Three-minute thesis presentations

The Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) presentation has gained much traction as an academic genre reserved only for graduate students. Using a single static slide as a visual aid, presenters have three minutes to explain their thesis projects to a broad and intelligent audience. This chapter presents an up-to-date overview of 3MT presentations by synthesising research findings on the rhetorical, linguistic, multimodal, and critical discourse features of the genre. Much research attention has been given to the rhetorical moves and metadiscoursal features of 3MT presentations, revealing potential disciplinary variations. Comparative analyses of related genres have identified genre-specific characteristics. Furthermore, investigations into the visual features of the single slide, along with other non-linguistic resources such as gestures, have contributed to a more holistic understanding of the genre. Methodologically, corpus-based text analysis has been the predominant approach, though recent efforts have also incorporated observation techniques. However, existing research has primarily focused on the final product rather than the process itself. In light of this, we recommend that future studies explore processual aspects, using a wider range of methods such as participatory and ethnographic methods as well as pedagogical interventions, to develop a more comprehensive understanding of this increasingly popular academic genre.