Scientific Presentations Intro to Oral Presentations

What are you trying to accomplish in any presentation? "In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew before. But in poetry, it's the exact opposite." - Paul Dirac (1902-1984)

What is required for communication in science? “Cleverness, beauty, originality, and style (although extremely important in the design of experiments) are not required in scientific writing. What is required is a clear, logical, orderly presentation of your question, how you planned to answer it, what your results were, and what you concluded .” Ambrose et al Do you agree?

Objectivity in Science “Objectivity in science is obtained not by the individual scientist, who is always subjective, but by the scientific community as a whole.” Milton Rothman

Scientific Papers Written Oral Poster

Elements Title Abstract or summary Introduction or Background Methods & materials Results Discussion References/Literature-cited

Oral Presentations Meetings Symposia Seminars Proceedings are not usually primary… Not widely published Often review in nature Usually preliminary Rarely peer review or limited Minimal editing

Communicating in Science Know your audience Know your purpose Spend time writing down your thoughts

Tips: Before Presentation Check location, lighting, audiovisuals ahead Notes Become comfortable w/ material & possible questions - Practice! Practice! Practice! Slides Organize similar to paper, but simpler Time limit

Tips: About the Presentation Tell as a story Be enthusiastic Guide audience: tell purpose beginning, middle & end Endings Humor Anticipate problems Appropriate dress

Tips: During Presentation Look at your audience Speak up Concentrate on audience understanding Do not be afraid of pauses

Poster Presentations Generally only a subset of the final publication Often preliminary in nature: Why?

Poster Presentations Appearance of poster Content Characteristics of well-designed Presentation

Poster Appearance Layout… start w/ a sketch Balance Graphics & text Appealing Eye catching, not overpowering Color: uniform or w/ meaning Flow Balance Weight White space Text vs. graphics Graphics & text Readable Font selection: Serif vs san sarif

Selecting a Font: Serif vs. Sans Serif

Selecting a Font: Serif vs. Sans Serif Examples: I was trying to decide if it was a capital I or an l and was not sure. (Arial) I was trying to decide if it was a capital I or an l and was not sure (Tahoma) I was trying to decide if it was a capital I or an l and was not sure (Times New Roman)

Poster Content Logical order Intuitive Concise Graphics…

Poster Content: Graphics What is this figure supposed to accomplish? Make only one point Clear descriptive titles… now can state the result Omit extraneous info Graphs represent data (scale, 3D, etc.) Redundancy & simplicity improves understanding See Ambrose p156-160

Poster Characteristics Characteristics of a well designed poster: Self explanatory Minimal text Short title Clear statement of purpose Major portion = results Bullets vs. paragraphs M&M What does viewer need for an idea how data collected for each figure? Citations minimal Handouts (optional, only occasionally)

Presenting Your Poster Summarize high points in a few min Tendency: prepare too much or too little Modify based on listener Know everything on your poster

Poster Information Poster instructions online Evaluating Posters Re-read several times as build your poster Evaluating Posters Peer Review Instructor Review Later (see syllabus): What’s Wrong with this poster? Constructive critiquing Converting publications to posters …and improvements for visual presentations

Evaluating Posters See website under Review Criteria Peer & Instructor Review Criteria Peer Evaluation Sheets

Converting publications to posters… Modify for visual presentation Bullets vs. paragraphs Labels vs. legends Simplify & minimize clutter Use visual cues to guide viewer: white space, boxes or headers, order

Methods & Materials Can you understand these methods in 20 seconds? Using words: Can you understand these methods in 20 seconds? Airway epithelial cells were isolated from the trachea of Sprague Dawley rats. Cells were used by enzymatic digestion with trypsin and then plated on Transwell inserts that were suspended in DMEM containing the supplements previously described to create an air-liquid interface similar to that which is found in the airways. This method allowed the normal differentiation of the epithelial cells into a pseudostratified mucous epithelium and allowed secretions to be collected from the surface of the cells and components from the underlying media to be analyzed.

Methods & Materials Can you understand these methods in 20 seconds? Using graphics: Can you understand these methods in 20 seconds?

Methods & Materials Using graphics: Using words: Airway epithelial cells were isolated from the trachea of Sprague Dawley rats. Cells were used by enzymatic digestion with trypsin and then plated on Transwell inserts that were suspended in DMEM containing the supplements previously described to create an air-liquid interface similar to that which is found in the airways. This method allowed the normal differentiation of the epithelial cells into a pseudostratified mucous epithelium and allowed secretions to be collected from the surface of the cells and components from the underlying media to be analyzed.

Converting Figures (a) Sets of two ripe fruits of M82, cd1, cd2 and cd3 3 weeks following fruit detachment; (b) percentage weight loss of M82 and cd fruits over a 10-week period. Lines are as follows: , , , , : Normal Cutin Wild type Deficient Cutin Water Loss Due to Transpiration is Greater in cd Mutants with Normal Cutin Adapted from: Isaacson T, et al. (2009) Cutin deficiency in the tomato fruit cuticle consistently affects resistance to microbial infection and biomechanical properties, but not transpirational water loss. The Plant Journal 60, 363–377

Making Improvements: Which is more intuitive? vs.

A great site to visit… * * http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/index.html General info @ setup & printing of poster for Powerpoint Info for both full size and small handout versions http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/PPTinstructions.html#small “Good Graphics” http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/SideWindows/GoodGraphs/ http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/SideWindows/TableVGraph/ Poster samples Includes good & bad points, debates http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/ExamplePosters.html Sample evaluation criteria http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/60second.html Tips on accessibility to a wide audience: http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/KnowAudience.html Poster presentations: 0.5, 2, 5 minutes: http://www.ncsu.edu/project/posters/PresentPoster.html * *

Other interesting sites… You may find useful suggestions at these links, but be sure to follow our instructions since opinions may vary on some items http://www.isonose.eu/training/webinars/ http://www.isonose.eu/fileadmin/isonose/docs/workshops/IsoNose-Poster-Design-End_2.pdf http://www.makesigns.com/tutorials/scientific-poster-parts.aspx http://www.sfedit.net/poster.pdf http://extension.colostate.edu/docs/staffres/poster.pdf http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.0030102 http://www.isonose.eu/fileadmin/isonose/docs/workshops/2015-11-11-Presentation-Skills.pdf