Surviving Oral Presentation Anxiety as an Early Carer Researcher

Author: Stephanie Crawford

Published: September 2025

Keywords: EAPC, Conference, Death Literacy, Death Literacy Index

What if I mess it up? Will people understand my accent? Are they sure they want me to do this?
Here is a glimpse into my mind when I found out I had been accepted for an oral presentation at the EAPC World Congress in Finland.

Back in October 2024, I submitted an abstract and ticked the ‘poster and oral presentation’ button. However, as a newcomer, wrestling with imposter syndrome and measuring myself against other well-established researchers, I was convinced I’d end up presenting a poster if my submission was chosen. Looking back, I’m not sure why the fact that I’m an ‘early career researcher’ led me to doubt myself so much. Especially since the person who put so much hard work into the abstracts was me.

For those of you who may be interested, my presentation was about my work on death literacy (which is the knowledge and skills that people have that can help them access, understand and make decisions about dying, end of life care and death). We refined a tool that can measure death literacy (The Death Literacy Index-Island of Ireland) for use across the island of Ireland.

Now, back to the story.
Once I pushed my anxious thoughts to the back of my mind, I turned my attention to preparing for the oral presentation. I thought about who the audience would be, what sort of things they would like to hear and how to engage them in my work. However, I knew that putting together the presentation slides would be the easy part. Delivering the presentation was the challenge. So, I practiced and practiced, until the walls of my house were experts in death literacy. From time to time, thoughts crept in such as ‘what if I stumble and don’t know what to say?’. I had to remind myself that I am literally just talking about my work- I have lived this life for the past two years, I know it inside out.

Sooner than I knew, I was flying to Finland. I boarded the plane with screenshots of my presentation on my phone, ready to practice at any given time. If I hadn’t already been an anxious flyer, my presentation nerves would have turned me into one. I let my thoughts run away on me until the two gentlemen sitting beside me struck up a conversation. Admittedly, I’m not usually one for small talk or holding down a conversation when my mind is on other things. But we talked for the entire flight whilst sipping our blueberry juice (those who have been to Finland will know what I’m talking about). They gave me a list of ‘dos and don’ts’ in Helsinki and even drew me a map of the city on a napkin. They were the kindest strangers I have ever met. They instantly put me at ease and reminded me that, while this opportunity will advance my research career, it’s so much more than that. I’m in a brand-new place, chatting with people I’d never have met otherwise-and that alone was exciting.

I was stunned by the World Congress venue, completely captivated by the keynotes, and even Santa himself made a surprise appearance. I thought I would feel like the tiniest fish in a big pond, but seeing everyone smiling and bonding over their common interest in palliative care, I realised that we’re all just fish in the same big pond. I had the best time at the World Congress and met familiar faces and new people from all over the world. How crazy is that? I was able to explore and fall in love with a new city. Then the time came for my presentation. I was introduced to other researchers who were also giving talks and I realised that some of them were just as nervous as me. But nerves or not, I stood at the front of the room and delivered my presentation. And you know what? The second it was over I wondered, what the hell I had been so nervous about? My nerves were instantly replaced with a deep sense of pride for what I had accomplished.

This experience taught me that whether we are an ‘early career researcher’ or someone well-established in their research career, we are all one and the same. Nerves may never completely go away, but each time we present our work we gain a little more belief in ourselves. So, submit the abstract. Put yourself out there. Don’t let YOU stand in your way! People are interested in your work.

I now know that oral presentations aren’t something to fear. I won’t be letting my anxious thoughts dim my future achievements and I sincerely hope I have many more presentations to give in the future.