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The Art of the Helpful GIS Presentation
Tweet about this presentation #gispro2015
David Howes, Ph.D.
David Howes, LLC, Seattle, WA
Jason Pardy
Jason Pardy Consulting, Rancho Mirage, CA
Matt Stevenson, MUP
CORE GIS LLC, Seattle, WA
Parker Wittman
Aspect Consulting, Seattle, WA
October 21, 2015
The Perfect Plan - Don Barden
After ten minutes, people will remember only 6% of the facts you give them, but 100% of how they felt
Enhancing Communication Skills
• 2008 - Lone GIS Professional Initiative
• 2014 Washington GIS Conference - Communicating Our World
• 2014 - GISPD.com - GIS
Professional Development
Balance
Strive for 50/50 balance between
• Technical/domain skills
• Soft skills
Communicating Our World - Deliverables
• Walk a mile in their shoes
• Create an inspiring teachable moment
• Be a mentor to the education community
Eliminate turf wars
See Background to the 2014 Washington GIS Conference –Communicating Our World and other related articles
GISPD.com blog - http://www.gispd.com/blog
An Ongoing Sequence
• Supporting the Lone GIS Professional: The Concept and Rationale
Howes, D.A., Benson, J. and Bailey, A.
• The Lone GIS Professional: Running Your Own GIS BusinessHowes, D.A., Stevenson, M., Savele, M. and Vennemann, K.
• They’ll Stone You When You’re Trying to Build Your GIS: The Multi-Dimensional Role of the GIS Coordinator
Howes, D.A., Eklund, J., Owen, C., Radcliff, J., Stull, M. and Wallis, D.
Slides for these and others available fromhttp://dhowes.com/presentations
An Ongoing Sequence
• The GIS Analyst as an Institutional Resource
Behee, C., Howes, D.A., Walker, C., Roeckers, G., Joselyn, M. and Dewland, T.
• The (not so) Secret (but very necessary) Skills of GIS Professionals
Howes, D.A., Knapp, M., Johnson, A., Anderson, B. and Norton, S.
• Adapting to the Evolving GIS World
Paul, A., Howes, D.A., Wallis, D., Markert, J., Deaver, B. and Brown, B.
Slides for these and others available from
http://gispd.com/events
An Ongoing Sequence
• The Art of the Helpful GIS Presentation
Howes, D.A., Pardy, J., Stevenson, M. and Wittman, P.
• The Value of Coding for GIS
Howes, D.A., Berry, J., Paul, A., Goldenberg, E. and Gardner, S.
• Adapting to the Evolving GIS World
Paul, A., Wallis, D., Bonds Jr, R. and Howes, D.A.
Slides for these and others available from
http://gispd.com/events
Focus Topics
• General considerations - David
• Delivery matters - Parker
• Visual considerations - Matt
• Technical presentations - Jason
Our Backgrounds
David Howes, Ph.D.Geospatial Information Scientist & Owner
David Howes, LLChttp://www.dhowes.com/
David Howes, Ph.D.
• Education
• B.Sc. (Hons) in Geography – University of Salford, England
• M.Sc. in Geographic Information Systems – University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Ph.D. in Geomorphology – State University of New York at Buffalo, New York
• 25 years in GIS
• Established David Howes, LLC in 2012
• Specialty: GIS tools, processes and supporting infrastructure
Jason PardySoftware Developer
Jason Pardy Consulting & Voyager Searchhttp://www.voyagersearch.com/
Jason Pardy
• Education
• B.Sc. in Geography – Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
• Geographic Information Systems – Nortech College, St. John’s, Newfoundland
• 16 years in GIS
• Worked in software development at Esri for 14 years
• Focus: Geoprocessing, spatial analysis, Python programming
Matt Stevenson
• Education
• B.Sc. Urban Planning – Northern Arizona University
• MUP in Urban Planning – University of Washington
• 20 years in GIS
• Established CORE GIS in 2006
• Focus: Cartography, spatial analysis, conservation & restoration, urban planning
Parker WittmanDirector of Professional Services
Aspect Consultinghttp://www.aspectconsulting.com/
Parker Wittman
• Education:• B.A. (Double Major) Physics and Communications & Culture –
Indiana University
• 11 years in GIS and Data Science
• Manages a staff of 60+ scientists and engineers at a water resources/earth sciences/engineering consulting firm
• Focus: water resources and environmental GIS, database and application development, technical communications
Focus Topics
• General considerations - David
• Delivery matters - Parker
• Visual considerations - Matt
• Technical presentations - Jason
Why Present at Conferences?
• Score points?
• Ensure that your expenses are covered?
• Communicate with your fellow professionals as effectively and helpfully as possible?
The Status Quo
• We don't spend much time helping each other be better communicators
• We get feedback on content/details, but not on delivery
• We don’t tend to help each other as much as we could with respect to the soft skills aspects of professional development
A Sobering Thought
“Having sat on innumerable interview panels, I groan as applicants with sound paper qualifications are painfully unable to present themselves in a group, speak well, write clearly, or show simple manners and charm.”
“Why computer science graduates can’t talk themselves into jobs”
Simon Jenkins
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/aug/07/computer-science-graduates-victims-dirigiste-education
How We Can Help
• Improve communication and thereby help enhance the value of professional presentations
• Help each other with recommendations
• Encourage balance between consideration of technical matters and soft skills
Enhancing Communication
• Consider the delivery mechanism as well as the content
• Incorporate an evaluation cycle and process that has real value
• Give each other constructive feedback
What Sort of GIS Presentations?
• Conference
• Client
• Staff
• Practitioner
• Non-practitioner
Different Types of Presentation
• Solo presentations
• Multi-presenter sessions
• Lightning talks
Session Preparation
Call 1. Gather potential ideas and establish overall goals
Before next call: refine ideas, explore feasibility
Call 2. Settle on topics, identify roles and develop session
format
Before next call: begin developing ideas into slides, demos
Call 3. Review progress and develop schedule
Before next call: Finalize materials
Call 4. Review and finalize materials and schedule
Schedule
Section Presenter Minutes Start End
Intro David 4 10:30 10:34Background David 1 10:34Background Parker 1Background Jason 1Background Matt 1 10:38General David 14 10:38 10:52Delivery Parker 14 10:52 11:06Visuals Matt 14 11:06 11:20Technical Jason 14 11:20 11:34Audience David 20 11:34 11:54Closing Parker 1 11:54
Jason 1Matt 1David 1 11:58
Final David 2 11:58 12:0090
Value of Collaboration
• We learn from each other
• We grow cyclically
• We compete in a very positive way
Lightning Talks
• Time goes by much more quickly than you would expect
• Need a very efficient approach
• A sequence of steps works well
Extending Data-Driven Pages with .NET and ArcObjects David Howes, Ph.D.
David Howes, LLC
dhowes.comGeoDev Meetup - Freezing in Anchorage, AK
February 19th, 2015
Task: Develop Map Series with Custom Figure
Tie Profile Bars & Labels to Linear Referencing
Start with Data-Driven Pages
Start with Data-Driven Pages
ArcPy - add/remove map elements
Create a .NET Add-In
Store Element Properties in a Table
Use Clean Error Handling & Messaging
Run Export Process Outside ArcMap
Map export from within ArcMap:
2 minutes per map
Map export from outside ArcMap (same code):
2 seconds per map
Thanks for Coming
Sales Pitch
In presentations, most communication is basically a sales pitch
Clarity
Clarity is of fundamental importance
Manner
• Be confident, genuine and honest
• Be positive
Content
• Know your content
If you can’t remember what’s in your presentation
• You’re not prepared
• You have too much content
• What can you leave out?
The Perfect Plan - Don Barden
(Maximum) three things only
Style
• Be purposeful
• Style should support message
• Can reflect your personality
Delivery
• Write down what you’ll say as a learning aid, but don’t read it
• Maintain a flow
• Always know what’s on the next slide
Don’t Build Walls!
Humor
• Be careful
• Pre-canned humor almost never works
• Be respectful
Overall Considerations
• Respect your audience - avoid doing them a disservice
• Earn a reputation for quality
• Be helpful
Focus Topics
• General considerations - David
• Delivery matters - Parker
• Visual considerations - Matt
• Technical presentations - Jason
SO HOW DO WE DO
THIS WELL?
BE ENGAGING AND
MAKE IT MEANINGFUL.(AND BE HELPFUL, OF COURSE!)
PRESENTATIONS
ARE BORING.
PEOPLE ARE
INTERESTING.
COMMUNICATE FROM THE OVERLAP
…AND CREATE COMMON GROUND AS
YOU PRESENT
THE PERILS OF THE
‘WHAT DID I DO
LAST SUMMER’GIS PRESENTATION.
THING
THING
THING
THING
THING
THING
THING
THING THING
THING
THING
THING
THING
THINGFACT
FACT
FACT
FACT
FACT
FACT
FACT
FACT FACTFACT
FACT
FACT
FACT
FACT
HOW TO
PREPARE LIKE A
STORYTELLER
1
GENERATE
IDEAS
2
FILTER
3
CLUSTER
Adapted from Nancy Durante’s Resonate (2010)
4
CREATE
MESSAGES
5
ARRANGE
6
NOTE THE
“MOMENTS”
12
3
4
5
6
7
8
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Adapted from Nancy Durante’s Resonate (2010)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Turning point
Turning point
AHA!
Don’t get stuck here!!
7
VISUALIZE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Adapted from Nancy Durante’s Resonate (2010)
4 g n
9 1
L
7
/ : /
* sr
@
=
]
^ # 5
{ +
Focus Topics
• General considerations - David
• Delivery matters - Parker
• Visual considerations - Matt
• Technical presentations - Jason
VISUALS
AUDIENCE
Non-practitioner
Practitioner
NON-PRACTITIONER
Do not assume geographic literacy—orient your audience
USE MAPS TO TELL A STORY
Segment Clustering:WEKA data mining software (using expectation maximization algorithm)
Image Segmentation
GIS Data
BUT DON’T OVERDO IT
SMALL MULTIPLESMyer Klump B-12 MSC
MacLearnsberry 2 Wiltermood Wiltermood 2 Wiltermood 3MacLearnsberry
Location
MORE SMALL MULTIPLES
1. Identify islands 2. Prepare network 3. Prepare targets
4. Create service areas 5. Sum structures
USE EXAMPLES
When trying to explain a complex GIS analysis, you could say something like:
“We determined channel elevation differences using bare earth LiDAR
to extract heights from the channel center line, followed by a Euclidean
allocation to assign those heights to all adjacent cells, then subtracted
the result from the original LiDAR raster”
…or you could just show a couple of pictures.
October 1, 2015 Skykomish Basin Mapping 79
KEEP COLORS CONSISTENT
USE MULTIPLE SOURCES
PRESENTING ON CARTOGRAPHY
• Sometimes it can be challenging to describe what is essentially a creative process. But we must try
• The best way to talk about mapping is to show a lot of maps
• You can assume a LOT of technical knowledge! Some slanguage is okay
HOW TO DRAW AN OWL
STEPWISE EXPLANATIONS
Think of it as a cooking show for cartography
The Finished Product
Step 1: Set map extent based on area of interest and map elements
ArcMap
Step 2: Add additional boundaries (counties, cities) and major transportation features
Step 3: Add protected lands, highly desaturated palette
Step 5: Add visual depth and geographic context to the map by using bathymetry
Step 6: Add even more visual depth by overlaying transparent hillshade derived from bathymetry
Step 7: Add annotation
Step 8: Add areas of interest (coral reefs, Shark River Slough, etc)
Step 9: add semi-transparent mask to focus map readers’ attention on the features within the boundary
Step 1: Export TIFF from ArcMap, open in Photoshop and create a new PSD
Photoshop
Step 5: Finished PSD
USE INSETS TO OVERCOME RESOLUTION LIMITATIONS
INCLUDE “HOW TO” DETAILS
Step 4: Add Dropshadow FX
Here’s where you can get great bathymetry:http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/mgg/coastal/startcrm.htm
INCLUDE DATA SOURCES
BEST OF ALL, LINK TO VIDEOS
Focus Topics
• General considerations - David
• Delivery matters - Parker
• Visual considerations - Matt
• Technical presentations - Jason
Short Technical Demo
Be Prepared
System Setup
• Font size matters
• Change display settings to make font bigger fonts
• For code: mono-spaced fonts (i.e. Lucida Console, 14 to 18pt, Bold)
• Ensure no licenses are about to expire
• Get to the conference room early and do a test of everything in advance
Teaming
• One person for slides; one person for demonstrations
• All presenters should know the slides and how to deliver the demonstrations
• Use same system setup (i.e., fonts)
Learn to Multitask
• Do not panic
• Silence is bad
• Annotate your actions
Speaking
• Remember to make eye contact
• Avoid specific words such as:
• You know
• Easy or simple
• Avoid acronyms
Technical Demonstrations
• Create demo scripts
• Have backups easily accessible
• Do not type code in a demo (copy & paste)
• Avoid unnecessary mouse movements
Presentation Tools
• Mouse with a wheel
• Notepad++
• PyScripter for Python coding
Your Turn
Takeaway Messages
Delivery Matters
• Find a way to make your presentation MEANINGFUL to your audience (e.g. “Communicate from the overlap”)
• Prepare like a storyteller. People remember stories. People care about stories.
• “Soft skills” matter, maybe more than anything else in your career… so practice and prepare like it!
Visual Considerations
• Know Your Audience and use visuals that are appropriate for your audience
• Use maps and graphics to Tell a Story
• Small Multiples are a great way to communicate quickly and clearly with maps
Technical Considerations
• Develop demonstration scripts and practice as much as possible
• Prepare for the unexpected - know where errors could occur and how to handle them
• Don’t obscure the good information you’re trying to present
General Considerations
• Create a strong and positive impression
• Don’t do your audience a disservice
• Don’t build walls
