Giving great talks

BISC 800

Something to remember

Time

% inforetained

0

100

20

How do you learn how to give great talks?

• Go to great talks!

• Preparation

• Visual material

• Delivery

• After the seminar

Outline

1. Preparation

• When and on what• Audience • Length• Audio-visual equipment available

• Context• Room

What do you need to know ahead of time?

1. Preparation

• The golden rule of seminar structure

– Tell them what you’re going to tell them

– Tell them

– Tell them what you told them

(i.e. you need a start, a middle and an end!)

1. Preparation

• Introduction– Start with a ‘bang’– Set up the problem– [Show an outline]

An example of outline• Introduction

• Methods

• Results

• Conclusions

A better example of an outline• What are cleaning symbioses exactly?

• Meet the players

• Costs & benefits of being cleaned

• Cleaner and client preferences

• Ecological consequences of cleaning symbioses

And another…

Three key questions

• Are larger mates preferred?

• Are larger mates better?

• Are larger mates more costly?

Yes

Yes

Yes

And another…

Goal:

• To blah blah…

1. Preparation

• Body : your results

• Conclusion– Recap main findings– Put them into context

• Introduction– Start with a ‘bang’– Set up the problem– [Show an outline]

1. Preparation

• Preparing notes– Never full script: you will read it– Cue cards instead– Number them!

• Make sure your talk is correct duration– 1 slide/ minute

• Check the room before the talk

2. Visual material

January February March AprilBlue Fish 20.4 27.4 90 20.4Red Fish 30.6 38.6 34.6 31.6

20.4

27.4

90

20.4

30.6

38.6

34.631.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

January February March April

Blue FishRed Fish

So what has driven coral decline?

% sites with % sites with more coral more coral thanthan macroalgae macroalgae

00

2020

4040

6060

8080

100100

120120

19771977 19801980 19831983 19861986 19891989 19921992 19951995 19981998 20012001

DiseaseDisease

Conclusions

• Major ecological changes in past 25 yearsMajor ecological changes in past 25 years

• Rates of decline of coral rival Rates of decline of coral rival highesthighest known known

• HURRICANES HAVE NOT DRIVEN CHANGEHURRICANES HAVE NOT DRIVEN CHANGE

• Disease and climate change have, at least in partDisease and climate change have, at least in part

• AAnnyy hhooppee ffoor r tthhee ffuuttuurree??

2. Visual material

• Write large– 24 pt text, 36-48 pt title

• Clear font– Arial, Helvetica

• Clear labels on figs• High contrast• Attractive pics• Uncluttered graphs• Minimize text

• Write too much text which takes up a lot of space

• Info not needed• Irrelevant text• Too much animation• Serif fonts: Times

• Poor contrast• CAPITALS FOR

EMPHASIS• Spellling mistakes

Do Don’t

PAPP-A• Pregnancy-associated plasma protein A• Produced by placenta to promote placental

growth• Used as first trimester marker for Down’s

syndrome for decades• Has also been found to be associated with

preterm delivery, preeclampsia, IUGR, stillbirth• Upregulated in healing skin• Marker for cardiovascular disease• Linked to bone mineral density

PAPP-A• Pregnancy-associated plasma protein A

• Produced by placenta

• First trimester marker for Down’s syndrome

• Associated with pregnancy complications

• Has roles outside of pregnancy

Equations?

Equations?

3. Giving the seminar

• ‘Personal appearance’/ Delivery– Voice– Speed– Posture– Pointers– Clothes– Eye contact

3. Giving the seminar

• Using the AV– Figure out how it works ahead of time– Point to the screen– Move to one side– Introduce graphs

4. After the seminar

• What do you do if:– Someone keeps banging on about the same

point?– You don’t follow someone’s argument?– You don’t understand someone’s accent?

Assignment

• 8-10 min presentation using powerpoint

• Your own research

• Will be videotaped on November 1 and 8

What will I be looking for?

• Presentation• Structure• Clarity• Visual appeal• Length

• Delivery• Flow• Enthusiasm• Posture

Literature searches

Bibliographic databases