and condense it into a 30-minute scientific talk?

Perhaps the most difficult part of any presentation is vetting the content. When you eat, drink, and live your topic, it’s hard to decide on the most important parts. And it’s easy to get tangled up in background information. After all, it’s your journey so the path you took to get the result seems important.

But is it? We all love an interesting background story and often the most captivating speakers are good at telling these. The great speakers, however, are the ones who take the interesting story or history and refine it to make it relevant to others.

The Answer:

Consider your audience. 

For everything you communicate, but especially when preparing scientific presentations, ask yourself:

• Who will be in my audience?
• What do they know about my topic?
• How will my research/idea/proposal affect them?
• What do they want to know? (If possible, ask them this question in an informal pre-presentation discussion.)

Here are a few important considerations for any presentation:

The Title:

The title should explain exactly what the speaker will present while indicating who should attend. For example, the topic, “Juvenile Diabetes” could cover anything from diagnosis to treatment. Potential attendees for this talk may pass since the title makes it sound too general. On the other hand, a more detailed approach, such as “Influence of an Early-Onset Age of Type 1 Diabetes on Cerebral Structure and Cognitive Function” delves into the research enough to offer a glimpse of exactly what the speaker plans to discuss and appeals to a specific group.

The Content:

Even with a specific title, many speakers feel compelled to spend the majority of their presentation giving “the back story.” Most often, the audience either already knows the history of the disease or doesn’t care to know it. Either way, is it relevant? For the “Early-Onset Age” talk above, the best approach might be to start with a case study, then delve into relevant statistics, treatment, and outcomes.

The Story:

The final word: narrow the focus of your topic as it applies to your audience. It will help you gather your thoughts, meet their needs, and give a compelling rather than boring presentation. Choose a few relevant examples to illustrate your points and weave them into the presentation. For example, use verbal cues to tell your story: “As you can see on this pie chart (fill in most relevant stat). Most patients present with these symptoms (name most important symptoms). One example of this phenomenon is (insert your story, case study, or example).”

Always keep an eye on the audience. As you prepare your slides and plan your presentation, ask yourself, “Is this relevant to my audience?” If your answer is “no,” ditch it.

Thanks for reading! 
Steph and Deborah

Please send questions or comments on communication, presentation, and writing skills to stephanie@listenwritepresent.com.

This blog is based on the Listen Write Present training series and book, Listen. Write. Present. The Elements for Communicating Science and Technology (Yale University Press, January 2012) by Stephanie Roberson Barnard and Deborah St James.