Secrets of Effective Presentations Dave Wilson

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Secrets of Effective

Presentations

Dave Wilson

The most memorable talk…

• motivation content presentation

Outline

Motivation

Start by finding your motivation.

Why talk (for others)?

• communicate a discovery presentation: critical final step of research

Why talk (for you)?

• obtain feedback advertise yourself understand your own work better

Talks vs writing

• faster greater potential for impact immediate response

• speaker’s pace vs reader’s pace repetition required less complexity allowed

Content

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

Starting out

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

Talk structure

• 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.

Rather, describe: discoveries improvements

Classic Structure

(hard to beat)

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

Bad:

“Can we develop a model of the rat tibia that includes trabecular and cortical bone?”

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

Bad:

“S/Q increased as a function of RST in experiments 2, 4 and 7 but not in experiments 3, 5 and 6”.

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

Presentation

A great secret to great talks

“Get your audience out of the puzzle solving business”

The Medium

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

Timing

• 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

• 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

• 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

• Multiple colours are distracting

Text too small

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

• 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

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:

• 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

• 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

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

• find your motivation use a backbone eliminate puzzles work hard

…wouldn’t it be nice?

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