HOW TO GIVE AN ORAL RESEARCH PRESENTATION Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Professor Phillip Nagley

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION IN SCIENCE

l Content l Audiovisual aids l Delivery EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

l Content l Audiovisual aids l Delivery EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

CONTENT Telling a story about your research

Content of presentation l Statement of the problem l Background l The issue or question to be addressed l Specific aims l The approaches used l Results continues…...

Content of presentation Continued…… l Interpretation of data l Summary of research findings l Implications in a wider sphere l Conclusions

Statement of the problem l Headline l Sets context l Encapsulates the gist of the talk Tell them what you’re going to tell them

Background l What is known already l Some indication of significance in broader context Keep it relevant to your talk

Issue or question to be addressed Possible aspects……. l What you wanted to find out l Issue to be resolved Keep it general at this point

Specific aims l List the particular goals of your research l These should be carefully chosen to match what you actually carried out or what you achieved Don’t raise unrealistic expectations in your audience (but don’t undersell yourself, either)

The approaches used l Experimental system l Methods in general l Highlight any novel methods used or invented for this research Don’t go into too much detail here …… It’s NOT a Materials and Methods section!

Results l What you did for each experiment (or phase of the investigation) l What you observed (i.e. the data) Specific methods can be mentioned here…… This helps in the description of the experimental set up or technique used

Interpretation of data What you……. l found out l discovered l measured l re-evaluated l identified as being an artefact l realised had not answered the question This is often integrated with the presentation of individual Results

Summary of research findings l Outline succinctly what you found l This is what you know today, that you did not know before you started This helps the audience absorb the salient features of what you have been telling them in detail

Implications in a wider sphere This can be ……. l what you would like to find out further l experiments or techniques to solve the problem or extend the field further l why others may have got it wrong l new insights or opportunities l application of novel methods to other biological or clinical issues or topics …….or anything else relevant

Implications in a wider sphere The integration of your talk into the “bigger picture” is very important

Conclusions l Summarise the main points of your talk l Relate these back to the initial question l Link these to the specific aims l Outline the implications Try to do this on one slide (or transparency)

Conclusions l THIS IS THE TAKE HOME MESSAGE Do not finish your talk without it! Do not let your audience leave without it!

Content l The organisation listed above may not be applicable to all talks l Use your judgment in arranging your talk to achieve the optimal organisation GOOD ORGANISATION IS ONE OF THE THREE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

l Content l Audiovisual aids l Delivery EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Display items l Transparencies l Slides (35 mm) l PowerPoint slides

Clarity of logic l Relevance of content to the intended point l Logical links (wherever possible) to the preceding and subsequent display items These only need to be cues (words or images) that you use, as presenter, to help the audience follow the talk

Number of slides to be as few as possible l Do not use more than required l Omit irrelevant items The audience will appreciate a small number of slides, handled well, rather than a large number that induces “PowerPoint Fatigue Syndrome”

Keep slides non-cluttered l Avoid too much data l Do not show schematics that are too detailed l Omit unnecessary or irrelevant information

Keep slides non-cluttered

Figure 1. CMXRos photosensitization on a subpopulation of mitochondria induces rapid  m loss in non-irradiated mitochondria. (C) Quantitative determination of Rh123 retention in non-irradiated mitochondria of cells. Control cells to indicate either high  m and low  m were either treated without or with CCCP (20  M) respectively (n=20, n=15 respectively), loaded with Rh123 but not photoirradiated (Irr-). Other cells loaded with Rh123 alone (n=13) or with Rh123 and CMXRos (n=9) were subjected to partial irradiation (Irr+). Three regions of interest in the non-irradiated zone from each cell were arbitrarily selected to determine the fluorescence intensity of Rh123 in pixel units. The mean fluorescence intensity (  SEM) of Rh123 in each cell was obtained by averaging the pixel values of the three regions of interest. Measurements were taken before and after partial irradiation. The fluorescence intensity of Rh123 retained in non-irradiated mitochondria (F after ) following irradiation was expressed as a percentage of the initial fluorescence intensity (F before ) in the same cell prior to irradiation. Cells containing non-irradiated mitochondria with Rh123 retention values above 60% and below 20% were considered as manifesting high  m or loss of  m respectively. No cells tested showed intermediate levels of Rh123 retention. (D) Fraction of cells manifesting high  m in non-irradiated mitochondria (see above). Cells were loaded with Rh123 and CMXRos (n=21) or Rh123 alone (n=16). Black bars indicate cells before irradiation. Open bars indicate cells after 128 scans under partial irradiation condition.

Slides must be easy to read l Font sizes must be big enough l Don’t use black font on dark backgrounds l Avoid the “serif” fonts like Times New Roman or Courier Avoid small fonts like Times New Roman Avoid small “skinny” fonts like Courier l Use “sans serif” fonts like Arial Use Sans-serif” fonts like Arial Use Sans-serif” fonts like Arial (use bold if it needs to be very small)

Slides must be easy to read l Avoid abbreviations that are not defined l Do not use lab jargon, if there is a conventional term in wide use Certain fields are particularly prone to this problem Ask yourself if the audience can be reasonably expected to understand the terms you use on the slides

Proper sizes of text and graphics l Use the available space l Keep the font sizes large and readable l Make sure the graphics are big enough Don’t show a very small image or table surrounded by a sea of blank space

Improper size of graphic

Better size of graphic

Decoration l Make sensible use of colours and borders l Don’t let PowerPoint Backgrounds dominate your data or statements It is the content that the audience should remember, not the colours and the special effects!

Order of display items l Make sure the order is correct before you start l If an item needs to be repeated during a presentation, make sure there is a duplicate in the correct place Avoid shuffling through items during a presentation: the audience will (rightly) think you are not properly organised

GOOD ORGANISATION AND WELL PREPARED VISUAL AIDS ARE TWO OF THE THREE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

l Content l Audiovisual aids l Delivery EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

l GOOD ORGANISATION l WELL PREPARED VISUAL AIDS l INFORMATIVE AND ENTERTAINING PRESENTATION ARE THE THREE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION