1. Making the most of your OSU 3MT® presentation
This evening we are going to visit about making the most of your 3MT experience, but first, let’s answer the questions: “Why the 3MT?”
The importance of the 3MT is about helping you develop the skill to communicate with non-specialists, public audiences. In your graduate program, you are learning to communicate with other specialists, but programs for the most part don’t teach you how to communicate technical information like your research to a non-specialist, public audience.
So why is it important to be able to communicate what you do and its importance to society to a non-specialist? Two reasons, first, employers highly value employees who can communicate technical aspects of their work with other employees who are not technical experts in their area, whether those employees are the salesforce, management, or even company’s clients.
Second, you will have opportunities during your career to represent your discipline to the public, whether this is talking to one of your children’s school classes or the local service club about what you do and its importance for meeting societal needs. The prestige of your discipline and it serves the public good is dependent on your ability to concisely and understandably engage the public about your discipline’s benefit to society.
Public speaking is different than speaking to specialists. It requires a different skill set. The 3MT is designed to help you develop this skill set.
The 3MT helps you to take a technical subject, focus it and make it straightforward enough to be understood by non-specialists. It involves learning how to speak in a logically organized, concise, understandable and engaging manner. We are going to talk about how to do this. But first, let’s go over the 3MT rules.
Ken Clinkenbeard, Associate Dean, Graduate College
Oklahoma State University
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2. 3MT® rules
Currently enrolled thesis master’s or doctoral graduate students
Talk directly relates to your graduate research*
Spoken word only
No reading from notes*
Single static slide
No electronic media, props, pointers*
Commence from podium, disqualified if > 3 min*
Judges rule
The 3MT teaches you how to speak to public audiences using a competition as a mechanism to provide you with experience of speaking in front of an audience of those outside of your own discipline—also, you have some motivation in the form of cash prizes to help you be excited about this experience.
You can read the rules, but here are some highlights:
You need to talk about your research, whether you are just planning, just beginning, in the middle of, or completing your thesis or dissertation research.
The 3MT is a scripted, memorized 3 minute talk—no reading from notes of any kind.
You are the focal point of your talk. Your single static slide is there to help your audience be engaged with your talk. You can use no additional helps—no embedded videos, props or even a pointer. Just you talking to your audience.
Because you only have three minutes, you will have to have your talk completely memorized. There will be a timer to let you know what time remains before the 3 minute limit, but if you are still speaking when time expires, you are disqualified.
And now for deciding on what you will talk about.
*Rules in green font have been violated in previous OSU 3MTs
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3. What to talk about? Your graduate research & its societal relevance
What aspect of your research should you talk about?—What are you passionate about! Focus on a very specific aspect.
How is your research meeting societal needs?
Looks for concrete examples or, even better, data to support societal benefit
How can you illustrate this to a public audience and pique their interest?
Use an oratorical device—Story, quote, question
So what will you talk about? First, think about how your discipline is important to society—and more specifically what is it about your research that makes it important for society?
Now that you have this general understanding of how your discipline and research are important to society—think specifically about a very FOCUSED area of your research that you are passionate and excited about. This is your topic!
For your talk, you will need to have concrete examples to show how the specific, focused area of your research is relevant to societal needs. This will be your research if you are far enough along in completing your studies or it can be a study by others with demonstrable and documented outcomes that are beneficial to society that you will be extending during the research phase of your graduate studies. If you are speaking about the research of others, be sure to give these colleagues credit for any work that you refer to. This can be spoken as part of your talk or a reference on your slide and indicate how your research will extend these studies.
Your next, and possibly the most important decision, is how to illustrate this understanding to your audience—How do you make them interested in what you have to say?
Use an oratorical device such as a story—it can be hypothetical—or a quotation from a recognized person of stature—or a provocative question will help you to engage your audience.
Now let’s organize your 3MT.
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4. Organizing your 3MT Focused & straightforward
No time for nuance
Carnegie Mellon University’s Four Novelty Moves d5a-f af23-cfc733134e3d
Establish significance, Describe status quo, Identify gap, Fill the gap
How can you illustrate this to a public audience and pique their interest?
Use an oratorical device—Story, quote, question
Beginning, middle & end
Tell them what you will tell them, tell them, tell them what you told them
A logically organized 3MT is absolutely essential. Your research may be nuanced, but your 3MT must be focused and presented in a straightforward manner.
The Carnegie Mellon University has a very effective structure for organizing your talk around the Four Novelty Moves. Click on the link to view the video tutorial.
Now that you understand how to use the Four Novelty Moves, use a story, readily recognizable quote or a provocative question to introduce your research in your “Establishing Significance” section of your 3MT. View the videos for the 2016 OSU 3MT Finals on the last slide in this Powerpoint to see how other 3MT presenters used oratorical devices to introduce the significance of their research and capture the interest of their audience.
Last, within the Four Novelty Move, remember to organize these in the three sections of your talk: Beginning (introduce your topic), Middle (flesh out your topic) and End (conclude your topic). The end or conclusion is often the one section of the 3MT that is not given adequate attention—but it also often the one thing that your audience remembers best—make your ending strong. If you used a oratorical device, return to it to conclude your talk—finish your story; repeat the quote or question explaining succinctly how your research impacted the quote or answered the question.
Now let’s see how 3MT presenter Britanny Bolt used what we have talked about to present a concise, organized, understandable and engaging 3MT.
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5. Preparing your 3MT® Engagement-Communication = How you present
Comprehension-Content = What you present
Engagement-Communication = How you present
Societal importance —Why should your audience care?
Focused & Straightforward
Carnegie Mellon 4 Novelty Moves
Engaging your audience with a oratorical device
Presentation has a beginning, middle & end
Practice, practice, practice
When preparing for your 3MT, it is helpful to break your preparation into two conceptual areas—these also match the two areas that the judges will use to assess your presentation:
Comprehension and Content considers what you present AND Engagement and Communication considers how you present your content.
We have already covered most aspects of the content of your 3MT. One additional consideration is the language the you use to explain technical terms and concepts to your non-specialist audience. Click the link to view Brittany’s 3MT and listen to how she explains “aspartate aminotransferase”, “nerve cells”, and “conduct of pain signals along nerves to the brain”. You can also view this Carnegie Mellon University 3MT tutorial on use of metaphors in your 3MT: to better understand how to use metaphors to explain technical terms to a non-specialist audience.
Now consider Engagement and Communications—How you present your content.
The crucial factor is establishing why your audience should care about what you are telling them. Use a oratorical device to help to do this. How did Brittany do this in her 3MT. Watch the other OSU 2016 Finals 3MTs (links on the last slide in this Powerpoint) to see how other presenters used stories, quotes and questions to engage you in their talks.
The three minute format does not allow for ad lib. Your talk needs to be completely scripted and memorized. The OSU 3MT rules do not allow reading or consulting notes to present your 3MT. In addition, you will not be able to effectively add a “stage presence” using voice and gestures effectively until you have your 3MT fully memorized. One way to do this is to break your 3MT into logical second segments. This can also help should you loose your “place” in your talk—you can return to the end of the last segment as restart there.
A highly effective way to conclude your 3MT is to return to your oratorical device—How did Brittany do this?
Next, let’s consider your single, static 3MT slide.
Use terms understood by a public audience
Engage by using your voice & gestures
Conclude by returning to your oratorical device
Use analogies or metaphors to explain technical terms/concepts
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6. Preparing your 3MT® slide
How will you use your slide?
Less can be more—Engage visually, but don’t distract from you & your presentation
More visual than text
Don’t use visuals not easily recognized
Progression of visuals with story
Always face your audience, not your slide
No pointer—slide should be self-explained
Interestingly, having observed many 3MT presentations, understanding how to use and design your 3MT static slide is one of the greatest challenge that 3MT presenters face.
The most important question to ask yourself is “How will I use my 3MT slide?”.
Once you have decided this, designing your slide is much more straightforward.
Let’s look at four slides that have been used for 3MTs and see how their presenters used them.
In the upper left is the simplest of the four. It was for a talk about “big data”. The slide uses an image to illustrate “big data” to keep the primary focus of the presentation in front of the audience—Big data is like an iceberg, there is more there than meets the eye. This type of slide can be effectively used if the speaker does the rest—provides all of the detail without the need for further visuals or textual information. The purpose of this slide is to simply keep the main points of the presenter’s 3MT talk in front of the audience.
The second slide on the lower left was used for a talk about Boomers communicating with Millennials. Again this slide is minimalist in that it provides limited information to support the 3MT talk, but it is designed to get the audience to anticipate what the speaker is talking about and how the “words” in the graphic apply to how Boomers communicate with Millennials. Its purpose is to pique the audience’s curiosity.
The third slide in the upper right is from Brittany Bolt’s 3MT talk. It provides more context than the two previous slides—It alludes to the story about Shawn in the panel on the left and then uses the right hand panels to help Brittany’s explain the relationship between chronic pain and the molecule aspartate aminotransferase. This slide provides more detail and helps the audience visualize what is being talked about. The purpose of this slide is to help the audience understand the 3MT presentation by moving through the four Novelty Moves of Britanny’s talk.
The last slide on the bottom right is similar to Brittany’s in that it provides more information about what the speaker is talking about, but it uses several (and too many) visuals that are not readily recognizable by a public audience. It is less effective because the public audience does not recognize these visuals and cannot use them to better understand the speaker’s 3MT talk.
So, how do you decide what your 3MT slide should contain? You need to decide how you will use your slide, and this decision will help you develop the slide design.
Also remember to face your audience and not your slide when speaking. Even turning sideways to view your slide can make your voice trail off and not be heard by your audience. Pointers are not allowed, so while facing your audience—just direct your audience verbally to different parts of your slide, e.g., saying “in the upper left of my slide” etc.
Next, let’s consider what the judges will assess for your 3MT.
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7. What will the judges be assessing you on?
Comprehension-Content = What you present
Focused & Straightforward
Carnegie Mellon 4 Novelty Moves
Presentation has a beginning, middle & end
Use terms understood by a public audience
Use analogies or metaphors to explain technical terms/concepts
Engagement-Communication = How you present
Societal importance —Why should your audience care?
Engaging your audience with a oratorical device
Practice, practice, practice
Engage by using your voice & gestures
Conclude by returning to your oratorical device
Powerpoint adds to & does not distract from your presentation
As we mentioned before, there are two general areas of assessment for judging: Comprehension and Content AND Engagement and Communication.
Comprehension and Content is about WHAT you present and Engagement and Communication is about HOW you present it.
I have again arranged our organizing and preparing principles aligned with these judging assessments so that you can again see how you might use these to improve your presentation.
Here are the specific questions that the judges are asked to decide about your 3MT.
The OSU Graduate College – advancing the future by graduate degrees

8. What will the judges be assessing you on?
Comprehension & Content = What you present
Did the presentation provide an understanding of the background to the topic being addressed and its significance?
Did the presentation clearly describe the key elements, conclusions and outcomes?
Did the presentation follow a clear and logical sequence?
Was the presentation topic, significance and outcomes communicated in language appropriate to a non-specialist audience?
Did the speaker avoid specialist jargon, explain terminology and provide adequate background information to illustrate points?
Did the presenter spend adequate time on each element of their presentation - or did they elaborate for too long on one aspect or was the presentation rushed?
Comprehension and Content is about WHAT you present.
Each of these assessment areas have several specific criteria that will be judged. For Comprehension and Content, judges will assess whether you included sufficient information and organized it logically and provided adequate explanation for the audience to understand what you are talking to them about. Judges will also decide whether the language that you used to explain your topic could be understood by a non-specialist audience.
The OSU Graduate College – advancing the future by graduate degrees

9. What will the judges be assessing you on?
Engagement & Communication = How you present
Did the oration make the audience want to know more?
Was the presenter careful not to trivialize or generalize their topic?
Did the presenter convey enthusiasm for their topic?
Did the presenter capture and maintain their audience's attention?
Did the speaker have sufficient stage presence, eye contact and vocal range; maintain a steady pace, and have a confident stance?
Did the PowerPoint slide enhance the presentation - was it clear, legible, and concise?
The second assessment area of Engagement and Communication looks at whether you caught your audiences attention and interest by your communication of your topic. The qualities that give your talk high evaluations for these criteria involve your oratorical device, vocal expressiveness, hand gestures, and the connection that you make with your audience. These qualities for your presentation can only be developed once you have your talk well memorized. After you have memorized your presentation, then you can practice enhancing it with vocal expressiveness, hand gestures and eye contact with your audience.
Last year, the students of one faculty member were extraordinarily successful in our Three Minute competitions. When I asked her what the secret was to her students’ success, she said that they practiced and practiced and practiced until they knew their presentations forwards and backwards, then they added enthusiasm and expressiveness. This is the winning combination.
Lastly, let’s review some do’s for your 3MT.
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10. 3MT® Do’s Do focus & straightforward
Do use a device, e.g., story (can be hypothetical), quote or question, to engage
Do organize your talk using the Carnegie Mellon Four Novelty Moves with a beginning, middle & end
Do use terms understood by a public audience
Do use analogies or metaphors to explain technical terms & concepts
Do memorize your talk
Do speak loudly enough to be heard
Do use expressive speech (volume, inflection, tempo)
Do use hand/arm gestures, but don’t move around too much
Do “dress for success”
Do smile and engage—you know your topic better than anyone—help your audience understand it too!
Do access other 3MT®s resources and watch videos to see how others were successful
Your audience, although not specialists, are smart and able to understand technical topics as long as your talk is logically organized, concise, understandable and engaging.
Memorize your talk, you can’t ad lib and do a good job in the 3MT format.
Engage your audience with a device, voice and gestures—keep your talk interesting!
Portray confidence by your dress, smile and eye contract with your audience.
Do review the information that we have talked about this evening.
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11. 3MT® Resources
Carnegie Mellon University Library Common Strategies for a Successful 3MT Presentation
TED’s Secret to Great Public Speaking
Simon Clews Guide to 3MT
Florida Atlantic University 3MT Handbook
Here are some additional resources that I highly recommend that you access.
The OSU Graduate College – advancing the future by graduate degrees

12. View 2016 OSU 3MT® Finals Presentations
View 3MTs to see how they were successful in communicating technical information to non-specialists audiences.
We are looking forward to hearing your 3MT. Enjoy the journey.
The OSU Graduate College – advancing the future by graduate degrees