Tip 85: Don't use the same format as your thesis
When you are presenting your academic paper to a live audience, do not present it in the same format as you have used to write your paper. “Abstract, Introduction, Hypothesis, Aims, Methods, Results, Conclusions” may be suitable chapter headings for your thesis, but your presentation should not be merely a reading aloud of your thesis or research paper.
Presentations are not articles or theses. They are a completely different medium of communication, and they require a different set of skills. This fact is often not grasped by researchers or students. Written academic language is simply too awkward for reading aloud. If your audience wanted to read your article, you could have emailed it to them and saved everyone a lot of time, effort and expense! The aim of your presentation is not to read your paper out loud.
Have a think about exactly what you want your audience to gain from your presentation. Do you want them to go away and read your paper? Do you want them to learn about your conclusions and use them to advance their own research? Do you want them to share their thoughts on your research or give you ideas to improve it? Are you making a pitch for funding or employment? Do you want to attract new students to your department?
Use your presentation to achieve whatever objectives you want. The paper is merely an excuse for you to get out there in front of an attentive audience and talk. Use it to create a spark, a connection between you and your audience, to move them towards whatever goal you have set.
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