Three Minute Thesis Planner

How to Use the Three Minute Thesis Planner

1. 1. Choose a pace and a margin. Pick a speaking pace — or time yourself reading a paragraph aloud and enter your own — and a safety margin in seconds. The planner turns three minutes, less your margin, into a word budget.
2. 2. Write the five beats. Hook and motivation, background and question, what you did, what you found, and conclusions and impact. Each box shows its word target and its time at your pace.
3. 3. Read the meter and the checklist. The meter shows your script’s speaking time against three minutes. The checklist flags a script that is over, a beat you have not written, and any sentence over 25 words.
4. 4. Tick off your slide, then copy the plan. Check your slide against each rule and piece of advice, then copy or print the script with its timing table.

The Official 3MT Rules

The Three Minute Thesis was developed at the University of Queensland, which first held the competition in 2008 and publishes its competition rules. They are short, and most universities adopt them with small changes, so read your own event’s rules too.

• Three minutes at most. A presentation that goes over three minutes is disqualified.
• Spoken word. No poems, raps or songs.
• The clock starts on movement or speech. The presentation counts as begun when you start it by either.
• One static slide. No transitions, animations or movement, and it is shown from the beginning of the talk.
• No other media or props. No sound or video files, and no costumes, instruments or laboratory equipment.
• The panel’s decision is final.

The rules set no word limit and, on the competitor FAQ, allow palm cards or speech notes — though UQ advises against relying on them. The word budget is therefore yours to set from your own pace.

What the Judges Ask, and the Five Beats

UQ’s judging criteria are two, equally weighted, with an emphasis on the audience. Comprehension and Content asks whether you gave clear motivation, background and significance; described your strategy and results; and described conclusions, outcomes and impact. Engagement and Communication asks whether you spoke clearly in language a non-specialist can follow, whether the slide was well-defined and enhanced the talk, and whether you conveyed enthusiasm and held attention. The five beats in the planner follow the content questions in order.

How Many Words Is Three Minutes?

Words ÷ pace = minutes, so the arithmetic is exact once you choose a pace. The pace is the uncertain part. There is no official figure; published guidance for presentations generally falls between about 100 and 160 words per minute, and the planner offers three planning paces. Time your own reading aloud to replace them.

Worked Example: 308 Words

“Try an example” loads an illustrative script about waiting for buses in the heat. Its findings are bracketed frames, not results — the numbers and the finding belong to your own research. The same 308 words take different times at the three paces.

Common 3MT Mistakes

• Cramming a chapter into three minutes. Pick one result and one idea. A listener who remembers one thing has understood more than one who heard six.
• Jargon the judges must decode. The audience is non-specialist by design; define a term in a phrase or replace it with an everyday one.
• A slide that repeats the script. The slide should add something — an image or diagram that makes one idea instantly clear — and stay unchanged for the whole talk.
• Finishing at 2:59 in rehearsal. Nerves usually slow delivery, and going over is disqualification, so keep a margin.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many words should a 3MT script be?

That depends on your pace. At a conversational 130 words per minute, three minutes holds 390 words, or 368 if you leave a 10-second margin. At 110 it holds 330, and at 150 it holds 450. The 3MT rules set no word limit, so time yourself reading aloud and plan from your own figure.

What happens if I go over three minutes?

Under the University of Queensland’s rules, a competitor who exceeds three minutes is disqualified. Other universities may apply penalties differently, so check your event’s rules, and rehearse to finish inside the limit.

Can I use more than one slide, or animate the slide?

No. The rules permit a single static slide with no transitions, animations or movement, shown from the start of the talk. Sound and video files are not allowed either.

Can I use notes in a 3MT?

UQ’s competitor FAQ says you may use palm cards or speech notes, but advises against relying on them because it can weaken delivery and engagement. Check your own event, as local rules can differ.

When does the three minutes start?

The rules treat a presentation as begun when the presenter starts it through either movement or speech, so walking to the front and beginning to gesture can count. Plan to start your talk, and your clock, deliberately.

What should be on the 3MT slide?

UQ’s guidance asks for a slide that is legible, clear and concise, and the judging criteria ask whether it was well-defined and enhanced the presentation. In practice that means one idea, large type, little text, and no repeating of your script.

Does the planner write my script?

No. It counts the words you write, converts them to time at your pace, and shows a sentence frame wherever a beat is empty. Nothing is generated by AI, and everything runs in your browser — nothing you type is uploaded.