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This is an update of a lecture I give as part of a course in professional development for graduate students at the University of California San Diego (UCSD). There is also a video presentation of an earlier version of this talk at http://www.scivee.tv/node/2903.
Citation preview
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 1
Professional Development Giving Good Oral Presentations
Philip E. Bournepbourne@ucsd.edu
PLoS Comp. Biol. 3(4): e77 http://www.scivee.tv/node/2903
On Slideshare
1
How Did My Teaching Professional Development Come About?
• About 5 years ago the student council of the International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) asked me to give them a lecture on how to get published based on my role of EIC of PLoS Comp. Biol.
• The exchange that took place was one of the most fun lectures I have ever given
• In trying to capture that moment I wrote an Editorial “Ten Simple Rules for Getting Published” …
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 2Preamble
How Did This Come About?
• It was downloaded a large number of times• Folks started to approach me with other ideas for
Ten Simple Rules• To date there is a “Ten Rules” series downloadable
from http://collections.plos.org/ploscompbiol/tensimplerules.php
• Some of it is available from www.scivee.tv
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 3Preamble
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 4
My Bias
• Given lots of talks – both good and bad – 31 plenary and keynotes in the past 3 years
• Talked to between 5 – 5000 people• Talked on television • Talked on many subjects both science and IT• Talked to many different audiences – 3rd
graders (most scary), investors, Nobel Laureates
Preamble
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 5
Experiences
• Sydney Brenner http://www.scivee.tv/node/8449
• Dorothy Hodgkin• David Searls• Francis Crick
Preamble
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 6
Over Arching Thoughts …• The science you are talking about is more important than the
talk• Being a good speaker is a key element of being a good
scientist• The best speakers are often the best scientists• Talk for yourself as well as others – talk to get feedback on
your work and use it• If you are passionate about what you do your talks will be
more compelling and enjoyable
6Big Picture
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 7
Over Arching Thoughts
• Work within the bounds of your personality• If you get no questions you screwed up• Even after what I am about to tell you sometimes I
feel I give bad talks and I do not know why• Conversely sometimes I worry about giving a talk and
it turns out much better than I expected• You should be able to give the same talk without
visual aids
Big Picture
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 8
How Do I know I Gave a Good Talk?
• You get invited back to talk• You get invited to talk by someone in the
audience• Audience members follow up with you days or
weeks later• People are not asleep or reading email
Big Picture
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 9
Rule 1 – Tell the Audience What They Want to Hear
• Talk at a level of detail that matches the expertise of the audience
• Do not talk up e.g. by saying “this is not my expertise but..” if it is not your expertise they do not want to hear it
• Do not talk down in a condescending tone• Figure out who your audience will be before
you prepare one slide
Rule 1 of 10
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 10
Rule 2 – Less is More
• Do not try and say too much – your message will be lost
• Be clear and concise – use visuals to help with this
• Your knowledge will come across – do not try and tell the audience everything you know
• No more than one slide per minute max. • Too many slides and you tend to talk to
quickly – the message will be lost
Rule 2 of 10
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 11
Rule 3 – Only Talk When You Have Something to Say
• Your time is precious – the audiences time is yours x the number of people in the audience – Do not waste it with preliminary material
Rule 3 of 10
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 12
Rule 4 – Make the Take Home Message Persistent
• Test – Ask audience members a week later what they remember from your talk .. If– They remember more that 3 points … no one will– They remember 3 points you regard as key – well
done– If they remember 1-3 points but they were not
key somehow your emphasis was wrong– They say “what talk” .. Figure that out for yourself
Rule 4 of 10
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 13
Rule 5 – Tell a Story
• People (that includes scientists) love a story• Include a human element i.e. make it different
to a paper• Stories have beginnings that set the stage
reveal the characters etc.• Stories have middles (the experiment and its
results perhaps)• Stories have a big ending, often a surprise one
Rule 5 of 10
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 14
Rule 6 – Treat the Floor as a Stage
• Entertain the audience – think ahead of time what will keep their attention and make them enjoy listening
• Do not use techniques that are not in your personality. If you are not humorous by nature don’t try and start in front of an audience ditto telling anecdotes
Rule 6 of 10
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 15
Rule 7 – Practice and Time Your Presentation
• Practice will avoid you going off on tangents – this can be dangerous – message is lost, don’t get to the big finish, talk about stuff that you know little about…
• Practice with colleagues before the big audience – they will think kinder thoughts if you screw up
• Practice speaking through journal club, group meetings etc.
Rule 7 of 10
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 16
Rule 8 - Slides
• Do not read the slide unless you wish to emphasize a point
• Slides are a backup for what you are saying• Look at them on the big screen before the audience
does• Focus on content not glitz• Avoid information overload• Use animations sparingly and effectively• Use navigation tricks
Rule 8 of 10
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 17
Rule 9 – Video or at Least Audio Your Practice Presentations and Review
(Declared Conflict)
• This is a very telling way of seeing bad habits e.g., umming and ahhring, scratching your head (or worse) ….
• Work hard to correct those habits
Rule 9 of 10
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 18
Rule 10 – Provide Appropriate Acknowledgements
• This is important – Do not run out of time and so not do it
• Acknowledge as you go• Use pictures• Acknowledge people you anticipate will be in
the audience who have contributed• Include important references
Rule 10 of 10
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 19
Additional Thoughts on Slides…
• A picture really is worth a lot of words• Spend time on preparing persistent (e.g.
introductory slides you will use over) slides – it is a rewarding experience and a skill worth developing
• As much as possible a slide should have an understandable message on its own – Its might end up in Google images after all
Additional Thoughts
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 20
Additional Thoughts on Slides
• Reuse slides to emphasize a point• Provide a roadmap– Navigation on the bottom of the screen– Returning to the agenda indicating the point you
are going to discuss next– Use recap slides– On the Web
Additional Thoughts
Ten Rules - Oral Presentations 2121
Discussion/Questions?
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