1. How to Structure a Geofluids Presentationby
Colleen Morgan
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

2. Outline Styleguides Structure of a Talk Graph Guidelines
Creating Clear Slides
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

3. Style guides
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

4. Style Guide
The style guide is available on SharePoint, under Templates (same folder this is on)
Titled “Geofluids Style Guide Feb 2014”
Specifies what colors, symbols, and names to use for each mudrock (RBBC is blue, RGoM-EI is red, etc.)
Specifies specific ways we plot data (permeability curve, compression curve, etc.)
Gives standard symbols and acronyms that we use (porosity is n, not !)
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

5. Structure of a Talk
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

6. Structure of a Talk
Students are required to use this template to prepare their presentation
Standard presentation format includes:
Title slide
Info about student
Outline
Key observations
Introduction
Content
Conclusion
Text must be clearly written, thoughtful, and well formatted
Graphs must be clear, easy to read, and well-laid out
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

7. Title Slide Instructions
Talk title (centered)
Title Slide Instructions
Font should be 36 pt Calibri by
Colleen Morgan
Presenter name
One author only!
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8. About the Speaker Slide Instructions
Tell us about yourself
What you are studying
Where you are from
Relevant interest to Geofluids crew
A picture to remember you by!
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9. Outline Slide Instructions
This slide gives a broad outline of your presentation.
Use a few bullets to outline your presentation.
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

10. Key Observations Slide Instructions
Text only slide
Focus on one to three important ideas of the talk
Big picture concepts – don’t get lost in the details
Maximum two levels
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11. Introduction Slide Instructions
Slide should answer 3 key questions
WHAT you are talking about
Define it, describe something about it, etc.
WHY do we care?
WHY do we need to study it further / why are YOU studying it?
Don’t just answer the above questions blindly as if you were answering a questionnaire!
Some cool, relevant picture would help, but not necessary
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

12. Content Slide Instructions
Title font should be 32pt Calibri, reduce to 24pt if required
Title formatted as shown, or may be centered if necessary
Title is descriptive.
Bad title: “Results”
Good title: “Formation factor measurements on RBBC”
Slide contains text and supporting images as necessary
Text should be clear, concise, and well-spaced
Follow parallel structure and spacing / placement guidelines (information about these on later slides)
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

13. Image and Text Example Text Some more Little text
Image is big and can be seen and read by audience, does not cross blue line at bottom
Text
Little text
Some more
Parallel format little text
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14. Image Only Example
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15. Image Full Slide Example
Add text and data as required in separate boxes as appropriate
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16. Conclusions Slide Instructions
This slide will have your conclusions from your talk.
Summarize your presentation.
A few bullet points should work.
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17. References Select 2 – 4 key references or relevant readings
The purpose of this is two fold:
To help the audience read or learn further
To allow you to properly reference works you cited
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

18. Graph Guidelines
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19. General guidelines for graphs
Graphs should be clear
First, think about what point you’re trying to get across
Next, design your graph with this point in mind
Make sure to get rid of any superfluous data / labels that will confuse your point
Axis titles: “What, symbol (Units)”
What: Identify the quantity in ENGLISH
Symbol: Provide the symbol, if any
Units: Provide the units, if any
Units: Should be clear, and use consistent formatting:
Pick 1 or 2 decimal places; don’t use both, like 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25, etc.
Rule of thumb: Don’t copy and paste graphs from papers, re-plot them and cite as “After so and so”
Make sure colours you use are legible and don’t hurt eyes
© 2016 UT GeoFluids
© 2013 UT GeoFluids

20. Bad Graph Example Move Axis to right or left as required, not middle.
What’s this?
Give the plot a border to make it look nice
Only 1 decimal place
Make line thicker
Tell me what e is, does it have units?
Add major gridlines at minimum. Minor gridlines can be useful for LOG scales only to visually emphasize that it is a log scale
Numbers hard to understand, change to “General” vs. “Scientific”
Think about whether the range of data you plot is actually meaningful
Make all axis labels and titles bigger
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

21. Good Graph Example
Note: Since there is only one series, there is no legend. Slide title will tell me what material. NO title on graph
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

22. Creating Effective Slides
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23. Parallel Structure
Bad (non-parallel) structure combines 2 or more dissimilar sentence structures together, requiring more effort for the reader to understand:
Every bullet’s subject is such that it is not in the same place
The verb of each sentence is not in the same place
The level of complexity of each bullet is not the same
Good (parallel) structure formats everything similarly (like subject-verb placement), making the sentences flow and requiring less effort for the reader to understand:
The subject is in the same place in each bullet
The main verb is in the same place in each bullet
Each bullet is written at the same level of complexity
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

24. Active vs. Passive Voice
Wherever possible, use active voice
Active: Something is doing something
Passive: Something was somehow done to something in some way that we don’t know
Why active voice?
Easier to understand, less words, more memorable
Often forces the subject of the sentence to be at the beginning of the sentence. This helps readers know what you’re talking about as they read the sentence
Examples:
Bad: Following extrusion of the clay specimen, trimming of the specimen into a cube occurred.
Good: The clay specimen was extruded and trimmed into a cube.
Bad: With the rise of the nearby salt dome, there is significant increase in the nearby sediment stresses.
Good: The stresses in the nearby sediment increase significantly as the salt dome rises.
Add a slide with I vs. We
© 2016 UT GeoFluids
© 2013 UT GeoFluids

25. Bad Spacing I only have a little bit to say
I’m going to put it all up here
My slide now looks blank
But what I have to say is really important
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26. Good spacing I only have a little bit to say
I’m going to move it to the middle
I’m going to space it out to take up more room
What I have to say now looks important!
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

27. How to create effective slides
Clear and concise
Not too busy, not too empty
Speak to the audience
Use colors and pictures as necessary
Simple, not over animated
Incorporate:
Parallel construction
Active voice
Effective spacing
© 2016 UT GeoFluids

28. In Conclusion
Every presentation follows the structure outlined in this slideshow
Your presentation should be clear, concise, and apply the style guide
Every slide should be designed to help the audience understand
Graphs should be labeled clearly, with font big enough to read
Bullets should be constructed using active voice and parallel structure
© 2016 UT GeoFluids