July 30, 2024, by Jackie Thompson

Building confidence in presenting

By Chloe O’Dowd, Philosophy PhD student.

PhD students must give talks. It is part and parcel of doing the doctoral degree that at some point you will have to present your work in front of other people. This could be in a more casual setting like a seminar, or it could be in the more rigorous one of a conference. In this blog, I want to discuss how to build confidence with public speaking.

PhD talks

Giving talks are a rather essential element to doing a PhD, at least in the School of Humanities, at Nottingham. We, in philosophy, are encouraged to give at least one ‘Work in Progress’ talk a year at the postgraduate seminars. This is to emulate both the staff seminar of the same purpose and to prepare us for presenting our work at academic conferences.

Yet, this is something that can be very anxiety-inducing, particularly for those of us who are definitely not natural public speakers. I had this issue when I began my PhD, as I found that I was incredibly nervous at the thought of giving a talk, even just to my peers. I also know that some of the staff in my department still get nervous when speaking in public.

As this is such a widespread issue, I did some research, as is my forte, to try and find some solutions to this, so I could tackle my nervousness around presenting.

Practice

I know it sounds a bit of a cliche, but the best way to get better at something is to practise. There are multiple ways to do so.

The first is to simply practise whatever it is that you have to present by yourself, getting used to how it sounds when you say it aloud, and the pacing of a presentation.

The second way is to practise with a peer. This is what I did. A friend and I booked a room, and I gave my talk to just them. This really helps with learning your speaking pace and how you respond to a person being in the room with you. It also helps practice maintaining eye contact with someone as you speak, as this is also something people worry about.

The final way that I would recommend is to just do it. Take a slot at a seminar or apply to a conference and present your ideas. Often, it is the thought and anticipation of public speaking that is worse than the actual experience.  After you get over the first time giving a talk, it ought to get easier and you will develop your own presenting style.

Resources

Another way to improve your public speaking is to use the resources that the university has to offer. The Careers and Employability Service has an entire webpage dedicated to giving presentations, where you can find help with planning a presentation, delivering a presentation and even some last-minute top tips. All this information is very easily adapted to the scenario of a PhD student giving a talk.

My experience giving talks now

This is not to say that all of these tips and tricks have completely erased my nerves around giving talks and presentations, but they certainly have helped. I am now able to stand at the front of the room and talk about my work without being as red as a tomato and stuttering over my words.

If you get nervous about public speaking and giving talks as a PhD student, then you should try some of these tips. One of them just might work for you!

If you are PhD student thinking about your future career, visit our website for information, advice and how to book an appointment with an adviser.

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