how to make a memorable presentation

How to make a memorable

presentationSudeep C. Popat

scp@asu.edu

2 3

Design DeliveryPlanning

1

Planning1

Presentations are about telling a story

Not all audience is equal

This is not the best way to plan a presentation

We don’t know where we get our ideas from. We do know we don’t get them from our laptops.

- John Cleese

“”

Disconnect

Broad

Narrow

Broad

Structuring your story

Attention

High

Low

10 20 30 40 50Time

The 10-minute rule

Broad

Narrow

Broad

Structuring your story

Structuring your story

Challenge Challenge Challenge Challenge

Solution SolutionSolutionSolution

Structuring your story

Question Question Question Question

Answer AnswerAnswerAnswer

Structuring your story

Steve Jobs’s iPhone introduction presentation

MLK’s “I have a dream” speech

General

Deep

Structuring your story

Plan to have a “home slide”

The redox tower

+0.8

0

-0.4

-0.2

+0.2

+0.4

+0.6

+0.8

0

-0.4

-0.2

+0.2

+0.4

+0.6

All voltages vs. SHE

Acetate

Anode potential

Increasing respiration rate

The anaerobic food web

Go “analog”

Design2

This is what we think of as “design”

… or this

Water

• Providing access to clean water is one of the grand challenges for engineering, as outlined by NAE in 2008

• 1.1 billion people worldwide lack access to clean water; that’s 1/6th of the total population

• Water is not evenly distributed; some areas have more freshwater, while some have water scarcity

• For e.g. Canada has more than it needs, while middle east has severe shortage

• Water challenges are also tied together with energy challenges, and so it’s important to maintain a sustainable water-energy nexus

Death by bullet points

• Follow this sign to go to Phoenix on I-10

• You will also find a connection to Wickenburg at AZ-60

• This route takes you to the Sky Harbor airport on 143N

• Make sure you are not on this lane if you don’t need to go to the airport

• This exit takes you to Broadway Rd

• But you will also be able to go to 52nd St if you need

Imagine how many accidents we would have if…

That’s why road signs do not have bullet points

”“

- Walt Disney

Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.

1.1 billion people lack access to clean water

1point per slide

slides are

Freshwater is not evenly distributed

Start with a blank slide

Outline of today’s talk

• Introduction • Literature Review • Materials and Methods

- Method 1 - Method 2 - Method 3

• Results and Discussion - Topic 1 - Topic 2 - Topic 3

• Conclusions • Acknowledgments

Outline of today’s talk

• Introduction • Literature Review • Materials and Methods

- Method 1 - Method 2 - Method 3

• Results and Discussion - Topic 1 - Topic 2 - Topic 3

• Conclusions • Acknowledgments

Microbial fuel cells for wastewater

treatment

1

Topics to be covered today...

Microbial fuel cells for wastewater

treatment

1

Electrochemical analyses of

anode-respiring bacteria

2

Topics to be covered today...

Microbial fuel cells for wastewater

treatment

1

Electrochemical analyses of

anode-respiring bacteria

2

OH- transport limitations in

Pt/C cathodes

3

Topics to be covered today...

“”

1. Energy 2. Water 3. Food 4. Environment 5. Poverty 6. Terrorism & war 7. Disease 8. Education 9. Democracy 10.Population

Richard Smalley

50% of total energy use in WW treatment goes in activated sludge

Wastewater treatment is energy intensive

Wastewater treatment is energy intensive

Activated SludgeDigester Heating/MixingInfluent PumpingDisinfectionSludge HandlingOther

0.6 kWh/m3 of WW

McCarty et al., ES&T, 2011

Global phosphorus reserves expected to be depleted in

50-100 years

One day of breathing in Mumbai = One cigarette pack

Biosolids for land application

Wired microbial metabolism

Takes lots of photos in the lab

New revelations on respiratory behavior of Geobacter sulfurreducens grown on electrodes

Sudeep C. Popat | Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology | scp@asu.edu

Liquid

Diffusion Layer

Cathode

O2

e-

OH- j = nF(D/L)(Δ∆C)

CL

CS

Use schematics and animations... but wisely!

For j = 10 A/m2, Δ∆C = 0.1 M

Liquid

Diffusion Layer

Cathode

O2

e-

OH- j = nF(D/L)(Δ∆C)

CL

CS

Use schematics and animations... but wisely!

For j = 10 A/m2, Δ∆C = 0.1 M

Liquid

Diffusion Layer

Cathode

O2

e-

OH- j = nF(D/L)(Δ∆C)

CL

CS

1.23 V

0.39 V0 14pH

60 mV per pH unit

Nernst Equation

Use schematics and animations... but wisely!

For j = 10 A/m2, Δ∆C = 0.1 M

Liquid

Diffusion Layer

Cathode

O2

e-

OH- j = nF(D/L)(Δ∆C)

CL

CS

Liquid

Diffusion Layer

Cathode

Case 1: Liquid pH 7 10-7 M

0.1 M

1.23 V

0.39 V0 14pH

60 mV per pH unit

Nernst Equation

Use schematics and animations... but wisely!

For j = 10 A/m2, Δ∆C = 0.1 M

Liquid

Diffusion Layer

Cathode

O2

e-

OH- j = nF(D/L)(Δ∆C)

CL

CS

Liquid

Diffusion Layer

Cathode

Case 1: Liquid pH 7 10-7 M

0.1 M

pH 13

1.23 V

0.39 V0 14pH

60 mV per pH unit

Nernst Equation

Use schematics and animations... but wisely!

For j = 10 A/m2, Δ∆C = 0.1 M

Liquid

Diffusion Layer

Cathode

O2

e-

OH- j = nF(D/L)(Δ∆C)

CL

CS

Liquid

Diffusion Layer

Cathode

Case 1: Liquid pH 7 10-7 M

0.1 M

pH 13

Liquid

Diffusion Layer

Cathode

Case 2: Liquid pH 13

0.1 M0.2 M

1.23 V

0.39 V0 14pH

60 mV per pH unit

Nernst Equation

Use schematics and animations... but wisely!

For j = 10 A/m2, Δ∆C = 0.1 M

Liquid

Diffusion Layer

Cathode

O2

e-

OH- j = nF(D/L)(Δ∆C)

CL

CS

Liquid

Diffusion Layer

Cathode

Case 1: Liquid pH 7 10-7 M

0.1 M

pH 13

Liquid

Diffusion Layer

Cathode

Case 2: Liquid pH 13

0.1 M0.2 M

pH 13.1

1.23 V

0.39 V0 14pH

60 mV per pH unit

Nernst Equation

Use schematics and animations... but wisely!

The best design gets out of the way of between the viewer’s brain and the content.

- Edward Tufte

“”

Do not use templates that waste a lot of space

Do not use templates that waste a lot of space

Even your institution’s template is not needed for every slide

A blank slide is the best

Which Fonts Should You Use?

This is a Serif font

This is a Sans Serif font

This is a Serif font

This is a Sans Serif font

This is a Serif font

This is a Sans Serif font

✔

Arial Calibri  

Gill Sans Lucida Grande

Open Sans Tahoma Verdana

Comic Sans?

Comic Sans?

Helvetica

Which Colors Should You Use?

Contrast Contrast

Black on White

Yellow on White

White on Black

Navy Blue on Black

”“

- Walt Disney

Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.

”“

- Walt Disney

Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.

”“

- Walt Disney

Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.

http://commguide.asu.edu

How to Show Graphs and Data?

Take this example...

More solvent = more lipids

0

1

2

3

4

5x 10x 70x

% F

AME

of T

otal

Bio

mas

s

Solvent : Biomass

FP improves lipid recovery for low solvent use...

0

1

2

3

4

Control 17.6 23.3 29.2 35.8 71.7

% F

AME

of T

otal

Bio

mas

s

FP Treatment (kWh m-3)

Solvent : Biomass = 5x

...but not for large solvent use

0

1

2

3

4

Control 17.6 23.3 29.2 35.8 71.7

% F

AME

of T

otal

Bio

mas

s

FP Treatment (kWh m-3)

Solvent : Biomass = 70x

Different lipid fractions don’t change with FP

Control 17.6 kWh m-3

C16:0 C16:0C16:1 C16:1

C18:1C18:1C18:2

C18:3 C18:3C18:2

Look at the world around you...

Delivery3

Practice, practice… and the practice some more!

Video tape yourself

Always look at the audience

Use “Presenter View”

Use “Presenter View”

Use “Presenter View”

Richard Feynman

Sir Ken Robinson

Remember… it’s about telling your story

Resources

http://commguide.asu.edu

Todd Reubold slideshare/treubold

Garr Reynolds presentationzen.com

Nancy Duarte duarte.com “slide:ology” “Resonate”

Susan McConnell youtube/ibioseminars

Jay H. Lehr “Let There Be Stoning!”

Michael Alley “The Craft of Scientific Presentations”

Simplify

”“- Jony Ive

Simplicity is about bringing order to complexity.

Sudeep C. Popat Swette Center for Environmental Biotechnology Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University

scp@asu.edu

Al Gore presenting photo - Paramount Classics Steve Jobs presenting photo - Apple, Inc.

Planning photo - St. Lucie County, FL Steve Jobs iPhone photo - Apple, Inc.

Anaerobic food web schematic - Angenent et al., Trends Biotechnol., 2004 Designer photo - Globe University

Walt Disney photo - The Walt Disney Company Africa water pollution photo - E Staub/CDC

Richard Smalley photo - redOrbit Phosphorus mining photo - Alexandra Pugachevsky

Mumbai air pollution photo - Romana Chapman/Indian Insights Biosolids photo - Mid West Biosystems

Choose Vegetarianism billboard - Mercy for Animals Method products photo - Method Products, pbc

Don’t Panic graphic - Buena Vista Pictures Dance rehearsal photo - Noord Nederlandse

Al Gore photo - Paramount Classics Richard Feynman photo - American Institute of Physics

Sir Ken Robinson photo - Ryan Lash/TED Lots of books photo - Jess Mountifield

Todd Reubold photo - University of Minnesota Nancy Duarte photo - Poptech

Jay Lehr photo - US Soy Bean Export Council Michael Alley photo - Penn State

Susan McConnell photo - Stanford University Jony Ive photo - Apple, Inc.

Several other images - Stock photos

Photo credits