Preparing and Giving Oral Presentations

Today’s agenda:1. Course evaluation

2. General principles for oral presentations

Tell a storyAn oral presentation has the same elements that are in written papers (including Acknowledgments) but generally without references.

1. Introduction 2. Methods 3. Results 4. Conclusion/Summary

Introduction1. Convince the audience that the problem is important

and interesting.

2. Give enough background and context to allow them to understand the study; state the goals clearly.

3. Assume that they are interested but not informed.

4. Avoid needless jargon and digressions.

5. Use humor only with caution. You want people to take you seriously, so be professional.

Methods

1. Describe the important methods—try mixing:– Cartoons (simple line-drawings)– Schematics– Photographs– Text

2. Find simple ways to express complex methods.

3. Minimize the number of words. People will read them and not listen to you!

Results

1. Only show results relevant to the story.

2. Graphs—make sure they are simple and clean but avoid graphs that show too little information.

3. Use tables cautiously—they often contain more information than you really want to present.

4. Avoid negative space—use photos or other things to fill the space and add content.

Figures

1. If appropriate, show the audience what your animal(s) looks like.

2. Choose sharp colorful images, preferably taken live in the field.

3. If borrowed from the Internet or taken from a publication, don’t forget to provide a credit-line in the margin.

4. If appropriate, consider “building” an image with multiple slides to add complexity.

Steelhead life-cycleOcean Freshwater

Estuary

Steelhead life-cycleOcean Freshwater

Estuary

Are the sizes at ocean entry of juvenile steelhead from upstream and estuary habitats different?Is there size-dependent mortality at sea?Do estuary-reared juveniles recruit disproportionately to the adult population?Is there differential growth between the two habitats?

Graphs

1. Make sure graphs can be read:– Use a simple font, not something weird– Symbols (squares, diamonds, etc.) should be big– Use a large font—think of the person in the back

2. Take time to explain all axes.3. Explain/describe the “take home” message implied

by each graph.4. Colors should be consistent among graphs and not

too complicated.

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Afternoon: N = 1520

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Evening: N = 1795

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Night: N = 2440

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Dawn: N = 1951

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Morning: N = 1580

Anglerfish catches were low in the afternoon, peaked at midnight, and then decreased in the morning.

Overall, most fish were caught at a depth of 25 m. Catches in 10 m only occurred at night.

Diel catches of anglerfish

OK, but a bit wordy and complicated

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Night: N = 2440

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Morning: N = 1580

Catches of anglerfish were low in the afternoon, they peaked at midnight, and then decreased.

There was also a shift toward shallower water at night.

Diel catches of anglerfish

Depth (m)

Abun

danc

e

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500

750

1000

1250

10 25 50 70

Night: N = 2440

0

250

500

750

1000

10 25 50 70

Morning: N = 1580

Catches of anglerfish were low in the afternoon, they peaked at midnight, and then decreased.

There was also a shift toward shallower water at night.

Diel catches of anglerfish

Depth (m)

Abun

danc

e

Bars with different colors can convey information

Tables

Use sparingly

depth (m) afternoon evening night dawn morning Grand Total

10 203.7 180.9 189.6 175.4 214.6 184.5

25 198.3 210.2 213.6 202.2 185.7 200.6

50 223.3 231.9 233.6 225.5 226.4 228.8

70 262.0 255.9 261.6 260.4 259.3 259.9

total 218.2 213.6 211.2 206.4 208.8 211.4

Tablesdepth (m) afternoon evening night dawn morning Grand Total

10 203.7 180.9 189.6 175.4 214.6 184.5

25 198.3 210.2 213.6 202.2 185.7 200.6

50 223.3 231.9 233.6 225.5 226.4 228.8

70 262.0 255.9 261.6 260.4 259.3 259.9

total 218.2 213.6 211.2 206.4 208.8 211.4

If you must show tables:1. Highlight pertinent results2. Make font large enough to read3. Avoid excessive decimal places4. Take the time to explain the table

Conclusions

1. Parallel to the Discussion in a paper.

2. Use the pyramid technique: First interpret the results in light of the hypotheses, then put them in the context of broader literature.

3. Use bullets with key points: Explain each bullet thoroughly, and minimize the number of words and lines.

Practice your talk!

1. Does your time exceed what is allowed and did you leave time at the end for questions?

2. What points will you cover for each slide? A good rule of thumb is one slide per minute, unless you are showing photos or graphs with the same x- and y-axes.

3. Resist the temptation to keep adding material. Beyond a point, the audience will not remember any more, and will often remember less.

Common mistakes in oral presentations1. Not enough introduction Don’t start “mid-paragraph”2. Too much text

Reading from slides word for word—avoid like the plague!3. Talking to the screen Look at your audience, make eye contact4. Fonts too small or weird (this is inappropriate)

Use sans-serif fonts (calibri or arial)5. Distracting colors

Avoid red-green combination; aim for contrast6. Spelling errors

Proofreed everything (again)7. Abrupt style changes between sections

Check transitions between all sections8. Technological incompatibility

Check for Mac/PC hiccups

Overall format and color schemesDecide on a simple format and stick to it:1. Light background and dark letters or vice versa.2. Make sure there is good contrast.3. Be consistent in font placement, size and style.4. Be careful of certain color combinations.

Red on blue is hard to read

Yellow on white is hard to read

Blue on red is hard to read

http://www.toledo-bend.com/colorblind/Ishihara.asp

Color blindness: What do you see?

The Ishihara test

Oral paper presentations

On Wednesday, each of you will give a PowerPoint presentation on the research project you’ve been working on during the quarter. Please limit your talk to 6 minutes, allowing 1 or 2 minutes for questions and/or comments. All of us will grade each talk.

Oral paper presentations on WednesdayWe’re all going to grade each other—here’s the grading scheme:4.0 Outstanding in all respects: clearly spoken, well-organized, informative introduction, understandable methods, good graphics, sound conclusions, on time (A).3.7 Excellent presentation: strong in all respects but with one or more aspects showing some weakness (A-).3.3 Very good presentation: strong overall but weak in some areas such as graphics, clarity of ideas and logic, organization (B+).3.0 Good presentation: sound in general but some conspicuous weaknesses in important areas such of organization, logic and graphics (B).2.7 Pretty good presentation: a good effort but quite weak in several areas (B-).2.3 Fair presentation: difficult to follow, graphics unclear, not logical (C+).2.0 Weak presentation: little effort made to understand, organize and present the information (C).

Name 2.0 2.3 2.7 3.0 3.3 3.7 4.0

Sydni Baumgart

Jessica Blanchette

Rachel Ellison

Sarah Friedman

Chris Hui

Garrett Knoll

Adrienne McColl

Alex Nanni

Zack Oyafuso

Andrew Wilson

Oral Presentation Grade Sheet

Assignment for Wednesday:1. Read the book on PowerPoint presentations, pages 215–226.

2. Work on your presentation, practice your delivery, and get the timing down.

3. E-mail me a copy of your presentation sometime before 2:15 on Wednesday.