preparing for a talk - university of massachusetts amherst · giving a big presentation of your...

Preparing for a talkGraduate School Office of Professional Development

Giving a big presentation of your research can be challenging. With the right tips, tricks, and preparation you can reduce or eliminate anxiety and give a strong presentation. Come learn how to prepare slides, figures, and your talk to give the best impression and showcase your hard work.

Graduate School Office of Professional Development

Today’s slides

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Office of Professional Development

Mission: The Office of Professional Development positions graduate students and postdocs for success in their careers at UMass and beyond.

OPD collaborates with a broad network of partners to offer support and programming in key areas, including: Career Preparation Communication Grants & Fellowships Personal Development

Teaching


Giving a talk

Academics regularly give presentations as a way to disseminate their work.

Scientific talks

Casual

Extemporaneous

Public speaking is scary

There are two major things to consider Only practice makes it better. Realize that they can’t hurt you.

10 points

1. Ingredients for a good presentation

A. Introduction

B. Method

C. Results

D. Conclusion/Summary

1A. Introduction

Motivation

Context

Audience

1B. Methods

Story like

1C. Results

Focus on major findings

You don’t have to show everything

1D. Conclusion

Repeat your outline

Three to four points

Future research

Multiple exposures

Tell them what you are going to tell them

Tell them

Tell them what you told them

2. Practice

Calm

Practice in front of someone.

Good speakers are sometimes too confident.

https://youtu.be/K93fMnFKwfI

Stage Fright

https://youtu.be/K93fMnFKwfI

3. Less is more

Don’t overwhelm

Focus on one or two main points.

Never go over time.

4. Avoid Equations

People need to study equations

If you do show equations slow down, be simple, and explain fully.

5. Have only a few conclusion points.

Keep it simple

The take home message

6. Talk to the audience

Notice which way you are facing

7. Avoid making distracting sounds

Ummm

Ahhhhh

Repetitious

8. Use humor

9. Taking questions

Pausing

Repeat the question

Say “I don’t know” but follow up

9. Taking questions

Never be condescending

Ending a line of questioning

Bonus tips

Thank people

Dress up Especially if your nervous

Arrive early and make sure everything works

10. Polish your graphics

Big fonts (bigger than your paper)

Only show what you intend to talk about.

Making Great Figures: November 14th, 2:30 pm

10. Polish your graphics

Keep it simple

Think about your color usage

Outline

A. Should your figure be a figure?

B. What makes a good figure?

C. The design process

D. Kinds of figures and graph basics

E. Graphic design

F. Practical tips


A. Should your data be a figure?

Text: Would a figure enhance or distract from your point?

Tables: present data when the precise numbers are important.

Figures, graphs: present trends or relationships

Figures, images: when there is no other way to understand


TableFigureText

B. What makes a good figure?

Has a clear message Helps to tell a story Adds to the text, and links to it

Is focused Don’t confuse one message with another

Is easy to interpret correctly Good data visualisation Good design

Is an honest and true reflection of the data

C. Design Process


Collect Raw DataProcess and Filter

DataClean Dataset

Exploratory Analysis

Generate Conclusion

Generate Visualisation

D. What kind of figure?

Table

Photographs

Drawings and diagrams

Graphs (the most common)


D. Basic types of graphs

Line graphs Use line graphs for dynamic comparisons

Bar graphs Use bar graphs to compare or display findings that do not

change continuously

Scatter plots Use scatter plots to find a correlation for a collection of

data


D. Sample Line Graph

3–4 curves ideal

3–4 curves ideal

Straight lines or smooth

curves

Straight lines or smooth

curves

Key on graph or label curves

directly

Key on graph or label curves

directly

End at scale point; no

arrow

End at scale point; no

arrow

Reasonable scale

calibration

Reasonable scale

calibration

Y-axis reading upward

Y-axis reading upward

Include variable and

(units)

Include variable and

(units)

Tic marks on outsideTic marks

on outside


y-axis label reads upwardy-axis label reads upward

Axis scale has proper spacing; font of numbers and label is large enough

Axis scale has proper spacing; font of numbers and label is large enough

Data sets are clearly distinguishable and labeled

Data sets are clearly distinguishable and labeled

Include error bars as neededInclude error bars as needed

D. Sample Bar Graph


X-axis label is horizontalX-axis label is horizontal

D. Whenever possible show all your data points

This should only be done when there are less than 30 data points

It shows the whole range of the data and allows people to more full understand what they are seeing.


Dis

tan

ce t

rav

elled

(km

)

Time (min)

Freq

uen

cy o

f vi

sits

No box or border around chart

No box or border around chart

Axis scale has proper spacing; tick marks are on the outside

Axis scale has proper spacing; tick marks are on the outside

D. Sample Scatter Plot

Axis stops at real number (no arrow)

Axis stops at real number (no arrow)


Axis label shows units in parentheses(using SI abbreviations)

Axis label shows units in parentheses(using SI abbreviations)

No grid lines, unless there is a compelling reason.

No grid lines, unless there is a compelling reason.

26.5

38.4

12.6

16.5

3.4

0

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5

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12.5

15

17.5

20

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25

27.5

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42.5

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Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri

D. Simpler figures are easier to interpret


E. Elements of Graphic Design


ContrastAlignment

Symmetry Color

ProximitySpace

RepetitionSize

E. Alignment

We are sensitive to aligned edges, even when they are separated.


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Treatment B

Control

Treatment A

Treatment B

Dead

E. Use a grid to help align disparate parts of a figure

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Treatment B

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E. Consider color blind people

Affects 1:12 men and 1:200 women worldwide

“If a submitted manuscript happens to go to three male reviewers of Northern European descent, the chance that at least one will be color blind is 22 percent.”


E. Color can have multiple uses

• Color can be used to:– Highlight specific data

– Group categories of data

– Encode quantitative values

• The more selective you are with color, the greater its effect

• Figures must work in black and white


E. Sparing use of color is most effective

Which is most effective at conveying your message?


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E. Color — Popout

A distinct item immediately stands out from the others

Triggered by our low level visual system

You don’t need to actively look at every point (slow!) to see it


E. Color — Popout (find the red circle)



Speed of identification is independent of the number of distracting points


E. Color — Popout (find the circle)

Color pops out more than shape



Mixing channels removes the effect


E. Space


E. Contrast

When overlaying information, make sure you have sufficient contrast.


Poor contrast Good contrast

Poor contrast Good contrast

Vibrating colorBusy

backgroundGood contrast

E. Repetition

Consistency across figures makes interpretation easierSame color/marker for same group Size of comparable figures should be the samePositions of axis titles and labelsFont styles and sizes Order: If presented ‘Sample A’ and then

‘Sample B’, maintain this throughout


E. Fonts

Font choice and size matter!

Points are 1/72 of an inch, so 72 pts should be an inch tall. This doesn’t always work in reality.

12 pts is ideal for the final printed figure.

6 points is the absolute minimum, many journals will not allow this size.


E. Fonts — Keep text and fonts simple

All fonts for figures should use sans serif fonts

All text in figures should be black or white


Wild type

Knockout

Wild type

Knockout

E. Fonts — size

Make sure all text is legible at the final size

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12182430

1 2 3 4 5

6 point font is the smallest you can comfortably read (just over 2mm height on paper)

E. Fonts — Keep text horizontal


E. Fonts — Keep text horizontal

Numbers are small, text is big

All graphs still work when rotated 90o


F. Validation

Validate the figures you create

You have seen your data too often to get an unbiased view.

Show the plot to someone not familiar with the data What does this plot tell you? Is this the message you wanted to convey? If they pick multiple points, do they choose the most

important one first?

F. General Rules

No unnecessary figures Does a graphical representation make things clearer? Would a table be better?

One point per figure Design each figure to illustrate a single point Adding complexity compromises the effectiveness of the

main point.

No absolute reliance on color Figures should still work in black and white

Color should help perception

Gush About Something You Don’t Love

Enthusiasm is contagious.

If you want your audience to be excited about your topic, then you need to show enthusiasm for it.

Choose something you’re indifferent about, a kitchen utensil, and practice speaking about it enthusiastically. Use your voice, emphasis, and body language to make it seem like the most exciting thing in the universe.

Office of Professional Development

General Contact Information 538 Goodell 413-545-6001 www.umass.edu/gradschool/opd [email protected]

Twitter: @umassOPD

Instagram: @umass_opd

© Unless otherwise noted all text copyright UMass Amherst Graduate School Office of Professional Development

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