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?