Presentations Skills

Great speakers aren’t born,

they are trained

Presenting is a skill
developed through training
and experience
1
 Presentation Outline
• Guidance
• One slide per 2 minutes (max)
• Time limit
• Medical Diagnostics presentation is 15 minutes
• Dissertation presentation is 30 minutes
• Convey the essence of the work
• Appropriate
• Use figures and/or tables
• Q&A
• Asking questions shows understanding

2
 Presentation Content

●Title slide • Results

−Be informative • Focus on specifics
●Background • Discussion
−Overview • Compare to other data
- Previous work • Conclusions
−Aims • summary
●Basic methods • References
−An overview

3
 Presentation Mark Scheme
Four categories - 25 marks each

•Communication with audience

• Speaking, tone, eye contact, use of notes

•Quality of presentation
• Coherent, logical, timing

•Coverage and sources

• Content, sources

•Understanding
• Ideas, critical thinking, asking/answering questions

4
Slide Layout

• Background
• Colour scheme
• Font
• Text amount
• Spelling
• Figures / Tables
• Referencing
• Animation

5
 Designing good slides

Content
Balance content to structure
Color
Know your room and lighting
Dark room – use light font on dark background
Bright room – use dark font on light background
Subliminal messages
Consider your audience and use carefully

6
Visual aids
PowerPoint slides
Overhead transparencies
Graphs
Pictures
Web links
Films/video
Flip charts
Sketches
White board
7
 Visual aids

Use fonts ( Arial, Tahoma, Verdana)

Titles should be 32-44 font size
Text should be as large as possible
First level 24-32 font size
Second level 20-28 font size
Use contrasting colors

8
 Fonts

• Choose a sensible size

• Make it possible to read

• Choose one font style

• Using multiple fonts
• can be very distracting
• Difficult to read

• Maintain a single colour

• Change if appropriate

9
Pictures as Background
• It can make it very difficult to read.

10
Pictures as Background
• At 55% transparency
• Distracting
• Audience looks at background
• Stick with plainer

11
Red vs Blue

12
Contrast

13
 Slide Colour Scheme
Instantly noticeable
First impression
Use sensible colour
combinations
White only is quite harsh
Try a touch of colour
Think of background & text
Use text that stands out
Poor example: Yellow
Good example: Red

14
Slide Background

15
 Figures and Tables

• Picture says a 1000 words

• Use figures to illustrate
• Figures should have:
• Relevance (humour can illustrate a point)
• Clarity
• Size
• Reference

16
Complicated Figures

17
 Size and Clarity

Life Technologies, 2013

Oxford Nanopore, 2013

18
Illumina, 2013
Tables

19
Martiny et al., 2011
 Doxcycline Resistance in Streptococci Pre- and
Post-Treatment
Subject A Subject B
Species Pre-treat Post-treat Pre-treat Post-treat
S R S R S R S R
Streptococcus australis 0 0 0 7 7
Streptococcus constellatus 49 0 2 0
Streptococcus cristatus 6 0 18 9 9
Streptococcus gordonii 10 0 13 0
Streptococcus infantis 0 0 0 1 1
Streptococcus intermedius 47 0 7 0
Streptococcus oralis 2 2 4 4 0 26 26
Streptococcus parasanguinis 0 20 20 0 46 46
Streptococcus sanguinis 8 6 98 98 5 0
 Notes
• Try using without
• Know your subject

• Use bullet points

• Slides
• Paper
• Tablet
• Powerpoint reader notes

• Do not read word for word directly off the slide as your audience
is able reading the words

21
Opening Your Presentation

Introduce yourself
Get attention
Build humor
Introduce topic
What is the problem

22
Presenting main points

Make point-transition
Supporting evidence
Provide examples
Feedback and questions from audience
Attention to audience
Focus on audience

23
Effective speaker

The voice used

The right words
Use of body language
Notes
The right location
Useful visual aids

24
Vocal Techniques

Loudness
Make points
Watch your audience
Pause for effect
Allow time for message
Deviate from the norm for emphasis

25
 Body language
Make eye contact
Use your hands, but don’t go crazy
If possible move around
Make sure everyone can see you
Do not speak with your back to the audience

26
 Notes

Learn and use a script for formal

presentations
Small note cards, or PPT notes page, can
be used
Underline key words that will best remind
you what you want to say
Use one card for each slide or topic
If possible, have someone else advance
slides for you

27
 Questions and answers

Opportunities Pitfalls
Welcoming gestures Hostile gestures
Focusing gaze Wandering gaze
Body language Body language
Getting point Missing point
Reinforcing message Seeking approval
Excluding audience
Including audience

28