Participant Resources

The Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium team has pulled together some resources to help you prepare for your presentation! Happy reading (and watching).

Presenting Tips & Resources

Communicating to Engage: A Communication Toolkit (AAAS)
"When thinking about how to communicate, even before designing tactics, consider why you are communicating. What is your communication goal?"

How to Give a Killer Presentation (Harvard Business Review)
"Frame the talk as a journey. A successful talk is a little miracle—people see the world differently afterward."

How to Give a Bad Talk (Mark D. Hill, UWisc CS)
[Ed. Note: We know this is from 1983 - and the advice still stands.]

5 things every presenter should know about people (brainpickings)
"People imitate your emotions and feel your feelings. If you’re passionate about your topic, this excitement will be contagious for the audience. Don’t hold back."

How to speak so that people want to listen (Ted Talk)
"A talk that might help the world sound more beautiful."

Preparing and Delivering Oral Presentations (Cain Project)
"What must the audience understand? What would be good for them to know? What is merely nice to know?"

Tips to nail your virtual presentation (Convene)
"Begin your session using an upbeat tone that captures the audience’s attention immediately. Pace yourself so that you can maintain your energy throughout your presentation."

Oral Presentation Tips (UVA)
"Giving a talk is a great opportunity to think about the big picture rather than focusing on details."

Tips for Giving Clear Talks (IvyPanda)
"Public speaking is a science and art that requires a full toolbox of skills. Developing them helps you seize the chances that come your way."

Slide Design

5 principles for making PowerPoint slides with impact (Forbes)
"Create slides that complement and emphasize your points rather than starting with a slide and then scripting what you say around the slide."

Scientific Presentations: A Cheat Sheet (Nature)
"Think about pathways or flow charts. If you do have slides with words: enlarge the font and aim to limit each sentence to one line."

Designing PPT Slides for a Scientific Presentation (Northwestern)
"Using examples from actual science presentations, we illustrate eight essential principles."

10 tips on how to make slides that communicate your idea (TED)
"Think about your slides last, think about topic transitions, and create a consistent look and feel."