I was the fifth presenter.
What struck me during the session was not so much the scientific content, which was solid across all talks, but how similar the delivery was. Most speakers remained seated, spoke softly, and tried to convey multiple messages within a limited time. The result was something we all recognise from conferences: competent talks that blur together and are quickly forgotten.
I decided to try a small experiment.
I changed three things, none of which had anything to do with content.
First, I stood up while presenting. Standing immediately changed my posture, breathing, and engagement with the room. It also changed how the audience perceived my presence.
Second, I consciously spoke loudly and clearly, ensuring that everyone in the room could hear me without effort. This sounds trivial, but in academic settings it is surprisingly rare, and incredibly powerful.
Third, I committed to delivering one single message in my 12 minutes. Not a list of results. Not a narrative with multiple take-home points. Just one idea I wanted the audience to remember when they left the room.
That was it.
No extra slides. No rhetorical tricks. No simplification of science.
The difference was immediate. The audience was more attentive, more responsive, and more engaged. Not because the science was “better,” but because it was easier to follow and easier to remember.
Interestingly, at the end of the session I received the informal “best title” award. A small and light-hearted outcome, but also a reminder that clarity, presence, and intention often matter more than the amount of information we try to compress into a talk.
This experience reinforced something I have been reflecting on for a while:
effective scientific communication is rarely about adding more content. More often, it is about removing noise and making deliberate choices about how we speak, stand, and focus.
In a system where we are trained to value data above all else, it is worth remembering that data only matter if someone is truly listening.