Presenting with Confidence: Advice for Engineers and Scientists

Presenting with Confidence

For a presenter, two types of confidence exist: the confidence that you feel inside and the confidence that you project. Drawing on my interviews of several TED speakers and my teaching of presentations at more than 150 labs, companies, and universities, I give here my best advice for achieving both. Exhibiting both types of confidence is Constance Gerstle, the biomedical engineering student on the left, who is presenting her work before 250 students and faculty at Penn State.

Michael Alley
The Craft of Scientific Presentations

Internal Confidence: The engineer to the right is Jessica Menold, one of my former students, a PhD candidate in mechanical engineering at Penn State, and a former Engineering Ambassador. In 2016, Jessica won a 2016 ASME Design Innovation Award for her assertion-evidence presentation on a low-cost prosthetic leg. Jessica represents internal confidence because she has been fearless in presenting her work in design competitions in Europe and in the United States.

Projected Confidence: The engineer to the right is Matt Ciarrocca, a recent graduate in mechanical engineering at Penn State, and a former Utree member. Matt epitomizes a presenter who projects confidence. Although he is serious about his content, he gives you the sense that he is having fun on stage. In this photo, Matt is giving an assertion-evidence presentation on bullet-proof vests before 200 engineering faculty and students at Penn State.

Presenting with Confidence

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NSF Grant 1323230

​Presenting with Confidence

Content Editor:

Webmaster:

​NSF Grant 1323230

Presenting with Confidence

NSF Grant 1323230