2. Jessica Purcell Suggestions for giving effective presentations that will captivate your audience in 16 easy steps X

3. How to give an effective presentation Jessica Purcell Department of Zoology University of British Columbia

4. Acknowledgments Thanks to my classmates from Zoo502 2004/2005 for reminding me what NOT to do in a presentation!

5. Presentation Outline I will show a variety of examples of presentation tools that may distract your audience, but they are still really fun to play with! Effective tools Course goal Disclaimer

6. I will be silly in this talk, but these issues are real!

7. Things to Avoyd in PowerPoint Crazy colour skemes Distracting animation Unecessary Sound (I can’t even bring myself to include sound affects) Speling errors Putting too many words on slides Reading directly off slides Difficult to read fonts Small type Pictures or graphs that do not contribute to your point Dark on dark and light on light What to avoid

8. PowerPoint Dos Keep slides simple!!! - Few words (rule of 5) Large text (24 pt) Plan about one slide per minute! Explain figures slowly and clearly! What to do

9. Figures (supervisor only) Linear regression R 2 =0.95, p<0.0001 Time spent explaining figures (seconds) # audience members histograms regressions box plots 0102030405060 1 10 100 Take home message: Take the time to explain figures!! Effective Tools

10. What not to do while presenting Don’t turn your back to the audience Don’t block anyone’s view of the screen Don’t rush Don’t fiddle Don’t ‘wing it’ Don’t expect your audience “to know” Don’t use jargon! Don’t apologize!!!! What to avoid

11. Oh Shit, where’s my graph? What to avoid

12. Technical Issues Always PDF, just in case! Mac/PC issues # of pixels If projector colour lamps are not working, low contrast colours will be invisible!! What to avoid

13. What to do while presenting Breathe Make eye contact with audience members Interact with your slides Speak clearly Know your audience What to do

14. Presentations differ from writing Being repetitive can be GOOD! It’s ok to be informal Less constraint imposed by formatting What to do

15. Developing your style Different styles can be equally effective (e.g. humour, unique slide layout, attractive visual aids) What to do

16. ONE MEMORABLE SPEAKER USED HUGE FONT!

17. Developing your style Different styles can be equally effective Be careful not to go overboard on gimmicks Figure out what works for you! What to do

18. Presentation Outline I will show a variety of examples of presentation tools that may distract your audience, but they are still really fun to play with! Effective tools Conlcusions, Course goal Disclaimer  

19. Conclusions Keep it simple! Use your presentation as an advertisement for your work Pitch to the right level for your audience Find your presentation style

20. Course Goal Essential skills for grad students Safe venue to practice & develop presentation skills Presentations will include: articles, teaching, your research.

21. Did I miss anything? What else drives you crazy? What do you admire in other people’s presentations?

22. Welcome to the department!