Dave Wilson

The most memorable talk…

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• motivation content presentation
Outline

Start by finding your motivation.

Why talk (for others)?
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• communicate a discovery presentation: critical final step of research

Why talk (for you)?
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• obtain feedback advertise yourself understand your own work better

Talks vs writing
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• faster greater potential for impact immediate response
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• speaker’s pace vs reader’s pace repetition required less complexity allowed

…if you want to improve your talk, start by improving the content

Starting out
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• identify the audience choose your main point build your talk around it work within your available time

Talk structure
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• create a backbone (framework) describe it early refer to it often be explicit and specific

Pitfall: the travelogue
• No one cares about what you’ve done until you explain why you’ve done it.
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Rather, describe: discoveries improvements

Classic Structure
(hard to beat)
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Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion

Introduction
• purpose: motivate and build interest
• describe general problem-provide evidence
• what is known
• what is not known
• specific research question
• If they don’t buy the question, they won’t buy the talk!

Research Questions
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Bad:
“Can we develop a model of the rat tibia that includes trabecular and cortical bone?”
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Good:
“Does a model of the rat tibia predict fracture incidence more effectively than the current technique (physical exam)?”

Methods
• be brief
• focus on the overall picture
• don’t dwell on the details
• plenty of illustrations
• point form descriptions

Results
• link each result to a research question
• describe the message of each graph
• summarize key results

Results
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Bad:
“S/Q increased as a function of RST in experiments 2, 4 and 7 but not in experiments 3, 5 and 6”.
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Good:
“Cementing fractured vertebrae increased their stiffness by 28%, but they were still 20% less stiff than unfractured vertebrae”.

Discussion
• answer research questions explicitly
• rarely time for exhaustive discussion
• sensible?
• contribution?
• implications?

Conclusions
• two or three
• concise

A great secret to great talks
“Get your audience out of the puzzle solving business”

The Medium
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• choose the most advanced available, but don’t break new ground… computer slide overhead chalkboard

Timing
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• aim to be under time rehearse, rehearse, rehearse get feedback leave time for modifications

Problems: Talks
Frequent
• too technical
• too long
• unstructured
• unrehearsed
• figures unclear
• poorly motivated
Rare
• too simple
• too short
• inappropriate structure
• overly polished
• insufficient figures
• insufficient detail

Slides
Don’t have anything to apologize for!

Slides
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• as legible as possible use established colour combinations aim for 1 slide per minute estimate visibility: distance from monitor/monitor height = distance from back row to screen/screen height

Slides
Avoid distractions:
• cluttered backgrounds
• audio/visual effects
• illegible text
• unclear figures

Text Slides
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• clear from the last row minimum text paragraphs are for papers don’t mix up different fonts avoid overly ornate fonts avoid slide margins check for errors!

Text Slide Problems
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• Multiple colours are distracting
Text too small
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ALL CAPS ARE HARDER TO READ
Fancy fonts are distracting
Here’s the problem with too much text. Do you really want to read this? Of course you don’t. The text should enhance the talk rather than replace it. Nobody wants to read a paragraph of text on the screenthey’d rather hear you talk. So don’t do it, okay?

Figure Slides
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• message must emerge clearly simple, simple, simple one graph or figure per slide eliminate extraneous elements highlight key elements thick lines high-contrast colours label axes use legends fill the slide

4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
7.00
6.00
5.00
0.00
Bioabsorbable Screw
EndoButton with
Continuous Loop
LINX
Bone Mulch Screw
EndoButton with
EndoTape

Do tables work well?

350
300
250
255
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42
Stiffness
257

50
238

89
299

36
228

34
209

39
183

20
179

39
200
150
100
50
0 a a b c d e f g h

0
-5
-5
0
5
-10
0
60
40
20
0
-20
0
10
5
0
20 40 60
Flexion (degrees) t31
80 100
20
20
40 60
Flexion (degrees) t31
40 60
Flexion (degrees) t31
80
80
100
100
-100
0
20
0
-20
-40
0
30
20
10
0
-10
0
50
0
-50
20
20 40 60
Flexion (degrees) t31
80
Intact
Deformed
Realigned
100
20
40 60
Flexion (degrees) t31
40 60
Flexion (degrees) t31
80
80
100
100

Problems: Slides
Frequent
• distracting
• too much text
• too much colour
• cluttered
Rare
• too plain
• insufficient text
• bland colour
• overly simple

The speaker’s job:
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• arrive early figure out the controls prepare well - let the talk happen don’t read find and project your enthusiasm make eye contact tell a story

Questions
• anticipate questions
• make sure that you understand the question
• restate the question
• if you don’t know, say so
• be brief
• this is your time (don’t put up with aggressive or rude questioners)

Dealing with anxiety
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• it’s normal
Why are you anxious?
rehearse, rehearse, rehearse

Problems: speakers
Frequent
• boring reading
• dwell on a question
• overuse pointer
• use acronyms/jargon
• bored
Rare
• forget the talk
• don’t answer a question well
• underuse pointer
• language too simple
• overenthusiastic

Talk tests
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Can you read it from the last row?
Abbreviations and acronyms eliminated?
Does it stand alone?
Are questions deep?
Have you spent enough time?

Summary
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• find your motivation use a backbone eliminate puzzles work hard

…wouldn’t it be nice?