10 November 2009
By Hannah Dee
Giving good talks is central to the work of an academic, and it's surprising how many of us are simply not very well developed in this core skill. At a conference a few weeks ago I saw about 30 presentations which ranged from the outstanding to the mediocre... But I'm not going to name and shame. That wouldn't be fair, and I'm not a naturally great presenter myself. Instead, I'm going to draw your attention to a currently popular powerpoint page: The Pointless Overview Slide.
Nearly every talk had one. It reads as follows:
- Waffly bit (Introduction / Motivation)
- Other people's stuff (Previous work / Background / Related research)
- What I have done (Method / Algorithms / System design / Experiments)
- How well it worked (Results / Evaluation)
- Waffly bit (Conclusions / Discussion / Suggestions for future research)
Now this is a sensible structure for a scientific talk. You've got 20 minutes to try and persuade people to read your paper, so you need to convince them that you've done something that is interesting and that works r reasonably well, and that you know how it relates to the existing literature. But do you really need to signpost this if every single talk has the same signs? Some speakers return to the overview slide between each section to remind the audience where they are in the talk, colouring in each bullet as they go. Maybe I'm being harsh here, but if your audience can't tell that you've moved from background to method without an extra slide then maybe the rest of the talk needs some work.
So I'd like to suggest that people mix it up a bit. Your audience have probably just eaten lunch (or if you're really unlucky, the audience has just woken up on the morning after the banquet). Why not start with some results? Why not assume they're clever enough to keep up? It gives you more time for the meat of the talk, and you've not got very long to speak.
Elizabeth Dodson10 November 2009 at 03:46 PM
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I know that signposting is often one of the key messages within training on how to give good presentations - so it's not surprising that people have a tendency to automatically follow this structure. Standing back from that point though, there is the wider issue of how PowerPoint can affect what we present and how. I think the article "PowerPoint is Evil" gives a particularly good overview of this! http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html However done in the right way, I think PowerPoint can be great - I just wish that the comedian Dave Gorman was in charge of teaching presentation skills across the country!
Roger Boyle10 November 2009 at 04:43 PM
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Spot on! "Trainers" would do well to read this post. It amazes me how many professional teachers simply don't know how to communicate with their audience (and how many trainers are prepared to advocate Powerpoint as though there is No Other Way).
Chris Thomson11 November 2009 at 07:52 AM
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If you want to improve your presentations I can recommend http://www.presentationzen.com/ since following tips in his book and on the blog I've had a lot of complements!
Dan Black11 November 2009 at 10:18 AM
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Even worse it takes up time in the first 5 minutes of the presentation when people are deciding whether to stay awake or not.
Elizabeth Dodson11 November 2009 at 11:32 AM
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Thanks for the link Chris - I've just been looking at the website and am now seriously tempted to buy the book!
Chris Thomson11 November 2009 at 11:42 AM
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The book is quite brief, I ordered it through my local library (local authority not University) who didn't have a copy but bought one as they thought it would have wide appeal. So I borrowed it and made notes, which for me was enough, after all I can always borrow it again.
David Proctor11 November 2009 at 07:32 PM
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I'm going to tread carefully here since some of you recently saw me speak a week ago. Paul Smaglik posted an interesting topic in the Careers Advice by NatureJobs forum on the nature network http://network.nature.com/groups/naturejobs/forum/topics/5955 It's tailored to scientists, so here's the link to the BusinessWeek article that inspired his topic http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/oct2009/sb2009106_706829.htm
David Proctor11 November 2009 at 07:33 PM
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"Recently saw me speak a week ago" Wow. I need to go for a walk.
Matthew Salois12 November 2009 at 09:55 AM
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I am definitely guilty of using powerpoint as crutch, more than anything else. Perhaps I even put information on slides moreso to keep me on tack than to provide anything of value to the audience. Thanks for posting these great resources. The "Power Point is Evil!" presentation is also entertaining!