When The Scientist Presents: Recent Episodes
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Do we answer the question asked, or do we go beyond that? There are many types of questions and the motivation behind each type is different. Take the clarification question. It is about understanding, or about preparation for the next question. Take the “Would it also apply to or work with” question. It is about … Continue reading "Answering more than the question?"
Have you ever wondered why people who are neither dumb nor blind become mute when the time comes for them to ask questions at the end of your presentation? The reasons are audience or presenter-related. AUDIENCE-RELATED The Elephant in the Room. In some countries (Japan comes to mind), the attendees may consider impolite to talk before … Continue reading "No question during your Q&A?"
Motion Path animation (Apple Keynote) Animations with Motion paths (link to the video demonstration) The oral presentation surpasses the journal paper in many respects, but surely, one of the key differentiators has to be the use of animation to explain. A method comes alive on your screen whereas, on paper, it is mummified, embalmed in … Continue reading "Animate using motion path or action builds"
The Bayon, Angkor Thom (6754760825).jpg – Wikimedia Amazing isn’t it, the way your body faces the audience when you start a speech, but your head and neck are stretched towards the screen as a compromise between facing the facts and facing the audience. The audience is less confused. It always faces the screen because … Continue reading "Face the Facts, and Face your Audience"
The first thing to keep in mind is not to keep in mind concerns that have nothing to do with your presentation, the extraneous: how do I look, who is that guy looking at me intently, why is my boss here, why are they all sitting at the back, and the list goes on. You can now … Continue reading "Three things that negatively impact your delivery"
I want to sit as near to the stage as possible when I watch an opera or a broadway show or the newest show at the Cirque du Soleil. Naturally, everyone want to sit there, so the most expensive seats are the front seats. You hear better, see better, and feel closer to the actors. … Continue reading "Learning about your audience from where people sit"
Customizing the desktop picture on any computer is easy. Just select your favorite family or vacation photo from your photo album, and you are done! People do it all the time on their phone, revealing their intimate friends, their own narcissistic proclivities, or their taste for natural landscape. The default screen set by the manufacturer of your computer does not reveal … Continue reading "Desktop picture: indiscretion or insight"
Do not let your presentation software break compound nouns across lines. Noun-preceded modifiers should be on the same line. In the following example, it makes little sense to let PowerPoint or Keynote automatically place p53 and GADD45 on two separate lines because it makes your title unclear : “A mammalian cell cycle checkpoint pathway utilizing p53 and GADD45 is defective in ataxia-telangiectasia“. At … Continue reading "Automatic Line Break on the Title Slide: a readability breaker"
Presenters, beware of public warm-ups. A warm-up is not part of a race; likewise, it is not part of a speech. You warm up before putting your feet in the starting blocks. Athletes pre-visualize what happens in the first seconds in the race as their body spring into action. They rehearse the start, again and again, … Continue reading "The perfect presentation start: learn from the athletes"
I love watching Ted Talks. I often analyse them with the scientists who attend the scientific presentation class. One thing TED presenters do extremely well is to bring in the audience into their world at the beginning of their talk. Joe Landolina, in an excellent presentation on his wound-healing invention, starts with the following words: “I want you guys … Continue reading "The perfect presentation start: Make your work relevant to the audience"
You are supposed to be up close and personal. You are also supposed to be upfront… but up front, facing the audience, things are not so close and personal. It’s them versus you: them sitting and listening, and you standing and talking next to your faithful computer FIDO and its wireless leash. But the one on the leash … Continue reading "PowerPoint drawbacks: up front and impersonal"
Anxiety is the sum of all fears. Here are four more fears to add to the six introduced in a prior blog entry (http://scientific-presentations.com/2014/06/17/anxiety-the-sum-of-all-your-fears/) Is your fear, the fear of unknown faces? Did you attempt to network with one or two people from the audience prior to your talk to make the unfamiliar somewhat more familiar and … Continue reading "Fear is not your enemy, it is your judge!"
Wikimedia – public domain During a Fresh Air National Public Radio program, astronaut Christ Hadfield said that during their flight rehearsals at NASA, Astronauts go sequentially over the various problems that may result in rapid (and usually final) death if they do not deal with them right away (tip: search for the word “kill” in the interview transcripts). The … Continue reading "Avoid the presentation kill zones"
At times, it may seem that time waits for a woman to get dressed, but when it comes to conference talks, the chair will give you a dressing-down if you exceed your time. The chair of your session HAS to keep to time. Tea breaks don’t wait; the start of a session in another conference room … Continue reading "Presentation qualities: time control"
Fearful speaking in front of others? First find out the reason why you are nervous. Then get rid of that reason. Here is a catalog of the possible reasons, and remember, more than one reason may apply: anxiety is the sum of all your fears. Fear of not being prepared. you had too little time … Continue reading "Anxiety: the sum of all your fears"
Source: Telefonzentralen Fotoarchiv A1 Telekom Austria The recommendation to “connect to your audience” evokes the image of the telephone operator of old, plugging a jack into a panel to connect a caller. “To connect” to your audience implies that the default status at the start of a presentation is that of disconnection. You are not … Continue reading "Presentation preliminaries: 7 professional moves"
Source: Flick; Author: Rob Well. “A road is traced by the people who walk on it.” Acknowledge others, the people who inspired you, gave you ideas. There is always a way to acknowledge someone in a presentation. Your road may still be a path, but someone before you cleared some of the branches blocking your … Continue reading "Scientific Presentations and Chinese Proverbs – part 2"
Source: Flickr; Author: Steve Webel. “By tongue work, eloquence is gained; By hand work, clumsiness is lost.” People who silently rehearse their presentation looking at the computer screen never become eloquent. People who sit while rehearsing lack naturalness when standing. “Without ugliness, beauty does not stand out; Without salt, sugar would be less sweet.” Without … Continue reading "Scientific Presentations and Chinese Proverbs – part 1"
I hate rules based on one-off samples. They are very seductive because they are so simple and memorable, but they are very misleading because they lack context and support. Case in point: John Medina has written a very interesting book which he promotes very well on his website Brain Rules. His marketing has convinced thousands … Continue reading "the fallacy of the 10-minute attention span"
Anyone worth his or her presenting salt keeps skills up-to-date. How? Evolution has a ready answer: “try new things, and if they work, 1) keep them and make them yours (don’t just copy/paste), and 2) retire the things which have come to the end of their road.” Source Flickr; author Heritagefutures But where do these … Continue reading "Pinterest , Scoop.it, LinkedIn… to keep up-to-date"
This blog helps the scientist who presents learn new skills. It complements the book “When the scientist presents”. Comments and questions are welcome, just email me: jllebrun @ scientificreach dot com. I also keep the following pages (More details? See rest of post) 1) the SCOOP.IT page on Presentation Skills I curate https://www.scoop.it/t/scientific-presentation-skills; 2) podcasts featuring interviews with … Continue reading "Dear reader,"
If you are a lecturer, you probably monitor how well your students follow your lecture. You check from time to time by asking questions or you rely on the barometer of puzzled looks and distracted students to determine whether your teaching is cloudy or the fog of incomprehension has lifted. Questions are great. They interrupt … Continue reading "The Presenter-Lecturer: evaluating learning at end of a presentation"
Of somebody eloquent, people will say “He as a gift with words”. Eloquent is a term associated with statesmen like US President Obama in our time, or with preachers like Bossuet in Pascal’s time. But could a scientist be eloquent? Blaise Pascal, the well-known scientist of old, defines eloquence in terms that make it relevant … Continue reading "What can the scientist who presents learn from Pascal (Part 5)"
By Jean-luc lebrun You’ve got to love Jorge‘s cartoon on scientific presentations (the cartoon opens in a separate window). The scientist plans his talk as if it is a condensed version of a scientific paper, and naturally expects it to go smoothly and be followed by loud crowd appreciation, and an “engaging” Q&A. Just in case the … Continue reading "cartoon on scientific presentation"
WARNING: THIS IS AN OPINION PIECE. Our former Press Secretary Mike McCurry was interviewed by Tom Fox of the Washington Post on “good communication and its importance for good leadership.” He described effective communicators in 5 nouns starting with “C”: Credibility, Candor, Clarity, Compassion, and Commitment. These five Cs also apply to scientific communications and scientists. Credibility. … Continue reading "The Five Cs of Mike McCurry"
The play by Bernard Shaw “Heartbreak House” gives me the opportunity to make a point that separates scientific presentations from others. In the play, a man comes inside the home of the owner and introduces himself so: “Excuse my intruding in this fashion, but there’s no knocker on the door and the bell does not … Continue reading "The perfect presentation start: No smalltalk"
Source Flickr; Author Neovain Your presentation is on day 2 of the conference, afternoon session. You follow the recommendations made in the posts in this blog, and you give a beaming smile to the audience right before the start of your presentation. Yet you notice that few return the smile, even though, in theory at … Continue reading "Presentation preliminaries: Create a good impression"
A presenter's smile is the best probe signal to use to assess the good functioning order of the audience - so long as the probe is not faulty!
How does one know that everything is going to be fine “on the night”, or at least on the big day of our presentation? Of course, one could cross fingers – but should the index finger be over the middle finger or the opposite 🙂 One could rehearse, and rehearse, and rehearse as proposed here – … Continue reading "(TDD) Test-Driven Development – its use in scientific presentations"
I heard Nobel Laureate Herbert A. Simon speak at the end of last century (it’s not that long ago) at a conference in San Jose California on future trends. His insights on our information age will forever ring true. “What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients. Hence, a wealth of … Continue reading "What can the scientist who presents learn from Herbert Simon (Part 2)"
By Jean-luc lebrun I am satisfied with taking note of the difficulty, without pretending to solve it, thus ending on a big question mark. Still, it is interesting to state problems even though their solution appears remote. And with that sentence, Henri Poincaré ends his chapter on the Milky Way. How do you end your presentation? … Continue reading "Learning from Henri Poincaré (part 2)"
By Jean-luc lebrun We are trapped in our body. Funny thing is, we never knew, but come the day of the presentation and body parts buried in the background of our consciousness surge to the foreground to make themselves known. Arms appear out of nowhere, with hands attached, turning us into stage puppeteers having to consciously … Continue reading "Presentation traps 13 – The body trap"
First of all, I am not a lawyer. Now that I have completely disqualified myself, and warned you that any information given hereafter may or may not be true in a given country at a given time for given people in given settings for given tasks, I can now broach the subject. The other day … Continue reading "Using images in presentations – the legal issues"
By Jean-luc lebrun Convincing with a scientific presentation is of great importance, of course, but how does one convince with impoverished slides from which all complexity has been removed for the sake of being understood by non-experts in the audience? So, if convincing data is not around, what takes over the role of data? Then, there … Continue reading "028 Convinced- yes but of what…"
By Jean-luc lebrun You are certainly familiar with scientific presentation slides that have all the structural signs of the scientific paper they were extracted from (same headings, same figures, etc). After the title slide, you will often found a slide with the title “introduction”, “outline”, “motivation” or “aims”. Anything wrong? What is the function of that … Continue reading "Presentation traps 12 – The trap of the introduction slide"
Photo Flikr; Author Corey Holms You have to admire the scientific mind of Benjamin Franklin and his determination to check all facts for himself in this admirable passage from his autobiography where he tests the range of an orator’s voice. The last time I saw Mr. Whitefield was in London, when he consulted me about … Continue reading "What can the scientist who presents learn from Benjamin Franklin (part 2)"
Have you noticed that when you are under the gun, when a question is directly pointing at your chest, you feel you have to answer something – or lose face! Better give a wrong or an imprecise answer than no answer at all, some think. This is a trap. To the question, “What is the … Continue reading "Presentation traps 11 – the Q and A trap"
Take it from me, as a presenter, if you don’t sync, you do not exist. Have you ever wondered why the audience does not pay attention to you, but only has eyes for the beloved PowerPoint slide? Feel like a jealous lover? It’s apple of the eye for PowerPoint and tin ear for you! When … Continue reading "Keep what the audience sees in sync with your speech"
To turn a host into a ghost, just add the letter G. And to turn the presenter host into a presenter ghost, just add a computer and PowerPoint. When you invite other scientists to come and listen to you via the proxy of conference programs, you become a host, and the scientists who turn up … Continue reading "From Presenter Ghost to Presenter Host"
The best ice breaker that I know of is not “a” smile, but “THE” smile. Not the cheshire cat grin, but the HAPPY smile born out of the sincere happiness of being able to communicate something of value to your audience Not the smile constantly deformed by words attempting to make their way through horizontally stretched … Continue reading "SMILE"
Dr Rao Machiraju, in the final part of the interview, suggests a provocative way to prepare a scientific talk…. the augmented speech. Be ready for Rao’s final one liner which is so good, it should be carved in stone, or at least printed on a T-Shirt! Image Flickr; Author Smilla4
Here is a passage of Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography, where he gives advice on how to handle people who contradict you. This is particularly applicable to situations you may encounter during your Q&A, or even in scientific discussions with other scientists. Brilliant advice, as you will discover! You may be unfamiliar with the word “Junto“: It … Continue reading "What can the scientist who presents learn from Benjamin Franklin"
In this podcast (part two of the interview) Dr Rao Machiraju, CEO of REQALL and past colleague from the Apple days when we both worked in Apple’s Advanced Technology Group (ATG), shares with us his wisdom on how to deal with troublesome situations in Q&As, such as comments that could be perceived as aggressive, or … Continue reading "026 Handling unfriendly questions and comments"
“It seems that perfection is reached, not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” (Terre Des Hommes, Chapter 4) This is so applicable to scientific presentations. The starting point of a presentation is usually the scientific paper. Selection of the contents of the presentation is, for … Continue reading "What can the scientist who presents learn from Antoine de St Exupery"
I are delighted to feature a new guest on our podcast: Dr Rao Machiraju. Rao and I belonged to Apple’s Advanced Technology Lab in Cupertino California. He now heads his own company, REQALL, working on a fascinating product: memory recall enhancement tools. Rao is a master in the art of presenting. Today, he reveals his … Continue reading "025 Alternative Q & A techniques"
By Jean-luc Lebrun Doomsday! Your phone rings. The receptionist tells you the Japanese visitors have arrived. You take the elevator down five floors to the ground floor where the two meeting rooms are. Many people use them, and the furniture frequently gets changed to fit the requirements. You asked for a simple U-Shape table arrangement to … Continue reading "Presentation Traps 10 – The room trap"
Try and find out what is wrong with the five situations described below. 1) Sylvia is in the University library facing the screen of her laptop. She came here to have a chance to be quiet and rehearse an important upcoming presentation. She methodically looks at each slide, and silently (she does not want to … Continue reading "Presentation traps 9 – the rehearsal traps"
“And here, you see…” These are the famous words that ring hollow to the blind. But the lack of knowledge leaves us just as blind – a temporary type of blindness, assuredly, but blindness nevertheless. For knowledge only lights up the world of the expert rambling along, finger pointing to familiar shapes on the laptop … Continue reading "Presentation traps 8 – the knowledge trap"
If you are like most scientists, chances are that you will place the acknowledgment slide at the end of your presentation. But if you watch one of the Hollywood award events, or attend a Nobel laureate award presentation, chances are you will hear the acknowledgments at the very beginning of the acceptance speech. Why? Because … Continue reading "The Acknowledgment Slide"
Image source: Flickr; Author :Tintin44 They were certain that their expertise would be seen through the high density of information on their slides. They were certain that removing an ounce of proof would be like losing a pound of flesh – a tragedy of Shakespearian dimension. They were certain that confidence displayed would translate into … Continue reading "Nothing reveals personal expertise better than questions; therefore,…"
Flickr Image. Author: fatboyke (Luc) Do you feel that speaking English is like driving your car on the left side of the road when you are used to driving it on the right? Is your spoken English bad because you are slowed down by researchers from your own country who insist you speak to them … Continue reading "025 Speech Synthesis for the ESL Presenter"
Image Flickr. Author Jeep Novak! While reading the great little book “Advice for a young investigator” by Santiago Ramon y Cajol, Nobel laureate 1906, I stumbled upon a quote the author attributed to another Spaniard, Perez de Ayala: “Look at things as if for the first time”. Somehow, this quote sent me back in thought … Continue reading "Look at things as if for the first time"
Image source Flickr / Author: Yandle Rarely do we think about speech synthesis (written text spoken by a computer voice) when it comes to presentations. After all, the presenter is the host. But what if the host had a soar throat, or had an English accent to pronounced that the audience is likely to give … Continue reading "023 Speech synthesis and the presenter"
Photo Flickr – by Lintmachine People like formulas. They are expedient rules of thumb that guard against dangerous extremes. “Plan for one minute and a half per slide”, some say, “and never put more than 5 bullets point and more than 5 words per bullet point”. Under these rules lie hidden assumptions about people’s attention … Continue reading "Rules of thumb for presentations – how good are they?"
The Assertion – Evidence paradigm, promoted by Michael Alley, does indeed force the presenter to limit the information on each slide (and less is mostly more, even in scientific presentations – see limitations). But does Assertion follow Evidence, or Evidence follow Assertion as in the traditional scientific order? To determine which order is more effective, I seeked the opinion … Continue reading "Effective Variant on the Assertion – Evidence Paradigm"
The Apple flag gives you a hint. Our next guest is from Apple, in Cupertino California. His name is Ken Eddings – and he is the man behind Apple’s DNS. But it is not the IT guru I are interviewing, it is the Ken Eddings who frequently attends TED conferences worldwide… reason is, he provides … Continue reading "020 The TED presenter"
Image Flickr. Cesar Rincon. “There is no spoon” Most people who browse websites covering presentation skills stumble on the maxim “Less is more“. Usually, this principle applies to the content of PowerPoint slides. Less slide (text) content to be read by the audience is seen as more beneficial to the speaker. As scientists, we should … Continue reading "Is “Less is more” a presentation law as universal as the law of gravity?"
Image from Flickr; “The return of Edward Hyde” by Luis Carlos Arauio. I have much respect for authors who go to great lengths to get an attractive title for their paper. “The Inflammatory Macrophage: A story of Jekyll and Hyde”* is a fantastic title… for westerners familiar with Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 book “The Strange … Continue reading "Presentation traps 7 – the cultural trap"
Think about it. You have done your best to gather the interest of your audience around your topic for a full eleven minutes. The chairperson just looked at his watch, and corrected his sitting position to move closer to the microphone. Your talk officially ends in one minute. If you play the prolongations, it will be … Continue reading "Presentation traps 6 – the conclusion traps"
image source: Flickr. Fresh tomato sauce by Urbanfoodie33 It is the 10:15 am coffee break. Outside the meeting room is a long table covered in cream-coloured linen. On it the conference attendees find the traditional offerings: coffee, cream, Ceylon tea, brown and white sugar, and finger food to relieve the hunger pangs and make the long … Continue reading "presentation traps 4 – the mouth trap"
Photo Source: Flickr; Author: By Creativity+Timothy K. Hamilton “Start with a joke”, “deride the audience”, “make them like you by making them laugh”, the pundits say. And out they go, on a limb as always, out go the serious presenters who end up being the only ones who laugh at the end of their jokes. The … Continue reading "Presentation traps 3 – the joke is on you"
Source: Flickr; Photo by Jesarqit. “Probe the audience”, “Interact with the audience”, the pundits say. And out on a limb they go, the misfortunate presenters for whom good advice but poor timing garner nothing but the deathly silence of an unsympathetic audience. I recall the young scientist whose work featured the discovery of a gene … Continue reading "Presentation traps 2 – Forced Audience Interaction at the start of the talk"
With this, the first of several blog entries on presentation traps, we are entering the quagmires and the quicksands where many presenters get trapped. These traps are mostly concealed and presenters realise they are trapped far too late to fix the problem. These traps are avoidable because the ones who lay them are none others … Continue reading "Presentation traps 1 – Hazardous comparisons"
Today our podcast features Dr Cleo Choong. She had to give a presentation to members of parliament at the British House of Commons as part of a competition for the engineer of the year award. What is it like to present to such a prestigious gathering of elected congressmen? Did she win the competition? Find … Continue reading "021 Presenting to a lay audience"
This question is explored in a community forum of the online journal “The-Scientist.com”. You will find it here ->The importance of good communication skills in science (you may need a subscription to access this page). Here was my answer. I would like to attempt answering this important question using two metaphors: Communication of a signal … Continue reading "Who is responsible for communicating the outcome of research"
Our new guest, Dr Francis Yeoh, CEO of the National Research Foundation, is drawing a useful analogy from the field of telecommunications to clarify the duties of the scientist who presents, and clearly define the conditions under which communication to an audience is effective. Transmitter, Receiver, Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR)… This fruitful metaphor will … Continue reading "020 Telecom metaphor for effective scientific communications"
Whenever you take a non linear media and flatten it (make it linear), you introduce problems of two kinds: 1) Discontinuities in logic. The audience needs to remember what was connected to what, earlier in your presentation, to see the connection logic. 2) Discontinuity in time. As time passes, the audience remembers less and less … Continue reading "continuity bugs in linear slide presentations"
Henri Poincaré, the French physicist and mathematician was an outstanding scientist. In his book, La Science et la Méthode (Science and Method – Dover publication translated by Francis Maitland), he states that “to understand” means different things to different people. The scientists in your audience expect to be able to “understand” what is presented, so … Continue reading "Learning from Henri Poincaré"
Did you ever wonder why your presentation, which looked and sounded awfully good, had little impact on your audience? The answer is found in this podcast… It is a matter of being able to tell the difference between a research output and a research outcome. Learn more from our guest, Dr Leong Munkew, CTO of … Continue reading "019 Dancing around outputs and outcomes"
By Jean-luc Lebrun If in every scientist lurks a nitpicker – a person who fusses over details – it is simply because scientific experiments require great attention to details. Nitpicking talents vary from one person to another. But, in any group of twelve people, I always have the good fortune to find one perfect representative … Continue reading "Blessed are the nitpickers"
What can you expect to accomplish in the typical 12-minute presentation one gives at a conference? Does the expectation of the audience change during the course of a presentation? What do people expect at the start of your talk? Do they keep the same expectation throughout your talk? Be ready to be surprised by the … Continue reading "018Sequencing the scientific talk"
Strangely enough, knowing what is important in a patent presentation enables us 1) to bring light on an age-old question: Should one display formulas in a scientific talk? 2) to learn how to position our scientific contribution in the best possible light Our guest, Dr Leong Munkew, was until recently CTO and deputy CIO of the … Continue reading "017Presenting patents and formulas"
Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon, in a 1969 article entitled “Designing Organizations for an Information-Rich World”, points out the problems created by the wealth of information. A rabbit-rich world is a lettuce-poor world. […] Now, when we speak of an information-rich world, we may expect, analogically, that the wealth of information means a dearth of something … Continue reading "What can the scientist who presents learn from Herbert Simon (Part 1)"
Our new guest, Dr Leong Mun Kew, reveals what brings senior researchers to your talk. He even mentions the type of questions he would ask when head hunting for his lab. This insider view into presentation outcomes comes from the man who is now CTO and acting CIO of the Singapore National Library Board.
You will find Dr Geroch’s “suggestions for giving talks”, online. The paper is stored on arXiv.org, the open access site managed by Cornell University. I have read this excellent paper many times and recommend you do likewise. My intent is not to ask you to change the title of your talk. As soon as your conference … Continue reading "Robert Geroch suggestions applied to the subtitle of your talk"
Not every piece of research represents a paradigm shift. How is one to present research which is lower on the innovative scale? In this podcast we also discovers that a polished abstract is not enough to bring an audience to your talk. Listen in as Professor Motiwalla shares his experience.
By Jean-luc Lebrun Santiago Ramon Y Cajal was a neurologist who shared with Golgi the nobel prize in 1906. In his excellent little book “Advice for a young investigator”, translated for MIT press by Neely and Larry Swanson, one finds some remarkable insights on the perfect scientist presenter host. In the preface to his second edition Cajal … Continue reading "What can the scientist who presents learn from Santiago Ramon Y Cajal"
Video on Microphones Microphones – you love them because they extend the reach of your voice, and you hate them because they sometimes create problems: they whistle, they break down, they get in the way… Knowing how to handle them correctly and according to their varied abilities and models is a must for the presenter … Continue reading "Microphones and how they make you sound"
Amazon page for the book and publisher page Praise for When The Scientist Presents: Roald Hoffmann Nobel laureate in Chemistry and writer “This is by light-years the best guide to designing and presenting lectures. Lebrun writes in a lively, direct way, and every page is brimming with good sense and practical hints. It’s just plain … Continue reading "When The Scientist Presents Book Launch in Singapore today"
Can we predict the type of questions a scientist gets from VCs (venture capitalists)? And how would the BCG Matrix be of any use to the presenter scientist who is required to present the competitive advantage of his or her discoveries? Our guest, Dr. Motiwalla enlightens us. He is professor in entrepreneurship at the National … Continue reading "014 Core Competitive Advantage"
Lebrun is my last name. Actually, I have no prior name, so my last name is theoretically my first name, but in fact my first name is jean-Luc. Confused? Alright, let’s start again. Lebrun is my family name and Jean-Luc is my given name. The family name is not given, it is inherited:) My name … Continue reading "Presenters with Foreign Names"
Presentation remotes Presentation remotes are both a blessing and a curse, depending on how easy they are to use and how familiar we are with them. They do free us from having to constantly stand by the keyboard, but misusing them turns off the audience. Strengths and weaknesses of four models are reviewed and advice … Continue reading "choose and handle presentation remotes"
Our new guest, Dr Motiwalla, Professor in the practice of Entrepreneurship at the national University of Singapore, takes scientific presentations in the realm of venture capital. He tells us three ways to keep the audience listening… to you of course. Should you not follow his advice, the audience may still be listening, but it may … Continue reading "013Three audience irritants"
This podcast will not explain why the word “pearl” has been associated with the word wisdom, but it will give you tips you probably can’t live without. For those of you who are interested, the expression “pearls of Wisdom” might have biblical origins. (a person without discernment (who is not wise) is someone who casts … Continue reading "12 pearls of presenter wisdom"
effects without effects When navigating back to an interesting slide during the Q&A session, things do not always happen as the scientist who presents would like them to! Instead of going straight to the place of interest, the desired slide releases its contents, a click, and an effect at a time, as it did during … Continue reading "PowerPoint effects without effects"
Why do these benefits vary according to the type of conference? Are these benefits broader than the communication of your scientific findings in a journal? Dr Mark Sinclair and Dr Alastair Curry enumerate a long list of benefits, some of which may even surprise you!
What is the potential of PowerPoint, or for that matter, the potential of any software used in presentations? Does PowerPoint present an improvement over other methods of presentations? What is the danger of PowerPoint? Find out from our presenter experts, Dr Alastair Curry and Dr Mark Sinclair.
Pan through an image with PowerPoint (video) With this technique the presenter moves seamlessly and precisely inside a document larger than a slide by imitating a camera panning through the document, as if the hand moved a transparency across an overhead projector (Powerpoint inch-based offset technique).
Preempt. Nice verb, but little used. It is composed of two parts: “pre” which means “before”, and “empt” which comes from the latin “emere” – “to buy”. In essence, to prempt is to buy your way out of a potentially difficult situation before it has a chance to happen. What is there to preempt when … Continue reading "Buy your way out of troublesome questions"
Most conference proceedings now come in CD or DVD format instead of paper. How does that change the behaviour of the audience? Presenters often assume that the audience they are facing is made up of experts in their field. Is that assumption valid? What can we assume our audience really knows? Should what earlier presenters … Continue reading "009 not so expert audience with distracting laptops"
Pan through an image using Apple’s Keynote (video) With this technique the presenter moves seamlessly and precisely inside a document larger than a slide by imitating a camera panning through the document, as if the hand moved a transparency across an overhead projector (Keynote pixel-based offset technique)
By Jean-luc Lebrun Your formal presentation is over. You are now taking questions from the audience. Two people raise their hand at the same time. Who are you going to choose? Is it the woman – if the two people are a man and a woman? Is it the senior person – if one is … Continue reading "Two questioners raise their hand – who you’re gonna choose?"
Dr Sinclair and Dr Curry share their favourite presenter “crimes” against the audience, and in the process, article one and article two of the universal rights of scientific audiences are drafted.
Scaling objects in PowerPoint and Keynote (video) To resize a group that includes image and text, the group must first be converted to an image; alternatively, the group can be ungrouped and text can be be resized separately from the image.It is possible to reduce the decrease in legibility associated with vertical or horizontal downsizing … Continue reading "Scaling a group image+ text – PowerPoint & Keynote"
Do British or american scientist-presenters have the advantage over people for whom English is the second language (ESL)? How does one reduce the impact of one’s accent? How can native English speakers make things difficult for the rest of us not born with English DNA :)?
In his marvellous little book, “A Ph.D. Is Not Enough”, solid state physicist Professor Feibelman uses a metaphor near and dear to my heart, that of the fugue. “But in giving your talk, you should just tell a story. Its structure should be organic, invisible. Your listeners should be propelled from idea to idea with the … Continue reading "Learning from Peter Feibelman"
Blaise Pascal, the scientist philosopher, has good advice immediately applicable during a Q&A when faced with a questioner who disagrees with the presenter. (Thought 9) When one wishes to correct to one’s advantage, and reveal how mistaken someone is, one must observe from which angle that person is looking at things, because, usually, from that … Continue reading "What can the scientist who presents learn from Pascal (Part 4)"
Map slide video “Keep to time” is good advice, but how? Since slide contents are the greatest time-consuming factor, it makes sense to adjust them until the presenter no longer faces the approaching wall of time with the fear of crashing into it. However, despite the best of intentions and preventive content pruning, the unexpected … Continue reading "Visible map and invisible shortcuts – navigation tools"
Should one present research limitations during the ten minutes of a scientific talk at a conference? Would one be breaching academic honesty and integrity if one did not present them? What has this topic got to do with how well the Q&A goes after the talk? Find out from our cast of profs, Dr. Sinclair … Continue reading "006 Presenting Limitations of Research at conference Talk"