Preparing Powerpoint Presentations for Conferences: Tips for Students Ellie Kazemi, Ph.D. California State University, Northridge Presented 5/9/2017

General Content Tips Cardinal rule - Effective and efficient communication Determine content before selecting design and animation Your vocal verbal behavior should include the displayed to minimize distractions Display a few words and stick to one straight forward sentence (max 2) for each bullet

Develop an Outline Map out your take home points For empirical talks This will help you stick to the objective of your talk For empirical talks Take each line from your abstract (intro, method, results, and implications), paste into slides, and expand on each slide Make sure there is a logical flow between your slides

Slide Titles Use a new title on each slide Use familiar headings Introduction Method Participants & Setting Response Measurement & Reliability Procedure Baseline Intervention Generalization probe Results Implications (instead of Discussion) References

General Visual Presentation Tips Keep all slides consistent Background Keep simple and select color that provides high contrast to text Number your slides Titles (appear in same exact location across slides) Text (size, style, line spacing, shadowing) Type citations in smaller text (e.g., 24 pt) Avoid fancy fonts and keep same font throughout Use larger font, underline, or color to emphasize Bullets Keep bullets simple, 50-60% of size of text, and consistent

Transitions Ideal rate is 1-2 minutes per slide Organize your outline into 15-20 slides Your presentation should be 15 minutes total State a few words between slides to transition to new slide If your slide titles are same size and in same place, transition between slides crisp

Highlighting and Emphasizing On tables or graphs, highlight or outline to make it easier for your audience to follow Action in the highlighting shapes Example below

Pictures and Graphs Place borders around pictures, tables, and graphs Example below

Displaying Results Occurrence of Elopement from class and Yard DRO + Token Economy BL M=PM 79 % M=PM 86 % PM > 93 % Class Yard

Adhere to APA Guidelines In text citations (Shapiro & Kazemi, 2017) (Fahmie et al., 2016) Reference in sentence Shapiro and Kazemi (2017) reviewed training strategies

General Vocal Presentation Avoid writing complete sentences because you’ll become dependent on them Copy and paste your notes into a MS Word file Edit your written work and keep your VB simple Use words you know and can pronounce with ease Limit yourself to one sentence for each bullet on slide Practice presenting Practice varying your words and looking relaxed Practice by standing up Keep your hands steady and use them for emphasis only Use presentation mode to get use to transitioning and auctioning items Practice your pace, speak loud, and enunciate clearly

Presenting your Results Orient audience to X-axis and Y-axis Explain what is on the plane (your legend) Begin by explaining the data paths in baseline Point to main findings and summarize what matters