Duncan Yellowlees, Presentation Skills Trainer (Episode 5) | Duncan talks about telling stories, building confidence and doing things differently

For episode 5 of Research Adjacent my guest is freelance presentation skills trainer Duncan Yellowlees. Duncan trains researchers to communicate better, helping them tell stories about their work, connect with different audiences, and collaborate more effectively.

We talk about

1. why building confidence in presenting spills over into all other parts of life
2. why being a researcher is quite like being a freelancer
3. why Duncan wants to ban academic posters and hopes to one day see more creative and interactive conferences - maybe even with puppet shows!
4. why he thinks training in communication skills should be a core part of every university qualification

Read the full show notes on the podcast website

Find out more about Duncan and his work here: Duncan Yellowlees Training

What did you think of this episode? Follow the podcast on Twitter @ResAdjacent and share your thoughts using #ResearchAdjacent.

Theme music by Vitaliy Levkin from Pixabay

Mentioned in this episode:

Member of the Month: Duncan Yellowlees, DY Training

Let’s put rubbish presentations in the bin – where they belong. Get in touch with Duncan for specialist research presentation skills training www.duncanyellowlees.com

Come along to our Manchester networking event

Join host Sarah McLusky and fellow research-adjacent professionals on Thursday 12 March 2026 at 5.30pm. Find out more and register here https://researchadjacent.circle.so/c/open-events/manchester-research-adjacent-community-networking