Working professionals · English at work
English presentations for researchers in France: explaining your study
A clear research presentation in English helps listeners understand your question, the evidence and the limits of your conclusion. Build the talk around what the audience needs to follow, rather than translating a French manuscript sentence by sentence. Practise the discussion as carefully as the prepared slides.
Choose what this audience must understand
A laboratory meeting, an interdisciplinary seminar and a conference session require different amounts of background. Write down who will listen, what they probably know and what you want them to discuss afterwards. A specialist may need methodological detail immediately; a mixed audience may first need to understand why the question matters. Neither audience benefits from an introduction that explains everything you have ever read.
Prepare a one-sentence purpose for your talk. For example: “I will explain why these observations support one interpretation, while leaving an alternative unresolved.” This keeps the presentation connected to an intellectual task. It also gives a language teacher a useful brief. Your supervisor or research colleagues remain responsible for scientific accuracy; a communication session helps make that reasoning accessible. Do not confuse a smoother delivery with stronger evidence or a more important finding.
Move from the question to the contribution
Build a short sequence: question, reason for the approach, key result, interpretation and limitation. The sequence can change with the discipline, but each part should answer a listener's question. Why was this study needed? Why was this method appropriate? What did you observe? What can and cannot be concluded? Write these answers before designing a large slide deck.
An archived CNRS DR20 course on giving a scientific speech described work on structure, data and delivery. Its listed session was in 2020, so it is an example of training content rather than an available booking. When searching your own institution's current doctoral or staff training catalogue, look for similarly explicit tasks and individual feedback. Ask whether a course works with your presentation and whether you can rehearse questions. A broad English course may help, but it should not be assumed to provide specialist presentation coaching.
Explain a figure before interpreting it
For each central figure, prepare three sentences: what the audience is looking at, the relevant pattern and the cautious interpretation. Point out the axis or comparison needed to understand your claim. Do not read every label aloud. If a figure requires several minutes of basic orientation, consider simplifying the display or dividing the explanation.
Original exercise: imagine a study comparing two fictional groups over three time points. First describe the comparison without a conclusion. Then explain the visible pattern. Finally add the limitation: “The difference appears in this sample, but the design does not establish why it occurred.” Ask a colleague to state what you did and did not claim. If they infer causation or generality that you never intended, revise the language. This exercise is about communicating the relationship between evidence and interpretation, not about endorsing a statistical method.
| Purpose | Language to practise | Question for the listener |
|---|---|---|
| Orient | The horizontal axis shows the measurement period. | Can you identify what is compared? |
| Describe | The largest difference appears at the final point. | Is the pattern distinguishable from the explanation? |
| Qualify | This observation does not establish causation. | Is the limitation explicit? |
| Connect | That leaves us with two possible interpretations. | Do you know what the next step addresses? |
Use phrasing and pauses to make the argument audible
A written research sentence can contain several qualifications that are difficult to process in one breath. Break it into spoken units. Say the main point, pause, then add the condition or exception. Mark a few important words in your notes so that your voice shows the contrast. You do not need to erase your accent; you need listeners to follow the argument and recognise essential terms.
Practise a difficult technical word inside the sentence in which you will use it. Record a short passage and ask a listener to identify the key claim without seeing the slide. When the message is unclear, investigate pace, structure and terminology before assuming pronunciation is the only problem. Avoid reading a fully written manuscript unless the format genuinely requires it. Short notes make it easier to look at the audience and respond when a slide or question needs more explanation.
Prepare the boundaries of your answer
Create a question bank with colleagues: why this method, what the comparison excludes, how far the result generalises and what would change your interpretation. Practise answering in a different order each time. A useful answer begins by identifying the issue, responds within the evidence and states any limit. If you do not know, say what would be needed to investigate it.
Try “We did not test that condition, so I cannot draw a conclusion from these data.” Follow with a relevant next step only if you can justify it. You can also clarify: “Are you asking about the measurement or the interpretation?” The CEFR companion materials include interaction and mediation; for a researcher, a practical learning task is to restate a complex question accurately before answering. This is more useful than memorising a collection of impressive phrases that may not fit the question.
Choose feedback that separates language and science
Ask a scientific colleague to review the reasoning and a language specialist to review clarity, organisation and delivery. Their roles may overlap, but they should be explicit. A teacher can notice an ambiguous claim without deciding whether the underlying method is valid. A colleague can identify a scientific gap while overlooking a sentence that a wider audience will struggle to understand.
The British Council France organisational offer provides one point of comparison for communication training, but its general description does not demonstrate specialist knowledge of your discipline. Your university, doctoral school or employer may have a more relevant current option. Request a sample feedback process and check eligibility before assuming access. Flalingo publishes this guide and sells English lessons; assess any proposed support against the same task-specific criteria. Protect unpublished findings and use authorised materials or a fictional example if external sharing is not permitted.
Rehearse in three different ways
First, give a shortened version to someone outside your speciality. Ask them to explain your question and your contribution back to you. Second, give the full talk to a knowledgeable colleague who can challenge the reasoning. Third, rehearse the technical setting: screen sharing, slide navigation and the timing of transitions. Each rehearsal reveals a different problem; repeating the same talk alone may miss all three.
Keep a small revision list after each run. Prioritise a missing explanation, an ambiguous conclusion or a recurring timing problem before polishing minor wording. Reserve time for the discussion rather than filling the entire slot with slides. If you shorten the presentation, remove a nonessential example instead of speaking faster through every slide. After the real event, note which questions recurred. They can guide both your next presentation and the next stage of your English learning without turning one event into a judgement on your ability.
Questions, answered
Should I translate my French script first?
You can use a French outline to clarify the reasoning, but a sentence-by-sentence translation often preserves structures that are difficult to deliver aloud. Draft the spoken English around the audience's questions. Check the scientific meaning carefully after simplifying or reorganising the wording.
How much background should I include?
Include enough for listeners to understand the question and interpret the evidence. Test this with someone representative of the audience. If they cannot explain why the result matters, add the missing connection. If they already know the material, shorten it and leave more time for the contribution.
What if I cannot understand a question?
Ask for a repetition or identify the part you need clarified. You can restate your understanding before answering. This is preferable to giving a confident response to a different issue. Practise clarification during rehearsals so that it feels like a normal part of scientific discussion.
Can an English course guarantee a successful presentation?
No course can guarantee the audience's response or validate the research. Useful support can improve the structure, intelligibility and handling of questions. Choose a programme with concrete rehearsal and feedback, then combine it with scientific review and preparation for the actual event.
Sources and verification
- CNRS DR20 : Giving a speech, archived 2020 courseChecked:
- Council of Europe : CEFR and companion volumeChecked:
- British Council France : Corporate English SolutionsChecked:
Flalingo publishes these guides and offers paid English lessons. Source links support factual claims; recommendations reflect the criteria explained in each guide.