State the question, show your search and methods, present the top results, name limits, and land on one clear takeaway for the room.
What Audiences Need From You
People come to a talk for an answer, not a wall of text. Your task is to frame the clinical question, show how you searched, explain which studies made the cut, and tell what the numbers mean for care or policy. Keep jargon low. Use short lines and plain labels on every chart. Speak to the mix you expect: trainees need a touch more context; specialists want the signal fast.
Slide Map For A Medical Review
The table below gives you a slide-by-slide map you can tailor to fit your time slot. Pick what you need, but keep the order tight so the story flows.
| Slide Section | What To Show | Proof To Cite |
|---|---|---|
| Title & Goal | Topic, target question, audience need | PICO or PECO wording |
| Context | Why the question matters to patients or systems | Baseline rates, burden, or cost |
| Eligibility | Inclusion and exclusion rules | Population, setting, design |
| Search | Databases, dates, key terms | Full strategy in backup |
| Screening | Counts of records and reasons to exclude | PRISMA flow |
| Study Snapshot | Samples, designs, settings | Compact table and citations |
| Risk Of Bias | Domains judged low, some, or high risk | Tool used; process |
| Effect Size | Primary outcome in plain units | RR, OR, or MD with CI |
| Meta-analysis | Forest plot, model choice | Fixed vs random model note |
| Heterogeneity | I² and sources | Subgroup or leave-one-out |
| Publication Bias | Funnel plot or note on small study effects | Visual or test used |
| Certainty | Overall confidence in the body of evidence | GRADE domains |
| Limits | Design issues, indirectness, imprecision | Short bullets |
| Implications | What to do, change, or study next | Path for practice or research |
| Take-home | One line answer | Effect size and certainty |
| Q&A | Backup slides ready | Extra tables, checks |
Plan Your Core Story
Start by locking the question. Use PICO to pin down who, what, compared with what, and which outcome. Set a scope that fits the clock. A ten-minute slot won’t carry a network meta-analysis or three endpoints. Keep one main outcome in view and park the rest in the appendix. Draft a one-sentence claim you can defend. Build the talk to earn that claim and nothing else.
Build Clean Slides That Scan Fast
Choose a plain layout and a large font. One idea per slide keeps minds from split attention. Keep lines short. If a chart needs a legend, it likely needs a redesign. Lead with text in the first screen view so people know what they are seeing before any image loads. Use color for grouping, not decoration. Put the key number in the title line so nobody hunts for it.
Show Methods With Trust
Walk the room through how studies were found and picked. Name the databases, years, registers, and date of last search. Keep full search strings and date stamps in a backup slide for the curious. Summarize screening with a compact diagram; a PRISMA flow keeps the story neat and traceable. List eligibility rules with tight phrases, not dense prose.
Document Search And Screening
Say how many records you found, how many you screened, and why records were removed. Show counts for duplicates, title and abstract hits, full-text reviews, and final includes. Keep the pace brisk and the language plain.
Explaining A Medical Literature Review In A Presentation: Slide Script
Open with the claim and why it matters. Give the PICO. Then run three moves: how you searched, what you kept, and what the numbers say. Close with a plain take-home and a call to act or study. Keep eye contact. Pause on each chart and say the point before the proof.
Frame The Question
Say the patient or setting in one line. Name the intervention or exposure and the comparator. Name the outcome that matters most. If you need a second outcome for safety, add it with care and keep it short.
Summarize The Search
Say how many records you found and the date of the last search. Name any language limits and any filters. Mention preprints only if screened with care. Keep the wording crisp so the room stays with you.
Show What Made The Cut
Give the count of included studies and the total sample. Note the mix of designs and settings. If most data come from one region or care level, say so and flag the effect on fit for your audience.
Explain Bias Checks
Show the tool you used and the share of studies at high risk. Name the domains that drove concerns, such as sequence, blinding, missing data, or selective reports. Link those limits to how much weight you give the pooled number so people can judge the claim.
Make Results Stick
Pair relative and absolute effects. If the relative drop looks large but the baseline risk is tiny, say both. Convert odds to risks if that clears the fog. Show the unit that matters to patients: lives saved per 1,000, pain score drop on a 0–10 scale, days in bed. Give the confidence interval and plain words on what that range means. If a meta-analysis was run, show a forest plot with fat labels and few lines. State model choice and why. Call out heterogeneity with I² and name the likely sources in short phrases.
Show Absolute And Relative Risk
Put the control risk and the treated risk side by side. Add the absolute risk change and, if helpful, NNT or NNH with the time frame. Place numerators and denominators near the numbers so nobody flips back.
Flag Heterogeneity Early
Say where effects differ and why that may be. Dose, timing, setting, and outcome definition are common drivers. If subgroups were pre-set, show them. If not, keep any post-hoc slices narrow and clear.
Handle Subgroups And Sensitivity
Pick only the slices that a clinician or policy lead would care about. Use a compact table of subgroup effects and a one-line read of what changed and what did not. For sensitivity, show that the main claim holds when high risk studies are dropped or when a different model is used. If one trial drives the pool, show the pool with and without that trial.
Rate Certainty With Care
Move from estimates to confidence in those estimates. Say how you rated the body of evidence using GRADE. Walk through the five domains: risk of bias, inconsistency, indirectness, imprecision, and publication bias. State the final level in one word: high, moderate, low, or very low. Tie that level to your take-home so nobody overreads a shaky base.
State The Level In One Word
Put the level next to the claim line, not buried in a footnote. A short label grounds the decision talk that follows.
How To Present A Medical Literature Review Clearly
Use language that trims fluff and keeps intent crisp. Lead each slide with a claim line that a busy reader could skim and still grasp the story. Then show one chart or one table that earns that claim. Keep numerators and denominators near the numbers so people do not hunt for them. Use callouts to mark the key rows. End each section with a single line on what to do with the result.
Turn Stats Into Plain Speech
Many in the room will not live in meta-land. Translate. Say “risk dropped from 10 in 100 to 7 in 100” rather than only a relative figure. Where it helps, add NNT or NNH with the time frame. Avoid dense Greek. If you must show a formula, park it in the appendix and talk through the meaning, not the math.
Report With The Right Standard
Borrow tested steps from review methods. The Cochrane Handbook lays out clear steps for planning, screening, bias checks, synthesis, and updates. A short nod to that method base builds trust. Disclose funding and any ties. Say who screened and extracted, and how disagreements were settled. Name your software only once; people care more about choices and checks than brand names.
Second Table: Say It Like A Pro
Use this quick map to turn evidence signals into lines you can speak as slides advance.
| Evidence Signal | How You Phrase It | Slide Aid |
|---|---|---|
| Large, precise effect | “Clear drop in risk with tight bounds.” | Forest plot with bold CI |
| Small, precise effect | “Small gain that is consistent across trials.” | Plain bar chart |
| Mixed results | “Effects vary; setting and dose likely drive the gap.” | Subgroup table |
| Imprecision | “The range spans benefit and no benefit; more data needed.” | CI line with range shaded |
| High risk of bias | “Study flaws lower our confidence in this number.” | Risk matrix with red marks |
| Indirectness | “Evidence comes from a different group or setting than ours.” | Context note on slide |
| Publication bias | “Small positive trials dominate; result may be inflated.” | Funnel sketch |
| Low certainty | “We are not sure; use shared decisions and watch new data.” | GRADE badge |
Design Charts That Tell The Point
Use big labels and units. Sort tables by the measure that matters. Trim gridlines. Keep the y-axis scale honest. Do not use 3-D or effects that fight legibility. If a figure needs you to narrate every part, split it into two slides. On a forest plot, use a large diamond and labels that match the text on the slide. Keep decimals consistent across the deck.
Anticipate Questions And Pushback
Keep backup slides for edge cases, rare harms, and alternate outcomes. Prepare short lines for common challenges: confounding in non-random designs, crossover, or early stops. If a claim rests on one large trial, show the trial’s strengths and any issues, then show how the rest of the data line up with it or not. If someone asks about a trial you did not include, show the rule that led to the cut and stick to it.
Rehearse Delivery And Timing
Say the talk out loud and time each section. Trim words on screen until you can speak to the slide without reading. Build two timing plans: the full version and a short version you can switch to if the session runs late. Keep a spare slide near the end with the one-line take-home so you can land the point at any time.
Ethics, Credits, And Data
Declare funding and any ties on a single slide near the end. Credit your team for screening and extraction. If you share a dataset or code, give a link or a QR code. When you cite, keep a short list on the slide and a full list in backup. Use plain language on patient impact and equity where it fits the data; avoid claims your data cannot support. Be ready to answer who checked risk of bias, who verified numbers, and how you handled disagreements.
Common Pitfalls To Avoid
Do not cram long tables with tiny text. Do not read every number. Do not hide limits in the last minute. Do not swap endpoints midstream. Avoid mixed units. Avoid axis tricks. Skip cute clip art. Skip buzzwords. Speak slowly, leave space for the room, and keep eye contact. Keep the laser pointer steady or use a highlight box baked into the slide.
Quick Checklist Before You Present
Run this fast pass an hour before showtime:
- Slides render well on the room screen and projector ratio.
- Fonts are large enough from the back row.
- Numbers carry units and consistent decimals.
- All axes start at sensible baselines.
- Every chart has a claim line and a source.
- PRISMA, bias checks, and GRADE lines are present.
- Backups include search strings and extra tables.
- Disclosures and funding appear on a single slide.
- Take-home fits in one line and matches the data.
- Clicker and timer work; files backed up to a second device.
A Last Line To Land
Leave the room with one sentence that links the result to care: who gains, by how much, with what risk, and how sure we are. Then invite questions and breathe.