presentation skills - zen presentation

Presentation Skills

Presentation Skills

Outline

Planning

Preparation

Practice

Performance

Questions

Planning

• Who are you talking to?• Why are you talking to them?• How long have you got?• What story are you going to tell?

Preparation

• Outline and sketch slides• Prepare slides• Proof read• Prepare notes -

brief keywords and phrases, except maybe first couple of paragraphs

Preparation - Outline

1 - 2 minutes per slide

Generic 15 min Conference Presentation

Title Slide (1) Title, author, affiliation, acknowledgements

Rationale (1-2) Why this is interesting

Methods (1-2) What you did

Results (2-4) What did you find and what does it mean

Summary (1) One thing you want them to remember

Preparation - Slides

Use Images & Graphics

Relevant images communicate,

and maintain interest

Preparation - SlidesUse Images & Graphics

Minimise text & numbers

Preparation - SlidesUse Images & Graphics

Minimise text & numbers

Light text on dark background

Preparation - SlidesUse Images & Graphics

Minimise text & numbers

Light text on dark background

Avoid distracting backgrounds

Preparation - SlidesUse Images & Graphics

Minimise text & numbers

Light text on dark background

Avoid distracting backgrounds

Use large font

Arial, Times New Roman or Verdana fonts.

24 pt is minimum, 32 pt, or even 36 pt is better

Preparation - SlidesUse Images & Graphics

Minimise text & numbers

Light text on dark background

Avoid distracting backgrounds

Use large sans serif fonts

Mix upper and lower case

ALL CAPITALS IS HARDER TO READ, ALTHOUGH IT MIGHT BE OK FOR THE ODD TITLE

Preparation - SlidesUse Images & Graphics

Minimise text & numbers

Light text on dark background

Avoid distracting backgrounds

Use large sans serif fonts

Mix upper and lower case

Use colour to highlight textUse high contrast colours for important lines, symbols or text, and lower contrast colours for less important lines, symbols or text. But use a small number of colours

Preparation - SlidesUse Images & Graphics

Minimise text & numbers

Light text on dark background

Avoid distracting backgrounds

Use large sans serif fonts

Mixture upper and lower case

Use colour to highlight text

Keep figures simple

0

20

40

60

80

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Condition

Y a

xis

(un

its)

*

Show means, sd, effect size statistics, but not test statistics

Preparation - SlidesUse Images & Graphics

Minimise text & numbers

Light text on dark background

Avoid distracting backgrounds

Use large sans serif fonts

Mixture upper and lower case

Use colour to highlight text

Keep figures simple

Thick lines and large symbols

0

5

10

15

20

20 30 40 50 60 70

Y A

xis

(uni

ts)

Participant 2

r = 0.89

X Axis (units)

Preparation - SlidesUse Images & Graphics

Minimise text & numbers

Light text on dark background

Avoid distracting backgrounds

Use large sans serif fonts

Mixture upper and lower case

Use colour to highlight text

Keep figures simple

Thick lines and large symbols

Progressive disclosure

•Big

•Simple

•Clear

Design Concepts

•Should be able to read everything from the back row

•At least 28 pt, preferably 36

Big

•No more than 6 lines

•No more than 7 words per line

Simple

•Arial or Helvetica

•Blue background with yellow text (black/white as well)

•Avoid overuse of red, shadows, animation and transitions

•Beware of busy backgrounds

Clear

•Clip art should add to the content

•Use a different background only to emphasize one slide

Clear

Visual Aids

should be on

the speaker’s

left.

Practice

• Practice, practice, practice

• Get feedback, and use it.

• Be ruthless – delete unnecessary information

Performance

• Don’t Apologise• Speak loudly & clearly

• Use short simple sentences

• Avoid jargon & abbrev.

• Vary pitch, tone, volume, speed and pauses

Performance

• Avoid distracting mannerisms

• Relax, be enthusiastic

• Make eye contact

• Keep an eye on the time remaining

Performance

• Explain figures, and point to important aspects

• Give a clear and concise summary, then stop.

• Don’t go overtime. Ever.

Questions

• Anticipate likely questions and prepare extra slides with the answers

• Maybe even plant a stooge

Questions

Paraphrase questions

1. so that other people hear the question

Questions

Paraphrase questions

1. so that other people hear the question

2. to check you understand the questions

Questions

Paraphrase questions

1. so that other people hear the question

2. to check you understand the questions

3. to stall while you think about an answer

Questions

If you don’t know the answer, say so.

Offer to find out.

Ask the audience.

Summary

Like most things,

the best way to learn is to do

Here are some samples:

Human Faces

Both famous men in these slides are looking in the general direction of the quote. You notice the face first, but your eye naturally moves to the text.

Samples Slides

The slide on the right makes better use of eye gaze. The image is more natural as well since it is not cut but naturally bleeds off the right side.

Samples Slides

The slide on the left is acceptable, but notice how much more natural the slide on the right feels when the face of O-Sensei is orientated inward toward the bulk of the slide and in the general direction of the text.

Samples Slides

This is an image of Judit Kawaguchi (who writes for the Japan Times, among other things) interviewing The Dalai Lama on the Shinkansen in Japan. The quote which appears in the slide is something he said during that actual interview on the train. The first slide shows the context, then the second slide fades in which results in Judit Kawaguchi fading out and being replaced by the text; the right third of the slide (The Dalai Lama) never appears to change.

Samples Slides

Not Only Human Faces

The context in this case was the oil spill last year in a presentation on general environmental issues.

Samples Slides

The context in this case was the oil spill last year in a presentation on general environmental issues.

Samples Slides

The bird gets your attention and its orientation, shape, and impression of movement upward lead your eye toward the text. The image of the bird almost acts as a big arrow saying "look here."

Samples Slides

Visual Makeover

BEFORE: Above (left) is the original slide. The problem with the slide on the left is that the clip-art used does not reinforce the statistic, nor does it even fit the theme of women in the Japanese labor market. The background is a tired, overused PowerPoint template. The text is difficult to read. Overall: "it's ugly."

Samples Slides

AFTER: All the slides were redesigned to match the theme above. The slide on the left is good. But the one on the right can also be used effectively. Notice that either slide (especially the slide without any text) would be virtually meaningless without the presenter's narration.

Samples Slides

Using a pie chart is also a good way to represent this simple statistic. Here (left) the large text at the top can be easily seen. The text reads more like a headline — a declarative sentence — rather than just a title or category. The slide on the right is another possible way to support the message.

Samples Slides

Using a pie chart is also a good way to represent this simple statistic. Here (left) the large text at the top can be easily seen. The text reads more like a headline — a declarative sentence — rather than just a title or category. The slide on the right is another possible way to support the message.

Samples Slides

Backgrounds, salience, and compatibility

Above Left: Background image from this PowerPoint template has too much salience itself and competes with the chart in the foreground. Right: Here the contrast is better between the background and the foreground, but the sand and beach ball are not compatible with the message. The background image (also a PowerPoint template) may be appropriate if the chart was comparing sunburn cases or days spent at resort holidays, etc. Still, you could find a better image elsewhere rather than using a tired template.

Samples Slides

Above Left: Besides the color being inappropriate for this chart, the template has a fixed place for the slide title that is nearly a third down the page which interferes with the legibility of the text. We could reduce the size of the chart and place our title in it's designated place, but that would mean the top third of the slide is taken up by ornamentation. Right: The photo is appropriate perhaps for a presentation on organic farming but is not compatible with mobile phones. There are also some contrast and legibility issues as some of the text is difficult to see.

Samples Slides

Above: A background photo of a cell phone user in Japan or South Korea may work. This photo does not make for great contrast, however. Contrast can be helped by placing a dark transparent box behind the chart, and still further by adding a Gaussian blur to the background image.

Samples Slides

Above: Keep slides simple when displaying charts, graphs, or tables. Either of these may work. A white background can make for good contrast with dark text and other elements (nothing has more contrast than black and white) and works well when your room is relatively bright. In a dark room, however, a white background may be overpowering.

Samples Slides