The Thoughts of W Christian

If you’re mentoring students, running a seminar, or just want to tighten up your own presentations, try to follow this TRAIL outline.

One of the interns I met a couple weeks ago had a very difficult time explaining the summer’s research project. I told the intern not to stress and that we could meet up in a week’s time. Meanwhile, I sent the following skeleton outline for how to talk about your research. When we met again, the presentation was so smooth that you never would have known there were any hiccups the week before.

As we reach the second half of summer, internships are starting to wind down and REUs are in their final weeks. That means attention is turning toward research talks, poster presentations, and other “how I spent my summer vacation” talks. So, I spent a little time polishing the outline and turning it into an acronym.

And with that, here’s the TRAIL framework.

T – Introduce the Topic Area

Start with the big picture by introducing the problem space, explaining why it matters, and sharing what motivated your work. Keep the scope focused: broad enough to highlight importance, narrow enough to stay relevant.

Some phrases you might consider:

• “Our research is in the area of …”
• “My project deals with …”

If time allows, consider using a story, analogy, relatable example, thought-provoking question, or striking statistic to draw people in.

R – State your Research Question

Now that the context is set, it’s time to focus on the driving question behind your work. What exactly are you trying to figure out, prove, or build? This is where you define the scope and direction of your research so your audience knows your specific contribution.

Your research question should be specific and focused enough to shape the rest of your presentation, without diving too far into detail.

Phrases:

• “What I’m trying to figure out is …”
• “We wanted to determine if …”
• “My goal is to build a …”

Use one clear sentence to frame your question or objective. Avoid jargon—your audience should understand the thrust even if they’re not in your field.

A – Describe your Approach

Walk your audience through how you tackled the problem. This includes your methods, tools, data sources, or design decisions—whatever makes your work credible and interesting.

Don’t just list what you did—highlight the decisions you made and what’s interesting or novel about them. The goal isn’t to document every step, but to highlight the strategy behind your choices and what sets your approach apart. Focus on what’s new, clever, or intentional.

Use a diagram, analogy, or word picture to simplify a complex process.

I – Summarize your Insights

Now is your opportunity to state your results. Share what you discovered, built, or learned. This doesn’t have to be the final answer—partial results or meaningful progress counts too. What are the key findings and how do they compare to what you expected? Show any evidence or outputs that support your findings.

Don’t shy away from limitations or surprises—audiences appreciate transparency.

L – Look Forward

Wrap up by looking forward. First off, based on your insights, what would be your next steps? Include an emphasis on impact and just what’s next. Consider following that with what your audience should remember, do, or explore next. Your work is part of something bigger. This is where you highlight the broader relevance or future direction of your work.

Your look forward should help others connect your work to their own questions or challenges. Ideally, it leaves them curious—perhaps even eager to return for your next talk to see how things progress.

There you have it. TRAIL:

• Introduce the Topic Area,
• State your Research Question,
• Describe your Approach,
• Summarize your Insights, and
• Look Forward.

This simple TRAIL outline works for nearly any kind of presentation. Whether you’re giving a conference talk, explaining a poster, or just answering someone who asks how your summer research is going, having a structure gives you confidence—and gives your audience clarity. Use it a few times, and it will start to feel natural. Eventually, you’ll make it your own.

BONUS:

TRAIL is one of many memorable acronyms I kicked around until hitting “publish” on this post. To be honest, I picked it because I liked the image I included with this post. Here are some others that might work for you:

• CLEAN: Context, Lens, Execution, Analysis, Next steps
• CRAFT: Context, Research question, Approach, Findings, Takeaways
• GRAIN: General context, Research question, Approach, Impact, Next steps
• SPARK: Stage, Purpose, Approach, Results, Key directions for future
• START: Setup, Target, Approach, Results, Takeaways
• TRACK: Topic, Research question, Approach, Conclusions, Key directions for future

Ultimately, the acronym doesn’t matter as much as the habit of giving your audience a clear path through your work. Choose the one that keeps you grounded—and keeps them engaged.

Let me know if you come up with others.

1. Photo by Erik Mclean: https://www.pexels.com/photo/old-signpost-with-inscription-behind-greenery-trees-5571949/ ↩︎
2. Photo by Meghna Ramakrishnan: https://www.pexels.com/photo/forest-hiking-trail-sign-in-nature-30327397/ ↩︎

Tags: acronym, internship, mnemonic, presentation, research, REU