Speaking at EONS16 @ ESMO 2023 – a positive challenge
Helena McCallig, Ireland
Seven symposia, 29 invited speakers, 42 accepted abstracts, 58 posters, 6 educational sessions and a writing workshop – EONS16 @ ESMO 2023 was quite the success. Another brilliant year with amazing innovations at the forefront, from digital expansion to shared decision-making. We came together and enjoyed a wonderful celebration of cancer nursing in Europe. I was invited to speak at EONS16 earlier this year. The scientific committee felt my experience in clinical trials fitted with the EONS/Young Oncologist collaborative session. I was honoured and jumped at the chance to speak.
I have spoken at nursing conferences previously, but I had never spoken at a European level. I was nervous but embraced going outside my comfort zone. Speaking in front of crowds of people can be very overwhelming. However, I have found over the years that putting yourself forward in work to discuss a chosen topic with colleagues or creating a poster and presenting to peers can be a great way to build confidence. Wherever you are in your career presenting and showcasing your work and area is of great benefit to you and your colleagues as a method of building upon your knowledge and expertise.
In preparation for presentation at EONS, I first thought about how I would discuss clinical trials in my presentation. I wanted to focus on the nursing role because I felt it was important to initially outline the basics of clinical trials. This included discussing clinical trial terminology and highlighting the process and phases of a clinical trial. The research nurse within clinical trials is an integral part of the team and I wanted to show how they work within this specific team. Once the flow of the presentation was decided I chose my sub-headings and worked
from there. I built around these sub-headings to create my slides which went into more detail about the nursing role.
My experience of speaking was immensely positive. From the moment I landed in Madrid, I was greeted which overwhelming joy and interest about my topic. Fellow nurses were intrigued by my topic and wanted to understand the research nursing role. While I had the ‘talk day nerves’, I was delighted to speak.
My top tip when asked to present at a conference would be to take the opportunity and embrace it. When preparing a presentation, keep it simple and keep to the topic. Prepare and practice, show enthusiasm, face your audience, and leverage your body language with facial expressions and eye contact. Most importantly enjoy it and enjoy the gathering of such wonderful nursing knowledge in one room.
Remember EONS is always here to help