10 how to do presentation

How to do presentationThe material of your presentation should be concise, to the point and tell an interestingstory.. * Making the presentation Greet the audience for example, 'Good mo

How to do presentation

The material of your presentation should be concise, to the point and tell an interestingstory In addition to the obvious things like content and visual aids, the following are just asimportant as the audience will be subconsciously taking them in:

- Your voice - how you say it is as important as what you say

- Body language - a subject in its own right and something about which much has been

written and said In essence, your body movements express what your attitudes and thoughts

really are.

- Appearance - first impressions influence the audience's attitudes to you Dress

appropriately for the occasion

As with most personal skills oral communication cannot be taught Instructors can only

point the way So as always, practice is essential, both to improve your skills generally and

also to make the best of each individual presentation you make

* Preparation

Prepare the structure of the talk carefully and logically, just as you would for a writtenreport What are:

- the objectives of the talk?

- the main points you want to make?

Make a list of these two things as your starting point

Write out the presentation in rough, just like a first draft of a written report Review thedraft You will find things that are irrelevant or superfluous - delete them Check the story isconsistent and flows smoothly If there are things you cannot easily express, possiblybecause of doubt about your understanding, it is better to leave them unsaid

Never read from a script It is also unwise to have the talk written out in detail as a prompt

sheet - the chances are you will not locate the thing you want to say amongst all the othertext You should know most of what you want to say - if you don't then you should not be

giving the talk! So prepare cue cards which have key words and phrases (and possibly

sketches) on them Postcards are ideal for this Don't forget to number the cards in case

you drop them

Remember to mark on your cards the visual aids that go with them so that the right OHP orslide is shown at the right time

Rehearse your presentation - to yourself at first and then in front of some colleagues Theinitial rehearsal should consider how the words and the sequence of visual aids go together.How will you make effective use of your visual aids?

* Making the presentation

Greet the audience (for example, 'Good morning, ladies and gentlemen'), and tell them whoyou are Good presentations then follow this formula:

- tell the audience what you are going to tell them,

- then tell them,

- at the end tell them what you have told them

Keep to the time allowed If you can, keep it short It's better to under-run than over-run As

a rule of thumb, allow 2 minutes for each general overhead transparency or Powerpoint

slide you use, but longer for any that you want to use for developing specific points 35 mmslides are generally used more sparingly and stay on the screen longer However, theaudience will get bored with something on the screen for more than 5 minutes, especially ifyou are not actively talking about it So switch the display off, or replace the slide withsome form of 'wallpaper' such as a company logo

Stick to the plan for the presentation, don't be tempted to digress - you will eat up time andcould end up in a dead-end with no escape!

Unless explicitly told not to, leave time for discussion - 5 minutes is sufficient to allowclarification of points The session chairman may extend this if the questioning becomesinteresting

At the end of your presentation ask if there are any questions - avoid being terse when you

do this as the audience may find it intimidating (ie it may come across as any questions? - if there are, it shows you were not paying attention) If questions are slow in coming, you can

start things off by asking a question of the audience - so have one prepared

* Delivery

Speak clearly Don't shout or whisper - judge the acoustics of the room

Don't rush, or talk deliberately slowly Be natural - although not conversational.

Deliberately pause at key points - this has the effect of emphasising the importance of aparticular point you are making

Avoid jokes - always disastrous unless you are a natural expert

To make the presentation interesting, change your delivery, but not to obviously, eg: speed,pitch of voice

Use your hands to emphasise points but don't indulge in to much hand waving People can,over time, develop irritating habits Ask colleagues occasionally what they think of yourstyle

Look at the audience as much as possible, but don't fix on an individual - it can beintimidating Pitch your presentation towards the back of the audience, especially in largerrooms

Don't face the display screen behind you and talk to it Other annoying habits include:

- Standing in a position where you obscure the screen In fact, positively check for anyone

in the audience who may be disadvantaged and try to accommodate them

- Muttering over a transparency on the OHP projector plate an not realising that you areblocking the projection of the image It is preferable to point to the screen than the foil onthe OHP (apart from the fact that you will probably dazzle yourself with the brightness ofthe projector)

Avoid moving about too much Pacing up and down can unnerve the audience, althoughsome animation is desirable

Keep an eye on the audience's body language Know when to stop and also when to cut out

a piece of the presentation

* Visual Aids

Visual aids significantly improve the interest of a presentation However, they must berelevant to what you want to say A careless design or use of a slide can simply get in theway of the presentation What you use depends on the type of talk you are giving Here aresome possibilities:

- Overhead projection transparencies (OHPs)

- 35 mm slides

- Computer projection (Powerpoint, applications such as Excel, etc)

- Video, and film,

- Real objects - either handled from the speaker's bench or passed around

- Flip~chart or blackboard - possibly used as a 'scratch-pad' to expand on a point

Keep it simple though - a complex set of hardware can result in confusion for speaker andaudience Make sure you know in advance how to operate the equipment and also when youwant particular displays to appear Sometimes a technician will operate the equipment.Arrange beforehand, what is to happen and when and what signals you will use Edit yourslides as carefully as your talk - if a slide is superfluous then leave it out If you need to use

a slide twice, duplicate it And always check your slides - for typographical errors,consistency of fonts and layout

Slides and OHPs should contain the minimum information necessary To do otherwise risksmaking the slide unreadable or will divert your audience's attention so that they spend timereading the slide rather than listening to you

Try to limit words per slide to a maximum of 10 Use a reasonable size font and a typefacewhich will enlarge well Typically use a minimum 18pt Times Roman on OHPs, andpreferably larger A guideline is: if you can read the OHP from a distance of 2 metres(without projection) then it's probably OK

Avoid using a diagram prepared for a technical report in your talk It will be too detailed anddifficult to read

Use colour on your slides but avoid orange and yellow which do not show up very wellwhen projected For text only, white or yellow on blue is pleasant to look at and easy toread Books on presentation techniques often have quite detailed advice on the design ofslides If possible consult an expert such as the Audio Visual Centre

Avoid adding to OHPs with a pen during the talk - it's messy and the audience will befascinated by your shaking hand! On this point, this is another good reason for pointing tothe screen when explaining a slide rather than pointing to the OHP transparency

Room lighting should be considered Too much light near the screen will make it difficult tosee the detail On the other hand, a completely darkened room can send the audience to

sleep Try to avoid having to keep switching lights on and off, but if you do have to do this,know where the light switches are and how to use them

Finally

Enjoy yourself The audience will be on your side and want to hear what you have to say!

* Poster Presentation of Research Work

Preamble

Right, you are to present your research work as posters What do you do? Panic? What the

hell are posters? Surely you have posters of the Spice Girls or Take That (depending on

your inclination of course)! No, those are not the kind of posters we are referring toalthough the purpose is similar We are concerned with the use of posters to presenttechnical information, not images

A poster is simply a static, visual medium (usually of the paper and board variety) that you

use to communicate ideas and messages The difference between poster and oral

presentations is that you should let your poster do most of the 'talking'; that is, the materialpresented should convey the essence of your message However, that does not mean thatyou can disappear to the pub or where ever you fancy You have to 'stand-by-your-poster'!Your task as the presenter is to answer questions and provide further details; to bask inpraises or suffer difficult questions; and to convince others that what you have done isexcellent and worthwhile

Easy or what? But wait first, stop and think!

How much poster space are you allowed?

The purpose of poster presentations is not to have boards upon boards of information Better

to hand out a report in that case If you are presenting your poster at a conference orconvention, you would have limited space The space you are allowed will determine thecontent of the poster Find out how much space you are allowed!

Is there a standard format?

Yes, there is! As with an oral presentation, there is normally:

- a Title page, telling others the title of the project, the people involved in the work and their

affiliation

- a Summary of the project stating what you have set out to do, how you have done it, the

key findings and the main results

- an Introduction that should include clear statements about the problem that you are trying

to solve, the characteristics that you are trying to discover or the proofs that you are trying

to establish These should then lead to declarations of project aims and objectives

- a Theory or Methodology section that explains the basis of the technique that you are

using or the procedure that you have adopted in your study You should also state and justifyany assumptions, so that your results could be viewed in the proper context

- a Results section that you use to show illustrative examples of the main results of the

work

- a Conclusion section, listing the main findings of your investigation, and

- a Further Work section that should contain your recommendations and thoughts about

how the work could be progressed; other tests that could be applied, etc

You therefore have to present certain pieces of information but have limited space So,before you rush away to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, spend a few moments oreven hours to plan your presentation This is very important Unlike oral presentations,where some ultra-smooth talkers may be able to divert attention from a poorly plannedpresentation, with posters, poor planning is there for all to see

Planning

Planning is crucial if you do not want to be afflicted by the 'headless chicken' syndrome.There are several stages in planning a presentation

Gathering the information

First, ask yourself the following questions

• What is the objective of the investigation?

• Has someone done the work before?

• How have I gone about with the study?

• Why did I follow this particular route of investigation?

• What are the principles governing the technique that I am using?

• What assumptions did I make and what were my justifications?

• What problems did I encounter?

• What results did I obtain?

• Have I solved the problem?

• What have I found out?

• Are the analyses sound?

Although the above list is by no means exhaustive, you should get the gist You have to

stand back and think again about the What's, the How's and the Why's of the work that you

have done You have to examine critically, the approach that you have taken and the resultsthat you have got Be ruthless in your assessment: better to be a masochist than the victim of

a sadist

Ideally, you should have done this throughout your project anyway In doing so, you willhave a clearer idea of the objectives and the contributions that you have, or have not, beenable to make This means that you will know better, the information you have at yourdisposal for presentation

Such brainstorming often yields loads of responses Jot your answers on a BIG piece ofpaper, not necessarily in an ordered fashion The intention is to note as many points aspossible, so that you do not miss any important aspects The ordering and pruning of theinformation come later From your list, note the common areas, topics or pieces ofinformation, and group them together Use colour or number coding, or circles and lines tohelp you identify and categorise the information This activity should help you focus further

on the content you can use with confidence

Deciding on the content

If you follow the above presentation format guidelines, then the content is more or lessdetermined for you However, given that you have limited space, you now have to decidebetween what is important and what is not necessary Your decision should be based on atleast 2 factors, namely:

- What are you trying to achieve by presenting the posters? Is it to sell a product? Is it to

tell people what you have done? Is it to tell people of a new discovery? Is it to convincepeople that one product or technique is better than another?

- Who will be attending the presentation? Are they technical people? What is the level of

their knowledge of your subject area?

The answers to these questions define the type of content to include and set the tone of the presentation

Design

An advertising billboard is a poster If well designed, it will be attractive and engender a

lasting impression; earnest but not boring Importantly, it should shout out to you - "buy me!" or you would think "I want that!" Similarly, in using posters to convey technical information, they should be designed such that readers think "Yes!" or "I see!" and leave

with the impression that they have learnt something new

Ultimately, poster design is a personal matter and different individuals will have differentviews on how best to present certain information Nevertheless, here are some 'rules-of-tham' ™ to guide you:

- Plan, plan and plan!

- Keep the material simple

+ make full use of the space, but do not cramp a page full of information as the result canoften appear messy

+ be concise and do not waffle Use only pertinent information to convey your message + be selective when showing results Present only those that illustrate the main findings ofthe project However, do keep other results handy so that you may refer to them when asked

- Use colours sparingly and with taste

+ colours should be used only to emphasise, differentiate and to add interest Do not usecolours just to impress!

+ try to avoid using large swathes of bright garish colours like bright green, pink, orange orlilac Yuck!!

+ pastel shades convey feelings of serenity and calm while dark bright colours conjureimages of conflict and disharmony

+ choose background and foreground colour combinations that have high contrast andcomplement each other - black or dark blue on white or very light grey is good

+ it is better to keep the background light as people are used to it (for example newspapersand books)

+ if you insist on having a dark background, use coloured paper so that you would not have

to spray white paper with ink Not only is this cheaper, you would also not face the problem

of a soaked and distorted page

+ avoid the use of gradient fills They may look great on a computer display, but unless youhave access to a high resolution printer, the paper version can look really tatty

- Do not use more than 2 font types

+ too many font types distracts, especially when they appear on the same sentence

+ fonts that are easy on the eyes are Times-Roman and Arial

- Titles and headings should appear larger than other text, but not too large The text should

also be legible from a distance, say from 1.5m to 2m

- Do not use all UPPER CASE type in your posters It can make the material difficult to

read Just compare the two sentences below:

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS LINE WHERE ALL THE CHARACTERS ARE INUPPER CASE?

What do you think of this line, where only the first character of the first word is in uppercase?

- Do not use a different font type to highlight important points

+ otherwise the fluency and flow of your sentence can appear disrupted For example,

In this sentence, I want to emphasise the word 'emphasise'.

In this sentence, I want to emphasise the word 'emphasise'.

+ use underlined text, the bold face or italics or combinations to emphasise words and

+ present only the necessary and important equations

+ should be large enough (see point 5)

+ should be accompanied by nomenclature to explain the significance of each variable

- A picture is worth a thousand words… (but only if it is drawn properly and used

appropriately)

+ graphs

choose graphs types that are appropriate to the information that you want to display

annotations should be large enough, and the lines of line-graphs should be thick enough sothat they may be viewed from a distance (see point 5)

do not attempt to have more than six line-graphs on a single plot

instead of using lines of different thickness, use contrasting coloured lines or different line styles to distinguish between different lines in multi-line graphs

multi-line plots or plots with more than one variable should have a legend relating theplotted variable to the colour or style of the line

+ diagrams and drawings,

should only be used if they add interest to the display and complement the subject matter.

Otherwise, all they do is to distract attention from the focus of the presentation

can also be 'dangerous' as you may spend more time fiddling about with images andchoosing appropriate cartoons than concentrating on the content

- Check your spelling

+ there is nothing more amusing or annoying than spelling mistakes on public display,especially if they are on the title page

+ spelling mistakes give the impression that you have not put in the effort; careless; notbothered; not worthy of high assessment scores

- Maintain a consistent style

+ inconsistent styles give the impression of disharmony and can interrupt the fluency andflow of your messages

+ headings on the different pages of the poster should appear in the same position on allpages

+ graphs should be of the same size and scale especially if they are to be compared

+ if bold lettering is used for emphasis on one page, then do not use italics on others

+ captions for graphs, drawings and tables should either be positioned at the top or at thebottom of the figure

- Arrangement of poster components should appear smooth

+ you would probably be preparing sections of the poster on A4 sized paper before stickingthem onto mounting boards or display stands

+ remember that you are using posters to tell a story about what you have done andachieved As in report writing, the way you arrange the sections should follow the'storyline'

+ sometimes it is helpful if you provide cutouts of arrows to direct attention to the sequence

of the presentation

+ use a new page to start off a new section

- Review, review and review

+ make draft versions of your poster sections and check them for

mistakes

legibility and

inconsistency in style

+ try different layout arrangements

+ ask your partner, friends, colleagues or supervisor for their 'honest' opinions

+ be critical

* How to write a perfect presentation

Introduction

This site outlines the unique presentation writing method known as 'Why? How? Prove It!'

This method of writing presentations and speeches was developed by Graham Jones, aleading British public speaker and trainer in presentation skills The method ensures youcan:

• Write a presentation quickly

• Write a presentation that makes your material accessible to the audience

• Write a presentation that is easy to remember

If you use Why? How? Prove It! in your work you will be amazed at how quickly you can

put together great presentations that will be easy to say and easy to remember

Key message

Your presentation MUST have a key message Leave your audience in absolutely no doubtwhat you came to tell them Don't lead them up to your messages - they won't stay thecourse Hit them between the eyes with your message right up front You should provide

your key message within the first 15 seconds of starting your talk Research shows that if

you don't do this you risk losing the attention of your audience

Writing your key message should be the most time consuming and difficult part of preparingyour talk Indeed, if you do not spend enough time on thinking through your key messageyou may well be wasting your time - and that of your audience - when you come to giveyour presentation Poorly prepared key messages are frequently the problem that lies behindbadly written talks and speeches

Your key message should contain:

- The main action or change in behaviour you want your audience to take as a result oflistening to you

- Reference to the audience

- Reference to an example that you'll elaborate on

- A good key message might be:

Since you are all marketing managers, I'm convinced that by the end of this morning's talk you'll be absolutely determined to use our new marketing software that allows you

to gain access to research reports in a flash In fact I'm sure you'll be so impressed you'll be wanting a copy in the next 30 minutes.

As you can see this message says:

- WHO it is for - marketing managers

- WHAT they will do - use the new software

- WHY they will do it - to gain access to research

- WHEN they will do it - in the next 30 minutes

This message is also just 55 words long, which means you can say it in 18 seconds Indeed,

if no-one wishes to listen to you after those opening 20 seconds they will still haveunderstood what you have come to tell them The remainder of your talk would just be thedetail - but your message will have hit home without it

Having said that, a good key message with a 'call to action' like the example (you'll be

wanting a copy in the next 30 minutes) means that your audience will be hungry for more,

so they will carry on listening

To make sure they have got the message, though, make sure you repeat it right at the end ofyour talk This helps ensure the late arrivals also know what your message was

questions your talk is following what the audience perceives as its route through the

material The result is that you have them on your side immediately.

Many presenters prepare material that is only logical if you already know the subject or theinformation that is being presented But few audiences will know Hence they becomequickly lost and have to work hard to pick their way through the information Research

shows that audiences that have to commit the least mental effort are the ones most likely to accept the material they are given In other words, if you follow your own logic

you are making it much less likely that your material will be accepted or acted upon by theaudience

If your talk follows the audience logic by immediately answering the 'why' style questionsyou will be providing just what the listeners want, mentally As a result, you will make your

material MUCH MORE LIKELY to be accepted and acted upon.

Having constructed your key message you simply have to think of all the reasons why youraudience should accept what you are saying or act upon your material These reasons andthe detail behind them will form the first main section of your presentation

In our example, the presentation may go on to consider:

That marketing managers can't do their job without market research

That software makes accessing research easier

That there is no suitable program that works quickly enough for marketing managers How?

So, your audience now knows what you expect them to do and why they should do it Nowyou need to answer their next inevitable question - how are they going to achieve what yousuggest?

In this section of your talk you need to provide some explanation of how your audience cantake the action you suggest or how they might go about changing their minds on a situation

However, this is the least important part of your presentation You are merely giving

ideas at this stage Once people have bought into your idea by understanding why your keymessage is important, the 'how?' they might do what you suggest is nice to know, but notneed to know material Hence, the 'how?' may only be a couple of sentences of suggestions,nothing very detailed

Having said that, 'how' is an important part of the presentation as it necessarily follows the logical set of questions being asked subconsciously by the audience Hence to leave it

out disturbs the natural logic in the audience's mind and you lose support, reducing yourinfluence

But don't waste too much breath on it Your audience simply needs to check that 'how? hasbeen answered Quite how they achieve tour desires will be up to them after yourpresentation - you are just providing some guidance

Individual, personal examples are immensely powerful - especially if you tell them as

stories Case studies are in depth examples and can be useful, but they are more difficult totell as stories Statistics are useful to help prove a point, but they do not carry as muchweight as examples and case histories That's because people know that you can massage thestatistics in your favour, so they put less trust in them

In our example the 'prove it' section may go on to consider:

The story about the marketing manager you met at a conference who said the program had enabled much greater control of marketing programmes

The case study of the company which used the software and achieved a much happier marketing team as a result

The figures from several companies that showed marketing efforts were 30% more successful when the software was used

* Designing Presentation Visuals

Media Services, Robert A L Mortvedt Library

Pacific Lutheran University

The URL for this file is: http://www.plu.edu/~libr/media/designing_visuals.html

Think of Your Listeners

- Listening is much more difficult than reading

"Listeners" listen somewhere between 25% and 50% of the time

- Information must be taken in "on the fly" with no backtracking

+ Short-term memory holds only 5 to 7 points

+ People remember only 10% of what they hear versus 50% of what they read

- If your audience only listens only part of the time and remembers only 10% of what they

hear, then your "window" of communication is around 2.5% to 5.0% of your total presentation time!

Therefore:

- Pity your poor listeners!

- Do everything you can to help your listeners to listen and remember

Design to Help People Listen

- Organize - provide structure and framework for the data you will present

+ provide a "jigsaw puzzle boxtop" for listeners to organize and reconstruct your verbal

message

+ list points to be covered and provide a "road map" of how you will get there

- Illustrate - help listeners to visualize - convert data to information

+ paint a picture

+ tell a story

+ make comparisons

- Repeat - improve audience reception of data

+ remember that "listeners" listen only 25 to 50% of the time

+ repetition often suggests importance

Visuals Should

- Support your communication objective

- Enhance your verbal message, not detract from it

- Set tone and emotional content of verbal message with the use of colors and images

Good Visuals Are

- Visible - You have to be able to see it to believe it

+ Visuals should be legible to most distant viewer

Minimum legibility standards: one inch letter height on screen per 30 feet viewing distance

Data needed for legibility calculation

Screen width

Distance from projector to screen

Lens rating of projector (in inches)

Distance of most distant viewer from screen

+ Typewritten copy will not be visible!

Enlarge it on copy machine

Use 18 point type or larger when laying out transparencies on a computer

+ Limit number of words per line

3 to 4 per line optimal

6 to 7 maximum

+ Limit number of lines per visual

Less than 10 per transparency

Clear - Instantly recognizable in context to your verbal message

+ Focus on one idea per visual

Avoid too much primary information

Use color to focus on key information

+ Directly relate to communication objective

+ Complement verbal message

Add impact or tone to message

Provide overview or "whole picture"

Simple

+ Eliminate extraneous information and clutter

+ Visually simplify using design, color, or overlays

Ways of Adding Variety

- Combine both left and right brain sensory channels

+ Left brain: words, sentences, symbols

+ Right brain: graphs, charts, symbols, pictures, etc.

- Add color for emphasis, but beware of color connotations

- Use movement with transparency pens, overlays, slide dissolves, etc

- Change backgrounds to change pace or introduce new topic

- Change sequence of eye scanning (horizontal, vertical, diagonal) with design

* Using Overhead Projectors

Media Services, Robert A L Mortvedt Library

Pacific Lutheran University

The URL for this file is: http://www.plu.edu/~libr/media/using_overhead.html

Advantages of Overhead Projectors

- Face to face contact with audience

+ Eye contact possible

+ Can pick up verbal and nonverbal cues to understanding

- Projector located in front of room and near speaker for easy access

- Can be used to focus audience's attention

+ On to focus attention on visual material

+ Off to focus attention on speaker

- Effective in a fully-lighted room; audience can follow handouts or take notes

- Ability to modify transparencies during presentations

+ Highlighting important points with transparency pen

+ Writing on blank acetate film like a chalk board

- Sequence of material can be modified during presentation

+ Accommodates audience questions or interest

+ Can abbreviate or extend sections of presentation

- Unframed transparencies easy to store and transport; easily fit in file folder

- Overlays can be used to simplify complex information into layers

- Short lead time (minutes) for preparation of transparencies

- Low cost of transparency material

$.30 per sheet for one color

Disadvantages of Overhead Projectors

- Continuous tone color transparencies are costly

$1.50 per sheet for continuous tone color output from DeskWriter printer

- Overhead projector is bulky and heavy to transport

- Framed transparencies are bulky and difficult to store

- Pages from books cannot be used effectively without modification since text will usually

be too small for audience to read

- Overhead projection is perceived as being "less professional" than slides in a formal

setting

Presentation Techniques for Overhead Projectors

- Use ON - OFF switch to focus attention

+ ON to focus attention on visual

+ OFF to focus attention on speaker

Turn the projector off when you're not using it for extended periods of time to reduce distraction for audience

- "Chalkboarding"

+ Use projector stage like a chalkboard

Acetate sheet or roll

Water soluble transparency pen

+ Notes for presentation can be:

Projected with presentation

Added in conjunction with presentation

Revealed one point at a time

+ Points in group discussions can be:

Listed to verify communication

Used to focus further discussion

+ Charts, grids, illustrations can be:

Prepared in skeleton form prior to presentation

Modified, filled in labeled, etc during presentation

Pointing for emphasis

+ Concentrate attention on message being covered

+ Use opaque shapes like pens, coins, arrows, etc

Highlighting

+ Use pen of different color from original (Be sure to use water-soluble pen if you need to re-use the original transparency.)

+ Use underline, circle, arrow, check, bullet, star, etc as emphasis codes for your audience

- Progressive disclosure with opaque cover

+ Reveal topics one point at a time

+ Direct attention to point being covered

+ Prevent distraction

Overlays

+ Simplify complex concepts

+ One part of complex whole can be presented at a time

+ Parts can be joined for discussion of whole

Overhead Projection Survival Kit

Below are a few essential items that may make the difference between a successful andunsuccessful presentation using overhead projection Some of these are especially important

if you will be presenting in a room without access to audio-visual support services

- Extension Cord - Rooms sometimes have the power outlets located in the most

inconvenient locations An extension cord may resolve such difficulties

- Ungrounded Plug Adapter - Some buildings still do not have three-prong grounded

outlets A two-prong adapter will allow you to use these older power outlets withoutdamaging the overhead projector plug

- Spare Bulb - Most of the PLU overhead projectors have spare lamp changers inside the

projector But a spare bulb is always good insurance Make sure you know how to change the bulb in case it burns out during your presentation Do not touch the glass surface of bulbs with your fingers, but handle bulbs by their metal or porcelain bases or with a handkerchief

- Transparency Pen - You may want to write on a transparency to illustrate, clarify, or

highlight a point If you plan to use a transparency over again, be sure to use a soluble transparency pen You may want to cover transparencies with clear sleeves to avoid damaging your original

water Acetate Film water Extra blank acetate film provides additional "chalkboard space" for

responding to audience questions and comments

* Using Slide Projectors

Media Services, Robert A L Mortvedt Library

Pacific Lutheran University

The URL for this file is: http://www.plu.edu/~libr/media/using_slides.html

Advantages of Slide Projectors

- Continuous tone color images are reasonably-priced

+ Video frame capture

- Audience perceives slides as "more professional" than overheads

- Slides can be used to focus attention

+ Slide on screen to focus attention on visual

+ Blank or black slide to focus attention on speaker

- Slides and projectors easy to store and transport

- Overlays can be used to simplify complex information

Disadvantages of Slide Projectors

- No face to face contact with audience since room usually darkened

- Projector at back of room away from speaker

- Not effective in a fully-lighted room

- No ability to modify slides and sequence during presentations

- Longer lead time (2 to 5 days) for preparation of slides

Presentation Techniques for Slide Projectors

- Use of blank slides to focus attention

+ Focus attention on visual

+ Blank to focus attention on speaker

- Progressive disclosure

+ Reveal one point at a time

+ Add to lists on screen

- Use of dissolve unit and two slide projectors to fade slides in and out

- Link to audio track with cue tape

Slide Projection Survival Kit

Below are a few essential items that may make the difference between a successful andunsuccessful presentation using slide projection These are especially important if you will

be presenting in a room without access to audio-visual support services

- Extension Cord - Rooms sometimes have the power outlets located in the most

inconvenient locations An extension cord may resolve such difficulties

- Ungrounded Plug Adapter - Some rooms do not have three-prong grounded outlets A

two-prong adapter will allow you to use these older power outlets without damaging theoverhead projector plug

- Spare Bulb - A spare bulb is always good insurance Make sure you know how to change

the bulb in case it burns out during your presentation Do not touch the glass surface of bulbs with your fingers, but handle bulbs by their metal or porcelain bases

- Coin - Slides sometimes warp or get stuck in the projector The only way to resolve this is

to take the tray off using a screw driver or a coin in the slot in the middle of the tray Be sure however, that the plastic lock ring is on your tray before you remove the tray to prevent dumping slides on the floor

- Spare Slide Tray - Sometimes a tray will become damaged on the projector The solution

is to move the slides to an undamaged tray

- Numbered Slides - Numbering your slides in the upper right hand corner will provide

assurance that you can put the slides back in the tray in order if they spill out or get stuck

* Oral Presentation Advice

Mark D Hill

Computer Sciences Department

University of Wisconsin-Madison

April 1992; Revised January 1997

Things to Think About

- Oral Communication is different from written communication

Listeners have one chance to hear your talk and can't "re-read" when they get confused Inmany situations, they have or will hear several talks on the same day Being clear isparticularly important if the audience can't ask questions during the talk There are two well-know ways to communicate your points effectively The first is to K.I.S.S (keep it simplestupid) Focus on getting one to three key points across Think about how much youremember from a talk last week Second, repeat key insights: tell them what you're going totell them (Forecast), tell them, and tell them what you told them (Summary)

- Think about your audience

Most audiences should be addressed in layers: some are experts in your sub-area, some areexperts in the general area, and others know little or nothing Who is most important to you?Can you still leave others with something? For example, pitch the body to experts, but makethe forecast and summary accessible to all

- Think about your rhetorical goals

For conference talks, for example, I recommend two rhetorical goals: leave your audiencewith a clear picture of the gist of your contribution, and make them want to read your paper.Your presentation should not replace your paper, but rather whet the audience appetite for it.Thus, it is commonly useful to allude to information in the paper that can't be coveredadequately in the presentation Below I consider goals for academic interview talks andclass presentations

This conference talk outline is a starting point, not a rigid template Most good speakersaverage two minutes per slide (not counting title and outline slides), and thus use about adozen slides for a twenty minute presentation

+ Motivation and Problem Statement (1-2 slides)

(Why should anyone care? Most researchers overestimate how much the audience knowsabout the problem they are attacking.)

+ Related Work (0-1 slides)

Cover superficially or omit; refer people to your paper

Do not put up large tables of numbers.)

- Summary (1 slide)

- Future Work (0-1 slides)

Optionally give problems this research opens up