Presenting Your Research Paper US Association for Energy Economics September 23, 2018 Adam Sieminski

What is the point of this presentation? You invested an enormous amount of work writing a very good paper on energy economics… But you only have a few minutes to explain it Selling your idea is as important as the idea itself There are some basic rules you should follow Source: Adam Sieminski

Speech, Paper, or PowerPoint ? What is the one best graphic that conveys the main point of your paper? Graphics add impact and interest to a presentation and add to understanding Retention of information is greater when it is presented using both visual and oral methods Retention of Information (three days after the event) Source: Source: US Department of Labor, Presenting Effective Presentations with Visual Aids, May 1996

Five rules for effective public speaking Never open your talk with a joke Unless it is really very funny Be yourself and play to your strengths If you don’t have a strength, turn down the invitation Understand your topic Remember, you are the expert Don’t be afraid to improvise Talks and life seldom go as planned Practice, practice, practice Delivery matters Source: Ethos3 Communications; Adam Sieminski

Generic conference presentation framework ...15 slides (or fewer) for a 20-minute talk Title Page / Presenter’s Details (1 slide) Conclusion / Forecast (1-2 slides) Give the core of the issue studied and insights found What are the key ideas you want people to leave with? Outline / Agenda (1 slide) Do this is you have a lot of slides Background (3 slides) Motivation and Problem Statement (1 slide) Related work (1 slide) Optional Methods (1 slide) Results (4-6 slides) Present key results or insights Summary / Future Work (1 slide) Backup Slides The ones you think are good but not critical... an appendix This slide is too wordy, but it can work as a “take-away” visual Source: Mark D. Hill, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Computer Sciences Department http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~markhill/conference-talk.html

Formula for a good slide Determine the key point that you want the audience to remember Put the conclusion in the slide title (try to make it compelling) Speak to one main idea per slide (even if you have more info than that; you can always save some for Q&A) When in doubt – leave it out (put the formulas in the appendix) Use page numbers on your slides Source: Adam Sieminski

Save formulas for backup, but this one was a critical part of the paper… and handled well Source: Energy Information Administration

Brevity is your friend Good speakers average one minute per slide, maybe two minutes Don’t linger on your title slide Look at the audience, not the screen Don’t read every word on the slide Cut non-critical words and slides Aim to finish in half the time allotted Source: Adam Sieminski Note: For some interesting tips see: https://www.edanzediting.co.jp/sites/all/files/20160125_Edanz_Gunma_sec4-5.pdf

Keep your audience engaged Make your point and move on Speak clearly Don’t hug the lectern Be enthusiastic and smile Use notes but don’t read them Vary the tone of your voice Ask the audience a question Source: Photo at http://paulbuckley14059.wordpress.com/2007/04/

This slides works well in a big room Source: Adam Sieminski; DB Global Markets Research; How to Make a Good Presentation, USAEE / IAEE Conference; Houston, TX; 19-Sep-2007

This slide is too hard to explain in a minute

A good graphic… but the font is too small

Too many bullets and the text is too small Source: DB Global Markets Research

Price per barrel of selected commodities Source: Adam Sieminski; DB Global Markets Research; How to Make a Good Presentation, USAEE / IAEE Conference; Houston, TX; 19-Sep-2007

Crafting a memorable presentation Headline - Attention grabbing main point Hook - Why should I listen to this? Reasons - Key messages with adequate support Recap - Tell them what you told them Finish - Tell them how to get hold of you Source: Adam Sieminski

For more information With compliments to Prof. dr. Erik Dietzenbacher, University of Groningen King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center