paper presentation on reading

Presenting in a Reading Group

Tips for giving a reading group talk

If you’re involved in research, you’re probably going to give a reading group presentation at some point. Many professors push their PhD students to give talks. Giving these talks helps researchers build the ability to read and understand papers quickly, and the ability to communicate findings effectively.

Volunteer or be volunTOLD. — Prof. David Fouhey

Dr. Fouhey told this joke multiple times during the computer vision reading group last semester and the other professors agreed. It succinctly summarizes the emphasis placed on giving these talks.

What’s a reading group?

Reading groups regularly meet to discuss topics in research. Most of the time, the group will focus on one specific paper detailing an important finding. In AI, many of these reading groups may be focused on award-winning papers from recent conferences or on methods relevant to the participants’ research.

Reading groups exist mainly to enrich the participants’ knowledge. Sometimes the talks will focus on a broader topic as an introduction and sometimes the talks will focus on a specific method in a specific paper. The more niche the audience of the reading group, the more advanced the topic tends to be. At MSAIL, we try to strike a balance between our younger, less-experienced audience (i.e. underclassmen) and our older, experienced audience (upperclassmen, graduate students, etc.).

Choosing a topic

Choosing a topic may be the hardest part of the presentation process. Generally, you can present any topic you want, given that it hasn’t already been presented recently. Present on something that grabs your interest immediately, or something you have some familiarity with - it’ll make the preparation process more bearable. If you’re open to topics and are confident you can adapt, then just go to a conference or journal page and search through some of the accepted papers that catch your eye (at the time of writing, I’ve been looking at ICLR 2021 papers).

In my opinion, the main question you should ask yourself when you’ve identified a potential topic is:

Am I willing to read about this topic in depth, even to the extent of falling into a rabbit hole?

You obviously don’t need to know everything about the topic you choose (no one does), but persistence is the key to having a strong presentation. The more comfy you are with the overall subject area, the more natural your presentation will flow and the less likely you are to trip up. (For MSAIL, however, if you’re a newcomer and haven’t really done a reading group presentation before, we’ll help you out!)

Here are some questions you should ask yourself when looking at a paper or topic that you’re about to choose:

• If it’s not clearly important or you don’t gain anything from knowledge of the topic itself, you’ll just be wasting time.
• Important for getting people to attend your talk, and also helpful in gauging whether your audience will stay engaged. If they aren’t engaged in the beginning how can they be expected to in the end?
• A “reasonable amount of time” is generally a week or so.
• You need to choose papers of reasonable length. We often suggest presenting on conference papers because they’re less than 10 pages on average. Longer papers and topics are more feasible down the line when you’ve become comfortable with these types of presentations.

For the examples in this post, I will go through the process of choosing a topic for one of my previous talks. I’ve given plenty of talks on uninteresting topics and papers, but some were received particularly well. I will talk about my process for presenting VideoBERT , which I presented way back in Fall 2019. This was actually my first ever MSAIL talk, and at the time I had only recently become acquainted with AI research. The talk had plenty of faults, which I’ll try to use as examples.

Reading relevant sources

For a specific paper.

Even if you choose one paper, that paper is probably not the only source you’re looking at to understand all the content. When you first read through the paper itself, you should annotate the key points (this is just a common reading skill, but it’s easy to forget!) and note the portions that confuse you. Depending on your background, you may or may not be able to finish the first pass. You should aim to have a big picture understanding of the paper, so maybe about 30%. If you can’t reach that level on your first read - don’t fret. You need to go read some supplementary materials. In particular, any decent paper will reference prior/related work in a section near the introduction - this is where you can dive into their citations and read up on the things that confuse you. Alternatively, I’ve found that Medium posts are particularly helpful as well for understanding more basic content.

Note the underlined portions here from the Related Work section of the VideoBERT paper. These highlight topics that might be worth searching up. You don’t need to dive into everything, but having a general understanding of what cross-modal learning and BERT are would help to better understand this paper.

If after all that, you still can’t understand 30% of the material in the paper, then I’m afraid you probably need to read further on basic material and possibly postpone your talk. I don’t expect this to happen because the pool of people who choose to present is self-selecting (as in, you’re more likely to want to present in a reading group if you already have basic background), but just in case, don’t be afraid to start at the beginning. I too have had to withdraw after signing up for a reading group before because I just did not understand what I was reading at all.

After the first pass, you have an idea of what the paper’s central ideas are. You can then start outlining what you want to talk about. Any subsequent passes will simply be to reinforce your understanding of the paper.

For a broader topic

For a broader topic, you should still choose to focus on a few papers in order to narrow the scope of your presentation. If you choose this, you likely have an idea in mind for how you wish to synthesize the ideas in the papers. Knowing this, you should focus your reading based on which points you hope to elucidate most. The process will very much feel like the process in the above section, except you’ll spend less time focusing on the intricate details of any one paper and you’ll focus more on the key ideas that you can use to build toward whatever main idea you’re focusing on.

In general, giving these types of talks is difficult. Even professors struggle to present so much content in a clear way. If you intend to give a talk like this, make sure to spend extra time in advance to really nail a cohesive argument. Otherwise, just stick to one paper since usually the time you have is only enough for one.

An example of a decent talk that synthesizes ideas in multiple papers is Justin Johnson’s lecture on Object Segmentation . This is obviously not a reading group talk and is an entire course lecture - but the principles are relatively similar since the topics presented here are from recent papers. Another good example is the talk Dr. Chai gave us in Fall 2020 .

Some of our own, more tame talks presenting multiple papers include John Day’s Brain-Inspired AI talk , Yash Gambhir’s Text Summarization talk , and my talk on using reinforcement learning for optimization in COVID-19 problems . If you watch them you’ll notice some of the difficulties we had with balancing our content and finishing in time.

Creating slides

Most of the time you’ll be preparing slides to assist you in your talk. Organizing your slides properly is the key to getting a good presentation going.

Something that helps me is using a general slide outline and then identifying where in the paper I can get the information for a specific section. Then I fill in the sections and occasionally add subsections based on the subtitles in the paper.

In general, you want to introduce the following points in any regular paper presentation. You can change the order to suit your preferred flow, but the one presented here works well normally. Note that you can use any number of slides for each section:

• Why did the authors explore this topic? Who and how does it help solve a big problem?
• What are the authors proposing or introducing?
• Make this clear at the beginning. Then your audience will know what to expect.
• What does your audience need to know (at a high level) before you dive into the details of the topic?
• This is not always necessary, but if you’re presenting something technically challenging you may want to briefly introduce this.
• This is the novel part of the paper. What did the authors do and how did they do it?
• How did they validate their methods and what did they compare it to? What are the deliverables?
• Restate the major contributions. Also, talk about the implications for the future.

General Principles

You’ve probably presented to someone before. In that case, you should be well aware of standard principles, but I’ll write some in case you aren’t:

• This is a technical talk. Please don’t make your readers lose you.
• Personally, I tend to put around 2 lines of text on a slide and then explain the rest verbally. Putting less text and explaining it instead helps me better understand the content too!
• I don’t need to tell you that a picture is worth a thousand words, but they’ll help a ton. You can usually just steal these from the paper and its supplementary materials. If they don’t have any and you feel that one would be appropriate, don’t be afraid to create one!
• Sometimes the talk is devoted to an equation or the theory you’re discussing is heavily reliant on equations (I can’t imagine some reinforcement learning papers without Bellman’s equation.). But if the paper has a lot of equations, try only to include the most important ones.

Take a look at my VideoBERT slides and note that I absolutely did not follow these principles and the above listed structure during that talk. I consider my VideoBERT talk to be of poor quality. Don’t worry about the technical content. (Note that this link is Michigan only)

Here are a few sample slides depicting how I would’ve roughly modified my VideoBERT talk to be easier to follow and listen to. I only wrote up to the methods section, because I just wanted to depict some of the principles in action. Again, don’t worry about the technical content. (This link is open to everyone)

Also, feel free to take a look at this slidedeck for general tips .

Presenting your slides

Presentation is very important for a technical talk. I’m pretty sure most presenters don’t want to bore their audience. During one reading group a while ago, I delivered a one hour talk that included even professors in the audience. After that talk I didn’t receive a single question. I can only speculate whether they got lost, whether we were out of time, or whether I just completely bored them. Let’s hope that doesn’t happen to you.

Here are some steps you can take to reduce the chance of losing your audience:

• Reiterating the importance of preparing your slides properly. Prepare them as if you were presenting them, and then practice presenting them at least once before your talk.
• This is a given - you should be speaking and never reading.
• Don’t go on diversions. Save them till the end.
• Leave room for questions during your presentation. I doubt most people will remember their questions by the end. A good rule might be to ask for questions every 5 minutes.
• Similarly, you should be gauging understanding as you go along. If the audience can attest to understand what you’re saying, you’re fine.
• Speak slowly. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have my entire audience understand 80% of my presentation and not finish within time than finishing and not having anyone understand anything. I sometimes break this rule without realizing.

There are probably many more principles to follow, but in reading groups these are the ones I’ve found to be the most blatant errors that I wish I corrected.

Can I forgo preparing slides?

If you don’t want to prepare slides, you can either:

• Walk through the paper itself
• Prepare questions and facilitate a discussion rather than giving a talk

I wouldn’t advise a newcomer (or anyone, for that matter) to choose the first option. The point of preparing slides is to make material more presentable and to help you, the presenter, understand the paper better. I’ve only experienced people presenting straight from the paper when they knew what they were talking about but had last minute obligations come up. For reference, the last two times I saw this done were from a student who wrote the paper he was presenting on, and from a senior research scientist at Google Brain. It is generally okay, however, to supplement your slides during your talk by briefly visiting the paper to discuss something like a figure or a table, or to answer questions.

The second option is far more feasible, and at MSAIL we actually recommend this format. Discussion questions help the audience engage with the material more. However, good discussions usually occur around people with background, so be wary of your audience. You’ll usually be presenting something in addition to the questions - for example, last Winter we had a discussion about using vision to analyze CT scans for the purpose of detecting COVID-19. All we did was play a video prepared by another organization and then discussed it in detail. This is perfectly fine, given that you have an interesting topic.

Going forward

Yeah, preparing to present at a reading group is a lot of work the first time around. After a while, you’ll be comfortable enough with both approaching novel technical content and with your presentation skills, so you’ll be able to take shortcuts and structure things as you wish. You’ll also just become faster. In the long term, this skill will certainly help you as a researcher.

Gone are the days when the MSAIL Admin team was scrambling to prepare entire talks within 5 hours on the day of (we were quite notorious for this during the ‘19-‘20 school year). This happened because we had very few speakers, but we’re much better off now. I hope you never prepare a talk within such a constraint because I can guarantee that the talk will fail miserably. The further along you go as a researcher, the later you’ll be able to start preparing reading group presentations, but you’ll still wish you started earlier.

If you’re ready to try your hand at a talk, sign up with your reading group(s). For University of Michigan students, here are some reading groups you might be interested in:

Reach out to us at [email protected] if you’re interested in giving a talk at MSAIL or for help with preparing a talk. Happy presenting!

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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Presenting papers

You’ll present one or more research papers during class. Critically reading research papers is a skill! Here are some tips, ideas, and techniques to help learn it.

Reading the paper

This may be the first time you’re reading research papers, or even the first time you’re reading research papers in the systems area. Welcome!

Research papers are parts of a big conversation among the researchers and practitioners that make up the “research community.” Many papers are best understood as reactions to, and participants in, that conversation, and the ongoing determination of the research community’s values. An important, and often implicit, part of paper reading is learning those values. It’s hard to pick this up in advance. Instead, you just have to dive in and read papers critically. An understanding of the community will come.

The style of most papers is dense (and often just plain bad). But you can get through the density by reading critically.

Don’t try to understand every word of the paper on first read. Instead, try to pick up the most important points by skimming. Then go back in more depth.

On the first read, focus on the paper’s overall goals and techniques. First, read to develop a paper summary in your own words. Here are four questions the summary should answer:

• What is the goal of the paper’s research area? The goal can be something nebulous, like “improving security,” or something concrete, like “improving network utilization.” But in systems the goal usually ties back to something like “spending less money” or “handling more data.” Usually this comes out in the first couple sentences of the abstract and in the introduction. Often those sentences are clichés.
• What is the technical problem the paper is trying to solve? The problem is usually an obstacle to achieving the goal, and it should be concrete; for instance, “Big Data computations in the cloud are delayed too much by stragglers (nodes that complete their portion of the computation much slower than other nodes).” This also is found in the abstract or introduction, but it may be best explained in the conclusion section.
• What is the technical contribution that the paper uses to solve this problem? Is this contribution a new idea, or a combination of old ideas? A good introduction will present the contribution(s), but sometimes you have to dig deeper—into a section called “Design” or “Architecture”—to get to the technical meat.
• What is the evidence that proves the contribution actually addresses the problem? This is presented in depth in the “Evaluation” section, and should be previewed in the abstract and introduction.

Once you have answers to those questions, you can already think critically.

• How far apart are the goal and the problem? For instance, many security papers describe a large, society-level goal, using terms like “Security breaches are estimated to cost US commerce $10B a year,” but then actually address just a tiny slice of that overall goal.
• How much of the problem does the contribution address? Could you have achieved similar improvements using a simpler technique?
• How interesting is the technical contribution on its own? Sometimes a paper is interesting because it identifies and solves a new technical problem, even though its solution techniques seem obvious in retrospect. Sometimes a paper is interesting because it uses new solution techniques, even though those techniques address a problem that’s more easily solved in another way. The best papers do both, but that’s rare. The worst papers do neither.
• How much evidence is provided that the contribution works? Are the experiments well chosen?
• Does the paper actually advance the state of the art? How does it compare to related work ? This is usually addressed in a separate “Related Work” section, which might come second (I prefer it there) or right before the conclusion.

With thoughts about these questions in mind, you can now go back and read the paper in more depth.

• The paper will usually present many techniques and ideas. Which of them seem most important, and which are filler?
• Are there any cool tricks and techniques that you could use in your own systems?
• What would you do differently?

The aim of reading papers critically is not to prove the paper wrong. Always remember that the authors spent much more time working on the paper than you did, and authors rarely lie. (But it does happen!) Instead, read actively , as if you’re in dialogue with the paper. Ask the paper tough questions, and then read to get the responses. If you don’t get a response, that is a flaw in the paper; then ask, is that flaw technical or in the exposition?

Presenting the paper

First share the summary with us. Assume we’ve read the paper, but that we need to be reminded of its contents. Use slides if you need to. (In computer systems most papers are presented at conferences, and the authors’ slides from the conference are often available on the Web. Use them!) Then talk about its coolest ideas and its biggest gaps. Share with us what you might have done differently. Your critical thinking will engage the class more and help us all to better understand the work.

Presenting someone else’s research paper isn’t too different from presenting your own. Check out How to give a good research talk by Simon Peyton-Jones et al.

There’s some advice online about how to present at a journal club. Much of this advice applies specifically to medical papers, but some is good general advice. Some tips from Johns Hopkins

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How to Prepare a Paper Presentation

Last Updated: October 4, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Patrick Muñoz . Patrick is an internationally recognized Voice & Speech Coach, focusing on public speaking, vocal power, accent and dialects, accent reduction, voiceover, acting and speech therapy. He has worked with clients such as Penelope Cruz, Eva Longoria, and Roselyn Sanchez. He was voted LA's Favorite Voice and Dialect Coach by BACKSTAGE, is the voice and speech coach for Disney and Turner Classic Movies, and is a member of Voice and Speech Trainers Association. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 367,391 times.

A paper is bad enough, but presentations are even more nerve-wracking. You've got the writing down, but how do you turn it into a dynamic, informative, enjoyable presentation? Why, here's how!

Guidelines and Audience

• Know how long the speech must be.
• Know how many points you're required to cover.
• Know if you must include sources or visuals.

• If you're presenting to people you know, it'll be easy to know what to break down and what to gloss over. But if you're presenting to unknown stockholders or faculty, for instance, you need to know about them and their knowledge levels, too. You may have to break your paper down into its most basic concepts. Find out what you can about their backgrounds.

• Does the facility have a computer and projector screen?
• Is there a working WiFi connection?
• Is there a microphone? A podium?
• Is there someone who can assist you in working the equipment before your presentation?

Script and Visuals

• Only have one point per notecard -- that way you won't end up searching the notecard for your information. And don't forget to number the cards in case you get mixed up! And the points on your cards shouldn't match your paper; instead of regurgitating information, discuss why the key points of your paper are important or the different points of view on this topic within the field.

• As you go through this outline, remove any jargon if it may not be understood.

• If you won't have access to the proper technology, print visual aids on poster board or foam-core board.
• If using presentation software, use words sparingly, but enough to get your point across. Think in phrases (and pictures!), not sentences. Acronyms and abbreviations are okay on the screen, but when you talk, address them fully. And remember to use large fonts -- not everyone's vision is fantastic. [7] X Research source

• It's okay to be a bit repetitive. Emphasizing important ideas will enhance comprehension and recall. When you've gone full circle, cycle back to a previous point to lead your audience to the right conclusion.
• Minimize the unnecessary details (the procedure you had to go through, etc.) when highlighting the main ideas you want to relay. You don't want to overload your audience with fluff, forcing them to miss the important stuff.
• Show enthusiasm! A very boring topic can be made interesting if there is passion behind it.

Practice, Practice, and More Practice

• If you can grab a friend who you think has a similar knowledge level to your audience, all the better. They'll help you see what points are foggier to minds with less expertise on the topic.

• It'll also help you with volume. Some people get rather timid when in the spotlight. You may not be aware that you're not loud enough!

• Do the same with your conclusion. Thank everyone for their time and open the floor for any questions, if allowed.
• Make eye contact with people in the audience to help build your connection with them.

What Is The Best Way To Start a Presentation?

Community Q&A

• Most people get nervous while public speaking. [10] X Research source You are not alone. [11] X Trustworthy Source Mayo Clinic Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals Go to source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1
• Visual aids not only help the audience, but they can help jog your memory if you forget where you are in your presentation. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Rehearse in front of a mirror before your presentation. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Answer questions only if it is related to your presentation. Keep these to the end of your talk. Thanks Helpful 76 Not Helpful 14

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://theihs.org/blog/prepare-for-a-paper-presentation-at-an-academic-conference/
• ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/conference-papers/
• ↑ https://www.ncsl.org/legislators-staff/legislative-staff/legislative-staff-coordinating-committee/tips-for-making-effective-powerpoint-presentations.aspx
• ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qZMPW5g-v8
• ↑ https://twp.duke.edu/sites/twp.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/paper-to-talk.original.pdf
• ↑ http://www.cs.swarthmore.edu/~newhall/presentation.html
• ↑ https://www.forbes.com/sites/georgebradt/2014/09/10/big-presentation-dont-do-it-have-a-conversation-instead/#6d56a3f23c4b
• ↑ https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/smashing-the-brainblocks/201711/why-are-we-scared-public-speaking
• ↑ https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/specific-phobias/expert-answers/fear-of-public-speaking/faq-20058416

About This Article

To prepare a paper presentation, create an outline of your content, then write your script on note cards or slides using software like PowerPoint. Be sure to stick to one main point per card or slide! Next, design visual aids like graphics, charts, and bullet points to illustrate your content and help the audience follow along. Then, practice giving your presentation in front of friends and family until you feel ready to do it in class! For tips on creating an outline and organizing your information, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to Prepare for a Paper Presentation at an Academic Conference

 In my previous post, I laid out a timeline for choosing an academic conference.  This post will lay out four steps to help you successfully prepare for a paper presentation at an academic conference.

Pay attention to the deadline for proposals . 

Your proposal outlines the paper you are going to write, not a paper you have written . You may treat your proposal as a commitment device to “force” you to write the paper, but the final paper may well differ from your original intention.

The Claremont Graduate University Writing Center offers some good examples of proposals here .

Write a winning abstract to get your paper accepted into the conference. 

Abstracts are an afterthought to many graduate students, but they are the what the reviewer looks at first. To get your paper accepted to a conference, you’ll need to write an abstract of 200 to 500 words .

The emphasis should be on brevity and clarity. It should tell the reader what your paper is about, why the reader should be interested, and why the paper should be accepted.

Additionally, it should:

• Specify your thesis
• Identify your paper fills a gap in the current literature.
• Outline what you actually do in the paper.
• Point out your original contribution.
• Include a concluding sentence.

Academic Conferences and Publishing International offers some additional advice on writing a conference abstract  as you prepare for your paper presentation at an academic conference.

Pay attention to your presentation itself.

In order to convey excitement about your paper, you need to think about your presentation as well as the findings you are communicating.

Note the conference time limit and stick to it. Practice while timing yourself, and do it in front of a mirror. I also recommend practicing in front of your peers; organizing a departmental brown bag lunch could be a great way to do this. As you are preparing, keep in mind that reading from notes is better than reading directly from your paper.

Once you arrive at the conference, check the location of the room as soon as you can before the event. Arrive early to make sure any audiovisual equipment you plan to use is working, and be ready to present without it in case it is not.

Always stand when giving your paper presentation at an academic conference. Begin by stating your name and institution. Establish eye contact across the room, and speak slowly and clearly to your audience. Explain the structure of your presentation. End with your contribution to your discipline. Finally, be polite (not defensive) when engaging in discussion and answering questions about your research.

By focusing on (a) making sure your work contributes something to your field (b) adhering to deadlines and convincing conference organizers that your paper is worth presenting and (c) creating a compelling presentation that aptly highlights the content of your research, you’ll make the most of your time at the conference.

Nigel Ashford

Previous post should i get a phd 5 questions to ask yourself before you decide, next post how to choose and prepare for academic conferences as a graduate student.

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Open Access

Ten simple rules for reading a scientific paper

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Division of Infectious Diseases and International Health, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States of America

• Maureen A. Carey, 
• Kevin L. Steiner, 
• William A. Petri Jr

Published: July 30, 2020

• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008032
• Reader Comments

Citation: Carey MA, Steiner KL, Petri WA Jr (2020) Ten simple rules for reading a scientific paper. PLoS Comput Biol 16(7): e1008032. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008032

Editor: Scott Markel, Dassault Systemes BIOVIA, UNITED STATES

Copyright: © 2020 Carey et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: MAC was supported by the PhRMA Foundation's Postdoctoral Fellowship in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics and the University of Virginia's Engineering-in-Medicine seed grant, and KLS was supported by the NIH T32 Global Biothreats Training Program at the University of Virginia (AI055432). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

“There is no problem that a library card can't solve” according to author Eleanor Brown [ 1 ]. This advice is sound, probably for both life and science, but even the best tool (like the library) is most effective when accompanied by instructions and a basic understanding of how and when to use it.

For many budding scientists, the first day in a new lab setting often involves a stack of papers, an email full of links to pertinent articles, or some promise of a richer understanding so long as one reads enough of the scientific literature. However, the purpose and approach to reading a scientific article is unlike that of reading a news story, novel, or even a textbook and can initially seem unapproachable. Having good habits for reading scientific literature is key to setting oneself up for success, identifying new research questions, and filling in the gaps in one’s current understanding; developing these good habits is the first crucial step.

Advice typically centers around two main tips: read actively and read often. However, active reading, or reading with an intent to understand, is both a learned skill and a level of effort. Although there is no one best way to do this, we present 10 simple rules, relevant to novices and seasoned scientists alike, to teach our strategy for active reading based on our experience as readers and as mentors of undergraduate and graduate researchers, medical students, fellows, and early career faculty. Rules 1–5 are big picture recommendations. Rules 6–8 relate to philosophy of reading. Rules 9–10 guide the “now what?” questions one should ask after reading and how to integrate what was learned into one’s own science.

Rule 1: Pick your reading goal

What you want to get out of an article should influence your approach to reading it. Table 1 includes a handful of example intentions and how you might prioritize different parts of the same article differently based on your goals as a reader.

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008032.t001

Rule 2: Understand the author’s goal

In written communication, the reader and the writer are equally important. Both influence the final outcome: in this case, your scientific understanding! After identifying your goal, think about the author’s goal for sharing this project. This will help you interpret the data and understand the author’s interpretation of the data. However, this requires some understanding of who the author(s) are (e.g., what are their scientific interests?), the scientific field in which they work (e.g., what techniques are available in this field?), and how this paper fits into the author’s research (e.g., is this work building on an author’s longstanding project or controversial idea?). This information may be hard to glean without experience and a history of reading. But don’t let this be a discouragement to starting the process; it is by the act of reading that this experience is gained!

A good step toward understanding the goal of the author(s) is to ask yourself: What kind of article is this? Journals publish different types of articles, including methods, review, commentary, resources, and research articles as well as other types that are specific to a particular journal or groups of journals. These article types have different formatting requirements and expectations for content. Knowing the article type will help guide your evaluation of the information presented. Is the article a methods paper, presenting a new technique? Is the article a review article, intended to summarize a field or problem? Is it a commentary, intended to take a stand on a controversy or give a big picture perspective on a problem? Is it a resource article, presenting a new tool or data set for others to use? Is it a research article, written to present new data and the authors’ interpretation of those data? The type of paper, and its intended purpose, will get you on your way to understanding the author’s goal.

Rule 3: Ask six questions

When reading, ask yourself: (1) What do the author(s) want to know (motivation)? (2) What did they do (approach/methods)? (3) Why was it done that way (context within the field)? (4) What do the results show (figures and data tables)? (5) How did the author(s) interpret the results (interpretation/discussion)? (6) What should be done next? (Regarding this last question, the author(s) may provide some suggestions in the discussion, but the key is to ask yourself what you think should come next.)

Each of these questions can and should be asked about the complete work as well as each table, figure, or experiment within the paper. Early on, it can take a long time to read one article front to back, and this can be intimidating. Break down your understanding of each section of the work with these questions to make the effort more manageable.

Rule 4: Unpack each figure and table

Scientists write original research papers primarily to present new data that may change or reinforce the collective knowledge of a field. Therefore, the most important parts of this type of scientific paper are the data. Some people like to scrutinize the figures and tables (including legends) before reading any of the “main text”: because all of the important information should be obtained through the data. Others prefer to read through the results section while sequentially examining the figures and tables as they are addressed in the text. There is no correct or incorrect approach: Try both to see what works best for you. The key is making sure that one understands the presented data and how it was obtained.

For each figure, work to understand each x- and y-axes, color scheme, statistical approach (if one was used), and why the particular plotting approach was used. For each table, identify what experimental groups and variables are presented. Identify what is shown and how the data were collected. This is typically summarized in the legend or caption but often requires digging deeper into the methods: Do not be afraid to refer back to the methods section frequently to ensure a full understanding of how the presented data were obtained. Again, ask the questions in Rule 3 for each figure or panel and conclude with articulating the “take home” message.

Rule 5: Understand the formatting intentions

Just like the overall intent of the article (discussed in Rule 2), the intent of each section within a research article can guide your interpretation. Some sections are intended to be written as objective descriptions of the data (i.e., the Results section), whereas other sections are intended to present the author’s interpretation of the data. Remember though that even “objective” sections are written by and, therefore, influenced by the authors interpretations. Check out Table 2 to understand the intent of each section of a research article. When reading a specific paper, you can also refer to the journal’s website to understand the formatting intentions. The “For Authors” section of a website will have some nitty gritty information that is less relevant for the reader (like word counts) but will also summarize what the journal editors expect in each section. This will help to familiarize you with the goal of each article section.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1008032.t002

Rule 6: Be critical

Published papers are not truths etched in stone. Published papers in high impact journals are not truths etched in stone. Published papers by bigwigs in the field are not truths etched in stone. Published papers that seem to agree with your own hypothesis or data are not etched in stone. Published papers that seem to refute your hypothesis or data are not etched in stone.

Science is a never-ending work in progress, and it is essential that the reader pushes back against the author’s interpretation to test the strength of their conclusions. Everyone has their own perspective and may interpret the same data in different ways. Mistakes are sometimes published, but more often these apparent errors are due to other factors such as limitations of a methodology and other limits to generalizability (selection bias, unaddressed, or unappreciated confounders). When reading a paper, it is important to consider if these factors are pertinent.

Critical thinking is a tough skill to learn but ultimately boils down to evaluating data while minimizing biases. Ask yourself: Are there other, equally likely, explanations for what is observed? In addition to paying close attention to potential biases of the study or author(s), a reader should also be alert to one’s own preceding perspective (and biases). Take time to ask oneself: Do I find this paper compelling because it affirms something I already think (or wish) is true? Or am I discounting their findings because it differs from what I expect or from my own work?

The phenomenon of a self-fulfilling prophecy, or expectancy, is well studied in the psychology literature [ 2 ] and is why many studies are conducted in a “blinded” manner [ 3 ]. It refers to the idea that a person may assume something to be true and their resultant behavior aligns to make it true. In other words, as humans and scientists, we often find exactly what we are looking for. A scientist may only test their hypotheses and fail to evaluate alternative hypotheses; perhaps, a scientist may not be aware of alternative, less biased ways to test her or his hypothesis that are typically used in different fields. Individuals with different life, academic, and work experiences may think of several alternative hypotheses, all equally supported by the data.

Rule 7: Be kind

The author(s) are human too. So, whenever possible, give them the benefit of the doubt. An author may write a phrase differently than you would, forcing you to reread the sentence to understand it. Someone in your field may neglect to cite your paper because of a reference count limit. A figure panel may be misreferenced as Supplemental Fig 3E when it is obviously Supplemental Fig 4E. While these things may be frustrating, none are an indication that the quality of work is poor. Try to avoid letting these minor things influence your evaluation and interpretation of the work.

Similarly, if you intend to share your critique with others, be extra kind. An author (especially the lead author) may invest years of their time into a single paper. Hearing a kindly phrased critique can be difficult but constructive. Hearing a rude, brusque, or mean-spirited critique can be heartbreaking, especially for young scientists or those seeking to establish their place within a field and who may worry that they do not belong.

Rule 8: Be ready to go the extra mile

To truly understand a scientific work, you often will need to look up a term, dig into the supplemental materials, or read one or more of the cited references. This process takes time. Some advisors recommend reading an article three times: The first time, simply read without the pressure of understanding or critiquing the work. For the second time, aim to understand the paper. For the third read through, take notes.

Some people engage with a paper by printing it out and writing all over it. The reader might write question marks in the margins to mark parts (s)he wants to return to, circle unfamiliar terms (and then actually look them up!), highlight or underline important statements, and draw arrows linking figures and the corresponding interpretation in the discussion. Not everyone needs a paper copy to engage in the reading process but, whatever your version of “printing it out” is, do it.

Rule 9: Talk about it

Talking about an article in a journal club or more informal environment forces active reading and participation with the material. Studies show that teaching is one of the best ways to learn and that teachers learn the material even better as the teaching task becomes more complex [ 4 – 5 ]; anecdotally, such observations inspired the phrase “to teach is to learn twice.”

Beyond formal settings such as journal clubs, lab meetings, and academic classes, discuss papers with your peers, mentors, and colleagues in person or electronically. Twitter and other social media platforms have become excellent resources for discussing papers with other scientists, the public or your nonscientist friends, or even the paper’s author(s). Describing a paper can be done at multiple levels and your description can contain all of the scientific details, only the big picture summary, or perhaps the implications for the average person in your community. All of these descriptions will solidify your understanding, while highlighting gaps in your knowledge and informing those around you.

Rule 10: Build on it

One approach we like to use for communicating how we build on the scientific literature is by starting research presentations with an image depicting a wall of Lego bricks. Each brick is labeled with the reference for a paper, and the wall highlights the body of literature on which the work is built. We describe the work and conclusions of each paper represented by a labeled brick and discuss each brick and the wall as a whole. The top brick on the wall is left blank: We aspire to build on this work and label this brick with our own work. We then delve into our own research, discoveries, and the conclusions it inspires. We finish our presentations with the image of the Legos and summarize our presentation on that empty brick.

Whether you are reading an article to understand a new topic area or to move a research project forward, effective learning requires that you integrate knowledge from multiple sources (“click” those Lego bricks together) and build upwards. Leveraging published work will enable you to build a stronger and taller structure. The first row of bricks is more stable once a second row is assembled on top of it and so on and so forth. Moreover, the Lego construction will become taller and larger if you build upon the work of others, rather than using only your own bricks.

Build on the article you read by thinking about how it connects to ideas described in other papers and within own work, implementing a technique in your own research, or attempting to challenge or support the hypothesis of the author(s) with a more extensive literature review. Integrate the techniques and scientific conclusions learned from an article into your own research or perspective in the classroom or research lab. You may find that this process strengthens your understanding, leads you toward new and unexpected interests or research questions, or returns you back to the original article with new questions and critiques of the work. All of these experiences are part of the “active reading”: process and are signs of a successful reading experience.

In summary, practice these rules to learn how to read a scientific article, keeping in mind that this process will get easier (and faster) with experience. We are firm believers that an hour in the library will save a week at the bench; this diligent practice will ultimately make you both a more knowledgeable and productive scientist. As you develop the skills to read an article, try to also foster good reading and learning habits for yourself (recommendations here: [ 6 ] and [ 7 ], respectively) and in others. Good luck and happy reading!

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the mentors, teachers, and students who have shaped our thoughts on reading, learning, and what science is all about.

• 1. Brown E. The Weird Sisters. G. P. Putnam’s Sons; 2011.
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How to read and understand a scientific paper

How to read and understand a scientific paper: a guide for non-scientists, london school of economics and political science, jennifer raff.

From vaccinations to climate change, getting science wrong has very real consequences. But journal articles, a primary way science is communicated in academia, are a different format to newspaper articles or blogs and require a level of skill and undoubtedly a greater amount of patience. Here  Jennifer Raff   has prepared a helpful guide for non-scientists on how to read a scientific paper. These steps and tips will be useful to anyone interested in the presentation of scientific findings and raise important points for scientists to consider with their own writing practice.

My post,  The truth about vaccinations: Your physician knows more than the University of Google  sparked a very lively discussion, with comments from several people trying to persuade me (and the other readers) that  their  paper disproved everything that I’d been saying. While I encourage you to go read the comments and contribute your own, here I want to focus on the much larger issue that this debate raised: what constitutes scientific authority?

It’s not just a fun academic problem. Getting the science wrong has very real consequences. For example, when a community doesn’t vaccinate children because they’re afraid of “toxins” and think that prayer (or diet, exercise, and “clean living”) is enough to prevent infection, outbreaks happen.

“Be skeptical. But when you get proof, accept proof.” –Michael Specter

What constitutes enough proof? Obviously everyone has a different answer to that question. But to form a truly educated opinion on a scientific subject, you need to become familiar with current research in that field. And to do that, you have to read the “primary research literature” (often just called “the literature”). You might have tried to read scientific papers before and been frustrated by the dense, stilted writing and the unfamiliar jargon. I remember feeling this way!  Reading and understanding research papers is a skill which every single doctor and scientist has had to learn during graduate school.  You can learn it too, but like any skill it takes patience and practice.

I want to help people become more scientifically literate, so I wrote this guide for how a layperson can approach reading and understanding a scientific research paper. It’s appropriate for someone who has no background whatsoever in science or medicine, and based on the assumption that he or she is doing this for the purpose of getting a  basic  understanding of a paper and deciding whether or not it’s a reputable study.

The type of scientific paper I’m discussing here is referred to as a  primary research article . It’s a peer-reviewed report of new research on a specific question (or questions). Another useful type of publication is a  review article . Review articles are also peer-reviewed, and don’t present new information, but summarize multiple primary research articles, to give a sense of the consensus, debates, and unanswered questions within a field.  (I’m not going to say much more about them here, but be cautious about which review articles you read. Remember that they are only a snapshot of the research at the time they are published.  A review article on, say, genome-wide association studies from 2001 is not going to be very informative in 2013. So much research has been done in the intervening years that the field has changed considerably).

Before you begin: some general advice

Reading a scientific paper is a completely different process than reading an article about science in a blog or newspaper. Not only do you read the sections in a different order than they’re presented, but you also have to take notes, read it multiple times, and probably go look up other papers for some of the details. Reading a single paper may take you a very long time at first. Be patient with yourself. The process will go much faster as you gain experience.

Most primary research papers will be divided into the following sections: Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, and Conclusions/Interpretations/Discussion. The order will depend on which journal it’s published in. Some journals have additional files (called Supplementary Online Information) which contain important details of the research, but are published online instead of in the article itself (make sure you don’t skip these files).

Before you begin reading, take note of the authors and their institutional affiliations. Some institutions (e.g. University of Texas) are well-respected; others (e.g.  the Discovery Institute ) may appear to be legitimate research institutions but are actually agenda-driven.  Tip:  g oogle  “Discovery Institute” to see why you don’t want to use it as a scientific authority on evolutionary theory.

Also take note of the journal in which it’s published. Reputable (biomedical) journals will be indexed by  Pubmed . [EDIT: Several people have reminded me that non-biomedical journals won’t be on Pubmed, and they’re absolutely correct! (thanks for catching that, I apologize for being sloppy here). Check out  Web of Science  for a more complete index of science journals. And please feel free to share other resources in the comments!]  Beware of  questionable journals .

As you read, write down  every single word  that you don’t understand. You’re going to have to look them all up (yes, every one. I know it’s a total pain. But you won’t understand the paper if you don’t understand the vocabulary. Scientific words have extremely precise meanings).

Step-by-step instructions for reading a primary research article

1. Begin by reading the introduction, not the abstract.

The abstract is that dense first paragraph at the very beginning of a paper. In fact, that’s often the only part of a paper that many non-scientists read when they’re trying to build a scientific argument. (This is a terrible practice—don’t do it.).  When I’m choosing papers to read, I decide what’s relevant to my interests based on a combination of the title and abstract. But when I’ve got a collection of papers assembled for deep reading, I always read the abstract last. I do this because abstracts contain a succinct summary of the entire paper, and I’m concerned about inadvertently becoming biased by the authors’ interpretation of the results.

2. Identify the BIG QUESTION.

Not “What is this paper about”, but “What problem is this entire field trying to solve?”

This helps you focus on why this research is being done.  Look closely for evidence of agenda-motivated research.

3. Summarize the background in five sentences or less.

Here are some questions to guide you:

What work has been done before in this field to answer the BIG QUESTION? What are the limitations of that work? What, according to the authors, needs to be done next?

The five sentences part is a little arbitrary, but it forces you to be concise and really think about the context of this research. You need to be able to explain why this research has been done in order to understand it.

4.   Identify the SPECIFIC QUESTION(S)

What  exactly  are the authors trying to answer with their research? There may be multiple questions, or just one. Write them down.  If it’s the kind of research that tests one or more null hypotheses, identify it/them.

Not sure what a null hypothesis is? Go read this one  and try to identify the null hypotheses in it. Keep in mind that not every paper will test a null hypothesis.

5. Identify the approach

What are the authors going to do to answer the SPECIFIC QUESTION(S)?

6. Now read the methods section. Draw a diagram for each experiment, showing exactly what the authors did.

I mean  literally  draw it. Include as much detail as you need to fully understand the work.  As an example, here is what I drew to sort out the methods for a paper I read today ( Battaglia et al. 2013: “The first peopling of South America: New evidence from Y-chromosome haplogroup Q” ). This is much less detail than you’d probably need, because it’s a paper in my specialty and I use these methods all the time.  But if you were reading this, and didn’t happen to know what “process data with reduced-median method using Network” means, you’d need to look that up.

Image credit: author

You don’t need to understand the methods in enough detail to replicate the experiment—that’s something reviewers have to do—but you’re not ready to move on to the results until you can explain the basics of the methods to someone else.

7.   Read the results section. Write one or more paragraphs to summarize the results for each experiment, each figure, and each table. Don’t yet try to decide what the results  mean , just write down what they  are.

You’ll find that, particularly in good papers, the majority of the results are summarized in the figures and tables. Pay careful attention to them!  You may also need to go to the Supplementary Online Information file to find some of the results.

 It is at this point where difficulties can arise if statistical tests are employed in the paper and you don’t have enough of a background to understand them. I can’t teach you stats in this post, but  here , and here   are some basic resources to help you.  I STRONGLY advise you to become familiar with them.

Things to pay attention to in the results section:

• Any time the words “significant” or “non-significant” are used. These have precise statistical meanings. Read more about this  here .
• If there are graphs, do they have  error bars  on them? For certain types of studies, a lack of confidence intervals is a major red flag.
• The sample size. Has the study been conducted on 10, or 10,000 people? (For some research purposes, a sample size of 10 is sufficient, but for most studies larger is better).

8. Do the results answer the SPECIFIC QUESTION(S)? What do you think they mean?

Don’t move on until you have thought about this. It’s okay to change your mind in light of the authors’ interpretation—in fact you probably will if you’re still a beginner at this kind of analysis—but it’s a really good habit to start forming your own interpretations before you read those of others.

9. Read the conclusion/discussion/Interpretation section.

What do the authors think the results mean? Do you agree with them? Can you come up with any alternative way of interpreting them? Do the authors identify any weaknesses in their own study? Do you see any that the authors missed? (Don’t assume they’re infallible!) What do they propose to do as a next step? Do you agree with that?

10. Now, go back to the beginning and read the abstract.

Does it match what the authors said in the paper? Does it fit with your interpretation of the paper?

11. FINAL STEP:  (Don’t neglect doing this)  What do other researchers say about this paper?

Who are the (acknowledged or self-proclaimed) experts in this particular field? Do they have criticisms of the study that you haven’t thought of, or do they generally support it?

Here’s a place where I do recommend you use google! But do it last, so you are better prepared to think critically about what other people say.

(12. This step may be optional for you, depending on why you’re reading a particular paper. But for me, it’s critical! I go through the “Literature cited” section to see what other papers the authors cited. This allows me to better identify the important papers in a particular field, see if the authors cited my own papers (KIDDING!….mostly), and find sources of useful ideas or techniques.)

UPDATE: If you would like to see an example of how to read a science paper using this framework, you can find one  here .

I gratefully acknowledge Professors José Bonner and Bill Saxton for teaching me how to critically read and analyze scientific papers using this method. I’m honored to have the chance to pass along what they taught me.

I’ve written a shorter version of this guide for teachers to hand out to their classes. If you’d like a PDF, shoot me an email: jenniferraff (at) utexas (dot) edu. For further comments and additional questions on this guide, please see the Comments Section on  the original post .

This piece originally appeared on the  author’s personal blog  and is reposted with permission.

Featured image credit:  Scientists in a laboratory of the University of La Rioja  by  Urcomunicacion  (Wikimedia CC BY3.0)

Note: This article gives the views of the authors, and not the position of the LSE Impact blog, nor of the London School of Economics. Please review our  Comments Policy  if you have any concerns on posting a comment below.

Jennifer Raff (Indiana University—dual Ph.D. in genetics and bioanthropology) is an assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of Kansas, director and Principal Investigator of the KU Laboratory of Human Population Genomics, and assistant director of KU’s Laboratory of Biological Anthropology. She is also a research affiliate with the University of Texas anthropological genetics laboratory. She is keenly interested in public outreach and scientific literacy, writing about topics in science and pseudoscience for her blog ( violentmetaphors.com ), the Huffington Post, and for the  Social Evolution Forum .

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5 – Academic Discussions and Presentations

Picture this: you sit down on the first day of the semester listening to your professor talk about the required assignments on the syllabus. Your ears perk up suddenly when the professor mentions that not only is there a final paper but also a group presentation required in front of the class during the last week of the term. You hate public speaking and dread the moment when you will have to nervously stand at the front of the classroom giving a detailed account of your research. What will you say? How will you stay calm and collected up at the front of the room?

The above-mentioned scenario is very common. Inevitably, almost all writers have to participate in some form of class discussion or presentation during the course of their time in college. You may be one of the many students looking for advice on how to prepare for that end-of-term presentation. Fear not – read on for further advice about how to participate or lead in a class discussion or presentation.

Self-Reflection: Discussions and Presentations

Becoming a strong discussion leader or presenter requires practice. Complete the following self-reflection to see where your strengths and weaknesses may be in terms of public speaking. It is okay if you have limited experience in this area or are extremely terrified at first. The purpose of this chapter is to give readers like yourself the tools needed to be effective communicators!

• Have you ever presented or led a discussion in front of a class?
• If you responded yes to the previous question, what were your past experiences like? Did you feel confident in your presentation skills? What went well and what would you like to improve? Why?
• Think of one public speaker or presenter you know that inspires you. This could be a teacher, actor, social media influencer, or friend of yours. What do they do well when presenting? What would you like to emulate about them in your own presentations?
• What strengths do you have that friends, family members, or teachers have mentioned in the past? Think of one or two strengths. How could you incorporate these strengths into a presentation or public speaking skills?

Part 1: Presentation Preparation & Techniques

Any good presenter comes prepared to lead a presentation. It is important to know what you will say and how you will say it. Just like drafting a term paper, a speaker should also practice before giving the final presentation. Below are some simple steps taken from Zachary Shore’s Grad School Essentials: A Crash Course in Scholarly Skills to prepare students for academic presentations.

Outlining the Process

1. Main Point or Thesis

Before creating any outline or notes, be clear about what your main point or thesis will be. Are you presenting research conclusions? Your opinions? Comparing two items or ideas? Your main point is the central idea that the rest of the presentation should focus on. This could also be thought of as your central argument depending on the type of presentation. The main point should be able to be stated clearly and concisely. Use a single, meaningful sentence to convey this idea to the listeners.

2. Writing It Out

Once the main idea is clear, create an outline of any content you will include in the presentation. Think about any introduction, main points, and conclusion you may have during the presentation. Remember that you likely have a time limit to present. Keep this in mind when writing an outline. It is okay if you have too much content for now as you will practice your presentation next.

3. Practice by Yourself

Next, practice what you have written in your outline. The first time practicing is your opportunity to see if there is too much content or too little. When practicing, never read the outline word-for-word. This will make the presentation sound robotic and scripted. The audience will be able to tell if you are reciting from memory; scripted presentations are more often than not boring and do not sound authentic. An outline is meant to keep the presenter on track with the presentation and allow for unscripted natural interaction with the audience. Do practice saying the presentation out loud. It may be helpful to record yourself so that you can listen back to it later and make changes.

4. Practice with Others

After practicing on your own and making any necessary changes to the presentation, get some friends or mentors to listen to it. Ask the audience to take a few notes while presenting; this will allow them to give better feedback at the end. Areas you may ask them to think about are presentation skills and understanding of the content. For presentation skills, think about the volume of the speaker, clarity of speech, any non-verbal communication or gesturing, eye contact, and any audience interaction. If the listeners are familiar with the content or subject area of the presentation, they may also be able to give feedback on specific ideas or concepts you present.

5. Review Feedback & Repeat Process

Finally, review the verbal and written feedback from your sample audience. Before you do, though, take a deep breath and get ready for both positive feedback and constructive criticism. Critiques can be hard to take for anyone. Keep in mind that your audience of friends, peers, or instructors is only trying to help you grow as a presenter. The goal is to clearly and easily communicate your ideas to the intended audience. Think about how this can be done based on the feedback. Make any necessary revisions and repeat these five steps as needed.

Activity #1: Mini Presentation

Create a 5-minute presentation on a topic of your choosing; this may be a paper you wrote before or something of interest to you. Remember that 5 minutes is a short time. Give the audience the relevant information and follow the tips above. 

Presentation Techniques

No matter what sort of discussion or presentation you have in a course, the goal is to engage your audience and keep their attention. Think about any great teacher or presenter you have heard of before. How did they engage the audience with their words and actions? They probably followed some of the below advice.

Create an Engaging Hook 

Think about any good commercial or YouTube video. What do they do well? They are all good at grabbing the watcher’s attention within the first several seconds of the video. These videos do this by having a carefully crafted hook. You are a fisherman trying to reel in a fish. By having an appealing hook, the audience will bite the hook and want to hear more information. A poor hook will mean few if any bites by the fish (or in your case the audience!)

There are several ways to create an engaging hook. One is by using an impactful quote from someone respected, famous, or an expert on the topic. The audience will be familiar with this person or, if not, at least may understand that this is someone who knows something about the topic. Second, a story or analogy may make a great hook. This could be personal to you or a story about someone else that relates closely to the presentation. Keep it concise though. Another technique commonly used is to ask a question or series of a few questions to stimulate audience interest. Well-crafted or interesting questions will create a desire in the audience to find the answers. Another technique is to use shocking or strongly worded facts to draw interest. Something like, “9 out of 10 Americans admit they don’t floss their teeth every day, according to Dental Weekly,” may catch the listeners by surprise. Think about which hook approach is best suited for your topic. Be creative!

Engage the Audience

Allowing the audience to respond in some way during the presentation creates a more welcoming and lively presentation. Presenters who simply “lecture” through the material will find that they may start to lose the audience’s attention at a certain point, especially during longer presentations. A good presenter allows interaction at times by asking questions, providing audience members space to give answers or feedback, and even sometimes allowing audience members to participate in mini-group discussions or small activities when applicable.

This will vary according to your own comfort level, but humor creates interest and draws attention. Throwing in a joke or two during the presentation can make the difference between a presentation that seems boring and one that is lively and interesting. Feel free to make fun of yourself a little if you feel comfortable doing so. Sharing a short story can help to create humor as well. Just keep the humor relevant to the presentation topic and relatable to your target audience. Remember that it should also be appropriate for an academic audience! Humor can make a presentation more memorable and even fun for your audience members.

Activity #2: Presentation Introduction

Using the above tips, prepare a one-minute presentation introduction on a topic of your choosing. Use one of the techniques in the “Create an Engaging Hook” section to draw audience interest. Feel free to add audience interaction or use humor if you feel comfortable. Practice this with a partner or small group. 

Here is a video that you might find helpful:  https://youtu.be/vMSaFUrk-FA

Part 2: class discussions.

Purpose of Discussions

In most modern American university classrooms, discussion has become a key way in which instructors have students learn content and express opinions about the material. It is important to familiarize yourself with how a discussion works and its purpose. Participating in classroom discussions is essential in many courses. Be brave. Be bold. Be okay with making mistakes or being unsure how to answer. It is okay if you do not fully know how to express yourself or know the “right” answer. Hint: Often there isn’t just one right answer or way of responding in a discussion!

Activity #3: Small Group Discussion

Your instructor has told your small group of 3-4 students to discuss the appropriate tone for writing a persuasive essay you will write later in class. Respond to the following questions. Remember that any and all contributions count!

What is “tone” in writing? How might the tone of an academic persuasive essay be different from a fictional short story or a scientific research paper? How should facts and opinions be expressed in a persuasive essay? Are there any ways of writing that should be avoided?

Post Activity Check-in:

• Were students in your group (including yourself) able to easily respond to the questions or not? If not, what would help stimulate discussion in the future?
• What kinds of responses did group members give? Their own opinions? Questions? Responses in agreement or disagreement with others? Other types of responses?

One mistake students often make when thinking about discussions is that they must supply their own opinions or the “right” answer to the instructor. Most of the time this could not be further from the truth. Discussions are also a chance for students to express ideas, questions, and voice any doubts. Below are some ways to contribute to a discussion. It can be a lot easier than you might think.

• Ask a question: Are you uncertain about the material covered in a class? Do you have a question to clarify some of the content?
• Voice support or disagreement: Let the class know you agree or disagree with the previous speaker. Remember to state why and be polite.
• Add detail to a previous comment: Perhaps another student mentioned something that seemed important or you have more to share. Add on to this previous idea.
• Summarize a previous comment: Is there something you did not fully understand about the last speaker’s comment? Or maybe you want to make sure you fully understand. Phrase the comment in your own words to see if it makes sense.
• Contribute your own ideas and opinions: Was there something about the content covered in class that struck you? Is there an idea you want to emphasize or an opinion to share?

Activity #4: Small Group Discussion Leader

Now that you have experienced participating in a discussion, it is time to be the leader! Leading a discussion is different in some ways than only participating. You are not lecturing or teaching content like a teacher either. A good discussion leader is a facilitator. Remember that you are simply steering the discussion like the driver of a car. The discussion participants should be talking most of the time rather than the discussion leader.

There is a class debate. Have a group of 3-4 students discuss the following:

How should students use technology like mobile phones or laptops in a university classroom? Should instructors be strict with technology use or more relaxed? Why? What are the pros and cons of unrestricted technology use during class? How about the inverse?

Post-Activity Check-in:

• How was your experience being the discussion leader? What went well and what could be improved?
• Did students stay on topic? If not, how could you steer the discussion in the right direction?
• How much did you talk and how much did group members talk? Did anyone dominate the discussion? The key to a good discussion is giving everyone opportunities to contribute.

———————————————–

Shore, Z. (2016). Grad school essentials: A crash course in scholarly skills,  (pp. 78-96). University of California Press.

Critical Reading, Writing, and Thinking Copyright © 2022 by Zhenjie Weng, Josh Burlile, Karen Macbeth is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Giving presentations

• Introduction

Thinking about your audience

Planning your presentation, notes, handouts and visual aids, good slide design.

• Delivering your presentation
• Poster presentations

Useful links for giving presentations

• Presentations (online) A Study Advice guide to giving online presentations
• Study Advice Helping students to achieve study success with guides, video tutorials, seminars and appointments.
• Presentation skills A Prezi on what to consider when planning and delivering a presentation from the University of East Anglia.
• Group work LibGuide Expert guidance on successful group work at university.
• Presentation skills for quivering wrecks by Bob Etherington Ebook (available to University of Reading members only). Aimed at business presenters, but good advice for all.

Good preparation is key to a good presentation. If you have considered your audience, know what messages you want to communicate, and have thought about the clearest way of communicating these messages, you can go into your presentation with confidence. Keeping things simple and not including too much in either your presentation itself, or your visual aids, means you will be able to pace your presentation well and your audience will appreciate the information you wish to communicate. The advice on this page shows you how to prepare a practically perfect presentation!  

• Who will be in the audience? Students, lecturers, fellow researchers, experts in the field, business people, general public, a mixture?
• Consider your purpose – to inform, show progress, persuade, sell, disseminate results, teach, or introduce a new idea?
• Will your presentation be an overview, basic introduction, develop an existing idea, go over old ground from a new perspective, summarise information, challenge beliefs, or show something new?

It is difficult to take in a lot of detailed information when listening. Therefore, it is very important that your presentation has a clear structure so your audience can follow it.

In a 10-15 min presentation you will only have time to make 3 or 4 main points. You will have more impact if your points are clear, simple, relevant, and direct.

Beginning : Introduce yourself. Outline the aims of your talk and what you will cover in the presentation. Start with an attention grabber, such as a picture, an everyday example, or a rhetorical question.

Middle : Your points should lead logically from each other. What does the audience need to know first in order to understand your subject? Then what do they need to know? What evidence will you use to support these points and convince the audience? Have clear sections or headings to structure the middle section and lead from one point to another.

End : Avoid introducing new information at this point. Summarise the main things you want the audience to remember. End positively with a strong concluding sentence, not an apology. Leave time for questions. If you are presenting to an external audience, have your contact details available for people.

When preparing your material, think about what you will be comfortable saying – don't include anything that you aren't happy with or don't have confidence in. Do your research and check your facts so that you can feel secure in your knowledge. Steer clear of jokes and humour if it doesn't come naturally to you.

Planning a group presentation can take longer than you think, as you have to arrange times to meet and coordinate everyone's contributions. Use the links below to help you work out what you need to do to make your group presentation succeed.

• Group work LibGuide Expert guidance for successful group work at university.

Many people are tempted to write their presentation out fully and read it aloud, but this isn't enjoyable for the speaker or the audience; it is hard to get vocal expression and connection with the audience when reading aloud, and a written script is often more stilted and formal than natural speech. A better idea is to speak normally and use notes  to guide you.

• It may be better to use a few file cards for your notes rather than a sheet of A4 paper – less flimsy and less tempting to hide behind!
• Use headings and key words to remind you of the main points and their order
• Less is more – you want to be able to read them quickly at a glance
• If you are using visual aids, note cues showing when you want to change slide
• You can write reminders to yourself – like "slow down" if you tend to talk fast
• Note down things you definitely don't want to get wrong: names, dates, statistics
• Number your cards in case they get mixed up or dropped.

If you have been asked to prepare a  handout , don't try to include too much information or your audience will spend more time reading it than listening to you. Include:

• a brief outline of your talk
• a summary of data
• references and further reading on your topic
• contact details 

There are also various  visual aids  you may use. The most commonly used include PowerPoint slides, Prezi, video clips and posters. You might also use a flipchart or whiteboard, or have some physical materials you want to show.

If you use visual aids, keep them simple and make sure that they support and add emphasis to your argument – not distract the audience from what you are saying. Whatever you use, make sure you know how to find and use any necessary technology or equipment.

Visual aids can give you confidence, help you to remember the structure of your talk and ensure that the audience does not look at you all the time. They should enhance and illustrate what you say, making it easier for the audience to understand and remember. They are not supposed to dominate or distract from your talk.

Here are some common options and issues you may need to consider:

PowerPoint slides

These are common and easy to use, but may take a few minutes to set up, so plan this into your timing. Ensure you have a backup plan in case the technology doesn't work on the day, such as having the slides on a memory stick as well as on the network drive, or having handouts of the slides to give out. Check you know how to change between slides using the mouse or a remote control. Beware of sound effects on animations!

Prezi (link below) is a non-linear alternative to PowerPoint. It provides templates that are often similar to mind-maps, and you are able to zoom in and out, and navigate round them in different ways. Be careful not to overdo the zooming and movement as it can be very disorientating for the audience. It is easy to get carried away with exploring the features of Prezi, meaning it can take far longer to prepare your presentation. However, if used well, Prezi can be a powerful presentation tool. Be aware that the free version of the software provides access to your presentations online, so there needs to be a reliable internet connection in the presentation venue.  

Video clips

It can be effective to break a presentation up with a short video clip to illustrate a key point. There are many educational videos available on YouTube and via TED Talks (link below). However, make sure any videos are professional, appropriate, and relevant. Always ask yourself why you are using it and if you haven't got a good reason, leave it out. Check the sound, projection, and internet facilities in the presentation venue beforehand, and have an alternative plan in case the video won't play on the day.

Flip charts / white board

These are more suitable for small group discussions, as they simply can't be seen at the back of a large hall. Make sure you have non-permanent pens to write on the whiteboard. Also practice writing in large, clear letters so that it is easy to see.

Handouts can mean the audience doesn't have to copy down all the slides - but they can also be distracting, as people read them instead of listening. If you are presenting to a large audience (for instance at a conference) it can be expensive to provide handouts. Consider whether they can be sent via email or put on a website instead. If you're going to share them (or PowerPoint slides) electronically, it may be better to save them as PDFs.

Showing an object may be useful as a focus for discussion with a small group. It will work better as a replacement for part of your discussion (e.g. leave out some explanation) rather than reinforcing your message.

• Prezi Presentation software.
• TED talks Inspiring short educational talks.

Keep your slides simple, uncluttered, and easy to read. Just because you can have music, moving graphics, and bullet points whizzing in and out doesn't mean you have to! But if you're confident about your technical ability, some simple animation can be very effective.

30pt font and above is best for large audiences. Avoid distracting backgrounds, and keep lots of white space between lines/sections. Choose a writing colour that shows up clearly on the background (avoid green & red), and for a professional presentation, stick to simple fonts and avoid cartoons. Keep unnecessary punctuation to a minimum. If you're going to use images, make sure they are there for a reason - to illustrate your point or make it memorable.

For sources of copyright-cleared images, see the Library's list of image databases (link below).

It's a good idea to include a slide at the beginning of your presentation with your name and title, and follow this with a slide outlining your talk. End with a slide giving your contact details.

• Image and sound resources
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• Next: Delivering your presentation >>
• Last Updated: Jun 21, 2024 10:30 AM
• URL: https://libguides.reading.ac.uk/presentations

• Google Slides Presentation Design
• Pitch Deck Design
• Powerpoint Redesign
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• Guide & How to's
• 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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• Presenting techniques
• 50 tips on how to improve PowerPoint presentations in 2022-2023 [Updated]
• Present financial information visually in PowerPoint to drive results
• Keynote VS PowerPoint

• Design Tips

8 rules of effective presentation

• Business Slides

Employee training and onboarding presentation: why and how

How to structure, design, write, and finally present executive summary presentation?

The Importance of Reading

Oct 21, 2014

6.15k likes | 16.59k Views

The Importance of Reading. Tingting Wang. Why is Reading important?.

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Presentation Transcript

The Importance of Reading Tingting Wang

Why is Reading important? • Reading is like providing the mind with nourishment. Knowledge is the food for the mind and soul. It encourages us to think. It increases our hunger for knowledge and our thirst to learn more.Books and the web are the richest sources of information.

Reading skills • Speed reading: • Identifying words without focusing on each letter • Not sounding out all words • Not sub-vocalizing some phrases • Spending less time on some phrases than others • Skimming small sections • Scanning: • Scanning through the text is a reading strategy that can be used if you are particularly looking at the text through a set perspective in mind.

- • Active reading: • Underlining/highlighting • Note key-words • Questions • Summaries • Structure-proposition-evaluation: • Studying the structure of the work • Studying the logical propositions made and organized into chains of inference • Evaluation of the merits of the arguments and conclusions. This reading method advocates suspended judgment of the work or its arguments until they are fully understood.

Reading techniques • Identify your aim while reading. Be clear about what you want from the text. • Jot down important points, quotes or lines that you might find useful later. Notes taken while reading can come in handy while studying the subject later • Even if you are reading fiction, do try and stretch your understanding about the writer's writing style with regards to elements like language emotion and vocabulary. • Every piece of text read gives you some information and enriches your knowledge in some way.

Scanning • Run your eye quickly over the text to locate specific words or phrases that are of interest. • Headings and subheadings • Images and artwork • The body text for authors’ names • The contents page itself • The index for specific

Skimming • Read quickly to get and overview prior to in-depth reading. • Gey an indication of the scope and content of the text • Read the first and last paragraphs to get the main points. • Lood at the first sentence of each paragraph to see where the content of the paragraph will lead • Note the key points in the summaries.

Reading strategies • Think about what you want to know • Know how deeply to study the material • Read actively • Know how to study different types of material • Make your own table of contents • Use glossaries with technical documents • Further reading tips • Key points

Benefits of reading books • Gives satisfaction • Enhances concentration • Imparts knowledge • Exercises the mind • Reduces stress • Enhances analytical thinking • Improves vocabulary • Improves writing skills

Consequences of being a poor reader • For children with reading difficulties, reading aloud is a painful experience. • The first casualty for poor readers is self esteem. • Poor readers are prevented from making the transition from learning to read. • Of the 10 million children with reading difficulties, from 10 to 15 percent eventually drop out of high school.

Why do we tell children to read? • Books help children develop vital language skills • Reading can open up new worlds and enrich children’s lives. • Reading can enhance children’s social skills. • Reading can improve hand-eye coordination • Reading can provide children with plenty of good, clean fun! • So reading really does matter after all.

Reading aloud • Reading aloud is one of the most important things parents and teachers can do with children. Reading aloud introduces vocabulary, provides a model of fluent, expressive reading.

Reading together • "Reading aloud with children is known to be the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills they will eventually require for learning to read." That's a powerful statement! Read with your kids every day, and watch them blossom.

Steps for developing reading habits • 1. The child should start reading easy books first and difficult later on.2. The child should start regular practice everyday for short period.3. The child should rapidly read the content material as he will read a Rapid Reader. • 4. Fix up the target of time and content and then start reading. • 5. The child may mark out the way new words and try to have a mental picture about them. He will gradually improve his vocabulary.

6. The eyes of the child should move more quickly on the lines of the content material. • 7. The eyes should take the net line of the content as soon as one has been read. • 8. The subject-matter should be read silently without any movement of lips. • 9. A record of progress should be maintained.

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Series: The Importance of... The Importance Of Helpers

Series: The Importance of... The Importance Of Helpers. The Importance Of Helpers In the beginning... Genesis 2:18(KJV) 18 And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

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The importance of

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Tips for Presentations: Home

• Tips for speaking in public
• How to reduce anxiety
• Resources (books and video courses)
• How to reference your presentation

Introduction

• A reader chooses when and where to focus attention; a speaker must focus a listener’s attention on what he or she is saying at this moment.
• A reader controls how fast he or she will move through a text; a speaker controls how fast listeners will move through an oral presentation.
• Readers have the option of going back and re-reading; listeners must grasp material as the speaker presents it.
• Readers have many graphic cues about order and importance of points and about the relationship among ideas; listeners rely on the speaker to be their guide and interpreter.

Image: Business vector created by rawpixel.com - www.freepik.com

Appeal to emotion

• Tell a story. Audiences respond better and be more convinced with stories that data.
• Use examples and anecdotes.
• Use surprises. This could be using a video when the audience thinks they are only getting slides.

What do you need to say?

The information for your presentation usually comes from a paper, case study, analysis, essay, or report. Choose only the key points from your paper. Go back to the question you were asked when you originally wrote your paper.

Design is key

Your presentation needs an introduction, body, and conclusion. Plan what your presentation will look like before you begin. Use only the important points from your paper to plan for sections of your presentation. These points then become the focus.

For each major section of your presentation, follow the 4 S Structure :

• Signpost the point (“First I’m going to point out the problem with...” “My second argument is that...” “It can be concluded that...”)
• State the point clearly and succinctly.
• Support the point with data, cases, description, relevant studies, etc.
• Summarize the point.

It is from these that you then design your slides and choose corresponding images and text.

10/20/30 rule

This rule states that a Power Point presentation should have no more than 10 slides, be 20 minutes long, and use no less than 30-point font.

This rule will keep the presentation on track so that you keep to time, as well as having a presentation that moves at a good pace and that is readable.

Do you need it?

• Use PowerPoint only if it will enhance audience attention, understanding, or retention.
• Be selective about what you put on slides. Don’t put the entire presentation on slides.
• Use visual and audio effects only if they serve your purpose and do not call attention to themselves. Make the technology serve the presentation. Don’t let it dominate.
• These are tools to help you tell your story. Don’t let the tools become the story.

Never read your presentation word for word. A good presentation is one where the presenter makes eye contact with his or her audience over the entire presentation. This means not reading your paper - your eyes are down, you lose your audience.

To help with this, make good notes, use cue cards, or put all notes on one sheet of paper. You can then glance at your notes for prompts. Better yet, learn and understand the material for your presentation, practice, and then use the images and text in your visual presentation as cues.

Tone and pacing

Avoid becoming monotone. Use variations in speed, inflections, and force to enhance your meaning and hold audience attention. Practice pronouncing words with which you are unfamiliar.

Some further points

Often times, a presenter does not notice their voice and body habits, which can be distracting when presenting. Remember, presenting is visual and oral story telling. With this in mind, understanding how a presentation looks and sounds is important. Keep these elements in mind:

Voice - “um,” “uh,” “okay”; everything sounding like a question (raising voice at the end of sentences); nervous laugh at the end of sentences; clearing the throat a lot, reading too quickly.

Body language - flipping hair back, playing with pen/pointer etc., rolling and unrolling notes, pushing sleeves up and down, playing with keys or coins in pockets, stepping back and forth/tapping foot, rocking body, touching face/adjusting glasses, turning rings on hand, waving hands around, tugging at shirt.

Visual aids - flipping overheads/slides too fast, talking to the screen.

Before you start!

Before you start working on your presentation:

• Check emails from your lecturer and the assignment question for how it should be presented,
• Check your learning materials and recommended reading on the course page,
• Read all instructions carefully - make sure you understand them and follow them exactly.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when creating an effective PowerPoint presentation:

• Remember to avoid too much text. You should keep your text brief and include talking points only. Detailed notes can be inserted into the notes section of PowerPoint, but only you should see those notes, unless a professor asks to see your notes to evaluate your PowerPoint as an assignment.
• Be consistent and clear with your font choices. Helvetica is a nice font for presentations. Make sure your font is large enough that an audience in a room would be able to see your text, even if audience members are sitting in the back of the room.
• Be careful with your color choices for text and background. You want to make sure your audience can read your text easily. Black on white text is easiest to read but is also boring for a presentation. Still, when you add color, just be sure you are adding color that works and doesn’t distract.
• Add images. Text on slides for every slide is boring. Add appropriate images to your slides. Relevant charts and graphs are excellent, as are pictures that will connect to your content.
• Make sure your main points are clear. Remember to connect your ideas well and provide background information and transitions when necessary.
• Keep your audience in mind. Your audience will affect the overall tone and appearance of your presentation. Sometimes, humor can be appropriate. Other times, a more serious tone may be necessary. Just as you evaluate your situation any time you write a paper, you should evaluate your situation for creating a PowerPoint presentation.

( Source: PowerPoints - Excelsior Online Writing Lab, licensed under a  Creative Commons Attribution-4.0 International License .)

5 Things Every Presenter Needs To Know About People from Weinschenk on Vimeo .

Wienot films. (2011, May 9). How to give an awesome (PowerPoint) presentation. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i68a6M5FFBc

• Present Your Data Like a Pro Harvard Business Review article by Joel Schwartzberg

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Content included in this guide is adapted from:

• Handout from  St Mary's University
• Tips for Presentations from COM Library Libguides
• Presentation Tips ( The DO-IT Center ) 
• Next: Tips for speaking in public >>
• Last Updated: Apr 11, 2024 10:12 AM
• URL: https://lit.libguides.com/presentations

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Use the free slideshows below to help you teach different literacy skills to your upper elementary students (3rd, 4th, and 5th grade).

These slideshows are great for introducing skills, whole group practice, or a fun review of the reading skills.

The reading skills covered in the slideshows below are:

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Find more low prep activities, ideas, and printables for each of these reading skills below!

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Reading on Paper Versus Screens: What’s the Difference?

• Published 28 Jul 2020
• Author Kerry Benson
• Source BrainFacts/SfN

During the coronavirus pandemic, students worldwide shifted from the classroom to remote, online learning. Many swapped hard copy textbooks and worksheets for websites and other digital resources. Digital books have been with us for a decade — but how well are we absorbing it all?

Turns out print is easier to comprehend than digital text.

“[Print reading] is kind of like meditation — focusing our attention on something still,” says Anne Mangen, a literacy professor at the University of Stavanger in Norway. “And it’s a whole different kind of immersion than responding to [digital] stimuli. I think it’s healthy for us as human beings to sit down with something that doesn’t move, ping, or call on our attention.”

Print is visually less demanding than digital text. It provides spatial and tactile cues to help readers process words on a page. Mindset may also be a factor. If people associate screen time with casual web-surfing they may rush through without fully absorbing the text.

Do you think you’re the exception? Most people do. Studies found digital reading breeds overconfidence.

“We read digital [text] more quickly, [so] we think we must understand it better,” explains Lauren Singer Trakhman, who studies reading comprehension at the University of Maryland, College Park. “It’s one of the best parts of our digital world — everything is at our fingertips and we can get the headlines in a second — but it may also be one of the pitfalls. Everything’s so quick and accessible that we may not be truly digesting [what we read] anymore.”

Both scientists agree digital is fine to scan news headings for main ideas, but longer, complicated texts are best read in print, especially to retain the details.

TL;DR: Digital Reading Equals Shallower Processing

In 2016, Singer Trakhman examined undergraduates’ reading comprehension after they read digital and print versions of articles. Format didn’t affect their grasp of the main idea, but students missed details when reading on screens.

Digital reading impairs comprehension, particularly for longer, more complex texts, says Mangen. This may be because of the shallowing hypothesis — constant exposure to fast-paced, digital media trains the brain to process information more rapidly and less thoroughly.

“There’s not much [neuroscientific research] on the reading of actual texts,” Mangen says. However, existing research does offer some clues. In a 2009 study , the marketing research company Millward Brown found the brain processes physical and digital materials differently. Participants viewed advertisements on a screen and on a printed card while undergoing an fMRI scan. Print materials were more likely to activate the medial prefrontal cortex and cingulate cortex , both involved in processing emotions. Reading print also generated more activity in the parietal cortex , which processes visual and spatial cues.

Keep Scrolling or Turn the Page?

Scrolling through digital text may impair comprehension by creating spatial challenges. A 2017 study found participants’ reading comprehension suffered when they scrolled through a comic book’s individual panels instead of seeing them all at once. When we read, our brains construct a cognitive map of the text, like recalling that a piece of information appeared near the top, left-hand page of a book. But imagine drawing a map of something with constantly moving landmarks, like a webpage. It’s harder to map words that aren’t in a fixed location, because we lose important “visual placeholders,” says Singer Trakhman.

Scrolling demands more from our working memory, she adds. “In our working memory, we can hold about seven items at a time, so the goal when reading is to take away as many demands as possible. When we have to remember what we just read and we don’t have spatial [cues] to help, that’s taking some of our bandwidth.”

In addition, the LED screens’ constant flickering glow creates more work for our eyes, causing visual and mental fatigue.

However, e-readers, like Kindles, don’t require scrolling and reduce eyestrain with e-ink technology. Those are likely superior to other digital-text formats, Mangen says. But they lack an important aspect of the reading experience: turning the page.

In one of Mangen’s studies , participants read a story either on a Kindle or in print and then underwent comprehension tests. The texts were identical, but Kindle readers pressed a button to progress through the book, while print readers turned pages. Print readers were more likely to accurately recall the story’s chronological order. Mangen says this may be because print provides sensorimotor cues that enhance cognitive processing. When holding a book, we receive reminders of how many pages we’ve read and how many remain. We can flip pages to reread text as needed. Some research suggests we process information more effectively when we recruit multiple senses, and multiple brain areas, during task learning — seeing the words, feeling the weight of the pages, and even smelling the paper.

What Happens Next?

Instead of getting better at digital reading, we may be getting worse. A study examining reading comprehension research between 2000 and 2017 indicates it’s harder to comprehend digital text. The researchers found print’s advantages are greater now than in 2000. In other words, this digital-reading problem isn’t going away.

“This [finding may] have to do with the shallowing hypothesis,” Mangen says. “The habits that we acquire when we read on screens are spilling over, and we’re trying to cope by reading faster and more superficially.”

Mangen and Singer Trakhman agree we shouldn’t ditch digital reading; instead we should consider the situation when choosing our reading medium.

“I’ll never say that everyone should be reading print all the time,” says Singer Trakhman. “People are always shocked to hear that I have a Kindle, and I love my Kindle. But I only use it when I’m reading for pleasure.”

To retain on-screen text information, Singer Trakham and Mangen suggest slowing down and handwriting main takeaways. (Typing works, but handwriting is likely a superior memory tool.) 

When you need a break from the digital world, don’t underestimate the power of paper and ink. Consider turning off your electronic devices, getting a book, and curling up to turn the page.

About the Author

Kerry Benson

Kerry Benson is a writer and neuroscience enthusiast who received a neuroscience degree from Connecticut College in 2016 and a master’s in science writing from Johns Hopkins University in 2018.

CONTENT PROVIDED BY

BrainFacts/SfN

Discussion Questions

1) What are the advantages of print reading over digital?

2) What areas of the brain respond when we read print text?

3) Why do researchers think it’s getting harder to comprehend digital text?

Delgado, P., Vargas, C., Ackerman, R., & Salmerón, L. (2018). Don’t throw away your printed books: A meta-analysis on the effects of reading media on reading comprehension. Educational Research Review, 25 , 23–38. doi: 10.1016/j.edurev.2018.09.003

Garland, K. J., & Noyes, J. M. (2004). CRT monitors: Do they interfere with learning? Behaviour & Information Technology, 23 (1), 43–52. doi: 10.1080/01449290310001638504

Hou, J., Rashid, J., & Lee, K. M. (2017). Cognitive map or medium materiality? Reading on paper and screen. Computers in Human Behavior, 67 , 84–94. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2016.10.014

Lauterman, T., & Ackerman, R. (2014). Overcoming screen inferiority in learning and calibration. Computers in Human Behavior, 35 , 455–463. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2014.02.046

Mangen, A., Olivier, G., & Velay, J.-L. (2019). Comparing Comprehension of a Long Text Read in Print Book and on Kindle: Where in the Text and When in the Story? Frontiers in Psychology, 10 , 38. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00038

Mangen, A., Walgermo, B. R., & Brønnick, K. (2013). Reading linear texts on paper versus computer screen: Effects on reading comprehension. International Journal of Educational Research, 58 , 61–68. doi: 10.1016/j.ijer.2012.12.002

Mayer, K. M., Yildiz, I. B., Macedonia, M., & von Kriegstein, K. (2015). Visual and Motor Cortices Differentially Support the Translation of Foreign Language Words. Current Biology, 25 (4), 530–535. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2014.11.068

Millward Brown Case Study—Using Neuroscience to Understand. (2009). Retrieved from https://www.millwardbrown.com/docs/default-source/insight-documents/case-studies/MillwardBrown_CaseStudy_Neuroscience.pdf

Singer Trakhman, L., & Alexander, P. (2016). Reading Across Mediums: Effects of Reading Digital and Print Texts on Comprehension and Calibration. The Journal of Experimental Education . doi: 10.1080/00220973.2016.1143794

Smoker, T. J., Murphy, C. E., & Rockwell, A. K. (2009). Comparing Memory for Handwriting versus Typing. Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting, 53 (22), 1744–1747. doi: 10.1177/154193120905302218

Yan, Z., Hu, L., Chen, H., & Lu, F. (2008). Computer Vision Syndrome: A widely spreading but largely unknown epidemic among computer users. Including the Special Issue: Internet Empowerment, 24 (5), 2026–2042. doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2007.09.004

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Macbeth: The entire play

Subject: English

Age range: 14-16

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Last updated

9 September 2024

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A powerpoint presentation which is to be used alongside reading and teaching ‘Macbeth’ as a GCSE level. No paper resources are required, this powerpoint has everything needed for every lesson for the entire play. Every pertinent part of the play is covered in a range of activities including research tasks, discussion, paragraph practice, quotation tables etc. The activities are carefully selected to best help students understand the importance of key parts of each scene as well as consolidate the knowledge for their exams.

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Amazon is allowing Audible narrators to clone themselves with AI

The company says performers will retain creative control over their ai voice and will be compensated on a ‘title-by-title basis.’.

By Jess Weatherbed , a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture. Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews.

Share this story

Amazon will begin inviting a small group of Audible narrators to train AI-generated voice clones of themselves this week, with the aim of speeding up audiobook production for the platform. The US-only beta test was announced on Audible’s creator marketplace and will be extended to rights holders like authors, agents, and publishers “later this year,” according to Amazon.

“There is a vast catalog of books that does not yet exist in audio and as we explore ways to bring more books to life on Audible, we’re committed to thoughtfully balancing the interests of authors, narrators, publishers, and listeners,” Amazon said in its announcement. Participants in the beta will submit a voice recording to train their AI replica and will retain control over the projects they wish to audition for across both live performances and AI-generated recordings.

Narrators can also use Amazon’s production tools to edit the pronunciation and pacing of their AI voice replica if a rights holder selects them for a project, alongside reviewing the final production for any errors or inaccuracies. Amazon says that narrators will be compensated via a “Royalty Share” model on a “title-by-title basis” but didn’t expand on how much voice artists can expect to earn.

“Audible will not separately use a narrator’s voice replica for any content without their approval.”

The announcement blog says that beta participants can create a voice replica “for free,” which implies that there may be an upfront cost involved for narrators in the future if the feature becomes generally available. Any titles that are narrated using voice replicas will be labeled on the product detail page. “Narrators control what works are narrated with their voice replica,” Amazon said. “Audible will not separately use a narrator’s voice replica for any content without their approval.”

Amazon rolled out a similar feature last year that allows Kindle Direct Publishing authors to convert their titles into audiobooks using fully synthetic voices. Bloomberg reported in May that virtual voices were used on 40,000 Audible titles since release, sparking concerns from narrators like Ramon de Ocampo about the feature reducing job opportunities for human performers. As outlets like Brian’s Book Blog have noted, Audible currently doesn’t provide an easy way for users to filter out these “Virtual Voice” audiobooks if they’re aiming to avoid them.

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