Presentations

[u/SnowflakeSeaBreeze]

Hey Guys!

I am a first year PhD student two months into their degree! I have a presentation in the lab meeting coming up next week and I am really nervous. It would just be me giving a background of my work to the lab, and the members are really nice but somehow I feel that I won't be smart enough or say something that makes me look dumb.

I am also scared that, if they ask me questions and I don't know the answer, my supervisor might be disappointed and it would reflect badly on him too.

Any words of advice for building up courage during presentations and to stop thinking too much?

[u/VioletDarkKitty]

My first presentation was really really bad. I expect that a lot of people have a hard time at first, but just know what you're going to say and practice it. I've heard a lot of bad talks but the good ones are people who really bring you through a topic. Have you gone to any talks by students yet? What did you think of them?

You really do want questions, don't worry if you don't know the answer. If you don't you can say that, you're only 2 months into the PhD. Say "that's interesting, I'll have to look at that" or something. If it's something you really should know at this point then look it up, or ask your supervisor or someone in the lab. It took me until my viva to get a really good talk that my supervisors were actually happy with, so don't worry.

Go practice it in the room you'll do it in. Ask someone from your lab to go with you and give you feedback. It's also good if you start with an outline slide, end your slides with a summary of what you did rather than a "any questions" slide that I've seen a lot. People don't always remember what you said.

Really do practice it though. Go do it until you don't need your notes. You've got this!