Pitches-in-progress: a hands-on workshop to help you write & deliver a research pitch

Three one-hour research pitching workshops, in preparation for the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) and Pitch for Funds (P4F) competitions and research life beyond.

By completing this workshop, participants will have:

• a deeper understanding of how to structure their pitch script for audience impact;
• a clearer, more embodied sense of how to present and perform their pitch in an engaging and persuasive manner;
• an applied appreciation of the efforts of fellow participants in developing their pitches;
• some strategies for responding to audience/panel questions.

Come with your draft pitch script and slide* (or prop)#. Read your pitch to the whole group (you are not expected to have committed it to memory), and receive structured feedback both from the facilitators and from other participants. Develop the art of pitching not only from presenting your work-in-progress, but also by watching your co-participants’ pitches and giving them feedback.

Note: This is a co-operative learning experience. There is therefore an expectation that you will attend and participate in the full one-hour session, even though your own personal presentation and receipt of feedback will take only a fraction of the overall time.

*So the organiser can prepare the slide deck for the workshop in advance, please email two slides to Researcher Development by COB Monday 10 July. One will be your 'details' slide (which contains your name, Twitter handle, presentation title and Research Institute/Faculty) and the other will be your 'presentation' slide (where the use of a single image is recommended). Slides should be formatted in standard (16:9) dimensions.

Download the template for your 'details' slide (and overwrite the existing content): 3MT template and P4F template.

#A single slide is permitted in 3MT and P4F. If you don't wish to use a slide in P4F, props are an alternative. For more information and rules, visit the 3MT and P4F competition links at the top of this listing.

Guidance! If you are participating in 3MT, your script should be no more than 450 words long. If you are participating in P4F, your script should be no more than 225 words in length.

Facilitator: Dr Peter Copeman

Peter is an award-winning senior lecturer in UC’s Teaching and Learning directorate, where he convenes the Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Education and supports professional development for academic staff. His current research and teaching interests include: the application of performance theory and practice to presentation skills and pitching, and to pronunciation and speaking skills in TESOL; and the development of a culture of students as partners/co-producers in teaching and learning. Previously he worked in student learning support and TESOL UC, ANU and the University of Queensland, and was a theatre academic at a number of Australian universities, following a fifteen-year professional career as a theatre director, playwright and vocal coach. Since 2011 he’s provided annual 3MT pitch training at UC, and since 2014 also at ANU and RMIT.

Co-facilitator: Sean Dicks

Sean is a clinical psychologist and the Family Support Coordinator for DonateLife ACT, and has worked in the donation-transplantation field for 15 years. He has found that the bereavement experience of families asked to consider donating organs of a deceased loved one is unique. So, it was a logical step to combine that experience into a PhD, which he is currently undertaking at UC. Sean is determined to make a real difference for families asked to consider donation. He emigrated from South Africa four years ago, at the time expecting that the weather would be similar to what he was used to, and that moving to an English-speaking country would make fitting in easy. Although wrong on both assumptions, he has enjoyed his time here and is excited to be working towards his doctorate. Sean was runner-up in the UC Three Minute Thesis competition in 2016.