PhD: Effective Presenting for PhD students (online + face-to-face)

The overall aim of the course is to increase your confidence and effectiveness as an academic presenter. This is achieved through a guided exploration of the essential components of an engaging presentation such as:

• knowing your audience,
• a strong beginning,
• the power of story-telling,
• using sign-posting language
• crafting effective slides,
• effectively using your voice through breath, intonation, pausing, and emphasis,
• using body language to present confidently,
• how to handle Q&A sessions.

What some former course participants thought about our courses

Participating in the Presentation Skills course was a great choice! I learned so much about presenting and the lay-out of presentations I hadn't even thought about. The feedback the tutor gave was very constructive and it transformed my standard presentations into being more appealing and engaging. The sessions were very well structured with much detail on diversity and inclusion. I was able to apply everything I had learned confidentially to my recent conference presentation, which made it a great success. I can really recommend this course!

Karen Aduful, PhD candidate, Open University

The course runs for 10 weeks with 8 x 90-minute weekly webinars at a fixed time and 2 x face-to-face sessions for live presentation practice.

You will deliver the three presentation types in a safe space and will receive personalised feedback on your strengths and weaknesses each time, both from the tutor and from fellow participants, from which you can learn and grow in skills and confidence. Groups are limited in size to a maximum of 10 participants.

Zoom is used as the main course platform but the final two sessions will take place at Science Vision, UM, FHML campus, where your practice presentation will be recorded. Recorded presentations will be accessible to you via video links provided.

Each week, you will be provided with home tasks to consolidate learning, which consists of videos to watch and reflect on.

'Taking this course greatly enhanced my ability to present research findings clearly and effectively to both academic peers and lay audiences. The tutor’s enthusiasm and dedication made the experience truly engaging, and her practical tips on slide design and presentation delivery were invaluable. As PhD students, we all need to effectively share our research - this course is an absolute must for anyone looking to elevate their presentation skills.'

Guoyang Zhang, PhD candidate, FHML, Maastricht University

You are required to give all 3 presentation types and attend 8 out of 10 sessions in order to receive the course certificate.

You will need to download the Zoom desktop app onto your device for this course.

Required level of English: C1 and above.

€ 610

UM PhD candidates may be eligible for funding provided by their department or faculty. Please check with your employer whether you are eligible for such funding. If so, you are required to provide the Language Centre with:

• name of the person responsible for payment
• your faculty
• your department
• personnel number (700……)
• For PhD candidates of FHML, MaCSBIO, M4I or Merln a maximum of three skills courses  (including this one) is funded until further notice. Providing department and personnel number is sufficient. 

If you are not eligible for departmental funding, the Language Centre will send you an invoice directly. Please note that registration is an agreement to pay.