By Kathleen G. Charters, PhD, RN, CPHIMS
Tutorial for new presenters on how to present a paper or poster at a scholarly conference, SINI 2014, July 16, 2014
Tips on Creating Your Slides
slide:ology: The Art and Science of Creating Great Presentations, by Nancy Duarte (2008). Review.
Pet Peeves
When a person:
— Reads their paper without pause or looking up
Remediation:
- Look at the audience
- Engage in a conversation
— Reads their slides (Slides are not a written report.)
Remediation:
- Follow design principles
- Bullets, 7+3
- Put text in notes
- Minimize distractions (e.g., animation/sound)
- Spell check
- Education vs. entertainment
- Expository lump vs. interaction
— Provides a slide with many numbers (e.g., a table) and does not point out what to focus on/provide meaning for the data
Remediation:
- Point out what is significant
- Turn data points into information
— Has too much material for the time allotted (leaves the audience feeling clubbed.)
Remediation:
- Create a timeline (see sample)
- Introduction
- Tell the audience what to expect/ground rules (e.g., questions at end)
- Give them the essential information to meet your objectives
- Summarize
- Questions
- Apply the rule 1-2 minutes per slide
- Move non-critical slides to section after “Questions?”
— Takes the murder mystery approach but provides insufficient information
Remediation:
- Who what when where how why
— Speaks softly, hesitantly, and timidly, i.e., “Don’t hurt me” (The audience cannot hear what they have to say.)
Remediation:
- Speak with authority
— Apologizes
Remediation:
- Accept Murphy’s Law: Life happens
— Doesn’t allow time for questions
Remediation:
- Practice your presentation out loud with someone who does not know the topic
Handling Questions
Guideline: Hear the question. Listen and think for a moment, then respond. A thoughtful pause is appreciated. You are giving the question the consideration it deserves.
A question is not on topic (irrelevant to your objectives or distracting). Set boundaries:
- That is not central to this presentation.
- I would be glad to discuss that with you afterward.
The question is relevant, but the answer is too long and involved for the time allotted.
- That is a very involved question. Let’s talk after this session.
The question is relevant, but it cannot be answered without further investigation.
- That is a good question, worth looking into.
The question is relevant, and you intend to answer it through further investigation.
- I don’t know, but I intend to find out.
Technical Issues
Room set-up
- Classrooms designed to provide presentations from a server
- Can also accommodate CD
- May accommodate a jump drive (depends on thickness)
- May accommodate a laptop
- Classrooms on the 7th floor require a separate projector
Remediation:
- Check out the room ahead of time
- Take advantage of the speakers’ room
Parting Thoughts
Attitude: Pay attention to me.
If crowds bother you, don’t think of the audience as made up of a number of individuals, think of the audience as one entity.
It is OK to have fun. Your presentation is a task. You have a goal, a message you wish to convey. This is not a life or death situation. You are joining people with similar interests in a conversation about a topic you really enjoy. Be ready to share the enjoyment of that topic with others.