ChE 4L2 Lecture

Acknowledgement: Lyndon Jones, University of Waterloo

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 You must prepare a 20 min PowerPoint (or Keynote, etc.)
presentation to accompany your talk

 Plug your laptop into the podium/bring a USB key backup/store

presentation in the cloud, bring an appropriate HDMI adapter

 E-mail your final presentation to Dr. de Lannoy (delannoy@mcmaster.ca) 2 days

before your presentation

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 20 min presentation (~ 17 – 19 min talk + questions)
 ~ 1 – 3 min questions from instructors, TAs, and
4L02 labmates
 Topic: Cycle 3 experiments

 Schedule to be posted on Avenue2Learn

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 Group presentation mark has component for
individual performance
 Presentation marked according to grading scheme
in courseware package
 Presentation = 15% of overall grade
 Self/Group Assessment only submitted if there
was a perceived significant mismatch in effort

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Introduction ___ / 5 clear statement of problem included; background material and
theorybriefly outlined; specific objectives of experiment stated
Experimental ___ / 3 apparatus, chemicals, and experimental procedures outlined; key safety
issues highlighted
Results and ___ / 12 main findings and trends of experiment identified; key graphs or tables
Discussion presented clearly and properly formatted; data properly interpreted
relative to theory and experimental objectives; sources of error analyzed
(how did this affect your data!); recommendations for future experiments

Conclusions ___ / 3 key outcomes and significance of results toward addressing the
experimental objectives stated; no new information
Scope ___ / 3 key 2-3 points highlighted; proper amount of data presented
Questions ___ / 4 clear and correct responses to questions; good technique used
Content Total ____ / 30 (for all group members)

STYLE
Organization ___ / 8 logical order; clear story told during the presentation; correct timing; all
members participate in presentation equally
Slides ___ / 6 clear; graphs and text large enough to read; not too much text per slide

Technique ___ / 6 (#1) eye contact maintained with audience; professional manner and
___ / 6 (#2) approach; voice projected to audience
___ / 6 (#3)
___ / 6 (#4) 5
Introduction ___ / 5 clear statement of problem included; background material and
~ 3 - 4 Slides
theorybriefly outlined; specific objectives of experiment stated
Experimental ___ / 3 apparatus, chemicals, and experimental procedures outlined; key safety
~ 3 Slides
issues highlighted
Results and ___ / 12 main findings and trends of experiment identified; key graphs or tables
Discussion ~ 10 - 12
presented Slides
clearly and properly formatted; data properly interpreted
relative to theory and experimental objectives; sources of error analyzed
(how did this affect your data!); recommendations for future experiments

Conclusions ___ / 3 key outcomes and significance of results toward addressing the
~2 - 3 Slides
experimental objectives stated; no new information
Scope ___ / 3 key 2-3 points highlighted; proper amount of data presented
Questions ___ / 4 clear and correct responses to questions; good technique used
Content Total ____ / 30 (for all group members)

STYLE
Organization ___ / 8 logical order; clear story told during the presentation; correct timing; all
members participate in presentation equally
Slides ___ / 6 clear; graphs and text large enough to read; not too much text per slide

Technique ___ / 6 (#1) eye contact maintained with audience; professional manner and
___ / 6 (#2) approach; voice projected to audience
___ / 6 (#3)
___ / 6 (#4) 6
 If you perceived there to be a significant
mismatch in effort
▪ Fill in Self/Group Assessment excel file (posted in
A2L)
▪ Rank yourself and your teammates xx/10
 If there is consensus in effort mismatch
 Then,
▪ 50% of presentation grade will be scaled by xx/10

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Sia and Logan’s grade
remains unchanged

Oscar’s grade is scaled

by:

1+2
𝑀 𝑀 2
𝑀= + ×
2 2 10

For example, if Oscar

originally received 85%
on his presentation,
now he will get 48.9%

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 Communicating ideas in a clear, succinct, and simple manner is
a key skill for any engineer
 Communication via presentations is not just oral

 Visual (graphs, text, props) as

well as vocal component of
presentation are key to
Vocal Text Visual effective communication
35% 10% 55%

 Good presentations need attention to content, style and delivery

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 Your presentation should be a story, with all the ideas
forming a narrative
 Paint “word pictures” that create images
▪ the best public speakers are storytellers

 The best stories are cats personal

▪ easy to remember
▪ make your presentation unique
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 Begin by writing the final few slides
▪ summary and take-home messages
▪ most people remember 2-3 things about
any presentation – make them count!

 Then do the “meat” of the presentation

 Then do the introduction
▪ important to set the scene
▪ make a great first impression
▪ set up your results and your take-home message
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 Ensure a natural flow from one slide to
another
 Ensure each of your slides/graphs are
relevant to the story you are telling

 After every statement you make,

ask yourself, “So what?”
 If you cannot justify it – DUMP IT!
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 Design your presentation in ~10 min blocks
▪ adult attention spans average 10-20 mins
 Tell them what you’re going to tell them
▪ Outline - aim for 1 min (maximum) in a 20 min talk
 Tell them
▪ body of the talk

 Then tell them what you told them

▪ end with a restatement of the key points
- “take home points”
▪ aim for 1-2 mins in a 20 min talk
 Make explicit transitions with sectional summaries
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 Finish on time (or early)
▪ even if it means leaving content out
▪ leave them “wanting more detail”, not less

 Always get your important message out early

▪ never keep the key message until the end of your speech
▪ Fine for M. Night Shyamalan “plot twists”, terrible for
presentations
▪ You can start with the biggest result first, i.e. Tarantino your story

 Use pptx presenter view so you know how your timing is

going in your presentation (or glance at the clock)
▪ number your slides!! 14
 Use a guideline of a maximum of one slide per minute
▪ Introduction slides tend to take longer, results slides
tend to take less time
▪ everyone is different – rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!

 Don’t try to get more slides in by talking quicker

▪ 60 slides in 17 minutes doesn't work!!

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 Your message must be readable
 Which is easier to read?
▪ Hemodialysis is fun (Arial)
▪ Hemodialysis is fun (Harrington)
▪ Hemodialysis is fun (Edwardian)
▪ Hemodialysis is fun (Times)
▪ Hemodialysis is fun (Wingdings)

 Keep to “clear” fonts such as Arial, Helvetica, Times, Corbel,

Verdana, etc.
 Don’t use more than 2 fonts per slide
 In general, serif fonts for lengthy text (books) and sans-serif for
captions, charts, graphs, etc. 16
 Your message must be seen
 Which is easier to read?
▪ Hemodialysis is fun! (14)

▪ Hemodialysis is fun (24)

▪ Hemodialysis is fun! (32)

 Keep to “useful” font size (28)

▪ use 32 - 40 point font for headings
▪ 24 - 28 point font for main text
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 Your message must not be lost due to
excessive use of colour

 Which is easier to read and conveys the message

most rapidly?
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!

 Use BOLD, UNDERLINE or COLOUR for emphasis only

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 Your message must be readable

 Use contrasting colours for your text and your

background
▪ Best: Black on white, white on black, light on dark

 Avoid excessive detail in your background

▪ detracts from message

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 Which is easier to read?
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!

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 Which is easier to read?
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!

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 Which is easier to read?
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!

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 Which is easier to read?
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!

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 Which is easier to read?
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!
▪ Hemodialysis is fun!

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 Animations are useful to highlight key points, but can
be distracting!
 Don’t use animations excessively
▪ distracting
 Try to use no more than one type

 Don’t animate slowly

 Animations will slow you down

▪ use fewer slides

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  Include text only in point form, not sentences
 Use text as key points/vocal cues, not your script
 Following the introduction, the experimental section describes what you did over
the course of the experiment to investigate the objectives outlined in your
introduction. The experimental section can be subdivided into four main sub-
sections. You may choose to include these subtitles in your report to facilitate easy
evaluation.
▪ Apparatus and Chemicals – Include text and/or a diagram which describes each major component and the
setup of your experimental system. You may wish to include specific information from the supplier, a process
flow diagram, equipment schematics, and/or particular specifications or settings you used in your experiment.
You should also include a table of relevant properties from the manufacturer of any chemicals you used in the
experiment (excluding things like air or water). In particular, be sure to describe properties which are related
to the safe handling of the chemical you used (e.g. flash point, threshold limit value (TLV), etc.) and the degree
of purity of the chemicals (e.g. AR grade, technical grade, etc.).

▪ Procedures - If you directly followed step-by-step procedures from the laboratory manual, simply reference the
manual in this section. However, if you used modified procedures not fully described in the lab manual, you
should include these in sufficient detail that someone else reading your report could repeat your experiment.

▪ Experiments Conducted – For experiments involving several runs under different conditions, include a table
listing all the operating conditions and variable set points you tested. This section may not be required for all
experiments – talk to your TA.

▪ Safety Hazards and Precautions - You should indicate any special hazards of the chemicals or equipment you
used and detail safety-related procedures you undertook to ensure safe use of the equipment and/or safe
handling and disposal of chemicals. Remember to allow for any dilutions you used in assessing chemical risk;
for example, the hazards associated with a 0.1 mol/L sodium hydroxide solution are NOT the same as those for
solid NaOH.
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 20 min presentation (~ 17 – 19 min talk + questions)
 ~ 3 – 5 min questions from instructors, TAs, and
4L02 labmates
 Results of Cycle 3 experiments
 Schedule and room updated to be posted on
Avenue in the next week
 Group presentation mark has component for
individual performance
 Presentation marked according to grading scheme
in courseware package
 Presentation = 15% of overall grade
 Anonymous peer evaluations to be e-mailed too! 27
 20 min presentation (~ 17 – 19 min talk + questions)
 ~ 3 – 5 min questions from instructors, TAs, and
4L02 labmates
 Results of Cycle 3 experiments

 Schedule and room update to be posted on Avenue

in the next week

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 Simple exercise:

 Should you read text off of your slides?

 When?
 Press conferences, direct quotes

PROS CONS
• Say precisely what you want • BOOOOOOOOOOORING
• Little memorization

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 Simple exercise:

“Reading a presentation is appropriate for a press

conference or if reading a quotation within a
presentation. Although there are obvious benefits to
scripting the whole talk, audiences are turned off by a
person reading text to them. Some authors will read
text verbatim on the slide, in lieu of explicit talking
points. Because the audience can read faster than the
speaker can read the text aloud, slides should be used
as a teleprompter. If precision in your working is
important, I recommend scripting.” 30
  Whenever possible, replace text for cartoons,
schematics, or pictures
 Conventional tablets or
injections create spikes in
Drug Concentration

Conventional drug release as a function of

tablets/injections time and rapid reductions in
plasma levels
in Blood

Range of safe  Risk of overdoses

clinical efficacy  Short dose duration

Ideal controlled  Controlled release drug

release delivery devices are
Time targeted to deliver drugs
within the desired clinical
 Increased safety vs. overdoses concentration range over an
 Improved efficacy extended period of time
 No risk of overdose
 Better clinical efficacy
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 Ensure diagrams/graphs are not too intricate to be invisible
from the back of the room
▪ Be especially aware of font sizes on graph axes/labels
▪ Include only one key graph/diagram per slide to emphasize main point

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 Look professional
▪ Don’t wear shorts if a big conference
▪ Don’t wear a full suit if everyone else is
in chinos and golf shirts
 Don’t have things nearby that you
can fiddle with
▪ coins in your pocket
▪ Hair in your face (put it up!)
▪ Practice for someone! They can spot
habits that are distracting

 Pro tip: check your flies!

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 Avoid writing out a complete lecture script
▪ too time-consuming to prepare
▪ prevents you from maintaining eye contact
▪ your voice will project downward
▪ you will appear disengaged
 Use keywords to launch into a concept
 Avoid cue cards
▪ Your slides should act as cue cards!

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 Your body’s reaction to fear is natural
▪ seasoned presenters, performers,
and politicians still experience fear
▪ they have learned how to channel it
into “energy”
▪ the goal is to learn how to control fear,
not eliminate it
 Be prepared
 Slow down
 Think: Confidence
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 Arrive early
 Prepare well
▪ especially introduction and conclusion
▪ “if you fail to prepare, be prepared to fail”
▪ rehearse at least 4 times
▪ rehearse against the clock

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 Arrive early
 Prepare well
▪ especially introduction and conclusion
▪ “if you fail to prepare, be prepared to fail”
▪ rehearse at least 4 times
▪ rehearse against the clock
 Practice
▪ present in front of a mirror or with a small group of friends
▪ consider making a video of yourself (I know it’s awkward)
▪ be more intentional about scripting the first 1-2 slides

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 Have a backup plan
▪ if using your own computer, have a copy of your presentation
on a USB key
▪ know what you will do if the projector doesn’t work
▪ be prepared to present without your visual aids
 Know your audience
▪ needs and expectations?
▪ avoid jargon
▪ Don’t talk down to them
▪ How many cats is too many cats?
 Use relaxation exercises
▪ stretching, deep breathing, etc can help slow your heart rate 38
 Remember your audience wants
you to succeed!
▪ audiences get uncomfortable when a
presenter struggles!
 Ignore mistakes, and don't
apologize
▪ often only you know what went wrong
 Remember that most of your fear
symptoms don't show
▪ your audience can’t see the butterflies in
your stomach or the sweat on your palms
(they can see your fly down though) 39
 Maintaining regular eye contact with
your entire audience is CRITICAL
▪ you make a connection with audience
▪ audience is motivated to listen to you
 Do NOT speak to your slides
 Eye contact is the most important
element of delivery skills
▪ Pretend you're having a conversation with individual
audience members
▪ look into individuals' eyes for 2-3 seconds
▪ look all around the room, not just in particular places
▪ Pro tip: in big rooms look above everyone’s heads 40
 Convey your enthusiasm for the
material
▪ vary your vocal speed and pitch
▪ don’t rush – silence between
words never seems as long to an
audience as to you!
▪ speak slower than you talk
normally
▪ if you don't seem interested in your
talk, why should anyone else?

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 Move around/use natural
gestures
▪ ... but only in moderation – make it
natural, not a caricature of yourself!
▪ especially important for large
audiences
▪ Find a comfortable range for
yourself!

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 Use the laser pointer sparingly
▪ Highlight key points you want to
emphasize (take-home message)
▪ Highlight trends on graphs

 Move the pointer to and from the

screen while off
▪ Blinding your audience not
recommended
 Do not let your laser pointing
distract from your words
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 Consider using humour when
appropriate
 Some presenters find it natural
▪ it will happen
 Some not natural at all!

 Not necessarily “funny ha ha”

▪ Observational often best
▪ Real life stories best of all
 Use humour to enhance, not
distract from, your message
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 Answering questions well is one of the most
important and challenging presentation skills
 Make sure you understand the question
▪ Ask for clarifications, ask questions to your questioner
 Repeat the question so everybody can hear it

 Answer the question directly

 Do not be afraid to say “I don’t know”
 Reply to the whole audience, not just the person
who asked you the question
 It’s okay to “bait” questions!
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 Remain calm
 Respond to heckler using
science, not emotion
 Don’t let yourself get dragged
into a dirty argument
▪ If the heckler persists, respond
with “thank you for your opinion”
and move on to the next question
 Don’t give the heckler
credibility

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 Finishing late
 Lacking passion
 Information overload
 Boring your audience
 Confusing your audience
 Insulting your audience
 Discrediting yourself
 Using irrelevant slides/text

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 Assume that the audience will only
remember 3 key things, so emphasize
them

 Use visual aids appropriately

 Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!
 Engage your audience with your
enthusiasm (interest) and competence
(trust) For more tips:
http://presentationskills.ca
For more cats:
delannoy@mcmaster.ca 48
Additional Resources

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