Presentation Skills
Presentation: Definition
Something presented : as
a : a symbol or image that represents
something
b : something offered or given
c: an immediate object of perception,
cognition, or memory
Presentation Skills: What,
where, how
PowerPoint Slides
Rules and guide to good presentation
Examples of good and not so spectacular
slides
What makes a good scientific presentation
A word about Handouts
Conclusion
Making PowerPoint Slides
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Bad Slides
Tips to be Covered
Outlines
Slide Structure
Fonts
Colour
Background
Graphs
Spelling and Grammar
Conclusions
Questions
Outline
Make your 1st or 2nd slide an outline of your
presentation
Ex: previous slide
Follow the order of your outline for the rest
of the presentation
Only place main points on the outline slide
Ex: Use the titles of each slide as main points
Slide Structure – Good
Use 1-2 slides per minute of your
presentation
Write in point form, not complete
sentences
Include 4-5 points per slide
Avoid wordiness: use key words and
phrases only
Slide Structure - Bad
This page contains too many words for a
presentation slide. It is not written in point
form, making it difficult both for your
audience to read and for you to present
each point. Although there are exactly the
same number of points on this slide as the
previous slide, it looks much more
complicated. In short, your audience will
spend too much time trying to read this
paragraph instead of listening to you.
Slide Structure – Good
Show one point at a time:
Will help audience concentrate on what you
are saying
Will prevent audience from reading ahead
Will help you keep your presentation focused
Slide Structure - Bad
Do not use distracting animation
Do not go overboard with the animation
Be consistent with the animation that you
use
Fonts - Good
Use at least an 18-point font
Use different size fonts for main points and
secondary points
this font is 24-point, the main point font is 28-
point, and the title font is 36-point
Use a standard font like Times New
Roman or Arial
Fonts - Bad
If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written
CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY.
IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ
Don’t use a complicated font
Colour - Good
Use a colour of font that contrasts sharply
with the background
Ex: blue font on white background
Use colour to reinforce the logic of your
structure
Ex: light blue title and dark blue text
Use colour to emphasize a point
But only use this occasionally
Colour - Bad
Using a font colour that does not contrast
with the background colour is hard to read
Using colour for decoration is distracting
and annoying.
Using a different colour for each point is
unnecessary
Using a different colour for secondary points
is also unnecessary
Trying to be creative can also be bad
Background - Good
Use backgrounds such as this one that
are attractive but simple
Use backgrounds which are light
Use the same background consistently
throughout your presentation
Background – Bad
Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or
difficult to read from
Always be consistent with the background
that you use
Graphs - Good
Use graphs rather than just charts and
words
Data in graphs is easier to comprehend &
retain than is raw data
Trends are easier to visualize in graph form
Always title your graphs
Graphs - Bad
January February March April
Blue Balls 20.4 27.4 90 20.4
Red Balls 30.6 38.6 34.6 31.6
Graphs - Good
Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002
100
90
80
70
60
Blue Balls
50
Red Balls
40
30
20
10
0
January February March April
Graphs - Bad
100
90
90
80
70
60
Blue Balls
50
Red Balls
40 38.6
34.6
30.6 31.6
30 27.4
20.4 20.4
20
10
0
January February March April
Graphs - Bad
Minor gridlines are unnecessary
Font is too small
Colours are illogical
Title is missing
Shading is distracting
Spelling and Grammar
Proof your slides for:
speling mistakes
the use of of repeated words
grammatical errors you might have make
If English is not your first language, please
have someone else check your
presentation!
Conclusion
Use an effective and strong closing
Your audience is likely to remember your last
words
Use a conclusion slide to:
Summarize the main points of your
presentation
Suggest future avenues of research
Questions??
End your presentation with a simple
question slide to:
Invite your audience to ask questions
Provide a visual aid during question period
Avoid ending a presentation abruptly
Making Presentations That
Audiences Will Love
Use a Template
Use a set font and color scheme.
Different styles are disconcerting to the
audience.
You want the audience to focus on what
you present, not the way you present.
Fonts
Choose a clean font that is easy to read.
Roman and Gothic typefaces are easier to
read than Script or Old English.
Stick with one or two types of fonts.
Font Size
Bulleted items should be no smaller than 22
points.
The title should be no smaller than 28
points.
Bullets
Keep each bullet to one line, two at the
most.
Limit the number of bullets in a screen to
six, four if there is a large title, logo,
picture, etc.
This is known as “cueing”
You want to “cue” the audience in on what you
are going to say.
Cues can be thought of as a brief “preview.”
This gives the audience a “framework” to build
upon.
Bullets (con.)
If you crowd too much text, the audience
will not read it.
Too much text makes it look busy and is hard
to read.
Why should they spend the energy reading it,
when you are going to tell them what it says?
Our reading speed does not match our
listening speed; hence, they confuse instead
of reinforcing each other.
Caps and Italics
Do not use all capital letters
Makes text hard to read
Conceals acronyms
Denies their use for EMPHASIS
Italics
Used for “quotes”
Used to highlight thoughts or ideas
Used for book, journal, or magazine titles
Colors
Reds and oranges are high-energy but
can be difficult to stay focused on.
Greens, blues, and browns are mellower,
but not as attention grabbing.
White on dark background should not be
used if the audience is more than 20 feet
away.
This set of slides is a good example.
You can easily read the slides up close.
It is harder to read the further away you get.
Backgrounds
A white on a dark background is used for
slides if:
Most users will view the presentation on their
own computer.
Having a dark background on a computer
screen reduces glare.
The Color Wheel
Colors separated by
another color are
contrasting colors
(also known as
complementary)
Adjacent colors (next
to each other)
harmonize with one
another. e.g. Green
and Yellow
The color wheel
below is simplified for
easy use
Clashing Colors
Colors that are
directly opposite from
one another are said
to clash.
These provide
readability - e.g.
yellow on blue.
To make a slide stand out,
change the font or
background
Illustrations
Use only when needed, otherwise they
become distracters instead of
communicators
They should relate to the message and
help make a point
Ask yourself if it makes the message
clearer
Simple diagrams are great communicators
Flipcharts
Make letters at least a
1/4 high
Flipcharts with lines
are much easier to
write on
Aspect Ratios for Media
Overhead Transparency 4:5
Video 3:4
35mm Transparency 2:3
Overhead & 35mm Screen Size
for Readability
Screen 6’ 8’ 10’ 12’ 15’
1/4 inch 30’ 40’ 50’ 60’ 90’
3/8 inch 45’ 60’ 75’ 90’ 135’
1/2 inch 60’ 80’ 100’ 120’ 180’
Examples:
1/4” type shown on a screen size of 6’ can be seen 30’
away (20 point Times Roman equals 1/4” type)
1/2” type shown on a 10’ screen can be seen 75’ away (40
point Times Roman equals 1/4” type)
YOU
Do not use the media to hide you
The audience came to see you
The media should enhance the presentation, not
BE the presentation
If all you are going to do is read from the slides
or overheads, then just send them the slides
Remember, only you can prevent
“Death by PowerPoint”
Scientific Presentations:
Do’s and Don’ts
Scientific Presentation
1) Prepare your material carefully and logically. Tell a
story. The story should have four parts:
(a) Introduction (b) Method (c) Results
(d) Conclusion/Summary.
"Tell'em what you are going to tell'em.
Tell'em. Then tell'em what you told'em."
Scientific Presentation
2) Practice your talk
3) Don't put in too much material
4) Avoid equations
5) Have only a few conclusion points
Scientific Presentation
6) Talk to the audience not to the screen
7) Avoid making distracting sounds like “
uuuhhh” and “mmm”
8) Polish your graphics
9) Use humor if possible, but don’t go overboard
10) Check your viewgraphs before you give the
talk
11) Switch off your cell phones if possible.
Scientific Presentation
12) Be personable in taking questions.
First, repeat the question.
If you don't know the answer then say "I don't
know, I will have to look into that."
If the questioner disagrees with you and it looks
like there will be an argument then defuse the
situation.
Never insult the questioner ( S/he may have
contacts you don’t know about!
13) Thank you Slide
Handouts: Few Tips
Printing handouts
Handouts
Passing out Handouts:
Can pass it out during presentation
If flow interrupted, pass out before start
If more than one, can give out “package”
Conclusion
Use of properly formatted slides
Use of basic effective presentation skills
Effective use of presentation skills in
scientific presentations
Handouts
Thank you; Any
questions?
vksathyajit@[Link]
