Presenting Your Work: Designing Presentations,
Using Technology, and Giving the Show
Daniel Z. Sands, MD, MPH (dsands@caregroup.harvard.edu)
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA
James B. McGee, MD (mcgeej@msx.dept-med.pitt.edu)
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Pittsburgh, PA
Schedule (approximate)
08:00
Welcome, introductions, and objectives – McGee and Sands
08:10
Presentations and Presentation Design – Sands
09:00
Break
09:10
Using Technology, Image Acquisition and Manipulation, Multimedia – McGee
10:00
Break
10:10
Stupid PowerPoint Tricks, Horror stories, Presentation Reviews, and Q and A –
McGee and Sands
11:30
Fin
Presenting Your Work
Page 1
Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee
Introduction
At some point, everyone needs to present their work, either orally or in written form. Although
writing for publication is taught at many stages of our careers, oral presentation skills get little
attention. These skills are especially important since many people present more than they write
for publication and there are many technologies available for use in developing and giving
presentations. Even experienced veterans in the field give poor presentations, yet these are skills
that can be taught, practiced, and learned. The purpose of this tutorial is to raise the quality of
presentations in our field, which will benefit both presenters and their audiences.
The format of the tutorial will be a lecture consisting of concrete advice, real-world examples
and opportunities for attendee interaction. Time permitting; we invite attendees to bring their
slides on disk or on their laptops for critical review of slide layout and design, or to present
portions of their intended presentations to the group for feedback.
Participants will learn:
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How to present more effectively
What presenting has in common with theatrical productions
Basic concepts of visual design
How to find, create, and manipulate images
Topics to be presented include:
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How to plan a presentation
The art of presentation
How to select an assistive technology and survive its use
How to effectively use technologies
Designing visual aids
Fonts
Formats
Color
Image acquisition, creation, and manipulation
Multimedia
Presenting Your Work
Page 2
Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee
Presentations and Presentation Design
Why talk about this?
 Writing and speaking are our only options
 People are generally poor at presentation
 But, a few guiding principles important and can make anyone a good presenter
Essential Elements
 Content is very important. Hopefully, you have something worthwhile to say. The way
you are able to convey this depends upon three things:
1. The Show
2. The Medium
3. You
Other Topics That We Will Cover
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Humor
Format
Fonts
Colors
Handouts
Presenting Your Work
Page 3
Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee
You!
 Don’t hide behind . . .
o The lectern
o Your notes
o Darkness
 You are being assessed
 You are selling your ideas
 You are selling yourself
Content
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Determine what are the major points you wish to convey
Don’t try to cover too much
Know your audience
Remember that you can’t cover everything
The show
 Much can be learned from acting and the stage and applied to your presentations:
o Principles of movement
o Proper diction
o Rehearsal
o Eye contact: You must have this to be persuasive and interesting and to keep you
audience awake
The show
 Drama: keeps things interesting
 Lighting: Not too dark and don’t be afraid to ask for change
 Microphone
o Different types
o Appropriate use for each
 Props: Can sometimes help drive home a point
 Pointer: Proper use important so as not to distract
The show
 Scripted vs. extemporaneous
 Pace and pauses: Don’t go too fast; insert pauses to allow audience to digest and to drive
home points
 Know the audience: Ask about them and even sit among them, if possible
 Know the theater: Remember Napoleon!
 Leave them wanting more
Audience interaction
 Key to audience perception
Presenting Your Work
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Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee
 Repeat the question!
 Leave time for them to ask questions
 When to respond? You can dictate this
o During presentation: Can be distracting but enhance understanding
o After presentation: Maintains flow but may leave audience confused
The medium
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Static
o Flip charts or board
o Transparencies
o Slides
Dynamic
o Online presentations
Just you
Know thy technology
Be prepared
The medium
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Murphy’s Law applies
Backup strategies (beating Murphy at his game)
Numbering, indexing
Fit medium to audience
Just you
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No crutch
No distractions
More personal
Requires strong personality
Humor
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Wit
Jokes: Be careful!
Cartoons
Single frames best
Need to make caption readable
Design topics
 Fonts
 Format
 Charts and diagrams
Presenting Your Work
Page 5
Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee
 Animation
 Handouts
 Color
Fonts
 Serif vs. san serif: Serif makes blocks of text easier to read but looks less clean; san serif
is best for bullet points
 Variety (not)
 Capitalization style: Decide how headers and bullet points will be capitalized and stick
with it
 Size (big): Try to use as a big a font as possible
 Emphasis: Use bold and italics; don’t use underlining.
 Be consistent!
Format
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Spelling and grammar: Get it right!
Line length
One line per bullet point if at all possible
Okay to be telegraphic
Words per line
o Rule of fives (or sixes or sevens); no more than 5 words each
 Points per slide
o Rule of fives (or sixes or sevens); no more than 5 points per slide
 Shadows: Can be very helpful
Format
 White (empty) space: Helps readability
 Background: Think about your background objects and colors
 Special characters: Use characters that were meant to be used (Insert Symbol) rather than
what we invented due to typewriter limitations
 Clip art: Can enhance or detract from presentation.
 Variety: Nice to have something other than plain text in every slide
 Be consistent! Keep it simple!
Charts and diagrams
 Type: Figure out what you’re trying to convey and then choose appropriate chart type
 Complexity: Don’t need to include all subsets and groupings of data; should be
straightforward to interpret
 Necessity: Do you really need the chart?
 Screen shots
o Advantages
o Disadvantages
o How to make them better
Presenting Your Work
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Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee
Animation and Transitions
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For effect (but not everyone likes them)
Allows focus to be on you rather than the slides, but
Some people like seeing all points at once for note-taking
Requires repeated action (mouse or button)
Useful to emphasize a point
Can be distracting
Be consistent!
Handouts
 Advantages
o Permits writing notes
o Provides a hard copy of your presentation
o Can provide supplemental information
 Disadvantages
o Waste of paper
o Distracting to hear folks shuffle through paper (this is even worse if your presentation
differs from handout)
Color
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Use a consistent and tasteful color scheme
Avoid vibrating colors and red on blue
Saturation
Contrast
o Black on white or white on black is ultimate in contrast but may not be as visually
appealing
 Gradient backgrounds pose special problems but can be attractive
 Color palette (PowerPoint makes this easy if you don’t circumvent it)
 The color wheel can be helpful and educational
Conclusions (Part 1)
 Remember essential elements
o You
o The show
o Content
o Medium
 Just be because you can doesn’t mean you should
 Variety vs. consistency: strike a balance!
 Visibility
o Words
o Images
 Ask for feedback
 Practice and revise
Presenting Your Work
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Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee
Using the Technology, Image Acquisition and
Manipulation, Multimedia
Overview
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Technical preparation
Finding, acquiring and manipulating images
Selecting and using various output formats, including video projectors
Introduction to digital video
Final tips and tricks
Preparation
 No different than any other type of teaching, except more can go wrong
 Carefully select your images and multimedia and edit them last
 Select your presentation format carefully based on audience, the room and the technical
limitations
Display options – pros and cons
 35 mm slides – highest resolution, best format for very large projection, expensive,
hardware is universal but not immune to technical problems, good for back-up
REC: high-quality images (dermatology), projecting large images
 Transparencies – cheap, quick, color, but who will flip?
REC: when there is no time for slides and no hardware for laptop presentation
 Laptop + Projector – high-risk but necessary if animation and video are used, last-minute
editing is a major advantage, slides can be edited and reused, have a back-up
REC: for most presentations where hardware is available
 Web-based presentation – requires a stable, fast Internet connection or the ability to
present from your hard drive
REC: refer audience to website with slides for viewing at a later date
 Interactive presentations – using custom animation and presentation software (Director,
Flash, PowerPoint) steep learning curve and time-consuming, can be highly-engaging for
the audience
REC: use only when the presentation will benefit from interaction
Adding images and graphic elements
 How do you find good medical images?
o Internet – see attached list of good sites
o Photograph it yourself – digital and traditional
o Scanning – flatbed, transparency adapter, slide scanner, PhotoCD, commercial
service
o Frame grab from video
Presenting Your Work
Page 8
Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee
 Image formats - how to choose the right one
o Popular formats:
 **JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) – high color, adjustable quality and
size, “lossy” compression
 GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) – low-quality color, small file size, loss-less
compression
 BMP (BitMaP) – low color, medium size, not recommended
 TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) – high-quality color and black & white, large
file size, used primarily for scanned images
o Less common: PSD (PhotoShop), PIC (PICT Macintosh format), EPS (Encapsulated
PostScript), TGA (Targa)
 Image size considerations
o Select the image size based on the original’s resolution and your final display
resolution
o “GIGO” – an image that was scanned at low-res (most Internet images) may be
unacceptable when enlarged or used for a 35mm slide
o On-screen computer-based presentations – anything larger than 800x600 pixels is not
necessary
o 35 mm slides for projection – use 1600x1200 or higher
o High quality printing for journals, monographs, etc. – 1200 “dpi” or higher
 Compression
o A single medium-resolution (640x480), uncompressed (BMP), color photo is 900K
o JPEG removes redundant information and uses algorithms to remove image data,
based on human perception
o JPEG compressed images have a good balance of quality and size (same image will
be 29 – 127K)
 Image editing software
o PhotoShop – highly recommended but expensive and most features will not be used
o Microsoft Photo Editor – buggy but free with Office suite, rudimentary tools, not
recommended
o Corel – good program but losing popularity
o Shareware – c|net’s http://download.cnet.com is a good source of graphics utilities
 Grabbing images off the Internet
o Locate image – see list of resources included with this handout
o Make sure it is legal to use the image – refer to “fair use” laws. Usually if you are
using the images for research and education, and not profiting financially, it is OK to
use copyright images, please check with the copyright holder if you are unsure
 Grabbing the image – Windows (2000), Internet Explorer (v. 5)
o Right-click on the image
o Select “Save Picture As…” from the pop-up menu
o “Save Picture” dialog box will open. Navigate to the location on your computer hard
drive where you would like to save the image. The desktop is a convenient temporary
location.
o Enter the file name you would like to use. It is not necessary include the 3-letter
extension (.bmp, .jpg, .gif, etc.).
Presenting Your Work
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Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee
o Select the file format from the “Save as type:” drop-down menu. This will append the
proper 3-letter extension for you. The choices will be different, depending on the
original image.
o Click the “Save” button.
 Grabbing the image - Windows, Netscape
o Right-click on the image
o Choose “Save Image As…” from the pop-up menu
o Save As… dialog box will open. Navigate to the location where you would like to
save the image.
o Enter the “File name:” you would like to use. Do not include the 3-letter extension
(.bmp, .jpg, .gif, etc.).
o Select the file format from the “Save as type:” drop-down menu. This will append the
proper 3-letter extension for you. The choices will be different, depending on the
image.
o Click the “Save” button.
 If “Save Picture As…” or “Save Image As…” does not appear in the drop-down menu,
you probably cannot easily capture the image. Some websites protect their images from
use by others. One work-around would be to copy the entire screen (see Screen captures
below) then cut out just the portion you want.
 Screen captures
o Entire screen: hold down the “Ctrl” key and press the “Print Screen” key to capture
the entire screen to the clipboard.
o Active window only: hold down the “Alt” key and press the “Print Screen” key to
capture only the contents of the active window to the clipboard.
o Open your image editing program or PowerPoint (and a new file, if needed) and press
“Ctrl + V” to paste the image from the clipboard to your file.
Displaying your presentation
 Handouts – can print from PowerPoint
o File >> Print… >> Print what: >> Handouts >> Slides per page: >> 3 (will have
room for notes)
 Overheads (transparencies) – can use color or B&W laser printer or a copying machine
 35 mm slides
o Best image quality
o Create slides by E-mailing your PowerPoint file to a service bureau or local media
service facility
o Desktop slide printers are available but are relatively expensive ($4000 and up)
 Computer-display with laptop + projector
o Essential if video or animations are needed
o Most schools, hospitals and hotels now have decent equipment but always call ahead
and be specific
o Quality varies – specify at minimum of “SVGA 800x600 resolution and capable of
16-bit (or thousands) color reproduction” and compatible with your computer, many
are not Mac-compatible
o Can either use directly from a PowerPoint file, HTML file or Internet link – have a
copy of the web pages on your laptop in case of a poor internet connection
Presenting Your Work
Page 10
Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee
 Transfer computer images to video
o Lower resolution and color quality than any computer (800 vs. 240 lines)
o Only use bold, large (24 point minimum) fonts
o No single-pixel lines or detailed graphics
o Color photographic images reproduce well, but try to fill the screen
Manipulating graphics images
 Using built-in PowerPoint editing tools
o Cropping
o Resizing
o Use dedicated software for color manipulation
o Add arrows and text in PowerPoint. Using PhotoShop for this is less desirable since
the image will be harder to edit.
 Using basic PhotoShop tools
o Cropping
o Resizing
o Changing formats
o Sharpening – TIP: use Filter >> Sharpen >> Unsharp Mask
o Color correcting – TIP: use Image >> Adjust >> Levels >> Auto
Charts and Diagrams
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Selecting chart types
Creating charts with PowerPoint
Creating charts with Excel
Tip: Keep them simple and clean
Animation
 When to use and not use animation
 Using PowerPoint’s animation tools
o Screen flipping
o Animated text and charts
o **Custom animation: Slide show >> Custom animation
 Dedicated animation programs – Macromedia Director and Flash
Video Projectors
 Technical considerations
o Most projectors display 640x480 or 800x600 resolution or better. This is adequate for
text and simple images. Not adequate for fine detail and far less than a color 35mm
slide (8000+ lines per inch).
o Color may be improperly set and will not match your laptop or CRT screen
o Range of colors available is slightly less than a good CRT and much less than 35mm
slides.
 Standard NTSC (TV quality) video problems
Presenting Your Work
Page 11
Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee
o “TV” quality video is 320 lines or less. If copying to a VHS tape, it’s 240 lines or
less.
o Be very careful with PowerPoint slides that require transfer to NTSC video or
videotape.
 Only sans serif fonts
 No single pixel lines – they will disappear.
 Photographic images can look quite good, but keep the very large.
 Limit the number of lines of text on slides to no more than six.
Digital Video
 Dedicated hardware and software or a Macintosh is necessary.
 Takes of many megabytes of disk space. Example: 1 minute video = 22 MB disk space
 Software is now easier to use (Macintosh) but still requires practice and more technical
knowledge than creating slides or editing images.
 Transferring files from one location to another can be difficult because of the file size.
 Compatibility issues:
 QuickTime is recommended but not supported by PowerPoint 97 or older versions
 AVI works with older PowerPoint software but is not Macintosh compatible
 The computer you are presenting on may require plug-ins or other system
software
 TIP: Get help from someone with experience.
Tips and final comments
 Arrive early to check hardware, test sound, lighting
 Have a back-up plan(s)
 Keep it simple
Presenting Your Work
Page 12
Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee
Web Resources for Presentations, Medical Images and PowerPoint
October, 2001
Rating
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URL (Web page address)
General Search & Links Pages
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Name
AltaVista
Google
MedWorld MedBot
PowerPoint Links for Tutorials,
Presentations, Clip Art
Search the Virtual Hospital
http://www.altavista.com/
http://www.google.com/
http://wwwmed.stanford.edu/school/MedWorld/medbot/images.
html
http://www.geocities.com/~webwinds/classes/power
pt.htm
http://www.vh.org/Misc/Search.html?query=colon
Medical Images
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DermIS - DOIA Dermatology
Online Atlas (English)
Digital Journal of
Ophthalmology
GI_Tract (normal histology
images)
Karolinska Institute – Medical
Images
Medical (radiologic) Imaging
Center
Medscape
Review of Pathology of the
Liver
The Visible Human Project
The Whole Brain Atlas
Virtual Hospital Normal
Radiologic Anatomy
Virtual Hospital Pediatric
Endoscopic Photos
WebPath The Internet
Pathology Laboratory
http://www.dermis.net/bilddb/index_e.htm
http://www.djo.harvard.edu/
http://www.kumc.edu/instruction/medicine/anatomy/
histoweb/gitract/gitract.htm
http://www.mic.ki.se/Medimages.html
http://brain.biologie.unifreiburg.de/Atlas/text/MedicalImage.html
http://www.medscape.com/
http://www.meddean.luc.edu/lumen/MedED/orfpath/
pathtitl.htm
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/research/visible/visible_hum
an.html
http://www.med.harvard.edu/AANLIB/home.html
http://www.vh.org/Providers/TeachingFiles/NormalR
adAnatomy/Text/RadM1title.html
http://www.vh.org/Providers/TeachingFiles/Endosco
pic/Endoscopic.html
http://wwwmedlib.med.utah.edu/WebPath/webpath.html
Presentations
 Presentation Hints (Staging

Connections)
Presentation University
(sponsored by Proxima,
makers of LCD projectors)
http://www.stagingconnections.com.au/hints/index.ht
m
http://www.presentationuniversity.com/index.cfm
Presenting Your Work
Page 13
Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee
 Presentations magazine
 Presenters Online
Microsoft PowerPoint Sites
 Advanced Animation
Techniques for Microsoft
PowerPoint 2000
 Microsoft Main Page for
PowerPoint
 Microsoft Office Design Gallery
 PowerPoint 2000 Movie
Troubleshooter
 Presentation Broadcasting in
PowerPoint 2000
Other PowerPoint Sites
 A Bit Better Corp Home Page
(professional support and
add-ons for PowerPoint)
Acadia
University's PowerPoint

Resource Center
 Clip Art Searcher
 Genigraphics -- The PowerPoint
Presentation People
 Getting Started with Microsoft
PowerPoint (Univ. of Texas)
 PowerPoint Presentation Tips
 PowerPoint Tutorial (Office 95)
 Presentation Software
 Presenters University Online
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Tips, Tools, and Techniques
for Successful Presentations
RnR PowerPoint Tools
ScanTips.com
The PowerPoint FAQ List
(newsgroup)
http://www.presentations.com
http://www.presentersonline.com/
http://office.microsoft.com/downloads/2000/animtech
nqs.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/office/powerpoint/default.h
tm
http://office.microsoft.com/DesignGallery/default.asp
x
http://support.microsoft.com/support/PowerPoint/ppt
2000/MMedia/
http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/imedia/window
smedia/ppt2000.asp
http://www.bitbetter.com/
http://plato.acadiau.ca/sandbox/ppt/ppt.htm
http://www.webplaces.com/search/
http://www.genigraphics.com/
http://www.utexas.edu/cc/training/handouts/powerpo
int.html/
http://www.tokitty.com/ppttips.htm
http://www.eiu.edu/~mediasrv/PPtut.html
http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/wsr/csc120/pre
so97.htm
http://www.presentersuniversity.com/default.cfm
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptools/
http://scantips.com/
http://www.rdpslides.com/pptfaq/
If you know of sites you think should be on this list or would like to report a dead link please
e-mail: mcgeej@msx.dept-med.pitt.edu
Presenting Your Work
Page 14
Copyright © 2001 D. Z. Sands and J.B. McGee