1. David Baker (IT Services) Adrian Taylor
Presentation Skills
David Baker (IT Services)
Adrian Taylor

2. 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)
Remember, you already have a lot of experience……..

3. PREPARING & DELIVERING A GOOD TALK (Practical Tips, AOT)
See Materials WWW

4. 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
What is the exciting new science & why does it matter
Think about your audience
Are they physical scientists, 6th formers, politicians, modellers, experimentalists ? Often a mixed audience.
What do they want to know (their expectations of the talk)
What do they need to be told (in order to understand and take away your message)

5. 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)
have a plan in case you run out of time

6. Structure of a talk
Title
Outline
Introduction: Background, Context, Relevance, Definitions, Technique(s), Novelty
MAIN STORY – Your Work: Results, Data, Analysis, Interpretation, Significance, Discussion
Conclusions and/or Summary
Acknowledgements and Questions

7. 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 and speak to main features on figures & plots
Perhaps give a demo or pass round artefacts (1 or 2 only)
Avoid distractions (e.g. irritating habits) – ask your friends!
Communicate your enthusiasm and enjoyment and explain the importance/relevance/applications of your work, but avoid exaggeration.

8. 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!
Forgotten to cover a point you had planned to include? Usually not critical, only if essential skip back to earlier slide to cover.
1 = anxiety amplifier!

9. 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 / projection facilities and make sure size of features and text (including that on figures, scale bars & captions) 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’

10. 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

11. 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 & A/V facilities in advance and take back-up version of presentation (eg. on visualiser slides)

12. 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
If possible 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

13. How do your slides look to someone who is colour blind?
Other resources:
‘How to Succeed as a Scientist’
From Postdoc to Professor
BJ Gabrys & JA Langdale (CUP, 2012) – Chapter 2