Jessica Purcell

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

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

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

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Presentation Outline

• Disclaimer

• 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

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Disclaimer

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

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Things to Avoydin PowerPoint

• Crazy colour skemes
• Distracting animation
• Unecessary Sound (I cant 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
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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
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Figures
Take home message Take the time to explain
figures!!
Linear regression R20.95, plt0.0001
(supervisor only)
Effective Tools
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What not to do while presenting

• Dont turn your back to the audience
• Dont block anyones view of the screen
• Dont rush
• Dont fiddle
• Dont wing it
• Dont expect your audience to know
• Dont use jargon!
• Dont apologize!!!!

What to avoid
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Oh Shit, wheres my graph?
What to avoid
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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
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What to do while presenting

• Breathe
• Make eye contact with audience members
• Interact with your slides
• Speak clearly
• Know your audience

What to do
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Presentations differ from writing

• Being repetitive can be GOOD!
• Its ok to be informal
• Less constraint imposed by formatting

What to do
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Developing your style

• Different styles can be equally effective
• (e.g. humour, unique slide layout, attractive
  visual aids)

What to do
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ONE MEMORABLE SPEAKER USED HUGE FONT!
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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
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Presentation Outline

• Disclaimer

• 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

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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

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Course Goal

• Essential skills for grad students
• Safe venue to practice develop presentation
  skills
• Presentations will include articles, teaching,
  your research.

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Did I miss anything?

• What else drives you crazy?
• What do you admire in other
• peoples presentations?

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Welcome to the department!