scmb postgraduate fora 2009 how (not) to present a talk
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SCMB Postgraduate Fora 2009 How (not) to present a talk. Arti Singh On behalf of the SCMB Postgraduate Students Committee 15 th October 2009. An example. http://subjunctive.net/klog/2007/09/chicken/ (or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL_-1d9OSdk ). Doug Zongker, University of Washington - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
SCMB Postgraduate Fora 2009SCMB Postgraduate Fora 2009
How (not) to How (not) to present a talkpresent a talk
Arti SinghArti Singh
On behalf of the SCMB Postgraduate Students Committee
15th October 2009
An exampleAn example
http://subjunctive.net/klog/2007/09/chicken/
(or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yL_-1d9OSdk)
Doug Zongker, University of Washington
Presented at a meeting of the American Society for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), February 2007
Purpose of a talkPurpose of a talk
• give an overview of a topic
• present a summary of your work
• engage and inform/entertain your audience
• tell a story
• present information in a limited amount of time
SlidesSlides• time limit = limited number of slides
• Postgraduate Symposium: 15 min + 5 min Q&A
• guide: ~1 slide/minute; 15 min talk: 15-20 slides
• don’t have too much information on a slide
• use dot points and figures/equations/flowcharts
• if its not important, leave it out (eg. details)
• practice, practice, practice!
FontsFonts• easy to read eg. Arial, NOT Comic Sans MS (NB. Times New Roman
may not always display correctly and can be difficult to read)
• don’t use more than 1 or 2 different fonts – be consistent
• large enough to read (eg. 26 point), smaller for references (eg. 10 point)
• avoid all capital letters (= yelling; difficult to read)
• avoid title case (eg. How to present a talk, NOT How To Present A Talk)
• emphasis: use italics and bolding instead of underlining
PicturesPictures• whenever possible, use pictures, graphs, equations,
chemical structures instead of words
• don’t use ClipArt just for the sake of it
• make sure they are large enough!
• make sure they are clear – avoid ‘chart junk’ (eg. grey backgrounds, grid lines, too much axis detail)
• label graph lines directly instead of using legends
Equations
0
2500
5000
750010000
12500
15000
17500
20000
2250025000
27500
30000
32500
35000
3750040000
42500
45000
47500
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100 105 110 115 120 125 130
x
y
y=3x 2̂+9
y=x 2̂+2x-13
y=24785-x 2̂
too small!
good size, but too many distractions
simpler, less distracting = more effective in a talk
Equations
0
10000
20000
30000
40000
50000
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130
x
y
y = 3x2 + 9
y = x2 + 2x – 13
y = 24785 – x2
ColoursColours• use contrasting colours
• simple backgrounds are better• light background, darker writing/figures• dark background, lighter/brighter writing/figures
• don’t use too many colours on a slide – distracting• use colour to highlight/code things
• avoid using red and green together (inability to distinguish them = most common form of colourblindness)
• blue and yellowyellow can be problematic for some people (try to avoid yellow writing on bright blue background)
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
• Contrast is important!
Animation & soundAnimation & sound
• some animation can be useful – emphasis, highlighting, explaining a process or results
• too much is distracting & wastes time
• sound – useful if it is a part of your research (eg. animals, communication)
• may not always be able to play sound in your presentation room
Talking to an audienceTalking to an audience• know your audience – specialists? non-specialists?
• talk to the audience, don’t read out slides/notes
• maintain eye contact, don’t talk to the board
• laser pointer: don’t point at audience
• don’t fidget, put your hands in your pockets, shift your feet, chew gum, play with your hair etc
• pace yourself – don’t talk too fast or too slowly
• don’t be monotonous, make gestures
• make the audience care about what you have to say
Key pointsKey points• Limited amount of time to tell your story = limited number of
slides
• Summary of your work – not too many details, overall picture – what and why
• use contrasting colours for backgrounds and writing/figures, fonts that can be easily read, figures/flow charts/equations
• make your slides as simple as possible – not too much animation
• voice, gestures, don’t read slides, talk to audience, eye contact, engage audience
• make audience care about your work and what you have to say
• practice, practice, practice!