Engage, Inform, Inspire: Bringing Your Presentation Skills to the Next Level (417)

24 June and 3 July 2025

Hedwig Ens

Solid communication skills are required to succeed in a variety of career paths. Researchers, in particular, present their work in many different settings (lab meetings, conferences, job interviews…) and mastering - or not - presentation skills can make - or break - a career in or outside of academia. Even for seasoned speakers, the preparation and delivery of an impactful talk is riddled with challenges, such as finding the optimal balance between facts and storytelling, identifying the right level of details to share with an audience, managing stress when standing in front of people.

This intensive two-day workshop will help the participants master the different aspects of a presentation to effectively engage, inform and inspire their audience.

The workshop will start with every doctoral candidates giving a 5-minute presentation of their research. With a mix of theory and practical exercises, the first day will continue following a simple roadmap to prepare a successful talk, which includes knowing your audience, streamlining the talk and designing effective slides. Participants will use their 5-min presentation to apply the skills learned throughout the course in order to refine it for the second part of the workshop. Doctoral candidates will receive feedback from their peers and the trainer throughout the workshop.

The final day of the course will be dedicated to the delivery of a presentation. With a lot of dedicated exercises participants will practice using their voice, mastering their body language and managing their stress to appear competent and confident. At the end of the day, the doctoral candidates will present their revised talks in front of the group. The presentations will be filmed and analysed by the group. Each participant will receive feedback from the trainer on their performance to allow them to minimise the impact of their flaws and to capitalise on their strengths.

Learning outcomes

The doctoral candidates will have developed their public speaking and scientific storytelling skills by preparing one excellent model talk on their research. In the process, they will also have garnered skills for creating and delivering impressive future presentations. At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• prepare any talk with a simple roadmap
• understand the challenges of scientific talks
• deliver an engaging talk
• enjoy sharing their work with the confidence gained during the workshop
• analyse talks to learn from others

Pedagogical methods

The workshop will be very interactive. Students should wear comfortable clothes that they can move in and they should bring their laptops, or a thumb-drive and a notebook and pen. Participants' talks will be filmed and the recordings will be shared with the students at the end of the workshop for future study.

 
Requirements

Participants should be comfortable and able to express themselves in English (level B2/C1), and they should also be moderately experienced in giving presentations (lab meetings, departmental meetings, etc.). 

Intended Audience

This workshop is beneficial to all doctoral candidates who have a story to tell.

University of Fribourg

Date: Tuesday 24th June and Thursday 3rd July 2025

Schedule: 9 am to 5.30 pm

Location: University of Fribourg

Trainer:

Hedwig Ens makes science open and accessible for all through the power of stories. As a public speaking trainer, she fosters a safe space for students to discover the story within their science. Having work experiences in both academia and the publishing industry, Hedwig provides her students with accessible tools on how to deliver their powerful stories in an engaging way.

Participants are eligible for reimbursement of incurred travel expenses by train between the city of their university and the location of the workshop (half-fare card, 2nd class).

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