WIDE ANGLE
The Things They Didn’t Tell You About Giving A Presentation
Disclaimer!
Based on a loose retelling of actual events.
Now I don’t proclaim to be an expert at giving presentations. Far from it, actually. But what I can say is that I’m an expert at being an audience member. When I first attended talks, just like much of the current first years, I used to fall asleep after slide 3.
Then after a while, I started to understand what those scientists were talking about. But still, no talk was perfect. I asked myself, ‘What would make this talk even better?’
So I started collecting data (much like the scientist that I am) and then came to some conclusions. So discussed below are the top things you should and shouldn’t do when giving a scientific talk.
#1 Once upon a time…
What did you just think when you read that? Maybe you thought of Disney or fairy tales or stories?
I know that there is little evidence to the contrary, but as much as scientists act like it, they aren’t robots. They’re people. And just like any other person, they too like stories.
To give a scientific talk is a great honour. You get (usually) a whole 40 minutes to an hour to talk about what you do every day of the year while the rest of the world lives their lives. What’s better is you have an audience willing to listen.
But with great power comes great responsibility (Thank you, Uncle Ben).
It’s your duty to keep your audience interested. Give them a reason to care about what you do. Explain your research in a way that is captivating, that has twists and turns (things you tried out that gave you an unexpected result) and finally, a happy ending (the conclusion you got from your data).
Basically, just keep them awake! Telling a story is a sure-fire way of doing that.
#2 KISS
Calm down, calm down. It’s not what it looks like.
KISS is a management principle which stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. It means that most things work best if kept simple instead of complicating things.
The same applies to giving a talk.
You know that speaker who is giving a talk, starts a sentence and puts you to sleep for a minute of two, you wake up and he still hasn’t finished that sentence?
Don’t be that person. Keep your sentences short, crisp, to the point and with as little ‘field jargon’ as possible. The human attention span is very limited: you don’t want people snoozing or checking their phones 5 minutes into your talk. Also remember that not everyone attending is from your field. Respect that.
Tip: Make sure you write down your talk beforehand and then memorize it. Most of us tend to forget what we planned to say when we’re standing in front of an audience. Rehearsing ensures that you know exactly what you want to say for every slide, without rambling on and on.
#3 They don’t know that we know they know we know
I have seen this countless times.
A presenter has a beautiful slide with multiple different images explaining a concept. Then someone asks them about how the experiment of one particular image was done and they are stumped.
Don’t! Just don’t!
Know what is on your slides. After all, you made it (hopefully). Do not put up a single word, image or schematic that you can’t talk about because you don’t know what it is. If you’re putting stuff up, you’re claiming to know what it is. So own that!
#4 No idea, not a clue
I know I just said you should know what is on your slides but there are exceptions.
It’s OK to not know things that you’re still trying to figure out. After all, if you did know them, you wouldn’t be trying to figure them out, would you?
No one is expected to know everything. People know that (or they should).
Though in India, not knowing something is treated as a sin, I have noticed scientists from other countries frequently admit to not knowing something when a question has been posed.
They usually respond with something like this: “Oh, that’s an excellent question, though we haven’t done that yet. It is something we are planning to do in the future.”
Or: “I don’t know the answer to that, but it’s a very interesting idea. Thank you for your input.”
Both are suitable responses. It’s ok to not know. It’s not the worst thing. The worst thing is not knowing something and then pretending to know it.
#5 Size matters
Isn’t it annoying when you are reading something but need to squint to read it because it is in such tiny font and by the end, you give up and wonder why the author even bothered putting it there?
Me too!
This may seem a little obvious but a lot of people don’t bother with this. Science presenters tend to look down upon any modification which makes their presentation look better, pertaining to aesthetics. Their excuse is usually: ‘It’s about the science, not about what it looks like’.
That is very untrue. Sure, the science is the most important thing but if you are not communicating it effectively to anyone, the knowledge is meaningless. Presentation matters.
The minimum font you should use on a PowerPoint presentation to ensure that back benchers can see clearly is 24. And never ever less than 18, even if you have to go lower.
#6 Relax the finger!
Nowadays, long pointy sticks have been replaced with battery operated pointers which can be used for drawing attention to things on the slide as well as moving from one slide to another. I’ve noticed that some people who aren’t used to using these pointers tend to over-click, resulting in rapid flipping between slides and animations.
If I wanted vertigo, I’d go to Essel World or Imagica.
Tip: Avoid putting your finger on the part of the pointer that switches to the next slide. Only touch it when you need to change the animation. Alternately, just practise using the pointer before the talk. Solves everything!
#7 What’s that now?
When I gave presentations in college, my biggest fear was that someone would ask me a question. What if they ask me something I don’t know? What if they didn’t understand anything I was saying? Oh my, oh my, what if everything I did in this project was completely wrong? I’m failing this class.
These were some of the thoughts that went through my head.
By the time I gave my final presentation in my Master’s program (thesis defence), I looked forward to questions.
Questions meant that people were listening, they were interested in what I was doing, and they wanted to help me with my future experiments, or just tie up any loose ends.
It’s amazing to have that kind of help. Listen carefully to the questions being asked and think about them before answering. The next time you give a talk, don’t fear questions, embrace them.
#8 No colour blocking
This is a slightly technical point but colour schemes are very important. And it’s something that most people don’t pay attention to.
Flying pigs, smart pigeons and your boss giving you three weeks leave is more likely to happen than anyone easily reading yellow font on a white background.
If you’re going to do colours, at least know what works.
I was always terrible at figuring out good colour schemes so I used to force a lab mate to sit with me as we together decided the best scheme for the purpose.
I would say stick to black or white slides and if you do want to venture to other colours, no yellow on red, purple on blue, or pink on green. They are positively ghastly. And you are not a neuroscientist taking a colour blindness test.
#9 Dress appropriately
To those of you who rolled their eyes at this one, yes you, this is for you.
While I understand that shorts, T-shirts and slippers are the most comfortable things to wear, you aren’t going to the beach (at least not until after your presentation). If you want to be taken seriously, dress seriously and be a boss. There is a reason most places have dress codes.
If you have any doubt about it, just think: What would <insert name of scientist you fangirl over> wear?
And that’s a wrap.
I hope these points were helpful and come in handy for your next presentation. If you have any suggestions and points of your own to add, feel free to email me and I’ll add it to the collection.
PS: Notice I used hashtags instead of bullet points because people these days respond to that. Presentation is key and I know my audience.