Attending conferences is part of most physicians’ routines. But when the invitation to speak arrives — especially if you don’t have much experience — it’s common to wonder, how do you prepare to speak well without compromising technical rigor?

To help, Medscape’s Portuguese edition gathered guidance from experts in communication, science outreach, and medical education, with practical suggestions to sharpen your presentations and deliver content that is clear, accurate, and impactful.

‘You Can’t Be an Improviser’

Cardiothoracic surgeon Edmo Atique Gabriel, who holds a doctorate from the Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil, sought public speaking courses when invitations to lecture began to multiply. He was praised for his talks but didn’t feel confident enough.

“I used to hear compliments about my voice and my teaching style; many said I spoke calmly. More invitations came, and I felt the need to learn public speaking techniques and how to improve my posture,” he recalled. “In my first presentations, I didn’t know how to carry myself — whether I should look at the screen or at a person. I didn’t have that direction.”

What he learned was transformative. He realized that speaking with confidence requires several skills, such as modulating your voice, reading the audience’s reactions, and interacting with attendees at the right moments.

“In the courses, I developed my tone of voice and the habit of observing the entire audience to decide whether I should speed up if someone seemed distracted or see if people were getting up to leave. I’m very focused on assessing the audience’s behavior.”

Those skills opened a career opportunity beyond clinical practice: Today, Gabriel is also a corporate speaker on motivation, leadership, and management — topics that have always interested him.

When preparing for a medical conference, the surgeon starts by defining his audience. “I pitch the talk to that level of knowledge,” he said. From there, he chooses which topics to cover, with more or less emphasis. That breakdown helps him sketch slides and structure the talk. He prefers images, avoiding long blocks of text and repetitive charts.

“Humans are very visual. It’s a technique I use a lot: images and little text. I also bring clinical cases because audiences like to hear them. Referencing day-to-day situations seems to bring people closer,” he said.

He spends 4-6 hours structuring each talk and selecting images. Experience has made the process faster — before, it could take up to a month. He recommends that those without experience set aside at least 15 days to work calmly.

Another tip is to use two slides per minute. That means a 10-minute talk should not exceed 20 slides. Also, pay attention to using the laser pointer only at specific moments. “Use it only when you need to point at something, not to ‘spray’ the screen,” he joked.

Time management, however, should be the top concern. A good speaker needs the ability to synthesize and to self-manage, he said. “Adherence to time is crucial because the conference schedule is very dense. It’s common for speakers not to adhere to the allotted time, and even if no one says anything, the audience gets annoyed.”

For Gabriel, rehearsing is essential — it’s how you spot when a talk runs too long. He recommends practicing in front of small groups or even in front of a mirror, which helps build confidence and anticipate how the audience will perceive your delivery. That last strategy, in fact, was decisive in helping him overcome shyness.

“You can’t be an improviser. You need logic and consistency in what you’ll say, choose how to tailor your language to each situation, and know which words you’ll use,” noted Gabriel. That doesn’t mean sounding robotic — it means sounding confident.

That confidence has equipped him to speak before audiences that include renowned physicians and researchers without shrinking himself or excessively flattering them. “When someone very prominent is in the room, you don’t need to diminish yourself. It’s good form to note that the person is there and show you respect their presence — especially in medicine, where hierarchy is very important. These are ways to win over the audience and bring people together.”

Hierarchy of Information

Profiles of science communicators have gained prominence on social media, especially since the COVID pandemic. This approach, which connects scientific debates with society, can offer valuable tools for health professionals who want more effective communication without straying from academic norms.

Ana Arnt, professor at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), São Paulo, explained that a key step is defining the “persona” for the presentation, which starts with understanding the audience and their needs.

“The persona is the way we’re going to speak, aligned with the audience’s expectations. These are obvious things, but we often only grasp them later. Who am I talking to? Who is my audience? Different personas will take shape depending on those answers, because that determines the language I’ll use,” explained Arnt, who also coordinates UNICAMP’s Blogs de Ciência project, focused on science communication.

Adapting your language is straightforward and helps calibrate the content to the audience’s knowledge, just as Gabriel described. For audiences unfamiliar with the topic, the guidance is to avoid overly technical terms, since you can lose a lot of time unpacking them. In those cases, take a less academic and more practical approach.

Keeping that in mind also helps organize your talk. It’s not enough to treat all points equally; you need to distinguish what’s central from what’s secondary and adjust speaking time accordingly. That’s the hierarchy of information.

“My tip is always to think about which part of your specialty is needed at that event. Who will be interested in what I’m saying? Start from that question to build your structure. There’s a central theme, but how will I divide it? Which topics will I develop, and how much time will I devote to each? Where do I dwell, and what do I skim over?” Arnt advised.

Certain tactics also guide the audience more effectively during a talk. She starts presentations with an outline that lists all the topics to be covered. It helps viewers understand the order of the talk. And when she changes subjects, her slide background colors change so the audience perceives the transition.

“I like to organize the audience with an outline so they understand my line of reasoning — what I’ll cover. It’s internal and external organization because it keeps me on time and helps the audience track the pace and feel the minutes passing,” she said.

Arnt also always includes her social media handles as a watermark on her slides so the audience can find her profiles at any time. She also uses Quick Response Codes when citing articles and online links.

Everyday Life Teaches, Too

Stories surround us all the time, and we’re often surprised by the natural gift of those who know how to captivate us when telling them. Do you remember a friend or relative like that? If so, watching them speak can be instructive. That’s the view of advertising executive Luiza Voll, co-founder and creative director at the communication company Contente.

“Studying narratives isn’t only about courses. We all have good storytellers around us — friends, family, people we grew up listening to. What makes up those narratives? The entire world is made of stories. Identify what hooked you when you heard the ones you liked,” Voll said.

In her communications career, she became a speaker through practice. “I trained while I worked,” she said. Meditation was also an important tool because it taught her to be present in each moment. As a result, she feels more bodily awareness when speaking to an audience, staying attuned to her breathing, tone of voice, and the room.

Her talks have settled into a structure she developed over time: She begins by asking how relevant the topics are for that specific audience. Then she connects problems to everyday situations to address them in a human way. The next step is sharing the best information, such as data and best practices.

At the end of the presentation, she proposes opening space for collective solution-building. “Many times, we focus only on what we want to fight against and stop imagining possible paths. That’s why I like to finish by creating this space for joint reflection,” she said.

For her, visuals matter, too. “Design is half the conversation,” she argued. She recommended, whenever possible, working with a professional to develop the visual identity of your slides. “I’m also a collector of images and references because they help me tell stories. Scenes from movies, TV series, soap operas, and elements of popular culture can sometimes communicate hours’ worth of content. They add important layers of information because they trigger humor and emotions that text can’t reach,” Voll explained.

As a final piece of advice, she stressed that the desire to speak well should not discourage anyone from putting themselves out there — especially women.

“You don’t need to wait for perfection to take that stage. All professionals are constantly evolving, and women in particular can’t let impostor syndrome keep them out of these spaces. Many believe they’re not prepared enough when, in fact, they are,” she concluded.

Sarah Alves Moura is a journalist with 5 years of experience covering health. She has contributed to outlets such as VivaBem, the health and wellness platform of Universo Online, one of Brazil’s largest online news portals; Época Negócios, a Brazilian business magazine; and Band (Rede Bandeirantes), a Brazilian television network. In 2022, she joined Folha de S.Paulo — one of Brazil’s leading newspapers — as a trainee in its Science and Health program.

This story was translated from Medscape’s Portuguese edition.