Faculté de génie Génie mécanique
Faculty of Engineering Mechanical Engineering
ORAL PRESENTATIONS MADE EASY or How to Put an Audience to Sleep in Five Minutes W.L.H. Hallett
1. Organization/Preparation Perspective/Objectives: - what is your audience? what do they already know? - what do you want them to learn? to remember? (2-3 key points) - what are the most important things to communicate about your work? Organization: - basic structure: Introduction - introduce the topic, state objectives, give background Main Body of Presentation, which should be broken into major topics, eg. Objectives, Methods, Results Conclusion - summarize main points, indicate future directions - make an outline with main topics and subtopics - organize in terms of slides - each subtopic should have at least one separate slide devoted to it, and each slide presented should have a definite purpose Selection of Material: - illustrate main points only, avoid minor details - describe important concepts in terms of basic processes familiar to your audience - give representative results only - every graph must have a purpose - provide background information if material is likely to be unfamiliar to your audience - mathematics - use only essential equations, avoid derivations
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- avoid large numbers of slides - allow 1 minute for most slides, 2-3 minutes for each detailed slide. 15 - 20 slides is about right for a 20 - 30 minute seminar.
Presentation too long? - does each slide serve an important purpose? if not, delete or combine - prioritize each topic, delete the lower priority ones - don’t get bogged down in details
2. Graphics Layout: - strive for clean, uncluttered look - leave blank space around blocks of text or figures - no more than 12 lines/items of information on one slide - avoid busy backgrounds and gadgets - try to set up a uniform format for your slides
- each slide should have a title and clear headings and sub-headings - colours: strong contrast for text (black or blue letters on white background, or white or yellow on dark background works best). Avoid reds and fluorescent colours. Text: - for overheads, make lettering at least 6 mm high on 8.5 x 11 sheet (24 point type) - computer slide lettering should be larger (30 pt minimum) to compensate for focussing or resolution problems (some video projectors do not focus sharply) - stick to plain fonts (Roman or Arial), use lower case (CAPITALS LOOK TOO BUSY) - give clear headings and sub-headings, preferably numbered - use a minimum number of words - audience is supposed to listen to you, not read Figures/Graphs: - each figure should have a title - keep graphs simple, don’t put too many variables on one graph. Label curves on graphs directly - legends or keys take too long for viewers to read, and some people are partially colour blind and won’t be able to distinguish colours in your legend. - label axes clearly, but don’t put too many numbers on the scale - remove gridlines from graphs - avoid drawings with unnecessary detail, dimensions, and notes. - diagrams should be as large as possible, preferably filling most of one slide - avoid tables - if you use them, make them large, few entries Test: you should be able to read your slides from a distance of 6 × screen diagonal from the computer (2 m for a 15" monitor - larger distance for a larger screen). Plan your slides so that they can also be your notes for speaking. You should not have to bring written notes to the presentation.
3.Delivery Speech - loud, clear, slow - avoid monotone, “valley girl” inflection, and, like, the word “like” - make eye contact with audience, make sure they're not sleeping - as much as possible, speak without notes, using the points in your slides as your outline, but avoid memorizing your talk. Audiences appreciate “live” presentations. Graphics: - don't stand in front of the screen - you aren't transparent! - introduce each graph ("this shows x plotted against y at constant z") - avoid laser pointers - they're hard to see and will betray your shaking hands Questions: - be honest, be brief - don't know answer? don't stonewall or improvise! - repeat question in case audience hasn't heard it - dealing with jerks - be polite, rebut comments, but don't get into public arguments