From the Lab to the Stage: My 3MT Experience
I had the opportunity to present my PhD research in the finals of the University of Turku 3MT competition. It was a unique and rewarding experience to summarize my work in under three minutes to an audience of non-experts, with the cherry on top being that I got selected to represent the University in the South African – Nordic Center (SANORD) network competition. In this blog, I will walk you through some of the aspects I found to be interesting and challenging while preparing for my presentation, and at the very onset will urge all Doctoral Researchers to take-up this challenge, at the very least for the experience of it!
As PhD researchers, our scientific thoughts usually revolve around a very narrow and niche topic, which is the focus of our dissertation. Further, we are typically surrounded by like-minded researchers who are either our collaborators or working on similar topics within the same domain. Over time and unknowingly, we begin making assumptions about vocabulary, jargon and even phrases that we think are “understandable for everyone.” Even when trying to simplify things, we inevitably use some of these niche words to make our point. Don’t get me wrong, several of these routines are necessary to promote deeper scientific discussions. But they certainly make us drift away from being aware of the bigger picture of our scientific research and from being able to explain it to the proverbial “8-year old.”
This shouldn’t come as a shock and like most of us, I was also aware of it. But what did come as a surprise was the extent of jargon I had begun to anticipate as “simple and understandable” for everyone. As a cell biologist, I assumed that everyone knows what cells do, and that most people understand that cells in the body move. However, during our training sessions, I realized that words like “cell migration,” although commonplace for many TBC researchers, mean nothing to someone who hasn’t studied biology for a few years. All of a sudden, many of my plans for my script fell apart, and I had to rethink how I structure and communicate my science during this presentation. I had to find relatable analogies that would resonate with most (hopefully all) people, and convey my message in a simple yet meaningful way. While “dumbing things down” seemed like the way to go, oversimplifying my science to the point of trivialization would have worked against me, as clearly stated in the competition’s judging criteria. So, the key was to figure the right mix of simplicity and depth – to communicate the scientific and technical details of my PhD work in a way that made sense to everyone in the audience. Often, this meant imagining myself as someone who knew absolutely nothing about cells and cell biology (way easier said than done), and then adapt the speech accordingly.
An aspect that I personally thought helped my speech was the slide. Designing my slide in the right way complemented my script, and helping the audience visualize my science proved to be a powerful tool in getting my message across. There is some effort involved in designing a slide which is appreciable for all, keeping all the extra scientific details away, no matter how empowering they might seem. It almost felt like an advertisement exercise, where I had to make it catchy, informative, and uncluttered all at the same time. But once I found that sweet spot, it worked quite well. What remains after all that is the delivery. This is something that only improves with practice. Pacing myself correctly, emphasizing certain keywords, taking pauses at the right moments, and using appropriate gestures were all factors that improved as I rehearsed more and more. It was especially helpful to rehearse in front of people who had no idea what my work was about. They gave me suggestions that I would never have received from people familiar with cell biology or my research.
In summary, although it may seem like a lot, I would once again urge all Doctoral Researchers to give this experience a shot. Be shameless – it won’t be great the first time (or in my case, even the eleventh time), so don’t worry about not doing well. It gets easier and more intuitive with repetition. I enjoyed speaking about my science in a non-technical way for once, and you might have the same feeling!
Finally, I would like thank everyone who patiently heard me speak (repeatedly), gave me useful feedback and encouraged me – my supervisor Prof. Johanna Ivaska, Monika and members of the Ivaska Lab, my sister and family, and my teacher Kelly Raita.
The writer of this post is Omkar Joshi, Doctoral Researcher from Cell Adhesion and Caner research group.
