by Angel Rain Franco and Jakob Pernthaler

Why we are doing this:

When David and Jakob first came together to organize this meeting, we were excited about everything except for the prospect of looking at posters. Few if any people are really fond of posters. They just feel too much like a leftover from 20th century (science) communication when scientists in black and white movies wore black-rimmed glasses.  These days, we are much more familiar with the sequential way of information transfer made possible by digital media. One advantage of a small meeting like SME is that we can be more flexible and innovative than a large congress. So we decided to ditch posters in favor of animated digital presentations.

Here is an example of such a presentation specifically created for helping SME 2025 participants (opens in a new window).

Before Starting

We ask you to upload your presentation until latest January 12, so that we can include it in the respective session.

This new format of scientific presentations is currently in an experimental phase, and no official guidelines have yet been established. However, this offers an exciting opportunity to renew our passion for scientific communication by combining a variety of skills in a clear and didactic manner. All is fair if it helps to get your message across.

So, before start creating your presentation, take your time to identify the main message you want to communicate. What is the take-home message you want your audience to remember?

Software:

Consider using MS Powerpoint for your presentation since you are probably already familiar with it. It includes an animation panel and built-in slide transitions that can help you make your presentation visually appealing but not over-complicated. Much of the below procedure refers to Powerpoint.

However, this is a recommendation only, you are free to use whatever software works for you. We only insist that the output format must be mp4.

Key Tips:

• Keep your presentation concise and focused: aim for no more than 6 slides (excluding the title page and the final contact information slide).
• You have just 3 minutes to capture the attention audience and ensure they understand your research. Every second counts! (we will tolerate a deviation of ±5 seconds, but no more).
• Remember: you are not around to explain your project, the presentation must speak for itself!

General Structure of the Presentation

To maximize clarity and impact, your animated presentation could follow this structure:

1. Title Page (10-15 seconds)
   • Include the title of your presentation, your name, and your affiliations.
   • Avoid flashy elements, keep it classic.
2. Introduction (approx. 60 seconds)
   • Introduce the topic with general terminology.
   • Highlight the gap in knowledge that your research is addressing.
   • Clearly state your research question.
3. Methodology and Results (approx. 60 seconds)
   • Briefly describe your sampling site or experimental setup.
   • Present the main results in a clear, concise manner. Use visuals (e.g., graphs or charts) to help convey information effectively.
4. Conclusion (approx. 30 seconds)
   • Summarize your key findings.
   • State the implications or significance of your research in simple words.
5. Contact Information (10-15 seconds)
   • Provide relevant contact details for follow-up questions.

Planning the slides

• Enumerate the objects or elements you want to display on each slide (e.g., text, images, graphs) in the order they will be displayed. We suggest this approach because we found that it helps you to visualize the flow of the presentation before starting the animation. 
• Use a visual marker to represent the sequence (see example, blue dots in Fig. 1) to map out when and where each element will appear. For the appearing of disappearing of an object in the presentation (e.g., by fade) we recommend a duration of no more than 1 second.
• Plan the timing of slide objects to match your 3-minute video limit, to ensure a smooth and logical transition between the slides.

Figure 1. Example of presentation planning, where the sequence of animations or slide objects is visually represented.
The blue dots indicate the order in which each element will appear on the slides.

Export presentation as video (the format has to be MP4)

1. Open your perfect presentation in PowerPoint.
2. Go to the File menu.
3. Select Export or Save As (depending on your version).
4. Select File format MP4 (recommended):
   • Video Compression type H.264 (Default)
   • Set the quality (Full HD 1080p).
   • Choose to use recorded timings and Narrations.
   • Set the Seconds spent on each slide if you do not have predefined timings (e.g., 7–9 seconds).
5. Click on Export

Table 1. Overview of Sections for Short Video Presentation