A practical guide to better public speaking: part two

In part one, we covered confidence and connection for improving public speaking. My next three tips are the three criteria used in the science communication competition FameLab to mark the presentations: content, clarity, charisma. Taking part in FameLab (back in 2007!) was an eye-opening experience for me, as it was the first time I looked critically at my presentation material and asked myself: “Have I double-checked my sources? Have I verified that everything I am including in my presentation is accurate? If I was in the audience, why would I care about my content?” 

• What’s the story? Creative ways to communicate your research
• Amplifying research: five features of successful impact generation
• Get your research out there: 7 strategies for high-impact science communication

Their advice is to ask your family and friends to listen to your presentation and tell you what they understand, which I found very useful. I engaged with my grandmother, and she very kindly let me rehearse numerous times before the competition date (I might need to mention that her hearing was quite impaired, so talking to her also helped me learn how to project my voice). 

Content

Have you ever heard of the definition of a “natural” speaker? A natural speaker chooses a topic that excites a passion greater than the fear of speaking.

However, especially in a university or a school environment, you don’t always get to choose what to talk about. If this is the case, then my advice is to do your research, to really get to know your topic and to find an interesting point of view. This could be a narrative you create, an interesting prop or answering the “so what” question. Here are two examples from FameLab talks that bring to life what I mean by a natural speaker or an interesting point of view.

Clarity

In my opinion, in order to express your ideas clearly, you need to have deeply understood what you are talking about. This brings us back to content – understand your content and then try to communicate it to someone who hasn’t heard about it before. Afterwards, make sure to ask for specific feedback: What do they like about your presentation? Can they understand everything? Is something unclear and needs changing? What would their top three suggestions be to make it clearer? 

Clarity is also about the language that you use: 

• Keep it simple
• Remember that the spoken language is different than the written language 
• Use many verbs and active voice
• Cut off anything that’s not necessary from your sentence
• Don’t use jargon
• Try to speak clearly, without mumbling
• Make pauses and find a comfortable talking rhythm.

One more thing to consider is how much time you have and how much you can realistically talk about without losing your audience. It is good practice to have one main message and to keep reinforcing it after every section of your talk. What is the one thing you want your audience to take away from your talk?

Handle your numbers graciously and don’t be afraid to sacrifice precise details that slow your flow. Use scale to put things into perspective. For instance, to show the difference in scale between a thousand, a million and a billion, I enjoy asking this question:

“Did you know that 1,000 seconds is around 16 minutes, a million seconds is around 11 days and a billion seconds is around 32 years?”

A great way to ruin it would be to get into unnecessary detail – for example, “16.67 minutes equals 16 minutes and 40 seconds.”

Another way to handle numbers is with comparisons. A nanometre is a billionth of a metre. This is extremely small. How small? Comparing a nanometre to a metre is like comparing a tennis ball with planet Earth. 

Charisma

Charisma is perhaps easier to witness than to describe. It is that little something that you will remember afterwards. It is usually a mixture of things, including the content and clarity mentioned above, as well as the creativity that goes into a presentation, the body language and the storytelling. My biggest tip for this one is to be authentic. What do you find engaging in a conversation? What is the main idea you want to communicate that actually excites you? What would be the best way to visualise it for your audience and make it personal?

Body language

While you are talking, what is your body saying? We know body language is a very important part of the delivery. In fact, it can make all the difference, as it helps people hear what you are saying and focus. Here are some things to consider:

• Voice: These videos are from the Wellcome Trust Collection, created for the exhibition “This is a Voice”. Explore pitch and articulation.
• Posture and stance: When presenting, the way you stand can help you deliver your message or can take away all focus from it. Imagine for a minute a speaker pacing up and down throughout the entire talk – would it help you to concentrate on what they are talking about? What would be better and feel natural to you? My go-to moves are moving slowly between specific points of my stage and stopping to add emphasis.
• Eye contact: Making eye contact is an important part of your presentation. If you don’t, it feels like you are ignoring your audience and odds are that they will react to this by not paying attention. Concentrate on a few friendly faces but don’t single out anyone. If you are not comfortable making eye contact, you can look just above their head.

Storytelling

Human beings have been telling stories since the beginning of time. It’s a fundamental way of sharing information, feelings and ideas. And you can use it as a tool to make your presentation stand out. You can have your talk built as a story, or you can have a short story in your talk. 

The three basic elements of a story are the plot, the characters and the setting. 

Plot 

A story needs to have a beginning, a middle and an end. It starts by stating the current status of the world and the way things have always been done. Then something happens that creates a change. A problem needs to be solved. The middle part of the story shows how this is going to happen, and the outcome will define how the world will be from now on. The new status is your finale.

There are many different plot structures, some of my favourite ones being “Overcoming the Monster” (the protagonist must defeat or escape from a powerful antagonist), “The Quest” where the protagonist has a mission or a goal to pursue and the “Rebirth” where the protagonist undergoes a transformation. Sophie Bashforth, at the London FameLab Final in 2018 at the Science Museum, wanted to talk about her research in accelerators. She chose an interesting point of view and a quest plot, and she narrated beautifully how a murder was solved using the particle accelerator as a microscope to collect evidence. 

Characters 

Take some time to think of some of your favourite characters in fiction. Then try to break them down. Who are they? What motivates them? Think about their personalities, their values, their attitudes. What are their interests? What does their life look like?  

I still remember a video produced for School Lab, the Greek version of FameLab for schools, where the pupils had created larger-than-life characters to represent viruses, bacteria and white cells. They staged an epic, flamboyant battle to show how our immune system fights the intruders. 

Setting 

The setting of a story can be very varied. It goes beyond time and location; it includes the atmosphere, the social conditions and the environmental factors. Some stories are defined by the setting. For example, Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity is defined by its setting: the vastness of space. The whole story was about surviving in extreme circumstances and the setting was, in a sense, the big antagonist of the story. 

Here are two TED talks about fictional worlds and heroes to get you started. 

Sharing your ideas with the world

There is no standard formula for an arresting presentation, but I hope you might have found my advice useful and thought-provoking. My last tip is that if you structure your presentation around a big idea you want to communicate, then your presentation will be effective and powerful. 

If you’d like to get started in a friendly, supportive environment that offers training and networking, you can apply to compete in FameLab. Applications for the 2025 competition are still open until 30 January.

Anna Christodoulou is the senior knowledge exchange manager at the University of Westminster.