Welcome to Pitch Perfect.
I'm Naomi Koh Belic and I'll be guiding you through our three-part video series to help
you create the perfect pitch.
In the first video, we're going to cover the purpose of presentation skills.
How many different types of presentations have you had to give?
Chances are the answer is a lot.
From presenting laboratory findings to your peers or making it through to a job interview.
University students are required to give a multitude of presentations throughout their
undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.
Not to mention the industry is constantly reinforcing the importance of communication
skills for Science graduates.
With nearly all position advertisements for science industry positions citing communication
skills as one of the top sought after skills.
So we're going to provide you with a handful of translatable skills that you can use for
all the different types of presentations you'll be required to give.
The very first of those is to identify the purpose of your presentation and the audience
that it will be given too.
Let's start with identifying your audience.
It's important that you are aware of who your audience is as it will change the way you
shape your entire presentation.
If you are presenting to the general public you will need to gauge the demographic of
that audience.
What age range and education level do they fall into?
The language you would use to present to a primary school student will be very different
to the language you would use when presenting at a conference.
Ensure that you understand this demographic so you can pitch your presentation to them.
You can do this by ensuring you don't include scientific jargon that can overcomplicate
content and instead use language that is audience appropriate.
Now let's say you're presenting to fellow scientists.
You need to identify how experienced they are with your content.
For example, if I was to present my stem cell research to fellow postgrad biologists I would
allow myself to use some jargon that they would be familiar with, and to breeze over
some of the scientific concepts that the audience would already understand.
However, if I were to give that same presentation to a room full of postgraduate accountants
I would have to make sure I removed that scientific jargon and explained my scientific concepts
in enough detail.
If I was presenting to undergraduates I would need to ensure that I am covering more of
the basic knowledge that they may not yet be familiar with.
It is equally important to identify the purpose of your presentation.
Ask yourself: What is the point of this particular presentation?
What do you wish to achieve?
What is your audience expecting?
What are things they are unlikely to know?
And you might need to explain a little further.
If you're presenting to a generalist audience, the general rule of thumb is to explain things
so that a 16-year-old could understand.
Why?
Well as scientists we should be constantly striving to make our work more accessible.
By aiming to always break down difficult concepts we can ensure that our research is as accessible
as possible at all times.
In the best explanations of science, the education aspect should go completely unnoticed.
I could tell you that my research is focused on using stem cells to model multiple sclerosis.
I've likely already lost most of you.
Instead of bombarding you with complex terminology I can use an analogy instead.
For example, I like to refer to my research as a disease in a dish.
You can think of it much like a bowl of soup, if you were to examine and analyse a bowl
of soup eventually you'd be able to work out the ingredients that make up the soup.
And even get an idea of what ingredients can be added to make that soup better.
My research is exactly the same.
I examine and analyse the stem cells in my dish to work out the difference between my
healthy and multiple sclerosis cohorts, in the hopes of determining what treatments could
be added.
The next thing you have to consider is what do you want your audience to walk away with?
Do you want them to give you a job?
Or know more about your research?
Perhaps your purpose is to secure funding for your research or idea and you find yourself
pitching to Industry.
Who is your audience?
What experience and knowledge do they have?
What is the context of your pitch?
Do you have an hour-long meeting in which you can divulge into the finer details?
Or do you only have a few minutes to hook the investors?
If it's the latter you would likely interest and investor by pitching your passion for
your project, getting them hooked and securing yourself the position to expand your project
in more detail later.
There are endless scenarios that you are likely to find yourself having to pitch your idea,
your research or yourself.
regardless of the type of presentation, it is imperative that you successfully identify
your specific audience.
Understand the purpose of your presentation, and break down difficult concepts.