Slide Preparation for Medical Conferences—Effective and Powerful Tips

Dear Sir,

We read the article by Ameen et al. ¹ on preparing slides for conference research presentations with interest. We like to add a few additional points on the topic.

Tips for all presentations

1. It is good to use interesting quotes, cartoon depictions of the problem, and current related news highlighting the topic if available, to keep the audience alert and engaged with the presenter.

2. The presenter should rehearse the use of the laser pointer and know exactly which button to press for pointing and for advancing the slides. Incorrect use of the laser pointer was noticed in one-third of its users in a medical conference. ²

3. Every presenter should practice bringing in a bit of humor whenever they feel the audience is drifting away. As with every other quality, this also comes as the presenter becomes more practiced and experienced. ³

4. When playing video files, it is better to use the “start automatically” option and choose the time the video plays (keeping them as short as possible), to save time without hunting for the play button below the file. If the presenter is not embedding the video in the slide and rather including a hyperlink to it, it must be ensured that the video file too is pasted in the same folder.

5. Since, on average, only 1 out of 8 medical conferences starts on time, ² every presenter should be mentally prepared for the delay and avoid getting exhausted or frustrated.

6. It is recommended to have an acknowledgment slide at the end of the presentation where the presenter can thank the mentor, guide, statistician, teachers, etc. Obviously this should not be done in award presentations if the rules demand anonymity.

Tips for research presentations

1. A brief history of the topic in a slide before the main research data may keep the audience alert and interested. The history slide may also have a picture of the inventor or the initial research tools.

2. The presentation slides should avoid too many statistics and data derivation methods.

3. There could be mock presentations in the presenter’s own department in front of teachers and batchmates. This would help get an idea of what kinds of doubts and questions may arise and help prepare to answer them in the main presentation.

4. The presenter should keep the answer short so that there would be time for more questions.

5. Avoid comments like “In my experience.” Everything on the slides and the verbal explanations should be based on the study’s findings, without any ambiguity or surmises.