PRESENTATION SKILLS

1. Presentation Skills

2. 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

3. 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

4. Making PowerPoint Slides
Avoiding the Pitfalls of Bad Slides

5. Tips to be Covered
 Outlines
 Slide Structure
 Fonts
 Colour
 Background
 Graphs
 Spelling and Grammar
 Conclusions
 Questions

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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.

9. 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

10. Slide Structure - Bad
 Do not use distracting animation
 Do not go overboard with the animation
 Be consistent with the animation that you
use

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. Background – Bad
 Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or
difficult to read from
 Always be consistent with the background
that you use

17. 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

18. 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

19. Graphs - Good
Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
January February March April
Blue Balls
Red Balls

20. Graphs - Bad
20.4
27.4
90
20.4
30.6
38.6
34.6
31.6
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
January February March April
Blue Balls
Red Balls

21. Graphs - Bad
 Minor gridlines are unnecessary
 Font is too small
 Colours are illogical
 Title is missing
 Shading is distracting

22. 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!

23. 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

24. 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

25. Making Presentations That
Audiences Will Love

26. 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.

27. 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.

28. Font Size
 Bulleted items should be no smaller than 22
points.
 The title should be no smaller than 28
points.

29. 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.

30. 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.

31. 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

32. 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.

33. 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.

34. 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

35. Clashing Colors
 Colors that are
directly opposite from
one another are said
to clash.
 These provide
readability - e.g.
yellow on blue.

36. To make a slide stand out,
change the font or
background

37. 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

38. Flipcharts
 Make letters at least a
1/4 high
 Flipcharts with lines
are much easier to
write on

39. Aspect Ratios for Media
 Overhead Transparency 4:5
 Video 3:4
 35mm Transparency 2:3

40. 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)

41. 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
“Deathby PowerPoint”

42. Scientific Presentations:
Do’s and Don’ts

43. 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."

44. Scientific Presentation
2) Practice your talk
3) Don't put in too much material
4) Avoid equations
5) Have only a few conclusion points

45. 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.

46. 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

47. Handouts: Few Tips

48. Printing handouts

49. 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”

50. Conclusion
Use of properly formatted slides
Use of basic effective presentation skills
Effective use of presentation skills in
scientific presentations
Handouts

53. Thank you; Any
questions?
vksathyajit@gmail.com