"Mastering Scientific Presentations: PowerPoint Best Practices for Graduate Trainees"
by Jeff Koslofsky, Senior Marketing Strategist, SMD
Delivering a clear and engaging PowerPoint presentation is a critical skill for graduate trainees, whether they’re defending a thesis, presenting at a conference, or giving a research talk. However, common mistakes like overloaded slides, lack of visual variety, and poor pacing can make your research hard to follow.
Our own John Frelinger, PhD, Professor Emeritus in Microbiology and Immunology, has spent decades perfecting the art of scientific presentations and mentoring trainees on how to make their PowerPoint talks more engaging. Here, he shares his top tips to help you avoid "death by PowerPoint."
Avoid Common PowerPoint Mistakes
Treat PowerPoint as its own medium. Your slides should enhance what you’re saying, not simply display your entire talk in text form.
“People try to do too much. They have too many points, too much information. They often have too many slides.”
- Avoid having too much information on a slide. Slides overloaded with text are hard to read.
- Same goes with figures. An audience cannot quickly grasp text and figures that are too small or dense.
- Don’t copy over what’s in your research paper. A well-written research publication does not translate directly to an effective presentation.
Design More Engaging Slides
Slides should be a visual aid, not a script—use them to reinforce your spoken points, not replace them.
“If you have 12 slides that are exactly the same with just words, it’s boring. The audience has lots of things in their life to think about—what to get at Wegmans, what their significant other told them not to forget, their car appointment—the more engaging you can be, the better.”
- A good rule of thumb is one slide per minute (preferably less). This helps avoid rushing through content.
- Vary your slide design. You don’t have to use the same template on every slide. Introduce variety while maintaining consistency.
- Instead of overwhelming the audience with data, emphasize the most striking results.
- Use visuals wisely. Well-chosen images, charts, and infographics can communicate more than blocks of text.
Structuring Content for Your Audience
The best presentations tell a story. Set up your research question, walk through key experiments, and highlight your most impactful findings.
"Everything should be logical. They should be able to follow the thread. They won’t necessarily know if what you’re saying is true, but they should be able to follow your logic."
- Know who you’re speaking to. A research talk for fellow scientists is going to be very different from a lecture to a general audience.
- Keep background information clear. Assume your audience is intelligent, but also that they don’t have prior knowledge. Explain more technical concepts in a way that’s easy to follow.
- Don’t overload your presentation with the failed attempts. If multiple approaches didn’t work, summarize them quickly instead of going into excessive detail.
Get Useful Feedback
Feedback is essential for improvement. Small adjustments based on peer suggestions can make a big difference.
"Most people are nice. So that's a problem. If you ask your colleagues, How was my talk? They'll say,Oh, it's good," but that's not helpful. ”
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Ask for specific feedback. Request one thing the audience liked and one thing they think could be improved.
- Practice in front of your peers. A lab group or mentor can provide constructive critiques before you present to a larger audience. Also give your presentation to people outside of your lab group who are not intimately familiar with your work. They give a different type of feedback. Again, ask for specifcs.
A well-designed PowerPoint can elevate your research presentation. Remember to keep slides simple, tell a compelling story, and know your audience. This will ensure your talk makes a more lasting impression.
Check out more resources from Dr. Frelinger on giving effective presentations.
Katherine Bognanno | 3/3/2025
