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Guide to 3MT

This is a guide to assist students who are preparing to compete in the 3MT competitions.

Before writing your 3MT presentation

Before you start writing for your 3MT presentation, here are some questions that you can ask yourself to help you identify the significance and relevance of your research topic:

  • Why should people care about my research?
  • What problem will my research be able to resolve What excites me about the future about my research?
  • What excites me about the future about my research?
  • What is that one thing that I want my audience to remember about my research?

Best practices for crafting a story

Here are some tips and strategies that you can use when crafting a story.

  • Adopt the beginning, middle and end approach (refer to the information in the box below.)
  • Identify a problem and offer a solution
  • Using different perspectives:
    • Timeline - trends, history etc.
    • Framing - Personal , national and international

Suggested structures for your story

Capture your audience's attention by:

  • Starting something strong about your research topic
  • Sell your research ideas up front
  • Relate the entire presentation to your key message 
  • Make your presentation stand out by providing different perspective to your story
     
  • State the issue
  • How you propose to resolve the issue
  • Share the findings, recommendations and conclusions with the audience
  • Call to action
  • Reiterate your points

Tips on writing your presentation

  • Use ‘sign-posts’
    • "In my thesis, I will look at..."
    • "The most important benefit..."
    • "However..."
    • "This is why..."
  • Avoid jargon and complex data
  • Be realistic about your research impact (it is ok if you haven't completed your research!)
  • Capture audience's attention with a strong start/opening

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Unless otherwise stated, all guide content is licensed by CC BY-NC 4.0.