How Not to Die Young? Lessons from Cardiovascular Engineering

I delivered an 18-minute TED-style talk based on my PhD research in cardiovascular engineering, targeting a generic electrical engineering (EE) audience, assuming no prior background in my research domain. It was challenging for me to deliver a talk without delving into the domain-specific details or methodology (which we usually do) and yet convincingly capture the audience’s attention and deliver a value addition to them. A total of 7 PhD and 2 MS scholars were selected to deliver their research on April 6, 2024, as part of the prestigious EE Research Scholars Symposium 2024 held at the majestic TTJ auditorium, ICSR building, Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT M). I was awarded the title of 2nd best speaker for my talk.

The talk was titled, How Not to Die Young? Lessons from Cardiovascular Engineering.
Click here to check out the full talk on YouTube.

Key Takeaway points for a killer TED-style presentation from my experience:

• Curious Title. Having a killer title for your talk gives you a head start
• Give the larger picture and zoom in on your research challenge (in first 5 min)
• Use your body and hands, move around, and don’t just stand and deliver.
• PPTs should be less in words, more with graphical illustrations
• Use Fade animation and Morph Transition in MS PowerPoint (Dont overuse)
• Have a custom template for your PPT
• Have a Re-cap slide at the end