1. Scientific Presentations
Intro to Oral Presentations

2. 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 ( )

3. 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?

4. 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

5. Scientific Papers
Written
Oral
Poster

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

7. 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

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

9. 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

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

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

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

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

14. 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

15. Selecting a Font: Serif vs. Sans Serif

16. 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)

17. Poster Content
Logical order
Intuitive
Concise
Graphics…

18. 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 p

19. 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)

20. 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

21. 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

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

23. 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

24. 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.

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

26. 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.

27. 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

28. Making Improvements:
Which is more intuitive?
vs.

29. A great site to visit… * *
General setup & printing of poster for Powerpoint
Info for both full size and small handout versions
“Good Graphics”
Poster samples
Includes good & bad points, debates
Sample evaluation criteria
Tips on accessibility to a wide audience:
Poster presentations: 0.5, 2, 5 minutes: * *

30. 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