Adrian Taylor & David Baker (OUCS) Presentation Skills Adrian Taylor & David Baker (OUCS)

Aim of course To teach you some of the more advanced elements of PowerPoint for use in your presentations (DB) To teach the basics of ‘Smartboard’ and visualiser use (DB) To give you a chance to practise the use of PowerPoint and modern audio-visual aids (DB & OUCS team) To introduce the basics of poster preparation using PowerPoint (DB) To explore what makes a good talk (AOT) To discuss what you need to think about when preparing and giving a talk (AOT)

PREPARING & DELIVERING A GOOD TALK (AOT) See Materials WWW http://www.materials.ox.ac.uk/teaching/pgskills.html

Aim of a presentation Remember you want to COMMUNICATE Try to tell a story Make sure the audience follows you Cover a moderate amount well, rather than a lot badly Think about your message What do you want to say, at what level Think about your audience Are they physical scientists, 6th formers, politicians, modellers, experimentalists...........? What do they want to know What do they need to be told

Structure of a talk A clear structure helps the audience to follow your story beginning: what you are going to say middle: saying it end: what you have said Get the timing right how many slides can you use (rule of thumb = 1 slide per two minutes) how fast can you talk, how fast should you talk get the main message across (rest is optional)

Taking the audience along Tell a story - explain the links between points Face the audience - eye contact is very important Don’t just read out the whole talk directly from notes or screen Don’t be too casual Allow a degree of spontaneity if possible Use the slides - lead the audience through them Point out main features on figures & plots Show demos or pass round artefacts (not too many) Avoid distractions (e.g. irritating habits) Communicate your enthusiasm and enjoyment and explain the importance/relevance/applications of your work, but avoid exaggeration.

Taking the audience along Avoid standing in the projector beam or blocking the view of the screen Use of pointers: If possible use a proper pointer and point on the screen clearly to the relevant part of the slide . Keep the pointer in place long enough for the audience to register the feature being identified (ie. a few seconds). If you have to use your finger, which is not recommended, then take care not to block the view. If using an overhead projector or visualiser then a pencil or biro makes a good pointer for use on the original slide, but again take care not to block the screen Data projectors often have a built-in pointer function DO NOT shine a laser pointer1 towards the audience! 1 technical name = anxiety amplifier!

How to make your slides Keep style and layouts consistent Avoid too much complexity Combine text with figures to highlight main points Check room size and make sure size of features and text is clear enough to be seen by the whole audience (Helvetica 24, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10) Avoid unnecessary details too much decoration too much numerical information in tables (use of highlighting) Use colour wisely and avoid distracting animations Sans serif fonts such as ‘Arial’ or ‘Helvetica’ are clearer than ‘Times Roman’

Table 1 ACTIVITY DATA FOR Bi-Mo-O/TiO2 CATALYST ML TEMP K But-1-ene %C Buta-1,3-diene %S Butadiene + but-2-enes %S Anatase (TPA) 773 81 13 19 1Wt% A/TPA 0.5 46 71 82 4Wt% A/TPA 1.8 51 77 83 10Wt% A/TPA 5.5 54 73 Alpha Bi2Mo3O12 - 89 Bi6MoO12 8 1Wt% Mo-O/TPA 0.6 12 62 100 4Wt% A/RPA 673 60 88 64 47 63

How to deal with nerves Remember nerves are good! actors know nerves help a performance Use text slides to summarise main points helps audience follow you too! Run through talk in advance (ask supervisor for advice) but don’t learn it like a speech Have a good start to get you going Imagine yourself talking to a friend in place of the audience and remember that everyone empathises Check room size & facilities in advance and take back-up version of presentation (eg. on overhead transparencies)

Reminder of key points Tell a coherent and structured story, at an appropriate level for your particular audience Lead the audience through your slides Do not use too many slides for the time available choose your key messages carefully Do not overload slides with too much detail Choose clearly legible font sizes and colours Test your presentation in advance using the PC that will be used for the real event be extra careful if using features such as animations or video clips Keep regular eye contact with the audience and project your voice clearly Communicate your enthusiasm for your subject