The art of persuasion in 180 seconds

[Article] - Published on March 17, 2023 in Enhancing Your Education, Doctoral Education and HDR

The ninth edition of the "My Thesis in 180 Seconds" competition was held on March 17 in Nîmes. doctoral researchers universities and institutions in the Occitanie-Est region received personalized support from professionals in science communication and theater to help them make their thesis topics more accessible and spark the interest of the general public.

"I decided to enter this competition to overcome my fear of public speaking. It's a real challenge for me, both personally and professionally. I believe that popularizing science is crucial for the future of future doctors," explains Bianca, a finalist in the regional competition.

40 hours of customized training

“During our first session, we had to put ourselves in the audience’s shoes. We quickly realized that what seemed obvious and self-evident to us was not necessarily so for others. We then began to think differently, using simple words, synonyms, and clear wording to help the audience understand what we were saying and avoid confusion,” says Thomas, a young doctoral student at the University of Montpellier.

The team of experts comprises three members: Pascaline Girot, a rhetoric and argumentation coach who focuses on the structure and logic of speeches; Marc Dumas, a coach specializing in public speaking, self-confidence, enthusiasm, and text staging; and Patrick Sandrat, a science communication trainer responsible for ensuring consistency between the presentation and the selected slides. "We seek to develop a healthy competitive spirit among the candidates in order to give them greater self-confidence by promoting their research work through the competition, whether at the national or international level. Especially since we have a high level of excellence in research in Occitanie!" explains Patrick Sandrat.

In order to best prepare the 20 candidates competing in the regional final, both in terms of content and form, small group training sessions are held between February and March. "In addition to the training sessions, we also receive regular follow-up from the coaches between sessions to help us refine our text and slides. This has enabled us to improve our presentations through email and phone exchanges and receive constructive feedback from the group during the training sessions," explains Bianca.

Making accessible and passing on

“This competition is an opportunity to practice explaining your thesis topic to a general audience, and for me, it’s a chance to share my research with a wide audience at the various events organized by the Laboratory. It’s best to talk about it to as many people as possible,” explainsJulie, who came in third place in the competition. 

In addition to being a competition, this event offers young researchers the opportunity to acquire communication and science outreach skills so they can share their passion for research with the general public. "For us, it's about taking the candidates out of their usual academic setting. We help them take a step back to determine what they want to present and why it's important. We encourage them to step outside their comfort zone and abandon overly technical scientific concepts so that they can present their research to the general public," explains Patrick Sandrat.

The coaching sessions enable doctoral students to develop transferable skills in various areas such as teaching, project presentation, negotiation, and preparation for job interviews. Working together allows everyone to pool their skills and ideas. Each candidate contributes and learns from the other members of the group. "With just a few days to go before the competition, I'm ready to take on the challenge, even though I'm starting to feel the stress. We are particularly excited to see the presentations of the other members of the group during this regional final," concludes the young researcher.

Keywords: Students, Training, Research, University