Delivering an effective scientific presentation - Expectations for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows Rebekah L. Gundry - Squarespace

Delivering an effective scientific
presentation

Expectations for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows

                                        Rebekah L. Gundry

Departmental Seminars
   Not an informal research in progress
   Not a discussion or a chalk talk
   An OPPORTUNITY for trainees to:
    ◦ present a polished story of their work
    ◦ practice the process of developing a polished talk that is effective in
      communicating their science
    ◦ receive constructive criticism in a friendly environment; including
      feedback on presentation as well as experimental design and data
      interpretation
    ◦ test run for public presentations

What is a research talk

   An OPPORTUNITY to present your work where you:
    ◦ Connect with your audience
    ◦ Demonstrate the significance and impact of your work
    ◦ Get the audience excited about your work in a way where you don’t
      have to tell them that it is exciting

You are in training
   We don’t expect trainees to give perfect talks during their
    training.
   We do expect improvement every time.
   We do expect that dissertation presentation is close to
    perfect.
   It is our job to prepare trainees for the outside world.
   There will come a time when your peers stop giving you
    feedback (i.e. when faculty), take the opportunity now to
    hone your skills
   We are critical because we care. If we didn’t think you’d
    ever amount to anything, we wouldn’t bother wasting our
    time.

How do you want to be perceived?
   As a thoughtful scientist
   As a clear thinker
   As a mature adult

  HOW you present your work, in addition to the quality of the data, factors
into to how believable you are perceived to be, and therefore how significant
                                your work is.

Life isn’t fair.
No one is going to give you the benefit of the doubt without justification.

Impact of an unpolished talk
   Speaker does not care about the audience and perhaps does
    not care much about the subject. Ergo, speaker is not a
    careful scientist.
   You will not be taken seriously.
   Often, manuscript and grant reviewers are in the audience.
    They will remember you.
   The audience will be frustrated, and perhaps angry, that you
    have wasted their time.
   The audience may not be vocally critical during or
    immediately after the talk. Do not equate this with a positive
    reception of your work.

Organization
Tell them….
  1. Something they know – help them connect to the topic
  2. What you are going to tell them
  3. Tell them
  4. Tell them what you told them

Rules to live by
   One idea per slide
    ◦ The biggest mistake made by beginning public speakers is to overload their talk
      with too many main ideas – you should prepare yourself to cover only part of
      what you think needs to be included.
   Short words, few words (5 per line)
   Message should be unambiguous
    ◦ Do not overestimate the audience's background or ability to absorb new ideas.
    ◦ When reading an article, the reader can take as much time as necessary to
      reread and absorb each point before tackling the next one.
    ◦ For a talk, if one crucial point is missed, the rest of the talk may not be
      understandable. It is far better to cover slowly and carefully a relatively small
      amount of material than to cover many points, however brilliantly, if half the
      audience gets lost.

The Talk is a Story
   There is a distinct difference between summarizing a
    collection of facts and telling an exciting and interesting story.

   A clear thinker separates the central, relevant issues from
    merely supportive peripheral information and will not allow
    the direct line of thought to be interrupted by sidetracks.

   A story should have one focus and convey a single major
    message.

   To construct the plot for a scientific story, it is often useful to
    phrase the basic idea underlying the talk as a question.

The Title Slide
   The first few words you say are crucial for relaxing the
    audience (and you!), engaging them, and capturing their
    interest in your topic.
   Take the time to develop a powerful beginning - you should
    not be timid at this point.
   Do NOT read the title
    ◦ Annoying
    ◦ Make better use of your time and deliver an impactful message

Introduction
   Not just a statement of the problem
   Should indicate your motivation to solve the problem
   Motivate the audience to be interested in your problem.
   You may provide an outline for the talk…but avoid simple lists
    ◦ Make it graphical and in story form if possible
    ◦ Graphics allow the reader to very quickly put your work into a broader
      context
    ◦ Graphics will save time, as they are faster to interpret than text

Approach
   More interesting to the listener if this section is "story
    like" rather than "text book like"

Results
   Be as clear as possible in explaining your results -
    include only the most salient details. Less salient details
    will emerge as people ask questions.

Summary
   A “text only” slide of sentences will be quickly ignored and
    forgotten
   This should be brief - bullet points
   Not sentences
   Connect your results with the overview statements in the
    Introduction.
   Three or four is usually the maximum.
   Summary graphics (like those made for graphical abstracts)
    are helpful
    ◦ Use alone or in combination with short bullet points

Elements of a Polished Talk - Slides
   Continuity in formatting
   Figures designed for presentation
   Stylistically pleasing, simple
   Limited text

Layout
   Do not mix - keep them consistent throughout
   Use a single template (font, color, layout)
   You want audience to focus on what you present, not be
    distracted by a poor layout
   Font
   Font size
   Position of title
   Bullets
   Color
   Background

Layout
   Layout continuity from frame to frame conveys a sense
    of completeness
   Headings, subheadings, and logos should show up in
    the same spot on each frame
   Margins, fonts, font size, and colors should be
    consistent with graphics located in the same general
    position on each frame
   Lines, boxes, borders, and open space also should be
    consistent throughout

Font
   Non-serif
    ◦ Arial
                                     Do NOT use serif fonts
    ◦ Tahoma                   (small line attached to the end of a
    ◦ Veranda                            stroke in a letter)
                                        Times New Roman
    ◦ Calibri                                 Perpetua
                                             Georgia
   Minimum size = 18 points                 Garamond
   Avoid ALL CAPS                           Cambria

    ◦ Hard to read
    ◦ Conceals acronyms

Colors
   If presenting in a large room, avoid white backgrounds –
    the white screen can be blinding in a dark room.
   Dark slides with light-colored text (not white) work best.
   Do not use Red on blue or blue on red

Visualize
   Avoid the “All word” slide
   Use graphics!
    ◦ Hold attention of the audience
    ◦ Audience will ignore your as
      they try to read
    ◦ Makes information easier to
      quickly understand
    ◦ Helps audience remember
      what you tell them
   You should reach a point
    where you have practiced it
    enough that you do not
    need text queues

Multi-panel Figures
   It is acceptable to have a slide with multiple panels if same
    type of data is repeated.
   It requires:
    ◦ Showing only portion of it first along with full explanation
       of what is being shown and interpretation.
    ◦ Then, uncover remainder of figure if formatting is the same
       throughout
    ◦ Practiced and efficient narration

Figures
   Do not cut & paste from manuscript
    ◦ Figures for a manuscript are designed to minimize space
    ◦ Figures for a manuscript are interpreted over time as the reader thinks
   Figures for a presentation must be formatted for clarity and
    rapid interpretation
   Do not mix different formats for the same type of data within
    a presentation
    ◦ Maintain consistent order and color scheme for controls, etc compared
      to experimental conditions
   Clear, legible labels for axes and titles

Slide Titles – 5 Rules
   Use Assertions, Not Topics
   “Background”, “Research Study”, and “Conclusions”
    ◦ Quickly forgotten, not making good use of space to convey the main idea
   Slide titles can help communicate your message, and set the context of
    the slide for your audience.

1. Slide titles should be consistently located.
    ◦ The best place for the title is in the upper-left of the slide. That’s where your audience
      will glance first, before exploring the rest of the slide.
    ◦ If you choose to go against this guideline, be sure the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
      (Beware placing title text along the bottom of a slide. In many presentation venues, your
      audience will have difficulty seeing the bottom edge of your slides due to heads of
      people in front of them.)
2. Slide titles should be easy to read.
    ◦ Don’t make your audience struggle. Use a clean font and a color with strong contrast so
      your title can be read and understood at a glance.

Slide Titles – 5 Rules
3. Slide titles should convey your main point as an assertion.
   ◦ Avoid using topics or labels as titles such as “Background”, “Research Study”,
     “Sales”, and “Conclusions”. Titles like this are weak and do little to help your
     audience understand the slide.
   ◦ Titles written as clear assertions provide meaning for your audience which is
     elaborated upon with the visual in the body of the slide (chart, photograph,
     diagram, table, etc.) and also with your verbal delivery.
4. Slide titles should be crisp, not wordy.
   ◦ Titles should fit on one line.
   ◦ Spend the time to distill the essential meaning into a short, clear statement.
5. Slide titles should be larger than any other text on the slide.
   ◦ Size conveys importance.
   ◦ Since your slide title conveys your main point, you should make it the largest
     text on the slide.
   ◦ Typically 38-44 point font, but should fit on one line
       when done making slides, find the longest title and adjust font size to maximize that needed to fit
        on one line. Then adjust all other slides to match

Elements of a Polished Talk - Narrative
   Clearly explain the science
   Efficient use of words
   Say what you mean, mean what you say
   Precise language
   Formal language
   Do NOT talk constantly
   Personality should shine, but no glib remarks

Language
   Oral vs. written communication is different (we’ll get to
    that)…but….would you write it in a manuscript?
    ◦ “These data are really cool, interesting, this is exciting”
   If you are having problems getting to a polished narration,
    then you may find it helpful to write out a script for every
    slide and practice from that.
   Off the cuff remarks generally hurt you during the talk.

Don’t: These data are interesting. So, then we did…

Do: We found these data intriguing/exciting because it indicates…... Then, based on
these observations, we did….

Formal language
   Trainees have not earned the right to be flip, and it will never
    be well received
   Jokes are not appropriate. Do NOT do it.
   Would you address the most notable researcher in your field
    by their first name? Then don’t do it here.
   ALWAYS error on the side of being formal (both in
    presentations and written communication)

Written vs Spoken Language
   Speaker must be actively thinking through the material in order to
    present it coherently
    ◦ there will be natural pauses between main ideas as both the audience and the speaker
      absorb the point and prepare for the next one.
    ◦ These pauses are often sorely lacking in presentations
   In normal speech our rate and inflection vary greatly, whereas reading
    tends to be steady in pace and monotonous in tone.
   Spoken language differs in its sentence construction from written
    language,
    ◦ It is easier for an audience to follow the generally shorter, more simply constructed and
      more emphatic sentences of spoken language.

Q&A
   One of the aspects where trainees need the most work.
   One of the most critical aspects of the talk - it demonstrates how you
    think.
   You need to be at a place where you know and understand the data so
    well that you can formulate a concise answer that directly answers the
    question.
   NEVER answer a question without first:
    ◦ Taking a breath!
    ◦ Making sure you understand the question, ask for clarification if necessary
    ◦ Thinking!
   A poorly delivered, rambling answer will override any positive impression
    you might have given during the talk
   If you don’t get many questions, it is likely that you alienated the
    audience and they do not know what to ask.

Q&A
   First, repeat the question.
    ◦ This gives you time to think, and the rest of the audience may not have heard
      the question. Also if you heard the question incorrectly, it presents an
      opportunity for clarification.
   If you don't know the answer then say "I don't know, I will have to look
    into that."
    ◦   Do NOT try to invent an answer on the fly.
    ◦   Be honest and humble.
    ◦   You are only human and you can't have thought of everything.
    ◦   Do not dwell and expand the answer just to fill up space.
   If the questioner disagrees with you and it looks like there will be an
    argument then defuse the situation.
    ◦ A good moderator will usually intervene for you, but if not then you will have
      to handle this yourself. e.g. "We clearly don't agree on this point, let's go on to
      other questions and you and I can talk about this later."
   Never insult the questioner.
    ◦ He/she may have friends, and you never need more enemies.

Timing
   NEVER go over the allotted time
   Rule of thumb: length of talk – 5 = # slides
    ◦ e.g. 20 min talk = 15 slides
   If you have a lot of data important to the story, but do
    not have sufficient time
    ◦ Present only the most compelling data individually
    ◦ Use one overview slide with a graphic that allows you to quickly
      summarize other aspects/experiments/results that contribute to
      the story

Common mistakes
   Reading the title of your talk
   Using the pointer on text. Pointers are ONLY for data
   Not allowing for pauses in the narration
    ◦ When advancing to your next slide, give the audience a couple of
      seconds to become familiar with the new information.
   Not dressing the part
    ◦ People are there to hear your material, but when you dress well you
      send the message that you care enough about the audience to look
      nice for them.
   Overloaded slides
   Axes and units on graphs too small
   Diagrams and graphs presented too quickly

Common elements of a poor talk
   Failure to motivate audience
   Confusing structure
   Gaps in logic
   Excessive details
   Poorly designed slides
   Poor delivery

Gundry laboratory rules
   Students across the department/MCW have a habit of underestimating the amount of time
    and effort it takes to produced a polished talk

   4 Weeks prior to scheduled talk:
    ◦ FINAL draft of presentation - organization and content
    ◦ Data may be missing, use placeholders

   3 Weeks prior to scheduled talk:
    ◦ Revision incorporates ALL edits provided from previous meeting
    ◦ Draft of narrative

   2 Weeks prior to scheduled talk:
    ◦ Revision incorporates ALL edits provided from previous meeting
    ◦ Very developed narrative

   1 Week prior to scheduled talk:
    ◦ Present polished talk without interruption
    ◦ Practice Q&A