November 4, 2024
A Scientist’s Guide to Presenting Complex Science Clearly
As a scientist, you know your science backward and forward, but conveying complex research clearly to mixed audiences—whether peers, investors, or potential partners—takes skill. Here’s a no-nonsense guide to making complex ideas stick without dumbing them down.
Quick Steps to a Clearer Presentation:
- Know your audience
- Structured around key takeaways
- Use visuals strategically
- Refine the details
1. Start with Who’s in the Room
Different audiences want different things, so before diving into details, consider who’s listening. This helps you focus on what matters most and skip the irrelevant parts.
- For Scientists: Go into methods, data, and implications. Provide analysis to show how your findings advance the field.
- For Investors: Focus on applications, market potential, and what sets your work apart. Investors are looking for ROI, not technical specs.
- For General Audiences: Avoid jargon. Show how your work impacts lives, advances healthcare, or drives tech forward.
Nailing this first step means everything else hits the mark because you’re speaking to what matters most to the audience.
2. Structure with Impact
Once you know your audience, map out your presentation like a story, moving from context to key takeaways to action. Here’s a straightforward way to structure it:
- Start with Context: Begin with a high-level overview that answers, Why should I care? Highlight the problem your research addresses and its relevance. Keep it concise to spark interest without overwhelming them.
- Drive Home Key Takeaways: Dive into the main points you want them to remember—ideally 2-4 essential ideas. Make these points stick with relatable techniques:
- Problem-Solution Flow: Frame your findings as a solution to a defined problem. This “beginning, middle, and end” approach keeps your ideas clear and cohesive.
- Humanize with Real Stories: Facts are important, but stories resonate. For example, instead of sharing stats on a disease, introduce a character: “Meet Abby, a curious seven-year-old who loves building san castles at the beach. She has a rare genetic condition that, without effective treatment, could soon limit her mobility and cognitive development, taking away the experiences she loves. Our research aims to change her story and other kids living with this condition.”
- Use Analogies: Compare complex ideas to something familiar. “Gene editing is like editing a sentence,” or “viral vectors are like delivery trucks bringing therapeutic genes right where they’re needed.” Analogies make technical ideas memorable.
- Problem-Solution Flow: Frame your findings as a solution to a defined problem. This “beginning, middle, and end” approach keeps your ideas clear and cohesive.
- Close with a Specific Action Step: End with a clear, actionable step tied to your presentation’s goal. Invite them to connect on LinkedIn, review your publication, or schedule a follow-up call. Make the next step easy and relevant.
When your presentation follows this flow, your audience can follow your ideas from start to finish, and your message hits home.
3. Let Visuals Do the Heavy Lifting
Have slides full of text? That is a fast track to losing your audience. Instead, use visuals to keep people engaged and let data stand out.
- Less Text, More Visuals: Keep text minimal—just keywords or short phrases—and let visuals do the talking.
- Data That Pops: Present data visually so insights jump out immediately.some text
- Efficacy Example: Show an 80% efficacy rate vs. a 10% industry standard with a simple bar chart.
- Process Example: If your process is 10x faster, highlight the improvement with a timeline or comparison chart.
- Highlight Complex Processes with Flowcharts: Flowcharts make pathways or steps easy to follow at a glance.
- Summarize with Infographics: Use simple infographics to provide a high-level overview of your main results, allowing your audience to grasp your findings quickly.
The less they’re reading, the more they’re listening. The right visuals make complex data clear and memorable without overload. Simple visual examples below.
4. Perfecting the Details
The small things might seem minor, but inconsistencies can distract from your science and even impact credibility. Here’s how to keep your presentation polished:
- Use Consistent Colors & Fonts: If your company has a template, stick to it. Frequent changes in fonts and colors are distracting rather than helpful. If you're in a pinch, here are some links to free templates:
- Set Consistent Margins: While slide content varies, the layout should remain stable. Imagine watching a movie where the screen keeps resizing—it’s frustrating and breaks focus. Keep margins consistent for a clean, stable look.
- Keep Font Sizes Uniform: Titles should all be the same size, as should the body text. This makes your presentation look cohesive and well-organized.
- Design with Accessibility in Mind: Avoid color combinations that may be difficult for colorblind viewers, and ensure the text is large enough for easy reading.
- Run Spell Check on Everything: Typos can make a big dent in professionalism. Remember to check both your slides and your notes for errors.
- Use White Space Wisely: White space around text and visuals make slides less cluttered and easier to read, helping your audience stay focused.
In Summary
These steps turn your presentation from a data dump into a journey your audience can follow and remember. Clear communication can amplify your work’s real-world impact, whether that means driving innovation, improving patient outcomes, or advancing technology.
Next time you present, try out these tips and see how they change the way your audience connects with your science.