Guides & examples
Below are guides and examples of presentations. Check out the HS3MT YouTube channel for past participant videos.
Winning Tips for a Successful 3MT® Presentation
Astrophysics PhD student Sean McGraw introduces the 3MT, shares his award winning presentation, and breaks down how he prepared.
Three Minute Thesis Winner 2024
Ferdinando Sereno at UCL presents his winning talk on a stable encapsulin-based mRNA vaccine.
Rebecca Butler
Rebecca Butler at the 2023 Three-Minute Thesis Competition at the University of Minnesota.
How to do a Three Minute Thesis: Don't Make These Mistakes
Nine common mistakes to avoid when preparing a 3MT or Famelab pitch.
Kathryn Graves — 3MT 2023 People's Choice
Yale's 2023 People's Choice winner in Humanities and Social Sciences.
Thomas Beltrame — Music is Magical
Flinders University 3MT 2024 finalist on music, mirror therapy, and virtual reality for stroke rehabilitation.
3 Minute Thesis Single Slide Design
Five simple guidelines for designing a single slide that supports your talk without overwhelming it.
2024 Three Minute Thesis: Elias Zauscher
NC State Graduate School 3MT finalist presentation.
Matthew Thompson — 2011 3MT Winner
Suspects, Science and CSI. Matthew Thompson's winning 3MT presentation from the University of Queensland.
The Best Presentation Tips No One Taught You
Andy Stapleton's invited talk at Sydney breaking down winning three-minute thesis strategy.
Stanford's Inaugural 3MT Competition
Watch Stanford's first Three Minute Thesis competition featuring graduate students across disciplines.
Dana Hayward — 2021 3MT Third Place
Yale's 2021 third-place winner and Best in Humanities and Social Sciences.
- Lead with the why. Make the audience care in your first sentence.
- Distill your research down to one clear, surprising idea.
- Design a single slide that supports your words instead of duplicating them.
- Rehearse out loud. Time yourself. Then trim.
- Land an ending that gives the audience something to carry away.
- Submit before the January 30, 2027 deadline.