{"id":2365,"date":"2025-07-15T07:41:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T07:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/?p=2365"},"modified":"2025-07-15T07:52:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T07:52:08","slug":"every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Every challenge is a chance to learn: My 3MT experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anh Ngo is a second-year PhD student in Accountancy, and winner of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis competition at University of Exeter. Her PhD is funded by the University of Exeter Business School through the MRes to PhD Management (1+3) PhD pathway. Her research interests include sustainability disclosure and the impacts of relevant regulations in financial markets. She is also a Postgraduate Teaching Assistant at the Department of Finance and Accounting.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since starting my PhD, I often found myself wondering: Do people really care about what I am researching? Especially those who are not in my field? I am doing a PhD in Accountancy, focusing on sustainability disclosures\u2014how businesses report their environmental and social impacts. It is a popular topic in the field of Accounting and Finance. But every time someone outside my field asked what I was researching, I hesitated. I was afraid they would find it \u2026 boring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then I saw the announcement for the 3 Minute Thesis (3MT)<\/a> competition from the Doctoral College. I have known this competition for years, but never thought I would take part. I assumed my topic was not exciting enough for a general audience. But at the last minute, I decided to give it a try. It was a chance to see if I could actually make people care and to test my public speaking in a different context. Talking about my research in just three minutes, to non-specialist audience, is a completely different challenge from presenting it in front of experts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To my surprise, I won first prize. And all my doubts disappeared. So here are a few things I learned that might help if you are thinking about trying 3MT in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Content.<\/strong> Focus less on the methods and techniques, and more on why our research matters. Link the topic to real-life issues and shared experiences. Ask questions to get the audience thinking and curious about what comes next. Use real-life examples as evidence. The goal is to make your research feel familiar to everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Communication.<\/strong> Avoid jargon in any way. Use everyday language, and if you really need to use a technical term, explain it clearly before going further. Body language also matters. Don\u2019t forget eye contact, include everyone in the room, and use your hands to guide your story. Don\u2019t rush. Speak slowly and clearly but keep an eye on the timing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Confidence.<\/strong> To me, confidence first comes from preparation, which includes a lot of practice, watching 3MT winner videos, and asking supervisors and friends for feedback. Last but not least, we need to convince ourselves that our research matters before we could convince anyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3MT has helped me believe in the value of my work, going from \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone will care<\/em>\u201d to \u201cI can make people care<\/em>\u201d. And I want to share that confidence with anyone who is still on the fence. It is not a \u201cwaste of time\u201d at all because when we prepare for it, we learn and develop our skills. There are so many opportunities out there to showcase your research. Whether it is 3MT or another event, I would encourage every postgraduate student to give it a try at least once when you are at the university. You never know how far you can go until you go for it. All the best!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anh Ngo is a second-year PhD student in Accountancy, and winner of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis competition at University of Exeter. Her PhD is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1109,"featured_media":2373,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,35],"tags":[229,227,231,157,89],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEvery challenge is a chance to learn: My 3MT experience - Doctoral College<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Every challenge is a chance to learn: My 3MT experience - Doctoral College\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Anh Ngo is a second-year PhD student in Accountancy, and winner of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis competition at University of Exeter. Her PhD is […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doctoral College\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-15T07:41:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-15T07:52:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2025\/07\/Anh-Ngo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kelyn Luther\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kelyn Luther\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/\",\"name\":\"Every challenge is a chance to learn: My 3MT experience - Doctoral College\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2025\/07\/Anh-Ngo.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-15T07:41:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-15T07:52:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#\/schema\/person\/83a2f638475742b74da25eb282f2a8ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2025\/07\/Anh-Ngo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2025\/07\/Anh-Ngo.jpg\",\"width\":500,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Photo of Anh Ngo, author of this blog post\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Every challenge is a chance to learn: My 3MT experience\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/\",\"name\":\"Doctoral College\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#\/schema\/person\/83a2f638475742b74da25eb282f2a8ee\",\"name\":\"Kelyn Luther\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/253b9bc2edb9ef73f8c07a3270c51790?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/253b9bc2edb9ef73f8c07a3270c51790?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kelyn Luther\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/author\/kl360\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Every challenge is a chance to learn: My 3MT experience - Doctoral College","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Every challenge is a chance to learn: My 3MT experience - Doctoral College","og_description":"Anh Ngo is a second-year PhD student in Accountancy, and winner of the 2025 Three Minute Thesis competition at University of Exeter. Her PhD is […]","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/","og_site_name":"Doctoral College","article_published_time":"2025-07-15T07:41:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-15T07:52:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":500,"height":500,"url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2025\/07\/Anh-Ngo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kelyn Luther","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kelyn Luther","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/","name":"Every challenge is a chance to learn: My 3MT experience - Doctoral College","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2025\/07\/Anh-Ngo.jpg","datePublished":"2025-07-15T07:41:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-15T07:52:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#\/schema\/person\/83a2f638475742b74da25eb282f2a8ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2025\/07\/Anh-Ngo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2025\/07\/Anh-Ngo.jpg","width":500,"height":500,"caption":"Photo of Anh Ngo, author of this blog post"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/2025\/07\/15\/every-challenge-is-a-chance-to-learn-my-3mt-experience\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Every challenge is a chance to learn: My 3MT experience"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/","name":"Doctoral College","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#\/schema\/person\/83a2f638475742b74da25eb282f2a8ee","name":"Kelyn Luther","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/253b9bc2edb9ef73f8c07a3270c51790?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/253b9bc2edb9ef73f8c07a3270c51790?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kelyn Luther"},"url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/author\/kl360\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/299\/2025\/07\/Anh-Ngo.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1109"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2365"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2379,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2365\/revisions\/2379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2373"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/doctoralcollege\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}