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How to Give a 10-Minute �Oral Presentation

Sophie Wood, PhD, MSc

�WCHRI Postdoctoral Fellow,

School of Public Health

University of Alberta

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Contact: swood3@ualberta.ca

October 7th, 2026

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Disclosures

  • No conflicts of interest

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Outline

  • Oral presentation purposes
  • Session format for the WCHRI Research Day
  • PowerPoint slides and speech
  • Key elements of your presentation
  • Do's and don’ts
  • Questions from the audience

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Oral presentation purposes

  • Only a few abstracts are selected for oral presentations at conferences
    • Based on scientific novelty, originality, significance, impact, and others

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  • For the conference:
    • Knowledge dissemination
    • Clarify complex ideas – structured and visual format
    • Stimulate scholarly exchange of interested topics

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  • For the presenter:
    • Helps understand the data and the research gaps
    • Build oral communication skills and confidence
    • Professional visibility
    • Networking and collaborations
    • Career development

It is not JUST a presentation, it could be THE presentation

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Session format

  • Oral presentations are offered in the morning and afternoon

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  • Presentations are offered concurrently in 5 rooms

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  • Up to 6 presenters per room will present

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  • 10-minute speech followed by 5 minutes of questions

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  • Audience: reviewers, moderators, general audience

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Your presentation—slides

  • PowerPoint design: WCHRI template or personal preference
    • Consistent style

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  • Be mindful of the amount of text per slide, keep it concise!
    • Focus on key messages
    • Use short bullet points or phrases (no paragraphs)
    • Use visuals over text
    • Animations (appear/disappear)

  • You may use boxes to highlight specific information (e.g., novelty, results)

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Your presentation—slides

General rule: font no less than 24 – ideal 32(ish)

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This is size 10, this is size 20, this is size 30, this is size 60

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This is size 10, this is size 20, this is size 30, this is size 60

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Times New Roman

Roboto

Pinyon Script

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Your presentation—slides

  • 1-2 minutes per slide; ~2 minutes per section

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  • Lay language – general audience

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  • Speech: slowly and clearly, use pauses, project your voice, vary your tone

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  • Body language: eye contact, posture, gestures, and movement

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  • Do not “just” read the slides, tell a story

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  • Practice! Practice! Practice!

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Key elements of your presentation:�Title slide

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      • Project title

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      • Who you are and whose lab you work in

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      • Your department/affiliation(s)

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      • Event and date

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Key elements of your presentation:�Introduction

  • Background/rationale: Why does this matter?

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  • Research question: What is the knowledge gap?

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  • Aims: What did you do?

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  • Hypothesis: What did you expect to achieve?

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Key elements of your presentation:�Methods and Results

  • Do not overcomplicate

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  • General audience

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  • Focus on key findings

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  • Use visuals whenever possible

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​

Energy intake

Protein (g)

Fiber (g)

Children

1800

50

15

Adolescents

2200

65

20

Adults

2500

75

25

Seniors

2000

70

22

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Key elements of your presentation:�Conclusion and Acknowledgments

  • Summarize your findings
    • Go back to your aims and directly answer them

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  • Significance and implications

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  • Acknowledge collaborators, lab, participants, and funding sources
    • No one does research alone!

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Do's and don’ts

  • Prepare your presentation well in advance
  • Practice/get feedback/improve
  • Be professional but be yourself
  • Respect the time limit
  • Enjoy it—people are interested in your work!
  • Don’t be late
  • Don’t speak too fast
  • Don’t crowd your slides
  • Don’t try to talk about everything in your project
  • Don’t make it too complicated

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Questions from the audience

  • Anticipate questions while preparing and practicing.

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  • You may reserve backup slides to answer questions if needed.

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  • General audience, be prepared!

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  • No one can know everything.�
  • If you speculate, let the audience know.

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  • Add your contact info in your last slide for future discussions.

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Thank you

WCHRI Postdoctoral Fellow,

School of Public Health

University of Alberta

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Sophie Wood, PhD, MSc

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Contact: swood3@ualberta.ca