best research presentation

Princeton Correspondents on Undergraduate Research

How to Make a Successful Research Presentation

Turning a research paper into a visual presentation is difficult; there are pitfalls, and navigating the path to a brief, informative presentation takes time and practice. As a TA for  GEO/WRI 201: Methods in Data Analysis & Scientific Writing this past fall, I saw how this process works from an instructor’s standpoint. I’ve presented my own research before, but helping others present theirs taught me a bit more about the process. Here are some tips I learned that may help you with your next research presentation:

More is more

In general, your presentation will always benefit from more practice, more feedback, and more revision. By practicing in front of friends, you can get comfortable with presenting your work while receiving feedback. It is hard to know how to revise your presentation if you never practice. If you are presenting to a general audience, getting feedback from someone outside of your discipline is crucial. Terms and ideas that seem intuitive to you may be completely foreign to someone else, and your well-crafted presentation could fall flat.

Less is more

Limit the scope of your presentation, the number of slides, and the text on each slide. In my experience, text works well for organizing slides, orienting the audience to key terms, and annotating important figures–not for explaining complex ideas. Having fewer slides is usually better as well. In general, about one slide per minute of presentation is an appropriate budget. Too many slides is usually a sign that your topic is too broad.

Limit the scope of your presentation

Don’t present your paper. Presentations are usually around 10 min long. You will not have time to explain all of the research you did in a semester (or a year!) in such a short span of time. Instead, focus on the highlight(s). Identify a single compelling research question which your work addressed, and craft a succinct but complete narrative around it.

You will not have time to explain all of the research you did. Instead, focus on the highlights. Identify a single compelling research question which your work addressed, and craft a succinct but complete narrative around it.

Craft a compelling research narrative

After identifying the focused research question, walk your audience through your research as if it were a story. Presentations with strong narrative arcs are clear, captivating, and compelling.

• Introduction (exposition — rising action)

Orient the audience and draw them in by demonstrating the relevance and importance of your research story with strong global motive. Provide them with the necessary vocabulary and background knowledge to understand the plot of your story. Introduce the key studies (characters) relevant in your story and build tension and conflict with scholarly and data motive. By the end of your introduction, your audience should clearly understand your research question and be dying to know how you resolve the tension built through motive.

• Methods (rising action)

The methods section should transition smoothly and logically from the introduction. Beware of presenting your methods in a boring, arc-killing, ‘this is what I did.’ Focus on the details that set your story apart from the stories other people have already told. Keep the audience interested by clearly motivating your decisions based on your original research question or the tension built in your introduction.

• Results (climax)

Less is usually more here. Only present results which are clearly related to the focused research question you are presenting. Make sure you explain the results clearly so that your audience understands what your research found. This is the peak of tension in your narrative arc, so don’t undercut it by quickly clicking through to your discussion.

• Discussion (falling action)

By now your audience should be dying for a satisfying resolution. Here is where you contextualize your results and begin resolving the tension between past research. Be thorough. If you have too many conflicts left unresolved, or you don’t have enough time to present all of the resolutions, you probably need to further narrow the scope of your presentation.

• Conclusion (denouement)

Return back to your initial research question and motive, resolving any final conflicts and tying up loose ends. Leave the audience with a clear resolution of your focus research question, and use unresolved tension to set up potential sequels (i.e. further research).

Use your medium to enhance the narrative

Visual presentations should be dominated by clear, intentional graphics. Subtle animation in key moments (usually during the results or discussion) can add drama to the narrative arc and make conflict resolutions more satisfying. You are narrating a story written in images, videos, cartoons, and graphs. While your paper is mostly text, with graphics to highlight crucial points, your slides should be the opposite. Adapting to the new medium may require you to create or acquire far more graphics than you included in your paper, but it is necessary to create an engaging presentation.

The most important thing you can do for your presentation is to practice and revise. Bother your friends, your roommates, TAs–anybody who will sit down and listen to your work. Beyond that, think about presentations you have found compelling and try to incorporate some of those elements into your own. Remember you want your work to be comprehensible; you aren’t creating experts in 10 minutes. Above all, try to stay passionate about what you did and why. You put the time in, so show your audience that it’s worth it.

For more insight into research presentations, check out these past PCUR posts written by Emma and Ellie .

— Alec Getraer, Natural Sciences Correspondent

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Top 10 Research Presentation Templates with Examples and Samples

Simran Shekhawat

Research organizes all your thoughts, suggestions, findings and innovations in one area that postulates to determining the future applicability. A crucial part of strategic planning is research. It aids organizations in goal setting, decision-making, and resource allocation. Research allows us to uncover and discover many segments of society by establishing facts and generating data that effectively determine future outcomes and progress.

Here's an ultimate guide to conduct market research! Click to know more!

Research primarily comprises gathering and analysing information about consumer behaviour, industry dynamics, economic conditions, and other elements that affect how markets and businesses behave in the context of understanding market trends. Understanding market trends requires market research, which is likely to be successful. Research can reveal prospective market dangers and difficulties, enabling organizations to create backup plans and decide on market entry or expansion with more excellent knowledge. By understanding market trends, businesses can create marketing and advertising efforts that resonate with their target audience. 

Learn about product market research templates. Click here .

Additionally, it aids in determining the best customer-reach methods. Businesses can better satisfy market demands by customizing their products or services by studying consumer behaviours, preferences, and feedback. Assessing Market Size and Potential research can shed light on a market's size, potential for expansion, and competitive environment. Businesses aiming to expand or enter new markets need to know this information.

SlideTeam introduces you with their newly launch research templates that has been extensively built to enhance the quality of company’s research and development area by forging to bring answers related to every ‘how’ and ‘why’. The sole purpose of these is to inform, gather information and contributes towards the development and knowledge about the field of study. These templates are professionally design to disseminate knowledge to provide better judgements.

Template 1: Clinical Research Trial PowerPoint Template

Use this premium PPT template to captivate your audience. Download this well-created template to raise your presenting threshold. Establish your milestones with workflows designed to ease the overburdening of tasks. State clear-cut objectives to specify your aim and deliver a timeline. Use these 58-page PowerPoint slides to launch your product success and deliver a presentation that awakes the audience with your research performance and goals.

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Template 2: Company Stock Analysis and Equity Research Report Slide

Uncover impacts about the stock markets and analyze company-related specific and general equity design using this ready-made template. Understanding the technicality of maintenance and presentation of stocks and equity research, we at SlideTeam have designed an equity research PowerPoint slide to ease your presentation load. This presentation aims to analyze the target company's financial performance, ratios, and financial model to welcome investment in the company. Provide an extensive company summary, income statement, balance sheet, vertical and horizontal analysis, organization shareholding structure, SWOT analysis, and share price performance throughout history through this template.

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Template 3: IT Services Research and Development Template

Showcase the power of your company's services, expertise achievement and future goals using this PPT template. This PPT slide provides you with a summary, key statistics, targets, and overview of your IT service Company. Allow this template to lay out values mission, categorize solutions, and enlist a range of services provided along with expenditure incurred on Research development. The deck also includes a business model canvas that depicts the company's historical development, global reach, management team, organizational structure, employee breakdown, and ownership structure.

Template 4: Research Proposal Steps PowerPoint Template

If you are looking to learn how to draft a research proposal, this slide is the ultimate fit for a newbie to comprehend about - 'what', 'where', and 'how' of research. Download this slide to learn about the format and structure of the research proposal. Use this template to illustrate the goal of the research proposal. Furthermore, our PPT sample file aids in instructing students on how to write a research proposal. Furthermore, you may quickly persuade the audience about the proposal's limitations, objectives, and research gap.

Template 5: Research Proposal for Thesis Template

Provide a clear idea and concise summary of your research with the help of this premium template. A well-written thesis statement frequently paves the way for discussion and debate. It can be the foundation for academic dialogue, enabling others to interact with and challenge your ideas—essential for developing knowledge across all disciplines. Your thesis statement will determine the depth of your study and conclusion while enabling you to attract your targeted audience.

Template 6: Market Research PowerPoint Template

To understand the trends and techniques of market structure, companies need to be aware of the trends and to enable that, and market research is one such profitable asset to invest in to allow numerous investments from companies across. Use this template to highlight the key drivers of growth that define the ultimate indicators of market trends. Use this PPT slide to solve marketing issues and make company decisions, incorporating polished business analysis PPT visuals. Get this template to connect business operations with your company's strategic goals.

Template 7: Establish Research Objective Template

For an effective and meaningful research, clarity is essential. Deploy this template to facilitate that research objectives should specify the precise goals and targets of the study to assist in limiting its scope. To ensure the study's readability and comprehensibility, SlideTeam has crafted a flowchart template design to help you elucidate the study's objective, providing a basis for measuring and evaluating the success of well-defined research. Define and design your research with the help of this four-stage design pattern.

Template 8:  A Company Research Venn Chart Presentation

Establish relationships between the sets and groups of data while comparing and contrasting the company's research analysis. This template is helpful as it helps to understand the abstract, objectives, limitations, methodologies, research gap, etc., of the research effectively while focusing on postulating future recommendations and suggestions.

Template 9: Sample Research Paper Outline in a One-Pager Summary Presentation

How effortless it is to study a research paper without turning several pages? Grab this PPT template to research any topic and jot down your findings in a simple and concise format. Most importantly, a significant amount of their precious time can now be dedicated to critical tasks, aiding them in accelerating the research process. This incredibly well-curated one-pager template includes information about the introduction, problem, literature review, suggestions, and conclusions.

Template 10: Big Data Analytics Market Research Template

Deploy this template to introduce your company's extensive data analysis to understand the industry landscape, identify objectives, and make informed business decisions. Use this template slide to determine the current market size and growth rate. Consider the variables influencing this expansion, such as the rising volume of data produced and the demand for data-driven insights. Give information about the big data analysis market's prospects for the future. Over the coming few years, forecast growth trajectories, rising technologies, and market dynamics. Recognize the intended client base's demographics. Summarize your research and include suggestions for companies wishing to enter or grow in the big data analysis market.

PS: Provide an extensive statistical analysis for your research with this template. Check out now!

Refine your Research with SlideTeam.

SlideTeam introduces to its extensively built research templates that not only refines your search capability but also contributes towards the authenticity and development of your organization. It helps you to uncover veils of possibilities of growth while determining the bottlenecks and deriving appropriate solutions for future deliverables.

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PS: Provide an extensive statistical analysis for your research with this template . Check out now!

FAQs on Research Presentation

What is a research presentation.

Research Presentation is a visual representation of an individual or a team's observational findings or invocation in a particular subject.

What are the steps in research presentation?

To effectively convey your research findings to your audience, various phases are involved in creating a research presentation. Whether you're giving a presentation at a conference or a business meeting,

• Define your audience - Identify your audience's interests and level of knowledge. Make sure to adjust your presentation to fit their wants and needs.
• Outline What You Present - Create a clear structure with an introduction, three main ideas, and a conclusion. Choose the most essential points you want your audience to remember.
• Research and Data Collection - Gather and arrange the pertinent information, facts, and proof. Make sure your sources are reliable and current.
• Develop Visuals - To improve understanding, create visual aids like slides, charts, graphs, and photographs. Keep visuals straightforward, clutter-free, and with a distinct visual hierarchy.
• Get Your Audience Active - Take advantage of storytelling, anecdotes, or pertinent instances to draw in your audience. If appropriate, encourage audience participation and questions during the lecture.
• Present your argument - Start with a compelling introduction. Follow your outline while ensuring a logical and obvious flow.
• Keep an open line of communication, communicate clearly, and change your tone and pace. Improve your communication by making gestures and using body language. Respond to comments and questions as they come up or after the presentation.
• Recap and Draw a Conclusion - Summarize the core ideas and principal conclusions. Reiterate the importance of your study and its consequences.

How do you research a topic for a presentation?

To begin with, the idea of research presentation, choosing topics that align with your expertise and knowledge is the first and foremost. After understanding the topic, collect core factual and empirical data for proper understanding. After gauging information, it creates a place for every subtopic that must be introduced.

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7 Best Practices to a Standout Research Presentation

After months of rigorous analysis, interpretation, and synthesis, your research findings are ready to change the world (or at least your corner of it). 

Now comes the next challenge: how do you translate your complex insights into a compelling research presentation that not only informs but captivates your audience? 

Keep reading for tips and best practices to create a research presentation as confident as your findings.

Pro tip : Get your free Piktochart account before you scroll down. This way, you can immediately put our tips to practice as you read along. Alternatively, you can hop over to our AI presentation maker and find more examples of professional research presentation decks.

Keep your pen and paper handy so you can take notes!

What exactly happens during a research presentation? 

When you present your research, you share what you’ve been working on and what you found out. 

You start by explaining why your topic matters, then walk your audience through how you went about investigating it. Then, you share your results, often with visuals to make things clear. You wrap up by recapping your main points, talking about what your findings and their relevance, and pointing out any questions that still need to be answered. 

In a nutshell, your research presentation is a way to get your work out there, get people talking, and maybe even gain new perspectives.

How long is a typical research presentation? 

The ideal length of a research presentation depends on the specific context, audience, and purpose. Here’s a general guideline:

• Short and sweet (10-15 minutes): Perfect for giving your audience a taste of your research and sparking their interest.
• Standard fare (20-30 minutes): Enough time to dive deeper into your methods and findings, ideal for most academic settings.
• Deep dive (45-60+ minutes): A comprehensive look at your work. This is best for specialized audiences who want all the details of your research.

How about an AP research presentation? How long should it be?

The official time limit for an AP (Advanced Placement) Research presentation is 15 to 20 minutes. But here’s a quick tip: you won’t want to use every second of that. Effective presenters often aim for the lower end of this range because shorter yet well-organized presentations hold attention and leave room for questions.

Aim for an AP research presentation that’s around 12-15 minutes, leaving a few minutes for questions or discussion. This keeps things engaging and shows you respect your audience’s time. As you’ll see later below, some of the best winning presentations we’ve found online are just 3 minutes long!

Speaking of, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of designing successful, effective research presentations.

Beyond bullet points: How to create research presentations that stand out

First time presenters often fall into the trap of relying on endless bullet points and dry recitations of data. As tempting as this sounds to effectively organize your presentation, it can often look like you’ve just copied and pasted your paper into the slides, and you’ll end up reading off them verbatim.

Here are some best practices with accompanying research presentation examples to help you go beyond bullet points and leave a lasting impression the next time you present your research. 

1. Develop a narrative for your research.

Let’s be honest, nobody wants to sit through a data dump disguised as a presentation. Instead, think of your research as a compelling story. Every good story has the following elements:

• Exposition: Set the scene for your research. What’s the problem you’re tackling? Why is your topic important? Use this section to create a compelling rationale that resonates with your audience’s interests or the broader implications of your work.
• Rising action (The challenge): Build tension and intrigue. What challenges did you face? What unexpected twists and turns did your research take? This is where you describe your research approach and the obstacles encountered, giving you a chance to inject some excitement into the research while demonstrating your problem-solving skills.
• Climax (Results): Reveal your findings! This is the moment your audience has been waiting for. This is the best time to use visuals to make your results memorable.
• Falling Action (Unpacking the results)): Help your audience make sense of your results. What are the broader implications? Are there potential applications, policy impacts, or do the results advance the theoretical understanding in your field?
• Resolution: Wrap it up with a satisfying conclusion. What are the next steps? What questions remain unanswered? End your presentation on a high note. Summarize your key takeaways, offer a call to action, or pose thought-provoking questions for future research. This leaves your audience wanting more.

A great example of a research presentation following a narrative arc is this 3-minute presentation by Shannon Lea Watkins of the University of California San Francisco. It won 1st place (Poster Presentation category) for APPAM’s (Association for Public Analysis and Management) 2017 Fall Research Conference.

The presentation skillfully introduces the research question, “Does initiating tobacco use with flavored products predict current smoking status? An examination by race, gender, and sexual identity,” and builds anticipation for the findings. The subsequent discussion of the research’s implications also effectively engages the audience and highlights its significance. 

In just 3 minutes, the presenter communicated the core message using clear language and highlighted the key takeaways.

2. Use a font size that is legible from a distance.

Imagine your grandmother sitting in the back row. Would she be able to read your slides comfortably?

If not, it’s time to bump up your presentation slide’s font size. A good rule of thumb is to use a minimum font size of 24 points for body text and 36 points for headings.

In addition, white space is your friend. Don’t overcrowd your slides with too much text. Instead, use concise bullet points, phrases, or keywords to guide your narrative. This will keep your audience focused on your story and not squinting to read tiny texts. 

Dr. Oliver Hauser’s presentation of his winning paper on “Minority Report: A Modern Perspective on Reducing Unethical Behavior in Organizations” is a good example of a presentation with legible text. The black text on a white background also creates excellent contrast which makes the text easily readable.

3. Choose your fonts carefully. 

Now that you’ve taken care of your presentations’ font size, let’s talk about font types. So what’s the best font for research presentations? 

When choosing the right font for your research presentation, consider the “personality” of different fonts and choose ones that align with your research’s tone and topic. For example, serif fonts are traditional and classic, while sans serif fonts are modern and clean. 

It also helps to prioritize legibility over style, especially for body text. Finally,  don’t be afraid to mix and match fonts for visual interest.

Here’s a pro tip from Stephanie Lee , Lead Designer at Piktochart: 

“An important factor to consider when choosing fonts to use is to ensure it has good readability. Roboto is a good font to consider for presentations, it’s a reliable font that’s versatile in that it can be used for both headings and body copy. It’s a great option if you need your design to look professional & modern.”

If you want to get creative, consider exploring less common fonts that still maintain readability. Some popular choices include:

• Futura : A geometric sans serif font with a modern feel.
• Raleway : A versatile sans serif font that works well for both headings and body text.
• Libre Baskerville : A classic serif font with excellent readability.
• Poppins : A geometric sans serif font with a friendly and approachable vibe.

Recommended reading : 14 Fonts That Make Your PowerPoint Presentations Stand Out

How about font pairings for presentations?

Here are some general tips to help you with font pairings and create a professional and visually-appealing research presentation:

• Pair a serif font with a sans serif font: This classic combination offers a nice contrast between traditional and modern styles.
• Use a bold or decorative font for headings and a simple font for body text: This creates a clear hierarchy and helps your audience navigate your content.
• Limit your font choices to two or three: Using too many fonts can make your presentation look cluttered and unprofessional.

And here are some popular font pairings you can try when making your own presentation :

Classic and readable

• Heading: Georgia or Merriweather (serif)
• Body: Arial or Helvetica (sans-serif)

This combination is timeless and easy on the eyes. It works well for formal presentations and those with a lot of text.

Modern and clean

• Heading: Montserrat or Lato (sans-serif)
• Body: Open Sans or Roboto (sans-serif)

These fonts are sleek and contemporary. They are suitable for presentations with a minimalist design and those targeting a younger audience.

Creative and engaging

• Heading: Playfair Display or Lobster (serif)
• Body: Raleway or Oswald (sans-serif)

This pairing is visually interesting and can help capture attention. This combo is ideal for creative presentations and those focused on design or storytelling.

With Piktochart, finding the right font for your presentation is very straightforward. You’ve got many options right at your fingertips, and you can even upload your own if you want to make it more custom. This makes it easier to customize your research presentation slides and make them look sharp!

4. Choose a color palette that complements your presentation.

Your presentation slides’ color scheme sets the mood of your presentation and can even influence how your audience perceives your message. Here are some pointers to help you pick the righ t color palette :

Match it to your topic

The colors you choose should reflect the tone of your research. Calming blues and green palette combinations might work for a mental health presentation, while fiery reds and oranges could be better for discussing climate change.

Keep it simple

Don’t overwhelm your audience with a rainbow of colors. Following the rule of 3 is a safe approach; stick to a primary color, a secondary color, and maybe an accent color.

Consider color psychology

The color you choose for your presentation can evoke emotions. For example, blue often signifies trust while green can represent growth.

Here are some more examples to get you started:

• Scientific and academic: Use white, gray, black, with a pop of blue or green.
• Business and corporate: Use blues, grays, and a touch of gold.
• Creative and artistic: Go for vibrant colors like orange, yellow, or turquoise.
• Nonprofit and social Impact: Opt for earthy tones like brown or green, with a warm accent like orange.

If you’re still not sure if you can get your presentation’s color scheme right, Piktochart makes it easier for you with its Color Schemes feature. It allows you to apply a set of colors to your entire presentation slide in one click.

Piktochart offers two types of Color Schemes for your presentations:

• Suggested: These are pre-designed palettes curated by Piktochart’s designers and are available in most templates. Access them by clicking on the “Colors” option in the editor.
• Brand: Business plan users can create custom color schemes with up to six colors. These can be manually created or extracted from an image. To create a brand color scheme, go to “Brand” and click on “Create Brand Color Scheme”.

You can edit both types of color schemes by clicking the pencil icon. 

This AP research presentation by Madeline Hart showcases the link between birth order and overall creativity. 

Notice how Madeline incorporates vivid colors into her slides. Vivid colors like orange and yellow green are associated with creativity, energy, and enthusiasm. By using these colors, Madeline subtly reinforces her presentation’s theme and creates a visually stimulating experience for her audience.

In addition, while Madeline uses pops of color, her overall slide design likely remains clean and uncluttered. This allows her audience to focus on the content without being overwhelmed by excessive visuals or text. 

5. Guide your audience with smooth, engaging transitions

Transitions should enhance, not overpower, your presentation. Smooth transitions between slides can make your presentation feel polished and professional. Avoid abrupt jumps or jarring effects. Use subtle fades, slides, or dissolves to maintain a sense of flow and continuity.  It’s also worth noting that shorter transitions may feel energetic, while longer ones create a thoughtful atmosphere.

The good news is that Piktochart offers a range of slide transitions to improve the flow and visual appeal of your presentation. Here are some transition effects you can try:

• None: A simple, static transition with no animation.
• Default: Piktochart’s standard transition, usually a subtle fade or slide.
• Concave: A unique transition where the previous slide appears to bend inwards as the next slide takes its place.
• Fade: A gradual transition where the previous slide fades out as the next slide fades in.
• Linear: A simple, horizontal slide transition.
• Zoom: A dynamic transition where the next slide appears to zoom in from a distance.

Experiment with these transitions to find what best suits your research presentation. Learn more about these Piktochart transitions.

6. Remember the 5/5/5 Rule

The 5/5/5 Rule in presentation design is a simple yet powerful guideline designed to prevent your slides from becoming overwhelming walls of text. Here’s a breakdown of the rule:

• 5 lines of text: Aim to keep the text on each slide to a maximum of five lines. This helps prevent information overload and ensures that your key points are easily digestible.
• 5 words per line: Limit each line of text to approximately five words. This makes your slides easier to read and prevents your audience from getting lost in long sentences or complex ideas.
• 5 text-heavy slides: Avoid presenting more than five consecutive slides that are predominantly text-based. Break up the monotony with visuals, graphs, or interactive elements to maintain audience engagement.

Can you break the 5/5/5 Rule? Of course! It’s a guideline, not a law.

There may be times when you need to exceed these limits, such as when presenting complex data or detailed information. However, always strive for clarity and conciseness. If you must include a lot of text, consider using bullet points, breaking up the information into multiple slides, or providing handouts for your audience to reference later.

7. Test your presentation slides on different devices

Your meticulously crafted presentation might look flawless on your laptop screen, but that doesn’t guarantee it will translate well to other viewing environments like on a projector or smartphone.

Testing your slides on various devices is crucial because screen sizes, resolutions, and even operating systems can drastically alter how your presentation appears.

Here’s a quick checklist you can use:

• Your laptop/desktop
• Projector (if using)
• Smartphone (iOS and Android)
• Tablet (iPad or Android)
• Check in both standard and presentation modes.
• Zoom in and out to simulate different viewing distances.
• Test in different web browsers if you’re using online presentation software .
• Get feedback from others viewing your presentation on their devices.

Testing your research presentation on different devices is easy with Piktochart, thanks to its handy share URL feature. With just a few clicks, you can generate a unique link to your presentation and easily share it with colleagues, friends, or anyone else you’d like to get feedback from.

Here’s how it works:

• Create your presentation in Piktochart.
• Click the “Share” button.
• Select “Public on the Web” and click “Copy Link”
• Send the URL to your reviewers.

They can then access your presentation on their own devices and give valuable feedback on how it looks and functions across different screen sizes and platforms. It’s a simple, efficient way to ensure your presentation is polished and accessible to all audiences.

Make impactful research presentations slides with Piktochart

We’ve covered a lot of ground on how to turn your research into a presentation that’ll grab your audience’s attention and leave a lasting impact.

The takeaway here is it’s not just about the facts and figures—it’s about telling a story, being mindful of your fonts, smooth transitions, and keeping things concise. Testing your slides on different devices is a pro move too.

Don’t let your research findings go unnoticed—use Piktochart’s presentation maker to create impactful and thoughtful research presentations. Get your Piktochart free plan if you haven’t yet!

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Home Blog Presentation Ideas How to Create and Deliver a Research Presentation

How to Create and Deliver a Research Presentation

Every research endeavor ends up with the communication of its findings. Graduate-level research culminates in a thesis defense , while many academic and scientific disciplines are published in peer-reviewed journals. In a business context, PowerPoint research presentation is the default format for reporting the findings to stakeholders.

Condensing months of work into a few slides can prove to be challenging. It requires particular skills to create and deliver a research presentation that promotes informed decisions and drives long-term projects forward.

Table of Contents

What is a Research Presentation

Key slides for creating a research presentation, tips when delivering a research presentation, how to present sources in a research presentation, recommended templates to create a research presentation.

A research presentation is the communication of research findings, typically delivered to an audience of peers, colleagues, students, or professionals. In the academe, it is meant to showcase the importance of the research paper , state the findings and the analysis of those findings, and seek feedback that could further the research.

The presentation of research becomes even more critical in the business world as the insights derived from it are the basis of strategic decisions of organizations. Information from this type of report can aid companies in maximizing the sales and profit of their business. Major projects such as research and development (R&D) in a new field, the launch of a new product or service, or even corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives will require the presentation of research findings to prove their feasibility.

Market research and technical research are examples of business-type research presentations you will commonly encounter.

In this article, we’ve compiled all the essential tips, including some examples and templates, to get you started with creating and delivering a stellar research presentation tailored specifically for the business context.

Various research suggests that the average attention span of adults during presentations is around 20 minutes, with a notable drop in an engagement at the 10-minute mark . Beyond that, you might see your audience doing other things.

How can you avoid such a mistake? The answer lies in the adage “keep it simple, stupid” or KISS. We don’t mean dumbing down your content but rather presenting it in a way that is easily digestible and accessible to your audience. One way you can do this is by organizing your research presentation using a clear structure.

Here are the slides you should prioritize when creating your research presentation PowerPoint.

1.  Title Page

The title page is the first thing your audience will see during your presentation, so put extra effort into it to make an impression. Of course, writing presentation titles and title pages will vary depending on the type of presentation you are to deliver. In the case of a research presentation, you want a formal and academic-sounding one. It should include:

• The full title of the report
• The date of the report
• The name of the researchers or department in charge of the report
• The name of the organization for which the presentation is intended

When writing the title of your research presentation, it should reflect the topic and objective of the report. Focus only on the subject and avoid adding redundant phrases like “A research on” or “A study on.” However, you may use phrases like “Market Analysis” or “Feasibility Study” because they help identify the purpose of the presentation. Doing so also serves a long-term purpose for the filing and later retrieving of the document.

Here’s a sample title page for a hypothetical market research presentation from Gillette .

2. Executive Summary Slide

The executive summary marks the beginning of the body of the presentation, briefly summarizing the key discussion points of the research. Specifically, the summary may state the following:

• The purpose of the investigation and its significance within the organization’s goals
• The methods used for the investigation
• The major findings of the investigation
• The conclusions and recommendations after the investigation

Although the executive summary encompasses the entry of the research presentation, it should not dive into all the details of the work on which the findings, conclusions, and recommendations were based. Creating the executive summary requires a focus on clarity and brevity, especially when translating it to a PowerPoint document where space is limited.

Each point should be presented in a clear and visually engaging manner to capture the audience’s attention and set the stage for the rest of the presentation. Use visuals, bullet points, and minimal text to convey information efficiently.

3. Introduction/ Project Description Slides

In this section, your goal is to provide your audience with the information that will help them understand the details of the presentation. Provide a detailed description of the project, including its goals, objectives, scope, and methods for gathering and analyzing data.

You want to answer these fundamental questions:

• What specific questions are you trying to answer, problems you aim to solve, or opportunities you seek to explore?
• Why is this project important, and what prompted it?
• What are the boundaries of your research or initiative? 
• How were the data gathered?

Important: The introduction should exclude specific findings, conclusions, and recommendations.

4. Data Presentation and Analyses Slides

This is the longest section of a research presentation, as you’ll present the data you’ve gathered and provide a thorough analysis of that data to draw meaningful conclusions. The format and components of this section can vary widely, tailored to the specific nature of your research.

For example, if you are doing market research, you may include the market potential estimate, competitor analysis, and pricing analysis. These elements will help your organization determine the actual viability of a market opportunity.

Visual aids like charts, graphs, tables, and diagrams are potent tools to convey your key findings effectively. These materials may be numbered and sequenced (Figure 1, Figure 2, and so forth), accompanied by text to make sense of the insights.

5. Conclusions

The conclusion of a research presentation is where you pull together the ideas derived from your data presentation and analyses in light of the purpose of the research. For example, if the objective is to assess the market of a new product, the conclusion should determine the requirements of the market in question and tell whether there is a product-market fit.

Designing your conclusion slide should be straightforward and focused on conveying the key takeaways from your research. Keep the text concise and to the point. Present it in bullet points or numbered lists to make the content easily scannable.

6. Recommendations

The findings of your research might reveal elements that may not align with your initial vision or expectations. These deviations are addressed in the recommendations section of your presentation, which outlines the best course of action based on the result of the research.

What emerging markets should we target next? Do we need to rethink our pricing strategies? Which professionals should we hire for this special project? — these are some of the questions that may arise when coming up with this part of the research.

Recommendations may be combined with the conclusion, but presenting them separately to reinforce their urgency. In the end, the decision-makers in the organization or your clients will make the final call on whether to accept or decline the recommendations.

7. Questions Slide

Members of your audience are not involved in carrying out your research activity, which means there’s a lot they don’t know about its details. By offering an opportunity for questions, you can invite them to bridge that gap, seek clarification, and engage in a dialogue that enhances their understanding.

If your research is more business-oriented, facilitating a question and answer after your presentation becomes imperative as it’s your final appeal to encourage buy-in for your recommendations.

A simple “Ask us anything” slide can indicate that you are ready to accept questions.

1. Focus on the Most Important Findings

The truth about presenting research findings is that your audience doesn’t need to know everything. Instead, they should receive a distilled, clear, and meaningful overview that focuses on the most critical aspects.

You will likely have to squeeze in the oral presentation of your research into a 10 to 20-minute presentation, so you have to make the most out of the time given to you. In the presentation, don’t soak in the less important elements like historical backgrounds. Decision-makers might even ask you to skip these portions and focus on sharing the findings.

2. Do Not Read Word-per-word

Reading word-for-word from your presentation slides intensifies the danger of losing your audience’s interest. Its effect can be detrimental, especially if the purpose of your research presentation is to gain approval from the audience. So, how can you avoid this mistake?

• Make a conscious design decision to keep the text on your slides minimal. Your slides should serve as visual cues to guide your presentation.
• Structure your presentation as a narrative or story. Stories are more engaging and memorable than dry, factual information.
• Prepare speaker notes with the key points of your research. Glance at it when needed.
• Engage with the audience by maintaining eye contact and asking rhetorical questions.

3. Don’t Go Without Handouts

Handouts are paper copies of your presentation slides that you distribute to your audience. They typically contain the summary of your key points, but they may also provide supplementary information supporting data presented through tables and graphs.

The purpose of distributing presentation handouts is to easily retain the key points you presented as they become good references in the future. Distributing handouts in advance allows your audience to review the material and come prepared with questions or points for discussion during the presentation. Also, check our article about how to create handouts for a presentation .

4. Actively Listen

An equally important skill that a presenter must possess aside from speaking is the ability to listen. We are not just talking about listening to what the audience is saying but also considering their reactions and nonverbal cues. If you sense disinterest or confusion, you can adapt your approach on the fly to re-engage them.

For example, if some members of your audience are exchanging glances, they may be skeptical of the research findings you are presenting. This is the best time to reassure them of the validity of your data and provide a concise overview of how it came to be. You may also encourage them to seek clarification.

5. Be Confident

Anxiety can strike before a presentation – it’s a common reaction whenever someone has to speak in front of others. If you can’t eliminate your stress, try to manage it.

People hate public speaking not because they simply hate it. Most of the time, it arises from one’s belief in themselves. You don’t have to take our word for it. Take Maslow’s theory that says a threat to one’s self-esteem is a source of distress among an individual.

Now, how can you master this feeling? You’ve spent a lot of time on your research, so there is no question about your topic knowledge. Perhaps you just need to rehearse your research presentation. If you know what you will say and how to say it, you will gain confidence in presenting your work.

All sources you use in creating your research presentation should be given proper credit. The APA Style is the most widely used citation style in formal research.

In-text citation

Add references within the text of your presentation slide by giving the author’s last name, year of publication, and page number (if applicable) in parentheses after direct quotations or paraphrased materials. As in:

The alarming rate at which global temperatures rise directly impacts biodiversity (Smith, 2020, p. 27).

If the author’s name and year of publication are mentioned in the text, add only the page number in parentheses after the quotations or paraphrased materials. As in:

According to Smith (2020), the alarming rate at which global temperatures rise directly impacts biodiversity (p. 27).

Image citation

All images from the web, including photos, graphs, and tables, used in your slides should be credited using the format below.

Creator’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Image.” Website Name, Day Mo. Year, URL. Accessed Day Mo. Year.

Work cited page

A work cited page or reference list should follow after the last slide of your presentation. The list should be alphabetized by the author’s last name and initials followed by the year of publication, the title of the book or article, the place of publication, and the publisher. As in:

Smith, J. A. (2020). Climate Change and Biodiversity: A Comprehensive Study. New York, NY: ABC Publications.

When citing a document from a website, add the source URL after the title of the book or article instead of the place of publication and the publisher. As in:

Smith, J. A. (2020). Climate Change and Biodiversity: A Comprehensive Study. Retrieved from https://www.smith.com/climate-change-and-biodiversity.

1. Research Project Presentation PowerPoint Template

A slide deck containing 18 different slides intended to take off the weight of how to make a research presentation. With tons of visual aids, presenters can reference existing research on similar projects to this one – or link another research presentation example – provide an accurate data analysis, disclose the methodology used, and much more.

Use This Template

2. Research Presentation Scientific Method Diagram PowerPoint Template

Whenever you intend to raise questions, expose the methodology you used for your research, or even suggest a scientific method approach for future analysis, this circular wheel diagram is a perfect fit for any presentation study.

Customize all of its elements to suit the demands of your presentation in just minutes.

3. Thesis Research Presentation PowerPoint Template

If your research presentation project belongs to academia, then this is the slide deck to pair that presentation. With a formal aesthetic and minimalistic style, this research presentation template focuses only on exposing your information as clearly as possible.

Use its included bar charts and graphs to introduce data, change the background of each slide to suit the topic of your presentation, and customize each of its elements to meet the requirements of your project with ease.

4. Animated Research Cards PowerPoint Template

Visualize ideas and their connection points with the help of this research card template for PowerPoint. This slide deck, for example, can help speakers talk about alternative concepts to what they are currently managing and its possible outcomes, among different other usages this versatile PPT template has. Zoom Animation effects make a smooth transition between cards (or ideas).

5. Research Presentation Slide Deck for PowerPoint

With a distinctive professional style, this research presentation PPT template helps business professionals and academics alike to introduce the findings of their work to team members or investors.

By accessing this template, you get the following slides:

• Introduction
• Problem Statement
• Research Questions
• Conceptual Research Framework (Concepts, Theories, Actors, & Constructs)
• Study design and methods
• Population & Sampling
• Data Collection
• Data Analysis

Check it out today and craft a powerful research presentation out of it!

A successful research presentation in business is not just about presenting data; it’s about persuasion to take meaningful action. It’s the bridge that connects your research efforts to the strategic initiatives of your organization. To embark on this journey successfully, planning your presentation thoroughly is paramount, from designing your PowerPoint to the delivery.

Take a look and get inspiration from the sample research presentation slides above, put our tips to heart, and transform your research findings into a compelling call to action.

Like this article? Please share

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Research Voyage

Research Tips and Infromation

12 Proven Tips to Make an Effective Research Presentation as an Invited Speaker

Guidance from an Experienced Mentor

The evolution of my presentation skills, what is there in this post for you, research presentation tip #1: start confidently, research presentation tip #2: eye to eye contact with the audience, research presentation tip #3: welcome your audience, research presentation tip #4: adjust your voice.

•  Research Presentation Tip #5: Memorize your Opening Line
• Research Presentation Tip #6:  Use the words  “ 'Think for while', 'Imagine', 'Think of', 'Close Your Eyes' ”

Research Presentation Tip #7: Story Telling

Research presentation tip #8: facts and statistics.

• Research Presentation Tip #9: Power of "Pause"

Research Presentation Tip #10: Quote a Great Researcher

Research presentation tip #11: begin with a video, research presentation tip #12: avoid using filler words, side benefits of giving great research presentations, how should i dress for my invited talk at a research conference, can i share my conference presentation slides after my talk with the audience, shall i entertain questions in between my presentation as an invited speaker to a research conference, can you give some tips for a successful q&a session:.

• How to handle questions where I don't know the answers in my presentation?

Introduction

In this blog post, I’ll be sharing with you some invaluable tips for delivering an effective research presentation, drawn from my own journey through academia. These tips are not just theoretical; they’re the result of my own experiences and the guidance I received along the way.

When I first embarked on my PhD journey, the prospect of presenting my research to an audience filled me with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. Like many researchers, I was eager to share my findings and insights, but I lacked the confidence and experience to do so effectively.

It wasn’t until I had been immersed in my research for nearly a year, clarifying my domain, objectives, and problem statements, that I was presented with an opportunity to speak about my work. However, despite my preparation, I found myself struggling to convey my ideas with clarity and confidence.

Fortunately, I was not alone in this journey. At the event where I was scheduled to present my research, there was another presenter—an experienced professor—who took notice of my nerves and offered his guidance. He generously shared with me a set of tips that would not only improve my presentation that day but also become the foundation for my future presentations.

As I incorporated these tips into my presentations, I noticed a remarkable improvement in my ability to engage and inform my audience. Each tip—from starting confidently to utilizing storytelling and incorporating facts and statistics—contributed to a more polished and impactful presentation style.

As an invited speaker, delivering an effective research presentation is essential to engage and inform your audience. A well-crafted presentation can help you communicate your research findings, ideas, and insights in a clear, concise, and engaging manner.

However, many presenters face challenges when it comes to delivering a successful presentation. Some of these challenges include nervousness, lack of confidence, and difficulty connecting with the audience.

In this article, we will discuss tips to help you make an effective research presentation as an invited speaker. We will cover strategies to prepare for your presentation, ways to deliver your presentation with confidence and impact, and common mistakes to avoid.

By following these tips, you can improve your presentation skills and create a compelling and engaging talk that resonates with your audience.

Tips to Make an Effective Research Presentation

• Tip 1: Start confidently
• Tip 2: Eye To Eye Contact With the Audience
• Tip 3: Welcome Your Audience
• Tip 4: Adjust your Voice
• Tip 5: Memorize your Opening Line
• Tip 6:  Use the words  “ ‘Think for while’, ‘Imagine’, ‘Think of’, ‘Close Your Eyes’ ”
• Tip 7: Story Telling
• Tip 8: Facts and Statistics
• Tip 9: Power of “Pause”
• Tip 10: Quote a Great Researcher
• Tip 11: Begin with a Video
• Tip 12: Avoid using Filler Words

Starting your presentation confidently is essential as it sets the tone for the rest of your presentation. It will help you grab your audience’s attention and make them more receptive to your message. Here are a few ways you can start confidently.

• Begin with a self-introduction: Introduce yourself to the audience and establish your credibility. Briefly mention your educational background, your professional experience, and any relevant achievements that make you an authority on the topic. For example, “Good morning everyone, my name is John and I’m a researcher at XYZ University. I have a Ph.D. in molecular biology, and my research has been published in several reputable journals.”
• Introduce the topic: Clearly state the purpose of your presentation and provide a brief overview of what you’ll be discussing. This helps the audience understand the context of your research and what they can expect from your presentation. For example, “Today, I’ll be presenting my research on the role of DNA repair mechanisms in cancer development. I’ll be discussing the current state of knowledge in this field, the methods we used to conduct our research and the novel insights we’ve gained from our findings.”
• Start with a strong opening statement: Once you’ve introduced yourself and the topic, start your presentation confidently with a statement that captures the audience’s attention and makes them curious to hear more. As mentioned earlier, you could use a strong opening statement, a powerful visual aid, or show enthusiasm for your research. For example:
• “Have you ever wondered how artificial intelligence can be used to predict user behaviour? Today, I’ll be sharing my research on the latest AI algorithms and their potential applications in the field of e-commerce.”
• “Imagine a world where cybersecurity threats no longer exist. My research is focused on developing advanced security measures that can protect your data from even the most sophisticated attacks.”
• “Think for a moment about the amount of data we generate every day. My research focuses on how we can use machine learning algorithms to extract meaningful insights from this vast amount of data, and ultimately drive innovation in industries ranging from healthcare to finance.”

By following these steps, you’ll be able to start your research presentation confidently, establish your credibility and expertise, and create interest in your topic.

Speaking confidently as an invited speaker can be a daunting task, but there are ways to prepare and feel more confident. One such way is through practising yoga. Yoga is a great tool for reducing stress and anxiety, which can be major barriers to confident public speaking.

By practising yoga, you can learn to control your breathing, calm your mind, and increase your focus and concentration. All of these skills can help you feel more centred and confident when it’s time to give your presentation.

If you’re interested in learning more about the benefits of yoga, check out our blog post on the subject YOGA: The Ultimate Productivity Hack for Ph.D. Research Scholars and Researchers .

If you’re ready to dive deeper and start your own yoga practice, be sure to download my e-book on :

Unlock Your Research Potential Through Yoga: A Research Scholar’s Companion

A large number of audiences in the presentation hall make you feel jittery and lose your confidence in no time. This happens because you are seeing many of the audience for the first time and you don’t know their background and their knowledge of the subject in which you are presenting.

The best way to overcome this fear is to go and attack the fear itself. That is come at least 10-15 minutes early to the conference room and start interacting with the people over there. This short span of connectivity with a few of the audience will release your tension.

When you occupy the stage for presenting,  the first thing you need to do is gaze around the room,  establish one-to-one eye contact, and give a confident smile to your audience whom you had just met before the start of the presentation.

Just gazing around the presentation hall will make you feel connected to everyone in the hall. Internally within your mind choose one of the audience and turn towards him/her make eye contact and deliver a few sentences, then proceed to the next audience and repeat the same set of steps.

This will make everyone in the room feel that you are talking directly to them. Make the audience feel that you are engaging with them personally for this topic, which makes them invest fully in your topic.

The third tip for making an effective research presentation is to welcome your audience. This means taking a few minutes to greet your audience, introduce yourself, and set the tone for your presentation. Here are a few ways you can welcome your audience:

• Greet your audience: Start by greeting your audience with a smile and a warm welcome. This will help you establish a connection with your audience and put them at ease.
• Introduce yourself: Introduce yourself to the audience and give a brief background on your expertise and how it relates to your presentation. This will help your audience understand your qualifications and why you’re the right person to be delivering the presentation.
• Explain the purpose of your presentation: Explain to your audience why you’re presenting your research and what they can expect to learn from your presentation. This will help your audience understand the context of your research and what they can expect from your presentation.
• Set the tone: Set the tone for your presentation by giving a brief overview of your presentation structure and what your audience can expect throughout your presentation. This will help your audience understand what to expect and keep them engaged.

Here are a few examples of how you can welcome your audience:

• If you’re presenting to a group of industry professionals, welcome them by acknowledging their expertise and experience. This will show that you value their knowledge and experience.
• If you’re presenting to a group of students or academics, welcome them by acknowledging their interest in your research area. This will help you establish a connection with your audience and show that you’re excited to share your research with them.
• If you’re presenting to a mixed audience, welcome them by acknowledging their diversity and the different perspectives they bring to the presentation. This will help you set an inclusive tone and show that you’re open to different viewpoints.

Overall, welcoming your audience is an important aspect of delivering an effective research presentation. It helps you establish a connection with your audience, set the tone for your presentation, and keep your audience engaged throughout your presentation.

In my earlier days of presentations, I just used to go on stage and start my presentations without greeting anyone. Later I learned stage etiquette with the help of my fellow research scholars and underwent  professional etiquette courses .

The fourth tip for making an effective research presentation is to adjust your voice. This means using your voice effectively to convey your message and engage your audience. Here are a few ways you can adjust your voice during your research presentation:

• Speak clearly: Speak clearly and enunciate your words so that your audience can understand what you’re saying. Avoid speaking too fast or mumbling, which can make it difficult for your audience to follow your presentation.
• Use a varied pace: Use a varied pace to keep your audience engaged. Speak slowly and clearly when you’re making important points, and speed up when you’re discussing less important points. This will help you maintain your audience’s attention throughout your presentation.
• Use a varied pitch: Use a varied pitch to convey emotion and emphasize important points. Lower your pitch when you’re discussing serious or important topics, and raise your pitch when you’re excited or enthusiastic.
• Use pauses: Use pauses to emphasize important points and give your audience time to reflect on what you’re saying. Pausing also helps to break up your presentation and make it easier for your audience to follow.

Here are a few examples of how you can adjust your voice during your research presentation:

• If you’re discussing a complex or technical topic, speak slowly and clearly so that your audience can understand what you’re saying. Use pauses to emphasize important points and give your audience time to reflect on what you’re saying.
• If you’re discussing an exciting or enthusiastic topic, raise your pitch and use a varied pace to convey your excitement to your audience. This will help you engage your audience and keep them interested in your presentation.
• If you’re discussing a serious or emotional topic, lower your pitch and use a slower pace to convey the gravity of the situation. Use pauses to emphasize important points and give your audience time to process what you’re saying.

Overall, adjusting your voice is an important aspect of delivering an effective research presentation. It helps you convey your message clearly, engage your audience, and keep their attention throughout your presentation.

Many researchers are less talkative and speak with a very low voice and this makes their concepts unheard by other researchers. To overcome this drawback, they go for  vocal coaching  to improve their voice modulation.

 Research Presentation Tip #5: Memorize your Opening Line

The fifth tip for making an effective research presentation is to memorize your opening line. This means having a powerful and memorable opening line that will grab your audience’s attention and set the tone for your presentation. Here are a few ways you can create a memorable opening line:

• Use a quote or statistic: Start your presentation with a powerful quote or statistic that relates to your research. This will grab your audience’s attention and show them why your research is important.
• Use a story or anecdote: Use a personal story or anecdote to illustrate the importance of your research. This will help you connect with your audience on an emotional level and show them why your research is relevant to their lives.
• Ask a question: Ask your audience a thought-provoking question that relates to your research. This will help you engage your audience and get them thinking about your topic.

Once you’ve created a memorable opening line, it’s important to memorize it so that you can deliver it confidently and without hesitation. Here are a few examples of powerful opening lines:

• “In the United States, someone dies of a drug overdose every seven minutes. Today, I want to talk to you about the opioid epidemic and what we can do to prevent it.”
• “When I was a child, my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Today, I want to share with you the latest research on Alzheimer’s and what we can do to slow its progression.”
• “Have you ever wondered why some people are more resilient than others? Today, I want to talk to you about the science of resilience and how we can use it to overcome adversity.”

Overall, memorizing your opening line is an important aspect of delivering an effective research presentation. It helps you grab your audience’s attention, set the tone for your presentation, and establish your credibility as a speaker.

Remembering the concepts at the right time and in the right sequence is critical for every researcher. Few of my research scholars face the problem of forgetting everything once they reach the stage for presentation. To overcome this difficulty I gift them with one of my favourite books on improving memory power:    “Limitless  by Jim Quick” .  This book has changed many lives. You can also try.

Research Presentation Tip #6:  Use the words  “ ‘Think for while’, ‘Imagine’, ‘Think of’, ‘Close Your Eyes’ ”

The sixth tip for making an effective research presentation is to use specific phrases that encourage your audience to think, imagine, and engage with your presentation. Here are a few examples of phrases you can use to encourage your audience to engage with your presentation:

• “Think for a moment about…” This phrase encourages your audience to reflect on a particular point or idea that you’ve just discussed. For example, “Think for a moment about the impact that climate change is having on our planet.”
• “Imagine that…” This phrase encourages your audience to visualize a particular scenario or idea. For example, “Imagine that you’re living in a world without access to clean water. How would your daily life be affected?”
• “Think of a time when…” This phrase encourages your audience to reflect on their own experiences and relate them to your presentation. For example, “Think of a time when you felt overwhelmed at work. How did you manage that stress?”
• “Close your eyes and picture…” This phrase encourages your audience to use their imagination to visualize a particular scenario or idea. For example, “Close your eyes and picture a world without poverty. What would that look like?”

By using these phrases, you can encourage your audience to actively engage with your presentation and think more deeply about your research. Here are a few examples of how you might incorporate these phrases into your presentation:

• “Think for a moment about the impact that our use of plastics is having on our environment. Each year, millions of tons of plastic end up in our oceans, harming marine life and polluting our planet.”
• “Imagine that you’re a scientist working to develop a cure for a deadly disease. What kind of research would you conduct, and what challenges might you face?”
• “Think of a time when you had to overcome a significant challenge. How did you persevere, and what lessons did you learn from that experience?”
• “Close your eyes and picture a world where renewable energy is our primary source of power. What benefits would this have for our planet, and how can we work together to make this a reality?”

Overall, using phrases that encourage your audience to think and engage with your presentation is an effective way to make your research presentation more impactful and memorable.

The seventh tip for making an effective research presentation is to incorporate storytelling into your presentation. Storytelling is a powerful way to connect with your audience, illustrate your points, and make your research more engaging and memorable.

People love stories, but your story has to be relevant to your research. You can craft a story about an experience you had and tell how you could able to define your research problem based on the experience you had.  This makes your presentation both interesting and incorporates information about the work you are carrying out. 

Storytelling or sharing your own experience is the best way to connect with your audience.  Many researchers use this technique and it remains one of the most critical pieces to becoming an effective presenter.

Here are a few examples of how you can incorporate storytelling into your presentation:

• Personal stories: Use a personal story to illustrate the importance of your research. For example, if you’re researching a new cancer treatment, you might share a story about a friend or family member who has been affected by cancer. This personal connection can help your audience relate to your research on a more emotional level.
• Case studies: Use a case study to illustrate how your research has been applied in the real world. For example, if you’re researching the impact of a new educational program, you might share a case study about a school that has implemented the program and seen positive results.
• Historical examples: Use a historical example to illustrate the significance of your research. For example, if you’re researching the impact of climate change, you might share a story about the Dust Bowl of the 1930s to illustrate the devastating effects of drought and soil erosion.
• Analogies: Use an analogy to explain complex concepts or ideas. For example, if you’re researching the workings of the brain, you might use the analogy of a computer to help your audience understand how neurons communicate with each other.

By incorporating storytelling into your presentation, you can help your audience connect with your research on a more personal level and make your presentation more memorable. Here are a few examples of how you might incorporate storytelling into your presentation:

• “When my mother was diagnosed with cancer, I felt helpless and afraid. But thanks to the groundbreaking research that is being done in this field, we now have more treatment options than ever before. Today, I want to share with you the latest research on cancer treatments and what we can do to support those who are fighting this disease.”
• “Imagine for a moment that you’re a small business owner trying to grow your online presence. You’ve heard that search engine optimization (SEO) is important for driving traffic to your website, but you’re not sure where to start. That’s where my research comes in. By analyzing millions of search queries, I’ve identified the key factors that search engines use to rank websites. Using this information, I’ve developed a new algorithm that can help businesses like yours optimize their websites for better search engine rankings. Imagine being able to reach more customers and grow your business, all thanks to this new algorithm. That’s the power of my research.”

In these examples, the speaker is using storytelling to help the audience understand the real-world impact of their research in a relatable way. By framing the research in terms of a relatable scenario, the speaker is able to engage the audience and make the research feel more relevant to their lives. Additionally, by highlighting the practical applications of the research, the speaker is able to demonstrate the value of the research in a tangible way.

Here I recommend without any second thought “ Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals  ” by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic. This is one of the powerful techniques to showcase data in the form of graphs and charts.

The eighth tip for making an effective research presentation is to incorporate facts and statistics into your presentation. Facts and statistics can help you communicate the significance of your research and make it more compelling to your audience.

Make your audience curious about your topic with a fact they didn’t know. Explaining the importance of your topic to your audience is essential. Showcasing data and statistics to prove a point remains a critical strategy not just at the beginning but also throughout.  Statistics can be mind-numbing but if there is some compelling information that can help further the conversation.

Here are a few examples of how you might use facts and statistics in your research presentation:

• Contextualize your research: Use statistics to provide context for your research. For example, if you’re presenting on the prevalence of a particular disease, you might start by sharing statistics on how many people are affected by the disease worldwide.
• Highlight key findings: Use facts and statistics to highlight the key findings of your research. For example, if you’re presenting on new drug therapy, you might share statistics on the success rate of the therapy and how it compares to existing treatments.
• Support your arguments: Use facts and statistics to support your arguments. For example, if you’re arguing that a particular policy change is needed, you might use statistics to show how the current policy is failing and why a change is necessary.
• Visualize your data: Use graphs, charts, and other visual aids to help illustrate your data. This can make it easier for your audience to understand the significance of your research. For example, if you’re presenting on the impact of climate change, you might use a graph to show the rise in global temperatures over time.

Here’s an example of how you might use facts and statistics in a research presentation:

“Did you know that over 80% of internet users own a smartphone? That’s a staggering number when you think about it. And with the rise of mobile devices, it’s more important than ever for businesses to have a mobile-friendly website. That’s where my research comes in.

By analyzing user behaviour and website performance data, I’ve identified the key factors that make a website mobile-friendly. And the results are clear: mobile-friendly websites perform better in search engine rankings, have lower bounce rates, and are more likely to convert visitors into customers. By implementing the recommendations from my research, businesses can improve their online presence and reach more customers than ever before.”

In this example, the speaker is using statistics to provide context for their research (the high prevalence of smartphone ownership) and to support their argument (that businesses need to have mobile-friendly websites).

By emphasizing the benefits of mobile-friendly websites (better search engine rankings, lower bounce rates, and higher conversion rates), the speaker is able to make the research more compelling to their audience. Finally, by using concrete examples (implementing the recommendations from the research), the speaker is able to make the research feel actionable and relevant to the audience.

In my blog posts on the benefits of using graphs and tables in research presentations, I have presented different ways that these tools can enhance the impact and effectiveness of your research presentation. By incorporating graphs and tables, you can help your audience to engage more deeply with your research and better grasp the significance of your findings. To learn more about the benefits of using graphs and tables in research presentations, check out my blog posts listed below, on the subject.

• Maximizing the Impact of Your Research Paper with Graphs and Charts
• Best Practices for Designing and Formatting Tables in Research Papers

You can also refer the book “Information Visualization: An Introduction” for getting more clarity on the representation of facts and statistics.

Research Presentation Tip #9: Power of “Pause”

The ninth tip for making an effective research presentation is to use the power of “pause.” Pausing at key moments in your presentation can help you emphasize important points, allow your audience to process information, and create a sense of anticipation.

We are all uncomfortable when there is a pause.  Yet incorporating pause into your presentation can be a valuable tool causing the audience to be attentive to what you are going to say next.

A pause is an effective way to grab attention. There are two ways you might use this technique. After you are introduced, walk on stage and say nothing. Simply pause for three to five seconds and wait for the full attention of the audience. It’s a powerful opening. Depending on the audience, you might need to pause for longer than five seconds.

At another point in your presentation, you might be discussing the results or you are about to provide important information, that’s when you pause to grab attention. You’ll probably feel uncomfortable when you first try this technique, but it’s worth mastering.

Here are a few examples of how you might use the power of the pause in your research presentation:

• Emphasize key points: Pause briefly after making an important point to allow your audience to absorb the information. For example, if you’re presenting on the benefits of a new product, you might pause after stating the most compelling benefits to give your audience time to reflect on the information.
• Create anticipation: Pause before revealing a key piece of information or making a surprising statement. This can create a sense of anticipation in your audience and keep them engaged. For example, if you’re presenting on the results of a study, you might pause before revealing the most surprising or unexpected finding.
• Allow time for reflection: Pause after asking a thought-provoking question to give your audience time to reflect on their answer. This can help create a more interactive and engaging presentation. For example, if you’re presenting on the impact of social media on mental health, you might pause after asking the audience to reflect on their own social media use.
• Control the pace: Use pauses to control the pace of your presentation. Pausing briefly before transitioning to a new topic can help you signal to your audience that you’re about to move on. This can help prevent confusion and make your presentation more organized.

Here’s an example of how you might use the power of the pause in a research presentation:

“Imagine being able to reduce the risk of heart disease by 50%. That’s the potential impact of my research. By analyzing the diets and lifestyles of over 10,000 participants, I’ve identified the key factors that contribute to heart disease. And the results are clear: by making a few simple changes to your diet and exercise routine, you can significantly reduce your risk of heart disease. So, what are these changes? Pause for effect. It turns out that the most important factors are a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, regular exercise, and limited alcohol consumption.”

In this example, the speaker is using the pause to create anticipation before revealing the most important findings of their research. By pausing before revealing the key factors that contribute to heart disease, the speaker is able to create a sense of anticipation and emphasize the importance of the information. By using the power of the pause in this way, the speaker is able to make their research presentation more engaging and memorable for the audience.

The tenth tip for making an effective research presentation is to quote a great researcher. By including quotes from respected researchers or experts in your field, you can add credibility to your presentation and demonstrate that your research is supported by other respected professionals.

Quoting someone who is a well-known researcher in your field is a great way to start any presentation.  Just be sure to make it relevant to the purpose of your speech and presentation.  If you are using slides, adding a picture of the person you are quoting will add more value to your presentation.

Here are a few examples of how you might use quotes in your research presentation:

• Begin with a quote: Starting your presentation with a quote from a respected researcher can help set the tone and establish your credibility. For example, if you’re presenting on the benefits of exercise for mental health, you might begin with a quote from a well-known psychologist or psychiatrist who has researched the topic.
• Use quotes to support your argument: Including quotes from experts who support your argument can help reinforce your ideas and add credibility to your presentation. For example, if you’re presenting on the importance of early childhood education, you might include a quote from a respected educational psychologist who has studied the topic.
• Challenge conventional wisdom: Including quotes from experts who challenge conventional wisdom can help you make a more compelling argument and stand out from other presenters. For example, if you’re presenting on the effects of technology on social interaction, you might include a quote from a respected sociologist who argues that technology can actually improve social connections.
• Add a personal touch: Including quotes from researchers who have inspired you personally can help you connect with your audience and add a more personal touch to your presentation. For example, if you’re presenting on the importance of diversity in the workplace, you might include a quote from a researcher who has inspired you to pursue your own research on the topic.

Here’s an example of how you might use a quote in a research presentation:

“As the great psychologist Abraham Maslow once said, ‘What a man can be, he must be.’ This quote perfectly captures the essence of my research on human potential. By analyzing the lives of highly successful individuals, I’ve identified the key factors that contribute to success. And the results are clear: by cultivating a growth mindset, setting ambitious goals, and surrounding yourself with supportive people, you can unlock your full potential and achieve greatness.”

In this example, the speaker is using a quote from a respected psychologist to support their argument about human potential. By including the quote, the speaker is able to add credibility to their presentation and demonstrate that their research is supported by other respected professionals in the field. By using quotes in this way, the speaker is able to make their research presentation more engaging and persuasive for the audience.

The eleventh tip for making an effective research presentation is to begin with a video. Using a video at the beginning of your presentation can capture the audience’s attention and help establish the theme of your talk

Video remains a powerful mechanism to begin a presentation.  Limit your videos to 2–3 minutes. People like video, and it can capture their attention, but they can also tire of it easily.  It gives the presenter and the attendees a break from each other. Sometimes, you just look for visible reactions from the audience that might provide a transition from video back to speaking. Conversely, for the attendees, the video provides a break from the speaker.

Here are a few examples of how you might use a video in your research presentation:

• Introduce a new technology: Use a video to introduce a new technology or innovation that is related to your research. For example, if you’re presenting on the potential of artificial intelligence in healthcare, you might use a video that shows how AI is being used to detect cancer early.
• Demonstrate a problem: Use a video to demonstrate a problem or challenge that your research is trying to solve. For example, if you’re presenting on the importance of cybersecurity in the finance industry, you might use a video that shows how easily hackers can gain access to sensitive financial information.
• Showcase your research: Use a video to showcase your own research and the methods you used to conduct it. For example, if you’re presenting on a new algorithm for image recognition, you might use a video that shows how the algorithm works in action.
• Add a personal touch: Use a video to share a personal story or experience that relates to your research. For example, if you’re presenting on the impact of technology on society, you might use a video that shows how technology has changed your own life.

Here’s an example of how you might use a video at the beginning of a research presentation in computer science:

“Before I dive into my research on the potential of blockchain technology in supply chain management, I want to show you a video that demonstrates the challenges that the industry currently faces. As you’ll see, there are numerous pain points that blockchain could help to address, from tracking the provenance of goods to reducing fraud and counterfeiting. By leveraging the power of blockchain, we can create a more transparent, efficient, and secure supply chain for everyone involved.”

In this example, the speaker is using a video to demonstrate a problem or challenge that their research is trying to solve. By showing the audience the current pain points in supply chain management, the speaker is able to establish the need for blockchain technology and capture the audience’s attention. By using a video in this way, the speaker is able to make their research presentation more engaging and impactful for the audience.

One sincere piece of advice while preparing the video is not to install the full video and start searching for the clip to be displayed to the audience. If you show this side or that side of the video content not relevant to the context, the audience may lose patience and drift away from the presentation. This shows your unpreparedness for the presentation.  I suggest you go ahead with professional video editing software to edit your video before showing it to your audience.

When giving a research presentation, it’s important to sound confident and knowledgeable. However, using too many filler words such as “ok”, “so”, and “umms” can make you sound unsure of yourself and can distract from the content of your presentation.

Here are a few tips to help you avoid using too many filler words:

• Practice your presentation: One of the best ways to reduce the use of filler words is to practice your presentation. By rehearsing what you want to say, you’ll become more comfortable with the content and won’t need to rely on filler words as much.
• Use a script: If you’re prone to using filler words, consider writing out a script for your presentation. This will help you stay on track and avoid unnecessary pauses or verbal crutches.
• Record yourself: Another helpful strategy is to record yourself giving your presentation. By listening back to the recording, you can identify any filler words or other verbal tics and work on eliminating them in future presentations.
• Take pauses: Instead of relying on filler words to fill pauses in your presentation, try taking intentional pauses. This will help you gather your thoughts and emphasize important points.

Here’s an example of how to avoid using too many filler words in a research presentation:

“Today, I want to talk to you about the impact of machine learning on cybersecurity. Ok, so, umm, as you all know, cybersecurity is a critical issue for businesses and organizations. But did you know that machine learning can help to identify and mitigate cyber threats before they become a major problem? By using algorithms to analyze data, we can create more effective security protocols and protect sensitive information from being compromised. So, in conclusion, machine learning has the potential to revolutionize the way we approach cybersecurity.”

In this example, the speaker is using several filler words throughout the presentation, which can detract from the content and make them sound less confident. By practising their presentation and focusing on eliminating filler words, the speaker can deliver a more polished and engaging presentation that highlights the important points.

Many presenters, though have good content fail to impress the audience by using too many  “ok” “so” and “umms” which shows a lack of good communication skills.  This can be due to stage fear/poor preparation/happen unconsciously.

Such filler words can ruin your credibility despite how innocent they look. One tip for avoiding this annoying habit is to practice your speech or presentation multiple times beforehand in front of your supervisor/research scholars / yourself in front of the mirror.  If you are hesitant then the best option is to  record your speech on your mobile  and check for the mistakes unconsciously you make.

Giving a good research presentation as a keynote speaker is an excellent opportunity to showcase your expertise and knowledge in your research domain. As a keynote speaker, you can communicate your research findings, methodologies, and the impact of your research to a wider audience.

A well-delivered presentation can also demonstrate your ability to engage with diverse stakeholders and effectively communicate complex ideas. This can be an advantage when looking for research consultancy work, as potential clients or employers can assess your ability to deliver quality work, understand their needs, and provide innovative solutions to their problems.

If you are interested in exploring research consultancy jobs, check out the link Research Consultancy: An Alternate Career for Researchers to discover some exciting opportunities in your research domain.

Delivering a successful research presentation requires careful planning, practice, and attention to detail. By starting confidently, making eye contact with your audience, and using effective communication techniques like storytelling and statistics, you can engage your audience and communicate your research findings in a compelling way.

Remember to adjust your voice, avoid filler words, and take intentional pauses to keep your audience engaged and focused. By following these tips and incorporating your own unique style and perspective, you can deliver a powerful and memorable research presentation that showcases your expertise and leaves a lasting impression.

Frequently Asked Questions

As a speaker at a research conference, it’s important to dress professionally and appropriately to make a positive impression on the audience and fellow researchers. Here are some general guidelines for what to wear: Business Formal Attire : Most research conferences have a business formal dress code. This typically means wearing a suit or dress pants/skirt with a collared shirt/blouse. For men, a suit with a tie is appropriate, and for women, a pantsuit or a skirt/dress with a blazer is a good choice. Neutral and Classic Colors : Stick to neutral and classic colours like black, navy, grey, or beige for a polished and sophisticated look. Avoid loud or overly bright colors and patterns that may distract from your presentation. Comfortable and Well-Fitted Clothing : Ensure that your clothing fits well and is comfortable to wear for an extended period. This will help you feel more at ease during your presentation. Appropriate Footwear : Wear closed-toe shoes that are comfortable and complement your outfit. For men, dress shoes are ideal, and for women, low-heeled pumps or flats are a good choice. Minimal Accessories : Keep your accessories simple and minimal. A wristwatch, small earrings, and a modest necklace can add a touch of elegance without being distracting. Grooming and Hygiene : Pay attention to personal grooming and hygiene. Make sure your hair is well-groomed, and avoid heavy cologne or perfume, as some attendees may be sensitive to strong scents. Bring Layers : Conference venues can sometimes be chilly due to air conditioning, so consider bringing a light sweater or jacket that complements your outfit. Check the Conference Theme : Occasionally, research conferences may have specific themes or cultural considerations. In such cases, you can subtly incorporate elements related to the theme or culture into your outfit if appropriate. You can visit my blog post on ” How to dress for academic / research conferences ” for further details.

Absolutely! Sharing your conference presentation slides with the audience after your talk can be a great way to provide additional value to those who attended your presentation and those who couldn’t make it to the event.

As an invited speaker at a research conference, it is generally expected and encouraged to entertain questions from the audience during or after your presentation. Q&A sessions are a valuable part of academic conferences as they allow attendees to engage with the speaker, seek clarifications, and gain further insights into the research being presented. However, a few speakers as well as the audience may get distracted by the questions asked during the presentation. Check your preparedness and the mood of the audience and then decide.

Tips for a Successful Q&A Session: Be Prepared : Anticipate potential questions that may arise from your presentation and be prepared to answer them. This will boost your confidence during the Q&A. Encourage Questions : After your presentation, let the audience know that you welcome their questions. Creating a supportive and inclusive environment will encourage more participation. Active Listening : Listen carefully to each question and ensure you understand it before responding. If a question is unclear, ask for clarification to provide the best possible answer. Be Respectful and Professional : Even if you receive challenging or critical questions, respond in a respectful and professional manner. Avoid becoming defensive and maintain a positive tone. Manage Time : If there’s a specific time allocated for the Q&A session, manage it effectively so that you can address as many questions as possible without exceeding the allocated time.

How to handle questions where I don’t know the answers in my presentation?

Handling a question during your presentation when you don’t know the answer is a common scenario, and it’s essential to respond gracefully and professionally. Here’s how to handle such situations: Stay Calm and Composed : Take a deep breath and remain calm. It’s okay not to know the answer to every question, and the audience understands that. Acknowledge the Question : Show appreciation for the question and the person who asked it. You can say something like, “Thank you for the question; that’s an interesting point to consider.” Be Honest : It’s best to be honest if you don’t know the answer. Avoid making up information or guessing as it can harm your credibility. Admit You Don’t Know : You can respond with a polite acknowledgement that you don’t have the information at hand. For example, say, “I’m afraid I don’t have the answer to that question right now.” Offer to Follow Up : Express your willingness to find the answer later. You can say, “I’ll make sure to look into this further and get back to you with an answer.” Redirect the Question : If appropriate, you can redirect the question to the audience or to someone who might have more expertise on the topic. Stay Positive : Maintain a positive tone throughout your response. Avoid apologizing excessively or sounding defensive. Bridge to Related Topics : If you can’t answer the specific question, try to bridge it to related topics you are familiar with. This way, you can still contribute to the discussion. Use It as a Learning Opportunity : If the question raises a valid point you haven’t considered before, acknowledge it as a learning opportunity. You can say, “That’s an excellent question, and it gives me something to think about.” Learn for the Future : After the presentation, take note of the questions you couldn’t answer and use them as a basis for further research or study. This will help you better prepare for similar situations in the future.

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How to make a scientific presentation

Scientific presentation outlines

Questions to ask yourself before you write your talk, 1. how much time do you have, 2. who will you speak to, 3. what do you want the audience to learn from your talk, step 1: outline your presentation, step 2: plan your presentation slides, step 3: make the presentation slides, slide design, text elements, animations and transitions, step 4: practice your presentation, final thoughts, frequently asked questions about preparing scientific presentations, related articles.

A good scientific presentation achieves three things: you communicate the science clearly, your research leaves a lasting impression on your audience, and you enhance your reputation as a scientist.

But, what is the best way to prepare for a scientific presentation? How do you start writing a talk? What details do you include, and what do you leave out?

It’s tempting to launch into making lots of slides. But, starting with the slides can mean you neglect the narrative of your presentation, resulting in an overly detailed, boring talk.

The key to making an engaging scientific presentation is to prepare the narrative of your talk before beginning to construct your presentation slides. Planning your talk will ensure that you tell a clear, compelling scientific story that will engage the audience.

In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know to make a good oral scientific presentation, including:

• The different types of oral scientific presentations and how they are delivered;
• How to outline a scientific presentation;
• How to make slides for a scientific presentation.

Our advice results from delving into the literature on writing scientific talks and from our own experiences as scientists in giving and listening to presentations. We provide tips and best practices for giving scientific talks in a separate post.

There are two main types of scientific talks:

• Your talk focuses on a single study . Typically, you tell the story of a single scientific paper. This format is common for short talks at contributed sessions in conferences.
• Your talk describes multiple studies. You tell the story of multiple scientific papers. It is crucial to have a theme that unites the studies, for example, an overarching question or problem statement, with each study representing specific but different variations of the same theme. Typically, PhD defenses, invited seminars, lectures, or talks for a prospective employer (i.e., “job talks”) fall into this category.

➡️ Learn how to prepare an excellent thesis defense

The length of time you are allotted for your talk will determine whether you will discuss a single study or multiple studies, and which details to include in your story.

The background and interests of your audience will determine the narrative direction of your talk, and what devices you will use to get their attention. Will you be speaking to people specializing in your field, or will the audience also contain people from disciplines other than your own? To reach non-specialists, you will need to discuss the broader implications of your study outside your field.

The needs of the audience will also determine what technical details you will include, and the language you will use. For example, an undergraduate audience will have different needs than an audience of seasoned academics. Students will require a more comprehensive overview of background information and explanations of jargon but will need less technical methodological details.

Your goal is to speak to the majority. But, make your talk accessible to the least knowledgeable person in the room.

This is called the thesis statement, or simply the “take-home message”. Having listened to your talk, what message do you want the audience to take away from your presentation? Describe the main idea in one or two sentences. You want this theme to be present throughout your presentation. Again, the thesis statement will depend on the audience and the type of talk you are giving.

Your thesis statement will drive the narrative for your talk. By deciding the take-home message you want to convince the audience of as a result of listening to your talk, you decide how the story of your talk will flow and how you will navigate its twists and turns. The thesis statement tells you the results you need to show, which subsequently tells you the methods or studies you need to describe, which decides the angle you take in your introduction.

➡️ Learn how to write a thesis statement

The goal of your talk is that the audience leaves afterward with a clear understanding of the key take-away message of your research. To achieve that goal, you need to tell a coherent, logical story that conveys your thesis statement throughout the presentation. You can tell your story through careful preparation of your talk.

Preparation of a scientific presentation involves three separate stages: outlining the scientific narrative, preparing slides, and practicing your delivery. Making the slides of your talk without first planning what you are going to say is inefficient.

Here, we provide a 4 step guide to writing your scientific presentation:

• Outline your presentation
• Plan your presentation slides
• Make the presentation slides
• Practice your presentation

Writing an outline helps you consider the key pieces of your talk and how they fit together from the beginning, preventing you from forgetting any important details. It also means you avoid changing the order of your slides multiple times, saving you time.

Plan your talk as discrete sections. In the table below, we describe the sections for a single study talk vs. a talk discussing multiple studies:

The following tips apply when writing the outline of a single study talk. You can easily adapt this framework if you are writing a talk discussing multiple studies.

Introduction: Writing the introduction can be the hardest part of writing a talk. And when giving it, it’s the point where you might be at your most nervous. But preparing a good, concise introduction will settle your nerves.

The introduction tells the audience the story of why you studied your topic. A good introduction succinctly achieves four things, in the following order.

• It gives a broad perspective on the problem or topic for people in the audience who may be outside your discipline (i.e., it explains the big-picture problem motivating your study).
• It describes why you did the study, and why the audience should care.
• It gives a brief indication of how your study addressed the problem and provides the necessary background information that the audience needs to understand your work.
• It indicates what the audience will learn from the talk, and prepares them for what will come next.

A good introduction not only gives the big picture and motivations behind your study but also concisely sets the stage for what the audience will learn from the talk (e.g., the questions your work answers, and/or the hypotheses that your work tests). The end of the introduction will lead to a natural transition to the methods.

Give a broad perspective on the problem. The easiest way to start with the big picture is to think of a hook for the first slide of your presentation. A hook is an opening that gets the audience’s attention and gets them interested in your story. In science, this might take the form of a why, or a how question, or it could be a statement about a major problem or open question in your field. Other examples of hooks include quotes, short anecdotes, or interesting statistics.

Why should the audience care? Next, decide on the angle you are going to take on your hook that links to the thesis of your talk. In other words, you need to set the context, i.e., explain why the audience should care. For example, you may introduce an observation from nature, a pattern in experimental data, or a theory that you want to test. The audience must understand your motivations for the study.

Supplementary details. Once you have established the hook and angle, you need to include supplementary details to support them. For example, you might state your hypothesis. Then go into previous work and the current state of knowledge. Include citations of these studies. If you need to introduce some technical methodological details, theory, or jargon, do it here.

Conclude your introduction. The motivation for the work and background information should set the stage for the conclusion of the introduction, where you describe the goals of your study, and any hypotheses or predictions. Let the audience know what they are going to learn.

Methods: The audience will use your description of the methods to assess the approach you took in your study and to decide whether your findings are credible. Tell the story of your methods in chronological order. Use visuals to describe your methods as much as possible. If you have equations, make sure to take the time to explain them. Decide what methods to include and how you will show them. You need enough detail so that your audience will understand what you did and therefore can evaluate your approach, but avoid including superfluous details that do not support your main idea. You want to avoid the common mistake of including too much data, as the audience can read the paper(s) later.

Results: This is the evidence you present for your thesis. The audience will use the results to evaluate the support for your main idea. Choose the most important and interesting results—those that support your thesis. You don’t need to present all the results from your study (indeed, you most likely won’t have time to present them all). Break down complex results into digestible pieces, e.g., comparisons over multiple slides (more tips in the next section).

Summary: Summarize your main findings. Displaying your main findings through visuals can be effective. Emphasize the new contributions to scientific knowledge that your work makes.

Conclusion: Complete the circle by relating your conclusions to the big picture topic in your introduction—and your hook, if possible. It’s important to describe any alternative explanations for your findings. You might also speculate on future directions arising from your research. The slides that comprise your conclusion do not need to state “conclusion”. Rather, the concluding slide title should be a declarative sentence linking back to the big picture problem and your main idea.

It’s important to end well by planning a strong closure to your talk, after which you will thank the audience. Your closing statement should relate to your thesis, perhaps by stating it differently or memorably. Avoid ending awkwardly by memorizing your closing sentence.

By now, you have an outline of the story of your talk, which you can use to plan your slides. Your slides should complement and enhance what you will say. Use the following steps to prepare your slides.

• Write the slide titles to match your talk outline. These should be clear and informative declarative sentences that succinctly give the main idea of the slide (e.g., don’t use “Methods” as a slide title). Have one major idea per slide. In a YouTube talk on designing effective slides , researcher Michael Alley shows examples of instructive slide titles.
• Decide how you will convey the main idea of the slide (e.g., what figures, photographs, equations, statistics, references, or other elements you will need). The body of the slide should support the slide’s main idea.
• Under each slide title, outline what you want to say, in bullet points.

In sum, for each slide, prepare a title that summarizes its major idea, a list of visual elements, and a summary of the points you will make. Ensure each slide connects to your thesis. If it doesn’t, then you don’t need the slide.

Slides for scientific presentations have three major components: text (including labels and legends), graphics, and equations. Here, we give tips on how to present each of these components.

• Have an informative title slide. Include the names of all coauthors and their affiliations. Include an attractive image relating to your study.
• Make the foreground content of your slides “pop” by using an appropriate background. Slides that have white backgrounds with black text work well for small rooms, whereas slides with black backgrounds and white text are suitable for large rooms.
• The layout of your slides should be simple. Pay attention to how and where you lay the visual and text elements on each slide. It’s tempting to cram information, but you need lots of empty space. Retain space at the sides and bottom of your slides.
• Use sans serif fonts with a font size of at least 20 for text, and up to 40 for slide titles. Citations can be in 14 font and should be included at the bottom of the slide.
• Use bold or italics to emphasize words, not underlines or caps. Keep these effects to a minimum.
• Use concise text . You don’t need full sentences. Convey the essence of your message in as few words as possible. Write down what you’d like to say, and then shorten it for the slide. Remove unnecessary filler words.
• Text blocks should be limited to two lines. This will prevent you from crowding too much information on the slide.
• Include names of technical terms in your talk slides, especially if they are not familiar to everyone in the audience.
• Proofread your slides. Typos and grammatical errors are distracting for your audience.
• Include citations for the hypotheses or observations of other scientists.
• Good figures and graphics are essential to sustain audience interest. Use graphics and photographs to show the experiment or study system in action and to explain abstract concepts.
• Don’t use figures straight from your paper as they may be too detailed for your talk, and details like axes may be too small. Make new versions if necessary. Make them large enough to be visible from the back of the room.
• Use graphs to show your results, not tables. Tables are difficult for your audience to digest! If you must present a table, keep it simple.
• Label the axes of graphs and indicate the units. Label important components of graphics and photographs and include captions. Include sources for graphics that are not your own.
• Explain all the elements of a graph. This includes the axes, what the colors and markers mean, and patterns in the data.
• Use colors in figures and text in a meaningful, not random, way. For example, contrasting colors can be effective for pointing out comparisons and/or differences. Don’t use neon colors or pastels.
• Use thick lines in figures, and use color to create contrasts in the figures you present. Don’t use red/green or red/blue combinations, as color-blind audience members can’t distinguish between them.
• Arrows or circles can be effective for drawing attention to key details in graphs and equations. Add some text annotations along with them.
• Write your summary and conclusion slides using graphics, rather than showing a slide with a list of bullet points. Showing some of your results again can be helpful to remind the audience of your message.
• If your talk has equations, take time to explain them. Include text boxes to explain variables and mathematical terms, and put them under each term in the equation.
• Combine equations with a graphic that shows the scientific principle, or include a diagram of the mathematical model.
• Use animations judiciously. They are helpful to reveal complex ideas gradually, for example, if you need to make a comparison or contrast or to build a complicated argument or figure. For lists, reveal one bullet point at a time. New ideas appearing sequentially will help your audience follow your logic.
• Slide transitions should be simple. Silly ones distract from your message.
• Decide how you will make the transition as you move from one section of your talk to the next. For example, if you spend time talking through details, provide a summary afterward, especially in a long talk. Another common tactic is to have a “home slide” that you return to multiple times during the talk that reinforces your main idea or message. In her YouTube talk on designing effective scientific presentations , Stanford biologist Susan McConnell suggests using the approach of home slides to build a cohesive narrative.

To deliver a polished presentation, it is essential to practice it. Here are some tips.

• For your first run-through, practice alone. Pay attention to your narrative. Does your story flow naturally? Do you know how you will start and end? Are there any awkward transitions? Do animations help you tell your story? Do your slides help to convey what you are saying or are they missing components?
• Next, practice in front of your advisor, and/or your peers (e.g., your lab group). Ask someone to time your talk. Take note of their feedback and the questions that they ask you (you might be asked similar questions during your real talk).
• Edit your talk, taking into account the feedback you’ve received. Eliminate superfluous slides that don’t contribute to your takeaway message.
• Practice as many times as needed to memorize the order of your slides and the key transition points of your talk. However, don’t try to learn your talk word for word. Instead, memorize opening and closing statements, and sentences at key junctures in the presentation. Your presentation should resemble a serious but spontaneous conversation with the audience.
• Practicing multiple times also helps you hone the delivery of your talk. While rehearsing, pay attention to your vocal intonations and speed. Make sure to take pauses while you speak, and make eye contact with your imaginary audience.
• Make sure your talk finishes within the allotted time, and remember to leave time for questions. Conferences are particularly strict on run time.
• Anticipate questions and challenges from the audience, and clarify ambiguities within your slides and/or speech in response.
• If you anticipate that you could be asked questions about details but you don’t have time to include them, or they detract from the main message of your talk, you can prepare slides that address these questions and place them after the final slide of your talk.

➡️ More tips for giving scientific presentations

An organized presentation with a clear narrative will help you communicate your ideas effectively, which is essential for engaging your audience and conveying the importance of your work. Taking time to plan and outline your scientific presentation before writing the slides will help you manage your nerves and feel more confident during the presentation, which will improve your overall performance.

A good scientific presentation has an engaging scientific narrative with a memorable take-home message. It has clear, informative slides that enhance what the speaker says. You need to practice your talk many times to ensure you deliver a polished presentation.

First, consider who will attend your presentation, and what you want the audience to learn about your research. Tailor your content to their level of knowledge and interests. Second, create an outline for your presentation, including the key points you want to make and the evidence you will use to support those points. Finally, practice your presentation several times to ensure that it flows smoothly and that you are comfortable with the material.

Prepare an opening that immediately gets the audience’s attention. A common device is a why or a how question, or a statement of a major open problem in your field, but you could also start with a quote, interesting statistic, or case study from your field.

Scientific presentations typically either focus on a single study (e.g., a 15-minute conference presentation) or tell the story of multiple studies (e.g., a PhD defense or 50-minute conference keynote talk). For a single study talk, the structure follows the scientific paper format: Introduction, Methods, Results, Summary, and Conclusion, whereas the format of a talk discussing multiple studies is more complex, but a theme unifies the studies.

Ensure you have one major idea per slide, and convey that idea clearly (through images, equations, statistics, citations, video, etc.). The slide should include a title that summarizes the major point of the slide, should not contain too much text or too many graphics, and color should be used meaningfully.

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How to present a research paper in PPT: best practices

A research paper presentation is frequently used at conferences and other events where you have a chance to share the results of your research and receive feedback from colleagues. Although it may appear as simple as summarizing the findings, successful examples of research paper presentations show that there is a little bit more to it.

In this article, we’ll walk you through the basic outline and steps to create a good research paper presentation. We’ll also explain what to include and what not to include in your presentation of research paper and share some of the most effective tips you can use to take your slides to the next level.

Research paper PowerPoint presentation outline

Creating a PowerPoint presentation for a research paper involves organizing and summarizing your key findings, methodology, and conclusions in a way that encourages your audience to interact with your work and share their interest in it with others. Here’s a basic research paper outline PowerPoint you can follow:

1. Title (1 slide)

Typically, your title slide should contain the following information:

• Title of the research paper
• Affiliation or institution
• Date of presentation

2. Introduction (1-3 slides)

On this slide of your presentation, briefly introduce the research topic and its significance and state the research question or objective.

3. Research questions or hypothesis (1 slide)

This slide should emphasize the objectives of your research or present the hypothesis.

4. Literature review (1 slide)

Your literature review has to provide context for your research by summarizing relevant literature. Additionally, it should highlight gaps or areas where your research contributes.

5. Methodology and data collection (1-2 slides)

This slide of your research paper PowerPoint has to explain the research design, methods, and procedures. It must also Include details about participants, materials, and data collection and emphasize special equipment you have used in your work.

6. Results (3-5 slides)

On this slide, you must present the results of your data analysis and discuss any trends, patterns, or significant findings. Moreover, you should use charts, graphs, and tables to illustrate data and highlight something novel in your results (if applicable).

7. Conclusion (1 slide)

Your conclusion slide has to summarize the main findings and their implications, as well as discuss the broader impact of your research. Usually, a single statement is enough.

8. Recommendations (1 slide)

If applicable, provide recommendations for future research or actions on this slide.

9. References (1-2 slides)

The references slide is where you list all the sources cited in your research paper.

10. Acknowledgments (1 slide)

On this presentation slide, acknowledge any individuals, organizations, or funding sources that contributed to your research.

11. Appendix (1 slide)

If applicable, include any supplementary materials, such as additional data or detailed charts, in your appendix slide.

The above outline is just a general guideline, so make sure to adjust it based on your specific research paper and the time allotted for the presentation.

Steps to creating a memorable research paper presentation

Creating a PowerPoint presentation for a research paper involves several critical steps needed to convey your findings and engage your audience effectively, and these steps are as follows:

Step 1. Understand your audience:

• Identify the audience for your presentation.
• Tailor your content and level of detail to match the audience’s background and knowledge.

Step 2. Define your key messages:

• Clearly articulate the main messages or findings of your research.
• Identify the key points you want your audience to remember.

Step 3. Design your research paper PPT presentation:

• Use a clean and professional design that complements your research topic.
• Choose readable fonts, consistent formatting, and a limited color palette.
• Opt for PowerPoint presentation services if slide design is not your strong side.

Step 4. Put content on slides:

• Follow the outline above to structure your presentation effectively; include key sections and topics.
• Organize your content logically, following the flow of your research paper.

Step 5. Final check:

• Proofread your slides for typos, errors, and inconsistencies.
• Ensure all visuals are clear, high-quality, and properly labeled.

Step 6. Save and share:

• Save your presentation and ensure compatibility with the equipment you’ll be using.
• If necessary, share a copy of your presentation with the audience.

By following these steps, you can create a well-organized and visually appealing research paper presentation PowerPoint that effectively conveys your research findings to the audience.

What to include and what not to include in your presentation

In addition to the must-know PowerPoint presentation recommendations, which we’ll cover later in this article, consider the following do’s and don’ts when you’re putting together your research paper presentation:

• Focus on the topic.
• Be brief and to the point.
• Attract the audience’s attention and highlight interesting details.
• Use only relevant visuals (maps, charts, pictures, graphs, etc.).
• Use numbers and bullet points to structure the content.
• Make clear statements regarding the essence and results of your research.

Don’ts:

• Don’t write down the whole outline of your paper and nothing else.
• Don’t put long, full sentences on your slides; split them into smaller ones.
• Don’t use distracting patterns, colors, pictures, and other visuals on your slides; the simpler, the better.
• Don’t use too complicated graphs or charts; only the ones that are easy to understand.
• Now that we’ve discussed the basics, let’s move on to the top tips for making a powerful presentation of your research paper.

8 tips on how to make research paper presentation that achieves its goals

You’ve probably been to a presentation where the presenter reads word for word from their PowerPoint outline. Or where the presentation is cluttered, chaotic, or contains too much data. The simple tips below will help you summarize a 10 to 15-page paper for a 15 to 20-minute talk and succeed, so read on!

Tip #1: Less is more

You want to provide enough information to make your audience want to know more. Including details but not too many and avoiding technical jargon, formulas, and long sentences are always good ways to achieve this.

Tip #2: Be professional

Avoid using too many colors, font changes, distracting backgrounds, animations, etc. Bullet points with a few words to highlight the important information are preferable to lengthy paragraphs. Additionally, include slide numbers on all PowerPoint slides except for the title slide, and make sure it is followed by a table of contents, offering a brief overview of the entire research paper.

Tip #3: Strive for balance

PowerPoint slides have limited space, so use it carefully. Typically, one to two points per slide or 5 lines for 5 words in a sentence are enough to present your ideas.

Tip #4: Use proper fonts and text size

The font you use should be easy to read and consistent throughout the slides. You can go with Arial, Times New Roman, Calibri, or a combination of these three. An ideal text size is 32 points, while a heading size is 44.

Tip #5: Concentrate on the visual side

A PowerPoint presentation is one of the best tools for presenting information visually. Use graphs instead of tables and topic-relevant illustrations instead of walls of text. Keep your visuals as clean and professional as the content of your presentation.

Tip #6: Practice your delivery

Always go through your presentation when you’re done to ensure a smooth and confident delivery and time yourself to stay within the allotted limit.

Tip #7: Get ready for questions

Anticipate potential questions from your audience and prepare thoughtful responses. Also, be ready to engage in discussions about your research.

Tip #8: Don’t be afraid to utilize professional help

If the mere thought of designing a presentation overwhelms you or you’re pressed for time, consider leveraging professional PowerPoint redesign services . A dedicated design team can transform your content or old presentation into effective slides, ensuring your message is communicated clearly and captivates your audience. This way, you can focus on refining your delivery and preparing for the presentation.

Lastly, remember that even experienced presenters get nervous before delivering research paper PowerPoint presentations in front of the audience. You cannot know everything; some things can be beyond your control, which is completely fine. You are at the event not only to share what you know but also to learn from others. So, no matter what, dress appropriately, look straight into the audience’s eyes, try to speak and move naturally, present your information enthusiastically, and have fun!

If you need help with slide design, get in touch with our dedicated design team and let qualified professionals turn your research findings into a visually appealing, polished presentation that leaves a lasting impression on your audience. Our experienced designers specialize in creating engaging layouts, incorporating compelling graphics, and ensuring a cohesive visual narrative that complements content on any subject.

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6 Tips For Giving a Fabulous Academic Presentation

6-tips-for-giving-a-fabulous-academic-presentation.

Tanya Golash-Boza, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of California

January 11, 2022

One of the easiest ways to stand out at an academic conference is to give a fantastic presentation.

In this post, I will discuss a few simple techniques that can make your presentation stand out. Although, it does take time to make a good presentation, it is well worth the investment.

Tip #1: Use PowerPoint Judiciously

Images are powerful. Research shows that images help with memory and learning. Use this to your advantage by finding and using images that help you make your point. One trick I have learned is that you can use images that have blank space in them and you can put words in those images.

Here is one such example from a presentation I gave about immigration law enforcement.

PowerPoint is a great tool, so long as you use it effectively. Generally, this means using lots of visuals and relatively few words. Never use less than 24-point font. And, please, never put your presentation on the slides and read from the slides.

Tip #2: There is a formula to academic presentations. Use it.

Once you have become an expert at giving fabulous presentations, you can deviate from the formula. However, if you are new to presenting, you might want to follow it. This will vary slightly by field, however, I will give an example from my field – sociology – to give you an idea as to what the format should look like:

• Introduction/Overview/Hook
• Theoretical Framework/Research Question
• Methodology/Case Selection
• Background/Literature Review
• Discussion of Data/Results

Tip #3: The audience wants to hear about your research. Tell them.

One of the most common mistakes I see in people giving presentations is that they present only information I already know. This usually happens when they spend nearly all of the presentation going over the existing literature and giving background information on their particular case. You need only to discuss the literature with which you are directly engaging and contributing. Your background information should only include what is absolutely necessary. If you are giving a 15-minute presentation, by the 6 th minute, you need to be discussing your data or case study. At conferences, people are there to learn about your new and exciting research, not to hear a summary of old work.

Tip #4: Practice. Practice. Practice.

You should always practice your presentation in full before you deliver it. You might feel silly delivering your presentation to your cat or your toddler, but you need to do it and do it again. You need to practice to ensure that your presentation fits within the time parameters. Practicing also makes it flow better. You can’t practice too many times.

Tip #5: Keep To Your Time Limit

If you have ten minutes to present, prepare ten minutes of material. No more. Even if you only have seven minutes, you need to finish within the allotted time. If you write your presentation out, a general rule of thumb is two minutes per typed, double-spaced page. For a fifteen-minute talk, you should have no more than 7 double-spaced pages of material.

Tip #6: Don’t Read Your Presentation

Yes, I know that in some fields reading is the norm. But, can you honestly say that you find yourself engaged when listening to someone read their conference presentation? If you absolutely must read, I suggest you read in such a way that no one in the audience can tell you are reading. I have seen people do this successfully, and you can do it too if you write in a conversational tone, practice several times, and read your paper with emotion, conviction, and variation in tone.

What tips do you have for presenters? What is one of the best presentations you have seen? What made it so fantastic? Let us know in the comments below.

Want to learn more about the publishing process? The Wiley Researcher Academy is an online author training program designed to help researchers develop the skills and knowledge needed to be able to publish successfully. Learn more about Wiley Researcher Academy .

Image credit: Tanya Golash-Boza

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Ten simple rules for effective presentation slides

Kristen m. naegle.

Biomedical Engineering and the Center for Public Health Genomics, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America

Introduction

The “presentation slide” is the building block of all academic presentations, whether they are journal clubs, thesis committee meetings, short conference talks, or hour-long seminars. A slide is a single page projected on a screen, usually built on the premise of a title, body, and figures or tables and includes both what is shown and what is spoken about that slide. Multiple slides are strung together to tell the larger story of the presentation. While there have been excellent 10 simple rules on giving entire presentations [ 1 , 2 ], there was an absence in the fine details of how to design a slide for optimal effect—such as the design elements that allow slides to convey meaningful information, to keep the audience engaged and informed, and to deliver the information intended and in the time frame allowed. As all research presentations seek to teach, effective slide design borrows from the same principles as effective teaching, including the consideration of cognitive processing your audience is relying on to organize, process, and retain information. This is written for anyone who needs to prepare slides from any length scale and for most purposes of conveying research to broad audiences. The rules are broken into 3 primary areas. Rules 1 to 5 are about optimizing the scope of each slide. Rules 6 to 8 are about principles around designing elements of the slide. Rules 9 to 10 are about preparing for your presentation, with the slides as the central focus of that preparation.

Rule 1: Include only one idea per slide

Each slide should have one central objective to deliver—the main idea or question [ 3 – 5 ]. Often, this means breaking complex ideas down into manageable pieces (see Fig 1 , where “background” information has been split into 2 key concepts). In another example, if you are presenting a complex computational approach in a large flow diagram, introduce it in smaller units, building it up until you finish with the entire diagram. The progressive buildup of complex information means that audiences are prepared to understand the whole picture, once you have dedicated time to each of the parts. You can accomplish the buildup of components in several ways—for example, using presentation software to cover/uncover information. Personally, I choose to create separate slides for each piece of information content I introduce—where the final slide has the entire diagram, and I use cropping or a cover on duplicated slides that come before to hide what I’m not yet ready to include. I use this method in order to ensure that each slide in my deck truly presents one specific idea (the new content) and the amount of the new information on that slide can be described in 1 minute (Rule 2), but it comes with the trade-off—a change to the format of one of the slides in the series often means changes to all slides.

Top left: A background slide that describes the background material on a project from my lab. The slide was created using a PowerPoint Design Template, which had to be modified to increase default text sizes for this figure (i.e., the default text sizes are even worse than shown here). Bottom row: The 2 new slides that break up the content into 2 explicit ideas about the background, using a central graphic. In the first slide, the graphic is an explicit example of the SH2 domain of PI3-kinase interacting with a phosphorylation site (Y754) on the PDGFR to describe the important details of what an SH2 domain and phosphotyrosine ligand are and how they interact. I use that same graphic in the second slide to generalize all binding events and include redundant text to drive home the central message (a lot of possible interactions might occur in the human proteome, more than we can currently measure). Top right highlights which rules were used to move from the original slide to the new slide. Specific changes as highlighted by Rule 7 include increasing contrast by changing the background color, increasing font size, changing to sans serif fonts, and removing all capital text and underlining (using bold to draw attention). PDGFR, platelet-derived growth factor receptor.

Rule 2: Spend only 1 minute per slide

When you present your slide in the talk, it should take 1 minute or less to discuss. This rule is really helpful for planning purposes—a 20-minute presentation should have somewhere around 20 slides. Also, frequently giving your audience new information to feast on helps keep them engaged. During practice, if you find yourself spending more than a minute on a slide, there’s too much for that one slide—it’s time to break up the content into multiple slides or even remove information that is not wholly central to the story you are trying to tell. Reduce, reduce, reduce, until you get to a single message, clearly described, which takes less than 1 minute to present.

Rule 3: Make use of your heading

When each slide conveys only one message, use the heading of that slide to write exactly the message you are trying to deliver. Instead of titling the slide “Results,” try “CTNND1 is central to metastasis” or “False-positive rates are highly sample specific.” Use this landmark signpost to ensure that all the content on that slide is related exactly to the heading and only the heading. Think of the slide heading as the introductory or concluding sentence of a paragraph and the slide content the rest of the paragraph that supports the main point of the paragraph. An audience member should be able to follow along with you in the “paragraph” and come to the same conclusion sentence as your header at the end of the slide.

Rule 4: Include only essential points

While you are speaking, audience members’ eyes and minds will be wandering over your slide. If you have a comment, detail, or figure on a slide, have a plan to explicitly identify and talk about it. If you don’t think it’s important enough to spend time on, then don’t have it on your slide. This is especially important when faculty are present. I often tell students that thesis committee members are like cats: If you put a shiny bauble in front of them, they’ll go after it. Be sure to only put the shiny baubles on slides that you want them to focus on. Putting together a thesis meeting for only faculty is really an exercise in herding cats (if you have cats, you know this is no easy feat). Clear and concise slide design will go a long way in helping you corral those easily distracted faculty members.

Rule 5: Give credit, where credit is due

An exception to Rule 4 is to include proper citations or references to work on your slide. When adding citations, names of other researchers, or other types of credit, use a consistent style and method for adding this information to your slides. Your audience will then be able to easily partition this information from the other content. A common mistake people make is to think “I’ll add that reference later,” but I highly recommend you put the proper reference on the slide at the time you make it, before you forget where it came from. Finally, in certain kinds of presentations, credits can make it clear who did the work. For the faculty members heading labs, it is an effective way to connect your audience with the personnel in the lab who did the work, which is a great career booster for that person. For graduate students, it is an effective way to delineate your contribution to the work, especially in meetings where the goal is to establish your credentials for meeting the rigors of a PhD checkpoint.

Rule 6: Use graphics effectively

As a rule, you should almost never have slides that only contain text. Build your slides around good visualizations. It is a visual presentation after all, and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. However, on the flip side, don’t muddy the point of the slide by putting too many complex graphics on a single slide. A multipanel figure that you might include in a manuscript should often be broken into 1 panel per slide (see Rule 1 ). One way to ensure that you use the graphics effectively is to make a point to introduce the figure and its elements to the audience verbally, especially for data figures. For example, you might say the following: “This graph here shows the measured false-positive rate for an experiment and each point is a replicate of the experiment, the graph demonstrates …” If you have put too much on one slide to present in 1 minute (see Rule 2 ), then the complexity or number of the visualizations is too much for just one slide.

Rule 7: Design to avoid cognitive overload

The type of slide elements, the number of them, and how you present them all impact the ability for the audience to intake, organize, and remember the content. For example, a frequent mistake in slide design is to include full sentences, but reading and verbal processing use the same cognitive channels—therefore, an audience member can either read the slide, listen to you, or do some part of both (each poorly), as a result of cognitive overload [ 4 ]. The visual channel is separate, allowing images/videos to be processed with auditory information without cognitive overload [ 6 ] (Rule 6). As presentations are an exercise in listening, and not reading, do what you can to optimize the ability of the audience to listen. Use words sparingly as “guide posts” to you and the audience about major points of the slide. In fact, you can add short text fragments, redundant with the verbal component of the presentation, which has been shown to improve retention [ 7 ] (see Fig 1 for an example of redundant text that avoids cognitive overload). Be careful in the selection of a slide template to minimize accidentally adding elements that the audience must process, but are unimportant. David JP Phillips argues (and effectively demonstrates in his TEDx talk [ 5 ]) that the human brain can easily interpret 6 elements and more than that requires a 500% increase in human cognition load—so keep the total number of elements on the slide to 6 or less. Finally, in addition to the use of short text, white space, and the effective use of graphics/images, you can improve ease of cognitive processing further by considering color choices and font type and size. Here are a few suggestions for improving the experience for your audience, highlighting the importance of these elements for some specific groups:

• Use high contrast colors and simple backgrounds with low to no color—for persons with dyslexia or visual impairment.
• Use sans serif fonts and large font sizes (including figure legends), avoid italics, underlining (use bold font instead for emphasis), and all capital letters—for persons with dyslexia or visual impairment [ 8 ].
• Use color combinations and palettes that can be understood by those with different forms of color blindness [ 9 ]. There are excellent tools available to identify colors to use and ways to simulate your presentation or figures as they might be seen by a person with color blindness (easily found by a web search).
• In this increasing world of virtual presentation tools, consider practicing your talk with a closed captioning system capture your words. Use this to identify how to improve your speaking pace, volume, and annunciation to improve understanding by all members of your audience, but especially those with a hearing impairment.

Rule 8: Design the slide so that a distracted person gets the main takeaway

It is very difficult to stay focused on a presentation, especially if it is long or if it is part of a longer series of talks at a conference. Audience members may get distracted by an important email, or they may start dreaming of lunch. So, it’s important to look at your slide and ask “If they heard nothing I said, will they understand the key concept of this slide?” The other rules are set up to help with this, including clarity of the single point of the slide (Rule 1), titling it with a major conclusion (Rule 3), and the use of figures (Rule 6) and short text redundant to your verbal description (Rule 7). However, with each slide, step back and ask whether its main conclusion is conveyed, even if someone didn’t hear your accompanying dialog. Importantly, ask if the information on the slide is at the right level of abstraction. For example, do you have too many details about the experiment, which hides the conclusion of the experiment (i.e., breaking Rule 1)? If you are worried about not having enough details, keep a slide at the end of your slide deck (after your conclusions and acknowledgments) with the more detailed information that you can refer to during a question and answer period.

Rule 9: Iteratively improve slide design through practice

Well-designed slides that follow the first 8 rules are intended to help you deliver the message you intend and in the amount of time you intend to deliver it in. The best way to ensure that you nailed slide design for your presentation is to practice, typically a lot. The most important aspects of practicing a new presentation, with an eye toward slide design, are the following 2 key points: (1) practice to ensure that you hit, each time through, the most important points (for example, the text guide posts you left yourself and the title of the slide); and (2) practice to ensure that as you conclude the end of one slide, it leads directly to the next slide. Slide transitions, what you say as you end one slide and begin the next, are important to keeping the flow of the “story.” Practice is when I discover that the order of my presentation is poor or that I left myself too few guideposts to remember what was coming next. Additionally, during practice, the most frequent things I have to improve relate to Rule 2 (the slide takes too long to present, usually because I broke Rule 1, and I’m delivering too much information for one slide), Rule 4 (I have a nonessential detail on the slide), and Rule 5 (I forgot to give a key reference). The very best type of practice is in front of an audience (for example, your lab or peers), where, with fresh perspectives, they can help you identify places for improving slide content, design, and connections across the entirety of your talk.

Rule 10: Design to mitigate the impact of technical disasters

The real presentation almost never goes as we planned in our heads or during our practice. Maybe the speaker before you went over time and now you need to adjust. Maybe the computer the organizer is having you use won’t show your video. Maybe your internet is poor on the day you are giving a virtual presentation at a conference. Technical problems are routinely part of the practice of sharing your work through presentations. Hence, you can design your slides to limit the impact certain kinds of technical disasters create and also prepare alternate approaches. Here are just a few examples of the preparation you can do that will take you a long way toward avoiding a complete fiasco:

• Save your presentation as a PDF—if the version of Keynote or PowerPoint on a host computer cause issues, you still have a functional copy that has a higher guarantee of compatibility.
• In using videos, create a backup slide with screen shots of key results. For example, if I have a video of cell migration, I’ll be sure to have a copy of the start and end of the video, in case the video doesn’t play. Even if the video worked, you can pause on this backup slide and take the time to highlight the key results in words if someone could not see or understand the video.
• Avoid animations, such as figures or text that flash/fly-in/etc. Surveys suggest that no one likes movement in presentations [ 3 , 4 ]. There is likely a cognitive underpinning to the almost universal distaste of pointless animations that relates to the idea proposed by Kosslyn and colleagues that animations are salient perceptual units that captures direct attention [ 4 ]. Although perceptual salience can be used to draw attention to and improve retention of specific points, if you use this approach for unnecessary/unimportant things (like animation of your bullet point text, fly-ins of figures, etc.), then you will distract your audience from the important content. Finally, animations cause additional processing burdens for people with visual impairments [ 10 ] and create opportunities for technical disasters if the software on the host system is not compatible with your planned animation.

Conclusions

These rules are just a start in creating more engaging presentations that increase audience retention of your material. However, there are wonderful resources on continuing on the journey of becoming an amazing public speaker, which includes understanding the psychology and neuroscience behind human perception and learning. For example, as highlighted in Rule 7, David JP Phillips has a wonderful TEDx talk on the subject [ 5 ], and “PowerPoint presentation flaws and failures: A psychological analysis,” by Kosslyn and colleagues is deeply detailed about a number of aspects of human cognition and presentation style [ 4 ]. There are many books on the topic, including the popular “Presentation Zen” by Garr Reynolds [ 11 ]. Finally, although briefly touched on here, the visualization of data is an entire topic of its own that is worth perfecting for both written and oral presentations of work, with fantastic resources like Edward Tufte’s “The Visual Display of Quantitative Information” [ 12 ] or the article “Visualization of Biomedical Data” by O’Donoghue and colleagues [ 13 ].

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank the countless presenters, colleagues, students, and mentors from which I have learned a great deal from on effective presentations. Also, a thank you to the wonderful resources published by organizations on how to increase inclusivity. A special thanks to Dr. Jason Papin and Dr. Michael Guertin on early feedback of this editorial.

Funding Statement

The author received no specific funding for this work.

What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

by Carmine Gallo

Summary .   

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

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30+ Best Research PowerPoint Templates (For Research Presentations)

Research, no matter the form, is a stressful and tedious undertaking. It requires a significant tolerance for mundane work, and can easily be one of the biggest undertakings of any discipline.

Yet it can become even more stressful when it comes time to present that research as the credibility of your work can often hinge on how you choose to present it. Many seasoned individuals in the research field turn to pre-made templates to craft a compelling research ppt presentation.

It’s for this reason that we’ve compiled a list of the best premium and free research PowerPoint templates covering everything from qualitative, and marketing, to medical research ppt options.

If you’re looking to create an incredible presentation for your research, then look no further than our extensive list of research ppt presentation options, each tailored to make sure you have everything you need to stand out and make a difference with your work.

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Ciri PPT Template

The X Note Template

Clean Business PPT

Agency Portfolio PPT

Analysiz Powerpoint

Bolo PPT Template

Biolabs – science research powerpoint template.

BioLabs is a PowerPoint template that’s most suitable for science-related research presentations. This template includes many unique slides with sleek and modern designs. It includes customizable graphics, charts, and vector icons too.

Medical Research Diagrams PowerPoint Template

This is a collection of 24 different diagram slides for PowerPoint. There are a variety of diagram designs included in this template for showcasing your research data and stats in visual form. The slides are available in 90 color themes as well.

Science & Research Presentation PowerPoint Template

Create the perfect presentation for your science research projects using this PowerPoint template. It includes 30 different slides that come in both light and dark color themes. You can also customize the colors and fonts of each slide.

Environmental Thesis Research PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template is designed for making presentations on environmental research topics. It features 60 slides in total featuring light and dark slide layouts. There are editable charts, graphs, and infographics too.

Market Research Analytics Slides for PowerPoint

A useful PowerPoint template for making market research presentations. It includes 20 unique slides featuring various types of business marketing graphs, charts, and diagrams that are must-haves for all kinds of marketing presentations.

Modern Marketing Research PPT

If you’re looking to hunt down the best marketing research PowerPoint templates, the above-featured product is a solid contender that deserves to make it to your shortlist. It features 25 clean, and modern slides that can be fully customized to your specific requirements.

Qualitative Research PPT

Fancy a good qualitative research ppt that really stands out? Look no further than this multipurpose template that can be used for research as well as business purposes. As one of the best research PowerPoint templates, it offers a multitude of amazing features that really should be seen to be fully appreciated.

University Research Paper PowerPoint Template

This is an excellent choice for looking to get their hands on a versatile university research ppt presentation. It contains 130 slides, 7 premade colors, free fonts, and a lot more. When it comes to the best research ppt templates, this option stands at the top of the league.

Science And Research PPT Presentation

Create a fantastic presentation for your science research with this template for PowerPoint. Despite the name, this template is a multipurpose ppt providing you with thirty custom slides, a range of placeholder images, and much more.

Mrketing Research PPT Presentation

Compiling an assortment of marketing research? Look no further than this Marketing Research PowerPoint template. The template uses a modern and clean slide design and provides a range of one hundred and fifty custom slides, spread across five unique theme options.

Laboratory & Science Research PowerPoint Template

This Laboratory and Science Research PowerPoint template is a masterclass example of a research presentation platform. It provides you with a range of ultra-modern slide designs, each with their own placeholder images and graphics. The template consists of thirty-six different slide designs, a free font, and many other bonus features for you to enjoy.

Scientist – Research PPT Presentation

Scientist is a research PowerPoint template that provides you with a selection of green-styled custom slides, and a unique minimalistic look to its presentation format. The template consists of thirty different slide designs.

Garnie – Research PPT Presentation

Garnie is a wonderfully crafted research PowerPoint template. Providing you with a modern presentation format, and a range of minimal stylized custom slides. If you’re looking to present your research in a compelling fashion, you can’t go wrong with Garnie.

SEO Research PPT Presentation

If you’re conducting market research, specifically into SEO keywords, then Venus is the presentation template for you. Providing you with a range of custom slides tailored towards presenting SEO research information. There are thirty ultra-modern custom slides to choose from, two iconic themes, image placeholders, and much more.

Technology Research PPT Presentation

The Techno PowerPoint template is designed to help you present research findings in a compelling and captivating fashion. Each slide is tailored with a selection of infographics, charts, and information presentation options.

Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology PowerPoint Template

If you’re in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology field, then it can be difficult to find proper presentation formats for showing off your research. Thankfully, the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology PowerPoint Template has been created to provide an expertly designed platform for your work. It comes with thirty-two custom slides and a range of customization options for you to enjoy.

Labvire – Science Research PPT Presentation

Labvire is a research presentation template, designed with a sleek and clean slide design. The template comes with a range of image and icon placeholders, as well as a free font pack. There are forty unique slides, as well as a range of infographics for you to use.

Social Media Research PPT Presentation

Looking into social media trends, and compiling research? Then you need the Social Media Trends PowerPoint template. This presentation format is designed to display social media research and provide industry insights that your company can use. The template provides over one hundred custom slides for you to use.

Medical Research PPT Presentation

When it comes to medical research, you often need to display complex information to your audience. That’s where this collection of Medical Infographic PowerPoint Animated slides comes in, equipping you with a range of extensive infographic designs to get your research findings across the right way.

Biotechnology Research PPT Presentation

The Biotech template is a staple in the research presentation field. It uses a minimal and clean slide design, and comes equipped with a range of custom slides that will help you to display your research findings in style.

Sinara – Research PPT Presentation

Sinara is a modern gradient-styled presentation template, equipped with a multipurpose platform that is well suited to research presentations. The template has a massive library of custom slides, totaling seven hundred and twenty in total, and provides a range of custom themes for you to enjoy.

Pandemik – Research PPT Presentation

The Pandemik medical template is a robust and reliable research presentation template. It is equipped with a range of compelling slide designs, and wonderfully tailored aesthetic bordering choices. The template consists of a massive one thousand two hundred different slides, multiple themes, infographics, and more.

Chemica – Research PPT Presentation

Chemica is a pharmacy research PowerPoint template, designed with a beautiful gradient and abstract style. The template comes equipped with a range of custom slides, image placeholders, and even animated infographics to help show off your research.

Research PPT Presentation

Show off your Biologist research with the Biologist PowerPoint Presentation Template. A simple, yet captivating template style that prioritizes clean functionality over flashy style. A great choice for those looking to present clean and easy-to-understand information.

Auxilium – Research PPT Presentation

Auxilium is a professionally designed research template, designed for presenting SEO research and market research. The template uses a sleek white on blue slide design and comes with a range of bordering options to match the aesthetic.

Free Research PowerPoint Templates

Research is a costly endeavor, so it’s understandable if you want to avoid spending any money on a professional premium research template. Let’s take a look at some free research PowerPoint templates you can get your hands on right now.

Clinical Case – Free Research Presentation Template

Clinical Case is an extensive presentation research template, providing you with a range of simple slide designs that makes molding the template for your own personal needs a breeze.

Free Criminology Research PPT Presentation

If you’re putting together a criminology dissertation, and need a qualitative research ppt for the same, this template is right up your alley. It’s one of the best free research PowerPoint templates out there, and contains 26 powerful slides to impress your audience.

Free Marketing Research PPT Presentation

Check out this research ppt presentation providing you with everything that you need to leave your clients spellbound. It’s one of those free research PowerPoint templates that can easily give virtually any premium product a run for its money.

Free Research PPT Template

Scouring the internet for a feature-rich qualitative research ppt that sets you apart from the crowd? This free research PowerPoint template is just what you need. Whether you use it for University research purposes, or business marketing presentations, it will always exceed your expectations.

Free Research PPT Presentation

Chemistry Thesis, despite what the name might suggest, is a multipurpose research template that provides a great foundation to present your research in a sleek and modern format. The template provides a range of beautifully tailored custom slides and infographics for you to enjoy.

Free Research PowerPoint Template

The Intellectual Property template is a fantastically designed thesis and research platform, with a range of simple slide designs. The template provides custom slides, infographics, image placeholders, and even icons for you to use.

Present Your Research Effectively with These Templates!

There is nothing easy about presenting your research in a compelling and captivating fashion. But that doesn’t mean finding the right template to get you started has to be a struggle. With these templates under your belt, you have everything you need to make an incredible research presentation.

• Presentations

Research Presentation Templates

Present your next research project in style. Whether you’re creating a presentation for a scientific research project, your graduate thesis or a school project, you still want to make sure it’s visually appealing and engaging. Visme’s research presentation templates give you the perfect starting point for your data and information.

Research 33

Finance Research Presentation

Present interesting statistics related to the financial industry using this presentation template.

Psychology Research Presentation

Put together an impressive presentation on the psychological impact of social and health issues like the pandemic.

Scientific Research Presentation

Share important scientific research and proposed solutions using this eye-catching presentation template.

Market Research Presentation

Present detailed insight into your company's market potential and operational capabilities.

Keyword Research Presentation

Walk your audience through the basics of keyword research with this presentation template.

Social Media Research Presentation

Shed light on the impact of social media using this colorful research presentation template.

Geology Research Presentation

Educate your audience on important geological topics using this research presentation template.

Research Paper Presentation

Use this stunning research paper presentation template to present results and key findings.

Nursing Research Presentation

Share important insights into the field of nursing with this engaging research presentation template.

Political Research Presentation

Dissect complex political questions with this blue-toned research presentation template.

Sociology Research Presentation

Make complex sociology issues easy to understand with this research presentation template.

Conflict Resolution Presentation

Explain the mechanisms of conflict resolution with this interesting presentation template.

Investment Research Presentation

Research the best opportunities for investments and showcase the results in this unique presentation template.

Economics Research Presentation

Explain comprehensive economics research in simple terms using this monochromatic presentation template.

Technology Research Presentation

Excite your audience about your technology research with this futuristic presentation template.

Machine Learning Research Presentation

Propone a machine learning research with this stylish presentation template.

Medical Research Presentation

Consumer Behavior Research Presentation

Illustrate your consumer behavior research with this notable presentation template.

UX Research Presentation

Share the latest trends in UX design using this research presentation template.

Vaccination Research Presentation

Share vaccination research results using this impactful presentation template.

Nonprofit Research Presentation

Share important nonprofit research results with the public using this moving presentation template.

Exploratory Research Presentation

Share exploratory research results with your clients using this influential presentation template.

History Thesis Presentation

Explain your history thesis using this engaging presentation template.

Foreign Language Thesis Presentation

Present your thesis on foreign languages using this colorful presentation template.

Research Presentation Templates by Visme

A lot goes into a research project, and you’re proud of your findings. Present them in a professional, engaging and visually appealing manner so that your audience can easily discover your findings as well.

With Visme’s research presentation templates, you can pick a template that is similar to your own research, then update the placeholder information with all of your own research. Change fonts and colors if you wish, add in stock photos or upload your own, utilize charts and graphics for data visualization and more.

Create Your Presentation Now

Research presentation templates

Confidently present your research findings with our collection of free research presentation templates perfect for sharing your hard work.

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How to Present Your Research (Guidelines and Tips)

Published on 01 Feb 2023

Presenting at a conference can be stressful, but can lead to many opportunities, which is why coming prepared is super beneficial.

The internet is full to the brim with tips for making a good presentation. From what you wear to how you stand to good slide design, there’s no shortage of advice to make any old presentation come to life. 

But, not all presentations are created equal. Research presentations, in particular, are unique. 

Communicating complex concepts to an audience with a varied range of awareness about your research topic can be tricky. A lack of guidance and preparation can ruin your chance to share important information with a conference community. This could mean lost opportunities in collaboration or funding or lost confidence in yourself and your work.

So, we’ve put together a list of tips with research presentations in mind. Here’s our top to-do’s when preparing to present your research.

Take every research presentation opportunity

The worst thing you could do for your research is to not present it at all. As intimidating as it can be to get up in front of an audience, you shouldn’t let that stop you from seizing a good opportunity to share your work with a wider community.

These contestants from the Vitae Three Minute Thesis Competition have some great advice to share on taking every possible chance to talk about your research. 

Double-check your research presentation guidelines

Before you get started on your presentation, double-check if you’ve been given guidelines for it. 

If you don’t have specific guidelines for the context of your presentation, we’ve put together a general outline to help you get started. It’s made with the assumption of a 10-15 minute presentation time. So, if you have longer to present, you can always extend important sections or talk longer on certain slides:

• Title Slide (1 slide) - This is a placeholder to give some visual interest and display the topic until your presentation begins.
• Short Introduction (2-3 slides) - This is where you pique the interest of your audience and establish the key questions your presentation covers. Give context to your study with a brief review of the literature (focus on key points, not a full review). If your study relates to any particularly relevant issues, mention it here to increase the audience's interest in the topic.
• Hypothesis (1 slide) - Clearly state your hypothesis.
• Description of Methods (2-3 slides) - Clearly, but briefly, summarize your study design including a clear description of the study population, the sample size and any instruments or manipulations to gather the data.
• Results and Data Interpretation (2-4 slides) - Illustrate your results through simple tables, graphs, and images. Remind the audience of your hypothesis and discuss your interpretation of the data/results.
• Conclusion (2-3 slides) - Further interpret your results. If you had any sources of error or difficulties with your methods, discuss them here and address how they could be (or were) improved. Discuss your findings as part of the bigger picture and connect them to potential further outcomes or areas of study.
• Closing (1 slide) - If anyone supported your research with guidance, awards, or funding, be sure to recognize their contribution. If your presentation includes a Q&A session, open the floor to questions.

Plan for about one minute for each slide of information that you have. Be sure that you don’t cram your slides with text (stick to bullet points and images to emphasize key points).

And, if you’re looking for more inspiration to help you in scripting an oral research presentation. University of Virginia has a helpful oral presentation outline script .

A PhD Student working on an upcoming oral presentation.

Put yourself in your listeners shoes

As mentioned in the intro, research presentations are unique because they deal with specialized topics and complicated concepts. There’s a good chance that a large section of your audience won’t have the same understanding of your topic area as you do. So, do your best to understand where your listeners are at and adapt your language/definitions to that.

There’s an increasing awareness around the importance of scientific communication. Comms experts have even started giving TED Talks on how to bridge the gap between science and the public (check out Talk Nerdy to Me ). A general communication tip is to find out what sort of audience will listen to your talk. Then, beware of using jargon and acronyms unless you're 100% certain that your audience knows what they mean. 

On the other end of the spectrum, you don’t want to underestimate your audience. Giving too much background or spending ages summarizing old work to a group of experts in the field would be a waste of valuable presentation time (and would put you at risk of losing your audience's interest). 

Finally, if you can, practice your presentation on someone with a similar level of topic knowledge to the audience you’ll be presenting to.

Use scientific storytelling in your presentation

In scenarios where it’s appropriate, crafting a story allows you to break free from the often rigid tone of scientific communications. It helps your brain hit the refresh button and observe your findings from a new perspective. Plus, it can be a lot of fun to do!

If you have a chance to use scientific storytelling in your presentation, take full advantage of it. The best way to weave a story for your audience into a presentation is by setting the scene during your introduction. As you set the context of your research, set the context of your story/example at the same time. Continue drawing those parallels as you present. Then, deliver the main message of the story (or the “Aha!”) moment during your presentation’s conclusion.

If delivered well, a good story will keep your audience on the edge of their seats and glued to your entire presentation.

Emphasize the “Why” (not the “How”) of your research

Along the same lines as using storytelling, it’s important to think of WHY your audience should care about your work. Find ways to connect your research to valuable outcomes in society. Take your individual points on each slide and bring things back to the bigger picture. Constantly remind your listeners how it’s all connected and why that’s important.

One helpful way to get in this mindset is to look back to the moment before you became an expert on your topic. What got you interested? What was the reason for asking your research question? And, what motivated you to power through all the hard work to come? Then, looking forward, think about what key takeaways were most interesting or surprised you the most. How can these be applied to impact positive change in your research field or the wider community?

Be picky about what you include

It’s tempting to discuss all the small details of your methods or findings. Instead, focus on the most important information and takeaways that you think your audience will connect with. Decide on these takeaways before you script your presentation so that you can set the scene properly and provide only the information that has an added value.

When it comes to choosing data to display in your presentation slides, keep it simple. Wherever possible, use visuals to communicate your findings as opposed to large tables filled with numbers. This article by Richard Chambers has some great tips on using visuals in your slides and graphs.

Hide your complex tables and data in additional slides

With the above tip in mind: Just because you don’t include data and tables in your main presentation slides, doesn’t mean you can’t keep them handy for reference. If there’s a Q&A session after your presentation (or if you’ll be sharing your slides to view on-demand after) one great trick is to include additional slides/materials after your closing slide. You can keep these in your metaphorical “back pocket” to refer to if a specific question is asked about a data set or method. They’re also handy for people viewing your presentation slides later that might want to do a deeper dive into your methods/results.

However, just because you have these extra slides doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make the effort to make that information more accessible. A research conference platform like Fourwaves allows presenters to attach supplementary materials (figures, posters, slides, videos and more) that conference participants can access anytime.

Leave your audience with (a few) questions

Curiosity is a good thing. Whether you have a Q&A session or not, you should want to leave your audience with a few key questions. The most important one:

“Where can I find out more?”

Obviously, it’s important to answer basic questions about your research context, hypothesis, methods, results, and interpretation. If you answer these while focusing on the “Why?” and weaving a good story, you’ll be setting the stage for an engaging Q&A session and/or some great discussions in the halls after your presentation. Just be sure that you have further links or materials ready to provide to those who are curious. 

Conclusion: The true expert in your research presentation

Throughout the entire process of scripting, creating your slides, and presenting, it’s important to remember that no one knows your research better than you do. If you’re nervous, remind yourself that the people who come to listen to your presentation are most likely there due to a genuine interest in your work. The pressure isn’t to connect with an uninterested audience - it’s to make your research more accessible and relevant for an already curious audience.

Finally, to practice what we preached in our last tip: If you’re looking to learn more about preparing for a research presentation, check out our articles on how to dress for a scientific conference and general conference presentation tips .

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15+ Best Research Presentation Templates

Present your research findings clearly with our research presentation templates. These tools provide a range of structured designs that can help you present complex research data in an understandable way.

Science & Research Presentation PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template is the perfect choice for preparing a research presentation to share your scientific findings and reports. It features a mode...

Labia Research Presentation Powerpoint Template

Labia is a research presentation template made for professionals. It comes with a set of modern slides with multipurpose designs. That means you can c...

Sinara Science & Research Powerpoint Template

Sinara is a brilliant PowerPoint template you can use to craft a professional presentation for science-related research and reports. It’s availa...

Labvire Research Presentation PowerPoint Template

Labvire is another modern PowerPoint template you can use for various types of research presentations. It’s also ideal for laboratory-related re...

Marketing Research Presentation PowerPoint Template

When talking about research presentations, we can’t forget about marketing research. Most sales and marketing meetings usually include a sophist...

World Data Scientist Powerpoint Presentation Template

You can use this PowerPoint template to create research presentations for many different types of topics, industries, and projects. The template inclu...

Medical Research Infographics & Powerpoint Slides

You’ll be using lots of charts, graphs, and infographics in your presentations to showcase data in visual form. Not to mention that visuals alwa...

The Biologist Research Presentation PowerPoint Template

Just as the name suggests, this PowerPoint template is designed with biology and science-related presentations in mind. It includes many useful slide ...

Research & Development PowerPoint Template

The minimal and clean design of this PowerPoint template makes it a great choice for delivering more effective research presentations. With fewer dist...

Modern Science & Research PowerPoint Template

If you’re looking for a PowerPoint template to create a modern-looking research presentation, this template is perfect for you. It features a co...

Marketing Report & Research PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template doubles as both a research and report slideshow. You can use it to create various marketing reports as well as marketing rese...

Laboratory & Science Research PowerPoint Template

You can make more convincing and unique lab research presentations using this PowerPoint template. It features a creative design that will easily attr...

Foreka Biology Education & Research Presentation PPT

Foreka is a PowerPoint template made for educational presentations, especially for covering topics related to biology. But it can also be customized t...

Political Science and Research PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template will be quite useful to political science and international relations students. It features a total of 150 slides you can use...

Market Research Presentation PowerPoint Template

Another modern PowerPoint template for making market research presentations. This template includes 25 unique slides with master slides, image placeho...

Maua Aesthetic Business Research PowerPoint Template

This PowerPoint template is suitable for making elegant and stylish business reports and business research presentations. It’s especially great ...

Novalabs Science Research PowerPoint Template

Novalabs PowerPoint template features a highly visual and attractive design. The template includes 36 different slides that feature large image placeh...

FAQs About Research Presentation Templates

What are research presentation templates.

Research Presentation Templates are professional templates designed with a structure to present research results effectively. These templates come with customizable slides containing different types of diagrams, charts, and other visual tools which aid in illustrating the various aspects of your research topic.

These predefined layouts can help save a lot of time and effort that would have been expended if researchers were to start designing their presentation from scratch. They allow you to focus more on the research findings and the content of the presentation, ensuring a high-quality, organized, and engaging presentation.

Why should I use Research Presentation Templates?

One primary advantage of using research presentation templates is their ability to show your content in an organized, professional, and visually appealing manner. They include professionally designed elements to keep your audience engaged and help them better understand your research findings. They can make complex research data easier to digest with the help of color codes, suitable text fonts, and graphics.

Moreover, these templates are customizable, so you can adjust colors, fonts, or layouts to fit your style or correspond with your organization's branding. This not only saves time but also ensures consistency, precision, and clarity.

Where can I find Research Presentation Templates?

Research Presentation Templates can be found on various online platforms providing presentation resources. Professional platforms like PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote have a range of research presentation templates. Other online resources like Canva, Slides Carnival, and Template.net also provide a large assortment of research presentation templates.

Before downloading or purchasing any template, make sure it's suitable for your type of research. Pay attention to factors like the number of slides, customization options, and whether it includes diagnostic tools like charts and graphs that will be needed for your presentation.

How can I customize a Research Presentation Template?

Most Research Presentation Templates provide flexibility with customization. You can generally change colors, text fonts, include image placeholders, and even move around elements on each slide. By using the editing features on the platform where you are working (like PowerPoint, Google Slides, or Keynote), you can tweak the template to suit your unique requirements. You can also add or delete slides as necessary.

Some templates may also allow you to include interactive elements, like videos, hyperlinks, or animations. Such features can make your presentation more engaging, effectively drawing in your audience and keeping their attention throughout.

Can I share my customized Research Presentation Template with others?

Yes, most of the time, you can. Once you have customized a research presentation template to fit your needs, you can usually share your version with others. This could be done through direct sharing on the platform where you created it or by exporting it as a PDF or PowerPoint file.

However, if you are using a purchased template, you will need to check the terms of use. Some terms might restrict you from sharing the template, especially if it involves commercial use. Also, always respect copyright laws and don't claim others' work as your own.

This page has been archived and is no longer being updated regularly.

Presenting your research effectively

Here's how to home in on your key message and present it in a clear, engaging way.

By Richard Chambers

Print version: page 28

For many graduate students, presenting their research is a daunting task. How do you cram your months' worth of data collection and analysis into a 10- to 20-minute presentation? Deciding what information to include and how to organize it can be more stressful than actually giving the presentation.

But anyone filled with presentation anxiety should remember that the difficult part is already over once it comes time to present. No one knows your research better than you, and those who come to listen to your presentation are probably there because they are interested in your research, not because they are required to be there. Taking this perspective can make presenting your research much less stressful because the focus of the task is no longer to engage an uninterested audience: It is to keep an already interested audience engaged.

Here are some suggestions for constructing a presentation using various multimedia tools, such as PowerPoint, Keynote and Prezi.

Planning: What should be included?

First, it is always important to refer to the APA Publication Manual as well as to your specific conference's guidelines. Second, before you start building any presentation, consider your audience. Will it be scientists who are familiar with your research area or will it be people who may never have had a class in psychology? Based on the answer, you will want to make sure you structure your presentation with the appropriate depth and terminology.

Determining the main messages you want to communicate in your presentation is often the next step in organizing your thoughts. As you create your presentation, sometimes it is difficult to determine whether a particular piece of information is important or necessary. Consider the value added by each piece of content as you determine whether to include it or not. Often, the background and theory for your research must be presented concisely so that you have time to present your study and findings. Ten minutes is not much time, so emphasize the main points so that your audience has a clear understanding of your take-home messages. When you start planning, writing out content on individual Post-it Notes can be a great way to visually organize your thoughts and, ultimately, your presentation.

Building slides: The do's and don'ts

After you've decided on your content, the real fun begins: designing slides. There are no rules for how to build a slide, but here are a few suggestions to keep in mind:

Tell your story simply

Remember that you want to tell a story, not lecture people. The oral presentation as a whole should be the work of art, and the slides should be supplementary to the story you are trying to convey. When laying out content and designing slides, remember that less is more. Having more slides with less content on each will help keep your audience focused more on what you are saying and prevent them from staring blankly at your slides.

Consider the billboard

Marketers try to use only three seconds' worth of content, the same amount of time a driver has to view a billboard. Your audience may not be driving cars, but you want them to stay engaged with your story, and this makes the three-seconds rule a good one to apply when building a slide. If it takes more than three seconds to read the slide, consider revising it.

Keep it clean

White space will help the slide appear cleaner and more aesthetically appealing. It is important to note that white space may not always be white. Each presentation should have its own color palette that consists of approximately three complementary colors. Try not to use more than three colors, and be aware of the emotion certain colors may evoke. For example, blue is the color of the sky and the ocean and is typically a soothing and relaxing color; red, on the other hand, is a bold, passionate color that may evoke more aggressive feelings.

Don't get too lively

Animation is another customizable option of presentations, but it may not be worth the effort. Animation can be distracting, making it difficult for the audience to stay with the story being told. When in doubt about animation, remember to ask what value is being added. There may be times when you really want to add emphasis to a specific word or phrase. If this is the case, and you deem it necessary, animation may be an acceptable choice. For example, the "grow" feature may be useful for adding emphasis to a word or phrase.

It is important to have highly readable slides with good contrast between the words and background. Choose a font that is easy to read, and be aware that each font has a different personality and sends a different message. The personality of some fonts may even be considered inappropriate for certain settings. For example, the font Comic Sans is a "lighter" font and would most likely not be a wise choice for a presentation at a conference.

Other important considerations include typesetting and the spacing of letters, words and lines. These all affect readability but can also be used as a way to add emphasis. Sometimes you may feel a need to use bullet points. Do not. Typesetting can replace bullet points and add extra distinction to each line of content without cluttering the slide with bullets. For example, consider bolding and increasing the font size of parent lines and indenting child lines.

If you find that your slides contain mainly words, remember that a picture, chart or diagram can augment the text. People often depend on vision as their primary sense; this means your audience has a potential preference for visual information other than just words on the screen.

Presenting data: Think about what kind of graph is best

When you share information, specifically about data, bar graphs should usually be your first choice, with scatter plots a close second because they are simple. The same suggestion about having more slides with less content on each applies to charts and graphs. If the graph or chart will look cleaner as two graphs instead of one, use two graphs.

Accuracy of a graph is, of course, important. For example, it is easy to convey the wrong message simply by altering the range of the y-axis. A restricted y-axis can make the differences between groups look much larger than they actually are to those audience members who do not look closely. It is always important to be ethical and to ensure that information, especially about data, is not being misrepresented. Strive to make charts and graphs easily interpretable, and try not to clutter them with additional numbers.

Building presentations does not need to be a challenge. Presenting should be an opportunity to share with others something very important to you — your research. These suggestions can be used as a starting point to guide the development of future research presentations and to help relieve some of the stress surrounding them.

Richard Chambers is the industrial/organizational psychology representative on the APA Student Science Council. He is a doctoral student at Louisiana Tech University. 

Letters to the Editor

How to Build Great Slides for Your Research Presentation

• Research Process
• Peer Review
• Presentations are important for researchers, so make sure your slides are easy to read.
• Cut down on text, and use images where possible.
• Remember that your slides don't have to explain themselves; minimize what's on the slide in favor of explaining the contents yourself.

Updated on April 1, 2010

This editing tip deals with a different kind of writing: slides in a presentation.

Researchers have many roles in addition to the important work they do each day in the lab, the library, or the field. They must also be good readers, writers, reviewers, and presenters. In particular, presentations and talks are an important way to share your results with others your field, and being invited to speak is a great honor. But how do you convey your research results clearly in a presentation?

Cut down on the amount of text

Remember that your audience will be listening AND watching. If you put up a slide with lots of words, most people will focus on reading instead of listening to you. Any important points you are making might be lost. Always ask yourself, do I need full sentences on this slide? Would a single phrase or even one word be sufficient, given that I can explain it verbally? (If people will be downloading your slides later, consider adding some additional context in the “notes” section of the presentation.)

In some cases, you may not need text at all. Is there an image you can use to introduce a topic? With pictures, the audience is able to continue listening more easily while they view the slide. As long as pictures can prompt you to make the points you need to make, they are a great way to reduce the text clutter in a presentation.

Download these slides to view examples of how to format text, graphics, and animations.

Control the pace of new information

With a book, the reader controls the pace. In your presentation, you do. If you want to make sure that quick readers don't get ahead of the points you'll be talking about, don't provide all of your text at once. Instead, animate each line or bullet point so it appears when you're ready to discuss it.

Also, be careful that your title doesn't reveal the conclusion of the slide. If you bring up a slide that is entitled “Protein A is required for proper heart function,” the audience will immediately know the results of your experiments (and they may stop listening). Consider mentioning your research question or your experiments instead – that way you can lead the audience through the data and provide the conclusion at the end.

Other formatting suggestions

If you are using text (for example, a bulleted list), be sure that the text is easy for the audience to read.

• Check carefully for spelling errors, which can be very distracting to the audience.
• Consider adding some space between lines or paragraphs (an empty 10 pt line is quite effective).
• Watch your parallel structure . If most items in your list are full sentences, make sure all items are full sentences. (Note that this list includes items that all start with a verb.)
• Choose a font that looks professional and clear and a large font size whenever possible. Just because something can easily be read while sitting at your computer doesn't mean it will be visible to the audience in the back of a large room. While there is no firm rule, aim for at least a font size of 24.

Overall, remember that your slides don't have to explain themselves – a good presentation requires a presenter to fill in the important details for the audience. Let your slides guide your story, but not tell it themselves.

If you have questions about describing your research on a presentation slide, please write to us at [email protected] . Best of luck with your next research presentation!

Presenting a poster, not a talk? Learn more about how AJE can help with your poster.

Ben Mudrak, PhD

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• Published: 27 August 2024

Promoting HPV vaccination: effectiveness of mobile short videos for shaping attitudes and influencing behaviors

• Jinhui Li   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9823-8038 1 , 2  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  11 , Article number:  1092 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Cultural and media studies
• Science, technology and society

The explosive growth and attractive features of mobile short videos (MSVs) have made it become an effective tool for disseminating health-related information. This study aims to examine the potential informational and technical factors of MSVs, which contribute to the persuasive effects on people’s decision-making process toward HPV vaccination. An experiment with a 2 (information quality: high vs. low) × 2 (source credibility: high vs. low) × 2 (media richness: high vs. low) between-subject factorial design was conducted among 248 Chinese female students. Findings revealed significant persuasive impacts of three factors, i.e., information quality, source credibility, and media richness, on participants’ HPV vaccination intent, via the mediation effect of attitude toward HPV vaccine information. Significant two-way interaction effects indicated that the persuasive effects of media richness varied across different levels of information quality and source credibility. This research not only applied the theoretical lens of the elaboration likelihood model and media richness theory to understand the influencing mechanism within short-form videos but also offered valuable guidelines regarding how professionals best adopt emerging media to maximize health outcomes.

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Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common viral infection, responsible for approximately 630,000 new cancer cases worldwide each year, including cervical and other types of cancer (de Martel et al., 2017 ). Recognizing its high prevalence and severity, many national immunization programs have been implemented to promote HPV vaccination, which helps protect against HPV transmission and cancer development (Bruni et al., 2016 ). Despite the efforts, the HPV vaccination rate remains low globally, particularly in less developed regions (Bruni et al., 2021 ). Recent studies have identified social media as a promising tool for strengthening HPV vaccine confidence and increasing vaccination rates (Chen et al., 2021 ; Ortiz et al., 2019 ). As a significant source of health information, social media now plays an instrumental role in educating the public about HPV, shaping attitudes, and influencing behaviors toward HPV vaccination. Research on the impact of social media on HPV vaccination has emerged across various platforms, including Facebook (Loft et al., 2020 ), Twitter (Allen et al., 2020 ), and YouTube (Briones et al., 2012 ).

Mobile short video (MSV) applications are an emerging form of social media that has skyrocketed in popularity over the past few years (Zhang et al., 2019 ). These platforms enable users to create and share entertaining videos that last for a few minutes, or even a few seconds, with simplified editing functions. TikTok, one of the most popular MSV applications, boasts approximately 1.1 billion active users worldwide who record short videos about singing, cooking, and other daily activities, and upload them with hashtags to join various topics and trends (Geyser, 2021 ). TikTok is also notable for its uniquely addictive algorithm, which has driven extensive use among teenagers and young adults (Zhang et al., 2019 ). The explosive growth and attractive features of MSVs have made them effective tools for disseminating health-related information (Basch et al., 2020 ; Song et al., 2021b ). Compared to other social media platforms, the originality and interactivity of MSVs elicit a stronger sense of social presence and immersion (Zhang et al., 2019 ), which may further motivate changes in individuals’ health attitudes and behaviors, especially among the young generation. Previous studies of MSVs have mostly focused on identifying the factors that influence user experience and intention to use (Song et al., 2021c ; Wang, 2020 ; Zhang et al., 2019 ), but have yet to examine how to enhance their persuasive impacts on health communication. Investigating MSVs and health communication is important, as it will contribute to more effective strategies for health message design and media intervention implementation.

In HPV-related health research, although relevant findings have provided an overview of how health interventions impact HPV vaccination knowledge and attitudes, most have focused on traditional formats such as texts or images (Mavundza et al., 2021 ). Little research has devoted attention to the short video format emerging on social media, and exploration of its specific impact on persuading people to adopt HPV vaccination remains lacking. Considering the scarcity of relevant literature in this new research area, this study employs an experimental approach to examine the potential factors of MSVs that may influence people’s attitudes and intentions toward HPV vaccination, through the theoretical lens of the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and media richness theory. The findings can extend the literature by assessing the informational and technical stimuli that contribute to the persuasive effect.

Theoretical background

Persuasion and health messages.

Persuasion is an important concept in mass communication, referring to the intentional effort to change audiences’ attitudes and behaviors by disseminating relevant information (Perloff, 2008 ). The existing literature offers a sound understanding of persuasive messages that lead to health-related behavior changes, including quitting smoking (So, 2022 ), undergoing mammography screening (Kemp et al., 2024 ), adopting a healthy diet (Friedman et al., 2022 ), and promoting home-based physical activity (Carfora and Catellani, 2021 ). Substantial research has also examined the health messages effective in changing attitudes and intentions toward HPV vaccination. For example, findings often suggest that framing strategies and narrative types of health messages are important factors in predicting individuals’ perception of and intention toward HPV vaccination (Gainforth et al., 2012 ; Nan et al., 2015 ), while graphics also play a role in promoting HPV vaccination among young adults (Teoh et al., 2019 ). Persuasive strategies used in video-based media such as YouTube to promote HPV vaccines were further examined (Kim et al., 2021 ), but their actual effects on attitudinal and behavioral changes warrant further investigation.

Elaboration likelihood model

First introduced by Petty and Cacioppo ( 1986 ), the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) is the most popular persuasion theory in social psychology and behavioral science. It seeks to understand the underlying processes of persuasion and describes two basic routes that explain how humans process stimuli and the subsequent changes in attitude and behavior (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986 ). The “central route” requires a high level of message elaboration and, consequently, a high level of audience motivation. In this scenario, attitude change occurs through a cognitive (or rational) process based on the detailed information presented in the message, such as the quality of the central argument, personal relevance, and other constructs related to the technological medium (Liang and Lin, 2018 ; Petty and Cacioppo, 1986 ; Tang et al., 2012 ). The persuasive effect of the central route is often enduring and consistent. Conversely, under the “peripheral route,” a person lacks motivation or ability and thus makes simple inferences backed by superficial cues or heuristics, such as the credibility or attractiveness of the source, or the production quality of the message (Petty et al., 2009 ; Teng and Khong, 2015 ). The results of attitude change through the peripheral route are often short-term and unpredictable.

ELM is a highly adaptable and inclusive model that considers all elements of a message and different ways of processing information. It aids in constructing and delivering persuasive messages to target audiences by considering their motivations and abilities (SanJosé-Cabezudo et al., 2009 ). ELM has been applied to investigate the multiple roles of variables in influencing health communication efficacy (e.g., Guo et al., 2020 ; Yada and Head, 2019 ) and to test various media message strategies used in health promotion (e.g., Flynn et al., 2011 ; Thompson et al., 2007 ). More importantly, unlike other classical theories, ELM accommodates the integration of new and different variables associated with novel technologies (Shahab et al., 2021 ). Consequently, ELM is well-suited to understanding the new technology of MSVs and exploring their persuasive impact on HPV vaccination in the current study.

Media richness theory

Apart from the content and source of information, it is also essential to consider the medium that transmits information. Media richness theory, introduced by Daft and Lengel ( 1986 ), describes and evaluates the ability of a communication medium to reproduce the information sent over it. The degree of this ability is known as “richness,” indicating the number of multiple cues in audio, visual, or textual formats. The use of richer media allows for more information to be conveyed and reduces ambiguity during the transmission process (Dennis and Kinney, 1998 ). With the emergence of new media, researchers have identified the varying richness among different forms of social media (Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010 ). For instance, the richness of textual media like blogs is considered low, while that of video sites such as YouTube is high due to the inclusion of visual and auditory cues. Based on these classifications, visual- or audio-based forms of social media are assumed to be more effective in communication than text-based forms.

Furthermore, findings from existing studies indicated that the use of pictures and videos in social media is more effective in triggering users’ emotions, capturing attention, and promoting behavior changes (Bhattacharya et al., 2017 ; Guidry et al., 2020 ). Nevertheless, some studies have reported controversial results, showing non-significant impacts of rich media (Chen et al., 2020 ; Kim and Yang, 2017 ). This may be because visual and audio cues can distract the audience, particularly when the primary objective is to convey a straightforward message. Robert and Dennis ( 2005 ) further argued that the use of rich media could increase motivation but decrease the ability to process information. In health promotion, an important target is to examine the impacts of media interventions on people’s attitudes and behavior toward a health issue. However, research on the association between media richness and health perception (and behavior) is largely limited. Therefore, the current study applies media richness theory to further explore the effects of medium type on attitude and behavioral intention in the context of MSV interventions.

Research hypotheses

Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of both ELM and media richness theory, the current study aims to explore the persuasive impacts of information quality, source credibility, and media richness of MSV on promoting HPV vaccination intent, via the mediation effect of attitude toward HPV vaccine information.

Attitude toward health information

Despite the long-standing recognition of the important role of attitude on behavioral intention in the psychology literature (Danes, 1981 ; Kim and Nan, 2012 ), the relationship between attitude toward health information and the intention to adopt protective health behaviors is not well articulated. For information to influence behavioral intention, individuals must believe and process the information, and then develop an intent to adopt the message’s recommendation (Somera et al., 2016 ). The attitude toward health information significantly affects people’s responses to health messages. Some scholars have examined the predictive effects of attitude toward health information (e.g., information trust) on the intention to seek and use health information (Deng et al., 2015 ). Additionally, recent evidence shows a positive relationship between health information-seeking and health-promoting behaviors (Lee et al., 2015 ; Liu et al., 2024 ). The extent and nature of gathered health information can change people’s beliefs and attitudes regarding specific health behaviors, thus promoting the decision-making process for these anticipated health behaviors (Lalazaryan and Zare-Farashbandi, 2014 ). Taking all this together, we posit the following hypothesis in the context of HPV vaccination:

H1: Attitude toward HPV vaccine information has a positive impact on HPV vaccination intention .

Information quality

Under the central route of ELM, people tend to engage in high elaboration when evaluating the content of persuasive information they receive. Consequently, the strength of information arguments determines recipients’ attitude formation and change (Teng and Khong, 2015 ). If the received information is regarded as high quality, strong, and convincing, individuals are likely to develop a positive attitude towards it and adopt corresponding decisions (O’Keefe, 1990 ). Information quality is primarily related to the accuracy, relevancy, and sufficiency of a communication topic (Zhou, 2012 ). In ELM studies, information quality serves as an important central cue in a person’s decision-making process (Zha et al., 2018 ; Zhou, 2012 ). Research from e-commerce has indicated that information quality positively affects users’ attitudes toward the information, including perceived information usefulness (Cho et al., 2019 ) and the tendency to adopt information (Jiang et al., 2021 ). Lin and colleagues ( 2017 ) further reported that the information quality of health messages had a positive impact on recipients’ attitudes toward the messages. In the field of information management, the influence of information quality on users’ behavioral intentions was also supported by prior studies (Jeong and Lambert, 2001 ; Muslichah, 2018 ), with this relationship being partially mediated by attitude toward the information (Lu et al., 2010 ). Therefore, it is reasonable to assume similar influencing paths in the context of MSVs and HPV vaccination information. The following hypotheses are posited:

H2a: Information quality of MSVs has a positive impact on attitude toward HPV vaccine information .

H2b: Information quality of MSVs has a positive impact on HPV vaccination intent .

H2c: The effect of information quality of MSVs on HPV vaccination intent is mediated by attitude toward HPV vaccine information .

Source credibility

When individuals are not highly motivated or lack the ability to engage deeply with the content, they are more likely to process information through the peripheral route, relying on source credibility to form their attitudes. Source credibility is understood as the degree to which a person or agency generating information is perceived to be trustworthy, knowledgeable, and believable (Zha et al., 2018 ). Generally, messages obtained from professional and credible sources (e.g., experts) are often more persuasive and have a significant impact on receivers’ attitudes (López and Sicilia, 2014 ). In the context of social media, source credibility is the most salient cue in the peripheral route of ELM, as other online peripheral cues are difficult to obtain (Teng and Khong, 2015 ). An extensive body of previous research in information studies has supported the impacts of source credibility on users’ perceptions and attitudes (Lee et al., 2022 ; Weber et al., 2023 ). The impact of source credibility has also been extended to behavioral intentions for recommended actions (Warkentin and Johnston, 2010 ). Evidence from Farhadpoor & Dezfuli (Farhadpoor and Dezfuli, 2021 ) confirmed the significant indirect effect of source credibility on shopping behavior through the attitude towards the source.

In the health promotion process, experimental studies (Hu and Sundar, 2009 ; Niu et al., 2020 ) have demonstrated that source credibility of online health information influences users’ attitudes toward the information and encourages corresponding behavioral intentions. Barnes et al. ( 2018 ) further identified the credibility of HPV vaccine information sources as a major theme that shaped parents’ attitudes toward the HPV vaccine. In a study of online health communities, findings from Xu et al. ( 2021 ) indicated that perceived message credibility indirectly affected HPV vaccination intention via information selection. However, the mediation role of attitude remains unexplored in this particular health context. Therefore, three hypotheses are therefore proposed related to MSVs and HPV:

H3a: Source credibility of MSVs has a positive impact on attitude toward HPV vaccine information .

H3b: Source credibility of MSVs has a positive impact on HPV vaccination intent .

H3c: The effect of source credibility of MSVs on HPV vaccination intent is mediated by attitude toward HPV vaccine information .

Media richness

When interacting with rich media that include visual and audio cues, users often demonstrate high engagement with the message and are therefore more likely to process the information (Robert and Dennis, 2005 ). As the level of engagement increases, the effort and intention devoted to the communication process also increase. In other words, the high richness of media leads to a high level of attention and motivation among users. Additionally, richer media are more capable of facilitating users’ understanding of ambiguous or equivocal messages (Daft and Lengel, 1986 ), enhancing their ability to process the message. As mentioned above, ELM proposes that the motivation and ability to process information determine the extent of elaboration, which in turn affects attitude and behavior (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986 ). Therefore, as some scholars argue (e.g., Yen, 2018 ), media richness might act as an important cue in the central route of ELM, influencing perceptual and behavioral changes. Nevertheless, other studies consider visual and audio factors to play a peripheral role in message processing (Lazard and Atkinson, 2014 ; Shin et al., 2020 ; Song et al., 2021a ). Whether via the central or peripheral route, it is reasonable to assume that the integration of visuals and audio in MSVs influences attitudes and decisions regarding behaviors.

In terms of delivering health messages, recent research suggested that websites with multimedia elements, such as videos, were more persuasive in changing attitudes (2009) and promoting risk-protective behaviors (Perrault and Silk, 2014 ). Besides the significant main effect, media richness has been found to have an indirect effect on health behavioral intentions through the mediation of attitude (Lu et al., 2014 ). To explore the relationships on the emerging MSV platform and determine the persuasive impact on HPV vaccination intent at different levels of media richness, the following hypotheses are posited:

H4a: Media richness of MSVs has a positive impact on attitude toward HPV vaccine information .

H4b: Media richness of MSVs has a positive impact on HPV vaccination intent .

H4c: The effect of media richness of MSVs on HPV vaccination intent is mediated by attitude toward HPV vaccine information .

A conceptual model is proposed based on the above hypotheses, which is shown in Fig. 1 .

Proposed conceptual model in this study.

Furthermore, it is essential to explore the potential interactions among the three factors in terms of persuasive outcomes. Studying the moderating effects of media richness within the cognitive process of information is of theoretical interest (Gosain et al., 2019 ). Although ELM and media richness theory are derived from different theoretical perspectives, they both help explain individuals’ motivation and ability to process information. Therefore, it is possible that media, based on their levels of richness, will produce different influences—either supporting or hindering—the persuasive effects of central or peripheral cues. For example, Gosain et al. ( 2019 ) examined whether media richness could strengthen the relationship between information quality and customer engagement behaviors, but no significant moderation impact was detected. Another experimental study (Hu and Sundar, 2009 ) indicated that the persuasive effects of different sources (i.e., expert or layperson) on information attitude and behavior intentions varied on specific forms of social media. Their findings further confirmed that messages with different health contents produced different interactions between source and media type, as the health issues contained in them caused differential levels of heuristic processing. Moreover, the interplay of message quality and source credibility was examined in the context of information validation, with untrustworthy sources found to disrupt the processing of plausible texts (Wertgen and Richter, 2022 ). Given the scarcity of relevant evidence in the context of MSVs and HPV vaccination, an exploratory research question is thus posed in the current study:

RQ: Are there any interaction effects among information quality, source credibility, and media richness of MSVs on HPV vaccination intent?

This study has employed an experiment with a 2 (information quality: high vs. low) × 2 (source credibility: high vs. low) × 2 (media richness: high vs. low) between-subject factorial design to investigate the impact of MSV on HPV vaccination intent. The study has gained ethical approval from the university’s institutional review board.

Participants

Considering the high incidence and mortality rates of cervical cancer in China, the Chinese government has established a national target to improve HPV vaccine coverage among young adolescent females (National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China, 2023 ). Given the specific socio-political context, this study excluded male participants but only recruited female adolescents and young adults (aged below 25 years). They are recruited from local high schools and universities in a southern province of China, between March and April 2021. Participants would be excluded from the experiment if they: (a) were majored in a medical background (to reduce the effect of existing knowledge); (b) got the HPV vaccine before; or (c) planned to get the HPV vaccine within the coming months. An a priori power analysis was conducted using G*Power (Faul et al., 2007 ) to determine the minimum sample size required to test the study hypotheses. To achieve 80% power for detecting a small-to-medium effect ( d  = 0.3) at a significance criterion of 0.05, the required sample size was 90 for main effects and 175 for interaction effects, respectively. The study initially recruited 266 participants, but 18 of them were then excluded because of conflicting schedules or previous history of HPV vaccination. Thus, the final sample size who completed the whole experiment is 248, which is adequate to test all the hypotheses.

The participants were randomly assigned to one of the eight experimental conditions, in which they received customized short videos about the HPV vaccine once per day, for a total of two days. Rather than a laboratory experiment, this study employed the field experiment design which occurred in the natural environment (i.e., everyday life) of the participants. There were no restrictions on when and where they watched these short videos—participants only needed to follow their own habits for smartphone usage. The natural setting is able to increase the external validity of the experiment, and the results can be generalized to other contexts. A post-study survey was issued to all the participants after the two-day intervention, to collect their information attitudes, and behavioral intentions toward the HPV vaccine. The actual exposure to the videos was further asked in the survey, in which all participants self-reported that they had completed watching all the videos in the two days. Figure 2 illustrates the flowchart of the experiment.

Study flowchart and details of interventions.

Intervention

A total of 16 customized short videos (2 videos per condition) were used in this experiment. They were designed based on the characteristics of the TikTok platform, and the length of the videos was about one minute. The short videos in different conditions varied from each other in terms of information quality, source credibility, and media richness. Details of the short videos in eight conditions were also shown in Fig. 2 . Detailed descriptions and screenshots of all the experimental conditions were demonstrated in Appendix 1 . The manipulation of the three factors was further described below:

Information quality. The central route of ELM is logic-driven and often uses data and facts to convince the audience. In the design of information quality in MSVs, we adopted the theoretical framework of the health belief model (HBM; Rosenstock, 1974 ) to frame the persuasion of HPV vaccination, which includes perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, perceived barriers, and cues to action. Specifically, short videos with high information quality include detailed figures and scientific explanations when discussing susceptibility and severity of cervical cancer, benefits, and cues to action toward the HPV vaccine. In contrast, those with low information quality cover these topics only with ambiguous wording and emotional arguments.

Source credibility. Given the context of MSV, the presence of source credibility is mainly manipulated by the account details and appearance of the “vlogger” (i.e., persuader) in the short videos. More specifically, short videos with high source credibility link to an authorized account with a medical-related account name (e.g., “Doctor Niu in Gynecology”). The account details were shown right below the videos, and the audience could easily notice them while watching the videos. Meanwhile, the vlogger in these videos acted as a health professional, with a professional dress code such as wearing a white coat and a facial mask. For the short videos with low source credibility, they link to an unauthorized account with a random account name. The person talking in these videos appeared to be a layperson, wearing casual and normal clothes just like ordinary people.

Media richness. Following the practice from previous studies (Dennis and Kinney, 1998 ; Kaplan and Haenlein, 2010 ), media richness was mainly manipulated by the number of ways in which HPV vaccine information can be communicated, i.e., visual and audio cues in the MSV such as animation, subtitle, and music. For example, short videos with high media richness have vivid animation and/or visual effects when educating the audience on HPV illness and vaccines. Clear subtitles and relevant background music were also added to aid the persuasion process. However, all these elements were absent in those short videos with low media richness, leaving only the oral presentation of the persuader.

Manipulation check

Before the actual experiment, a manipulation check was first performed to ensure that three factors (i.e., information quality, source credibility, and attractiveness) had been effectively manipulated across the experimental conditions. An extra group of 92 participants with similar backgrounds (but didn’t participate in the final experiment) were invited to watch all 16 short videos. They were then asked to finish a survey that evaluated each video in terms of information quality, source credibility, and attractiveness. The measurement of information quality was a seven-item scale (e.g., “The information presented in the video is scientific”) adapted from Pee ( 2012 ). Source credibility was assessed by a five-item scale (e.g., “This account has a good reputation”) adapted from Ohanian ( 1990 ). A three-item scale (e.g., “This video has various ways for expression”) from Yang and Chen ( 2020 ) was used to measure media richness. The sum of the item scores was used to perform the statistical test in each of the three variables. Results from independent t -test supported the effective manipulation of experiment conditions, by indicating a significant difference between videos with high and low information quality ( t  = −2.528, p  = 0.013), source credibility ( t  = −2.766, p  = 0.007), and media richness ( t  = −2.766, p  < 0.001). Table 1 indicates the details results of the manipulation check.

Measurement

The main outcomes measured in this experiment were attitude toward HPV vaccine information and HPV vaccination intent. Four items of attitude toward HPV vaccine information were originally from Bhattacherjee and Sanford ( 2006 ) but modified to fit the current context. It assessed whether participants perceived the HPV vaccine information as objective, safe, comfortable, and reliable for decision-making. Six items of HPV vaccination intent were developed based on scales from Gerend and Shepherd ( 2007 ) and Fu ( 2015 ), to measure the likelihood that participants would try to get more information about and/or consider getting the HPV vaccine once it is available. A seven-Likert scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (7) was used to measure all the question items. Both attitudes toward HPV vaccine information and HPV vaccination intent resulted in good reliability in the current study, with a Cronbach’s α of 0.833 and 0.892, respectively. Good convergent validity and discriminant validity were further reported among these two outcome measurements (see Appendix 2 ).

Table 2 demonstrates the descriptive statistics of outcome measures in all eight experiment conditions. Path analysis was applied to examine the proposed model and test the persuasive effects of the three factors, i.e., information quality, source credibility, and media richness. Path analysis is a form of multiple regression statistical analysis that is commonly used to evaluate causal models. Different from those in cross-sectional studies, the model in the current study involved experimentally manipulated independent variables. Thus, we followed the guidelines from Bollen ( 1989 ) and MacCallum and Austin ( 2000 ), to model the relationships of the categorical exogenous (predictor) variables to mediators and outcomes. The path analysis was conducted in Mplus version 6.0.

Hypotheses testing

Before the model examination, goodness-of-fit was first assessed to determine how the proposed model fits the actual data. Similar to previous studies (Li et al., 2020 ; Xu et al., 2016 ), multiple fit statistics were used including the Chi-square test, Comparative Fit Index (CFI), Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA), and Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR). The recommended values of good fit in these indices were adopted from prior literature (Bentler, 1990 ; Hu and Bentler, 1990 ; Steiger and Lind, 1980 ), and demonstrated in Table 3 . Based on the recommended criteria, the proposed model has resulted in a good fit for data (refer to Table 3 ). Figure 3 shows the estimations of the path coefficient and hypotheses testing results. Particularly, regarding the central route, significant positive effects of information quality in MSV were observed on attitude toward HPV vaccine information ( β  = 0.242, p  = 0.004), and HPV vaccination intent ( β  = 0.191, p  = 0.007), thereby supporting H2a and H2b. Regarding the peripheral route, the positive effects of source credibility and media richness of MSV on attitude toward HPV vaccine information were also significant, with β  = 0.188, p  = 0.008, and β  = 0.193, p  = 0.021, respectively. Similar persuasive effects of source credibility and media richness were also found on HPV vaccination intent, with β  = 0.219, p  = 0.002, and β  = 0.181, p  = 0.040, respectively. Thus H3a, H3b, H4a, and H4b were supported. Lastly, H1 was strongly supported by a significant path from the attitude toward HPV vaccine information to HPV vaccination intent ( β  = 0.464, p  < 0.001).

Note. Path coefficients are standardized. The solid line indicates a significant path with * p  < 0.05, ** p  < 0.01, *** p  < 0.001.

The mediation role of attitude toward HPV vaccine information was further examined on Mplus with Andrew Hayes’ PROCESS analysis, followed by the guideline from Stride et al. ( 2015 ). Findings from the mediation tests indicated a strong indirect effect of information quality on HPV vaccination intent via medication of attitude toward HPV vaccine information ( β  = 0.452, p  < 0.001). Similar results were also found on the mediation effects of source credibility ( β  = 0.458, p  < 0.001) and media richness ( β  = 0.427, p  < 0.001). Consequently, H2c, H3c, and H4c were supported.

A significantly large R 2 of 0.435 in HPV vaccination intent was reported in the model. It demonstrated that 43.5% of the unique variance of HPV vaccination intent was explained by the independent and mediating variables mentioned above. Generally, the findings have revealed significant persuasive impacts of three factors on people’s decision-making process toward HPV vaccine, indicating that MSV with high information quality, source credibility, and media richness would lead to a more positive attitude toward HPV vaccine information among the audience, and further increase their likelihood to go for HPV vaccination.

Interaction effects

A series of multiple-way analyses of variance (ANOVA) was conducted in IBM SPSS, to examine the RQ of interaction effects among the three factors. Findings from the three-way ANOVA did not indicate a significant three-way interaction effect among three factors on HPV vaccination intent ( p  = 0.067). Nevertheless, a significant two-way interaction effect was observed between information quality and media richness ( F (1239) = 68.793, p  < 0.001, η 2  = 0.224) on HPV vaccination intent. These results suggested that the persuasive effect of media richness varied across different levels of information quality, such that MSV with richer visual and audio cues tended to be even more persuasive in promoting HPV vaccination if they communicated high information quality when compared to those with limited cues. The two-way interaction between source credibility and media richness is approaching significant ( F (1239) = 3.779, p  = 0.053, η 2  = 0.016), releasing a similar conclusion on HPV vaccination intent. However, this significant two-way interaction effect was not found between information quality and source credibility ( p  = 0.065). The results of ANOVAs are further shown in Table 4 .

This study seeks to investigate if and how HPV vaccine information delivered via mobile short videos (MSVs) can persuade individuals to decide to get the HPV vaccine. By varying the form of information quality, source credibility, and media richness, it provides valuable insights into how health professionals can best adopt emerging social media to maximize their persuasive effects in health education and promotion. Additionally, this research applies the theoretical lenses of the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and media richness theory to understand the persuasive mechanisms of short-form videos in this health context. Primary results indicate that the quality of health content communicated in MSVs has a direct impact on individuals’ protective behavioral intentions and an indirect impact through changing their attitudes toward health information. This aligns with the central route of the ELM (Petty and Cacioppo, 1986 ) and confirms the role of information quality as a major determinant of health behavioral intentions on the new medium of MSVs. Health messages with strong arguments and clear evidence have been reported to be more persuasive in previous research (Goh and Chi, 2017 ; Lin et al., 2017 ). Our study further demonstrates that health messages with high argument quality of HBM constructs are more persuasive than those with low argument quality. The findings can inspire health professionals to develop better educational materials on social media to encourage HPV vaccination or other similar protective health behaviors.

Consistent with prior findings (Lin et al., 2017 ; Niu et al., 2020 ), short videos featuring health professionals were more persuasive than those featuring laypersons in affecting attitudes toward HPV vaccine information and HPV vaccination intent. In the case of health messages related to a major cancer risk, the presence of a credible and authorized communicator might be considered evidence of argument quality (Petty and Cacioppo, 1984 ), leading to increasingly positive attitudes toward the messages and the subsequent health behaviors they advocate. Additionally, source credibility was reported to be the most critical predictor of HPV vaccination intent. This finding represents an important step forward in revealing the role of source credibility in the new form of video-based media. Unlike traditional online videos, the success of MSVs relies on the core concept of “fast entertainment.” With limited video length and bitrate, users are not expected to spend much time and cognitive effort processing the content. Instead, they may rely more on peripheral cues, such as source credibility, to judge an argument within a limited time period without deep cognitive elaboration. This reliance on peripheral cues highlights the significant impact of source credibility in influencing viewers’ attitudes and behavioral intentions.

The findings also shed light on how media use influences individuals’ perceptions and decisions regarding health behaviors. Consistent with previous studies (Mohamad, 2020 ; Perrault and Silk, 2014 ; Yen, 2018 ), MSVs with high media richness resulted in more positive attitudes toward HPV vaccine information and increased intent for HPV vaccination. The heightened attention and motivation elicited by multiple visual and audio cues may explain the persuasive impact on attitudes and behavioral intentions. However, this explanation warrants further validation in future studies through proper measurement of attention and motivation. Furthermore, in predicting the persuasive impact, it is crucial to point out a (approaching) significant interaction between source credibility and media richness on HPV vaccination intent. These findings have integrated media richness into the extended ELM framework: For MSVs with multiple cues, connecting to a credible source has proven more effective in enhancing health persuasion for HPV vaccination. One possible explanation is that peripheral cues are more effectively conveyed through media with high cue multiplicity (Gold-Nöteberg, 2004 ). High media richness facilitates the evocation of peripheral cue processes, thereby enhancing message persuasiveness. Robert and Dennis ( 2005 ) argued that individuals presented with complex messages in high-richness environments tend to rely on peripheral cues and avoid cognitive evaluation. While much remains to be explored in this emerging field, this study has illuminated an important mechanism linking media richness and peripheral cues.

Additionally, this study identified a significant interaction between central cues and media richness, indicating that media richness enhances the persuasive effect of promoting HPV vaccination when the presented vaccine information is of high quality. Previous research has primarily focused on distinguishing the influences of information quality and media richness on psychological outcomes (Chen and Chang, 2018 ; Zhang et al., 2021 ), with few exploring their interaction effects within an integrated framework. This study addresses this gap by demonstrating how these two distinct characteristics collaborate to shape decision-making processes. In the context of MSVs, while high media richness enhances communication efficiency, it also presents the challenge of managing a large volume of HPV vaccine information within a short period. The abundance of novel and complex information conveyed through high-richness media increases the likelihood of information overload among recipients (Schneider, 1987 ). However, information overload can be mitigated through the delivery of accurate and clear information (Kugbey et al., 2019 ). Thus, high information quality may amplify the persuasive impact of media richness by reducing information overload. This finding holds significant implications for public health campaigns aiming to effectively communicate high-quality health messages using rich media with multiple cues.

Limitations and implications

Several limitations were identified in this study. The primary limitation is the relatively short intervention duration, which was primarily due to constraints in time and manpower. Future research could enhance validity by allowing for longer intervention periods to determine the optimal frequency of MSVs for health persuasion. Additionally, although the study interventions aimed to simulate real-world contexts, they lacked an important element of MSV—interactivity. Incorporating features such as commenting, liking, or retweeting in experiments could provide insights into the effects of MSVs in a more natural environment. Furthermore, the persuasive effects of MSVs can be significantly influenced by technological features (e.g., screen size, resolution, mobility) of the mobile medium through which they are presented, which were not controlled in this experiment. Future research could improve by systematically testing the effects of these technological variables. Lastly, the study’s use of a sample consisting solely of female students may limit the generalizability of its findings. Future studies should aim to include a broader population encompassing diverse socio-economic backgrounds.

Overall, these findings underscore the importance of information quality, source credibility, and media richness when communicating HPV vaccine information via MSVs. They offer both theoretical insights and practical implications for health persuasion in the evolving digital landscape. From a theoretical perspective, this study establishes a framework integrating ELM and media richness theory to explore their application in promoting HPV vaccination. However, in light of contemporary digital communication advancements, concerns have been raised regarding the adequacy of ELM alone (Kitchen et al., 2014 ). The study’s identification of two-way interaction effects contributes to the existing literature by confirming media richness’s moderating role in both central and peripheral routes to health persuasion. Moreover, the proposed framework extends beyond psychological outcomes to include behavioral intentions. Given the high correlation between intention and actual behavior, it serves as a more reliable indicator of the persuasive impact of health messages. The results also support the mediating role of information attitude in the persuasion process, highlighting how individuals’ beliefs about health information from various sources influence their adoption of healthy behaviors.

Regarding practical implications, the results highlight that MSV is a viable medium for promoting health messages, particularly those related to HPV vaccination. However, different methods of message delivery within short videos significantly influence their behavioral effects. Health professionals and practitioners should therefore prioritize information quality and media richness when developing strategies to disseminate health knowledge through MSVs. Given the brief duration of short videos, effectively presenting comprehensive content with a clear layout becomes crucial for audience persuasion. Theoretical frameworks such as HBM can provide guidance for designing messages. Additionally, Chinese health professionals can leverage emerging short video platforms to create HPV educational materials that utilize visual and audio cues, such as animations or scenario-based presentations, to achieve optimal persuasive effects. Furthermore, while credible and authorized sources are perceived as more persuasive than lay sources, it would be beneficial to post videos using official accounts or indicating affiliation with reputable organizations. Although not fully explored in this study, a combination of these strategies holds promise for maximizing the persuasive impact of MSVs in health promotion.

In conclusion, this study has delved into the effectiveness of using MSV to promote HPV vaccination, focusing on the interaction of information quality, source credibility, and media richness. By applying the ELM and media richness theory, we have uncovered significant insights into the persuasive mechanisms at play in this emerging digital health communication context. Our findings underscored that the quality of health information conveyed through short videos directly influences individuals’ protective behavioral intentions towards HPV vaccination. Moreover, the presence of credible sources, particularly health professionals, enhanced positive attitudes and intentions toward vaccination. Furthermore, the role of media richness emerged prominently, with higher levels of visual and auditory cues in MSVs correlating positively with increased attitude change and behavioral intent. The integration of peripheral cues, facilitated by media richness, was found to augment the persuasive impact of health messages, particularly when paired with high-quality health information. Overall, this research contributes to both theoretical advancements in digital health communication and practical guidance for leveraging emerging media formats to promote public health initiatives effectively.

Data availability

All analyzed data during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files. Other raw data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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JL: conceived and designed the analysis, collected the data, contributed data or analysis tools, performed the analysis, and wrote the paper.

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Li, J. Promoting HPV vaccination: effectiveness of mobile short videos for shaping attitudes and influencing behaviors. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 11 , 1092 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03644-8

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Received : 15 December 2023

Accepted : 20 August 2024

Published : 27 August 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03644-8

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