giving an effective presentation - stanford university

7/25/2019 Giving an effective presentation - Stanford University

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Giving an effective presentation:Using Powerpoint and structuring a scientific talk

Susan McConnellDepartment of Biological Sciences

Stanford University


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We may not be experts at public speakingbut we are all experts at listening to talks


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W!at do you want from a talk"


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#ere are some of t!e t!ings many listenerswant from a talk:

CONTENT

$onveys new information

Poses an interesting %uestion

$onveys !ow people in ot!er fields t!ink

Describes important ideas &ovel discovery

CLARITY AND ORGANIZATION

Understandable

'voids (argon

Uses clear and simple visual aids

Well organi)ed *nables me to catc! up if + space out

Doesn,t run over time

STYLE AND DELIVERY

-eeps me awake .aries voice

$onveys ent!usiasm

Doesn,t stay in one place

/riendly and approac!able

EXPERTISE

$redible +nspires trust and confidence

'nswers %uestions clearly


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0!is presentation focuses solely on ways of usingPowerpoint and organi)ing a talk to ac!ieve:

CONTENT






Understandable

'voids (argon




STYLE AND DELIVERY

-eeps me awake .aries voice

$onveys ent!usiasm



EXPERTISE

$redible +nspires trust and confidence



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W!at do you t!ink of t!e following slide"


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Emk1 knockdown inhibits lumen formation in

MDCK cells:

-RT-PCR: EMK1 is effectively knocked down in

MDCK cells 24 hours after transfection with P-

SUPER (control) or P-SUPER-siEMK1 plasmid;knockdown confirmed on the right with antibodies to

EMK1.

-Collagen overlay assay: cells cultured 24 h on

collagen I before being overlaid with additional

collagen on the apical surface, analyzed 24 h later.

Note the lack of lumen in EMK1-KO cultures.

-Ca switch: control or EMK1-KO cells were plated

in low Ca medium 24 h upon transfection with

pSUPER or pSUPER-KO. After 12 h, cultures were

switched to normal medium for 24 h. Transmission

EM of cells sectioned perpendicular to the substratumshows lack of microvilli in EMK1-KO cells.


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+s t!is better"


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&ot muc!1


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Powerpoint basics:


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Powerpoint basics:21 W!at font to use


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Use a Sans Serif font:


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This font is Arial.

0!is font is $omic Sans1

This font is Trebuchet.

Serif fonts take longer to read


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This font is Arial.

0!is font is $omic Sans1

This font is Trebuchet.

Serif fonts take longer to read

This font is Times New Roman.

This font is Courier.

This font is Didot.


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Some fonts look super in boldface:


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Some fonts look super in boldface:

Arial vs. Arial bold

$omic Sans vs1 Comc Sans bold

Trebuchet vs. Trebuchet bold


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0ype si)e s!ould be 23 points or larger:

23 point

45 point

46 point

43 point

78 point

9 eferences can be in 26 point font


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'.;+D US+&G '


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Powerpoint basics:41 $olor


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Dark letters against a lig!t background work1


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?any experts feel t!at a dark blue or blackbackground works best for talks in a large room1


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Dark letters against a lig!t background are bestfor smaller rooms and for teac!ing1


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'void red@green combinations because a large fractionof t!e !uman population is red@green colorblind1


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;t!er color combinations can be e%ually bad1


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.iew your slides in grayscale to ensure t!at t!ere isade%uate color contrast in eac! slide1


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Powerpoint basics:71


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Powerpoint basics:61 Style


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0ry your best to include asimple image on every slide1


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0!is is (usttoo muc!1'rrrg!>


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#ere is a simple rule for s!owing figures and images:

+f you,re not going to take t!e timeto explain it get rid of it1


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'void fancy transitions between slidesunless you !ave a good reason1


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#ere is a sensible use of a Cwipe transition:


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#ere is a sensible use of a Cwipe transition:


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Don,t try to s!ow too many slides1

;ften less is more1


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+t,s very easy to use Powerpoint really badly



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MDCK cells:

-RT-PCR: EMK1 is effectively knocked down in

MDCK cells 24 hours after transfection with P-

SUPER (control) or P-SUPER-siEMK1 plasmid;

knockdown confirmed on the right with antibodies to

EMK1.

-Collagen overlay assay: cells cultured 24 h on

collagen I before being overlaid with additional

collagen on the apical surface, analyzed 24 h later.

Note the lack of lumen in EMK1-KO cultures.

-Ca switch: control or EMK1-KO cells were plated

in low Ca medium 24 h upon transfection with

pSUPER or pSUPER-KO. After 12 h, cultures were

switched to normal medium for 24 h. Transmission

EM of cells sectioned perpendicular to the substratum

shows lack of microvilli in EMK1-KO cells.

+ k k d f ! !


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+t takes some work and foret!oug!tto use Powerpoint well

+ k k d f ! !


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+t takes some work and foret!oug!tto use Powerpoint well


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0@P$

Western

?D$- EkidneyFcells

*?-2 Par2 can be knocked down in?D$- EkidneyF cells using si&' met!ods

*?-2 P 2 b k k d d i


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0@P$

Western

?D$- cells

*?-2 Par2 can be knocked down in?D$- EkidneyF cells using si&' met!ods

?D$- ll f l


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?D$- cells form a lumenfollowing a c!ange in extracellular H$aII J

gp27K @catenin L;@2

Side view of lumen

?D$- cells

Surface view from lumen

?D$- ll f l


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?D$- cells form a lumenfollowing a c!ange in extracellular H$aII J

gp27K @catenin L;@2

Surface view from lumen

Side view of lumen

?D$- cells

< f ti i bl k d


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gp27K


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*?-2 knockdown cells also fail to form microvilli

?D$- cells *?-2 knockdown

*?-2 kn ckd n c lls ls f il t f m mic illi


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0!e structure of a good talk: start broad


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0!e structure of a good talk: start broadget specific and end broad

0!e structure of a good talk: start broad


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0!e structure of a good talk: start broadget specific and end broad

Start wit! t!e biggest %uestionsand get progressively more specific


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' powerful tool in a talk is a C!ome slide

Design and introduce a C!ome slide t!at you,ll comeback to at eac! ma(or transition in your talk1


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' powerful tool in a talk is a C!ome slide

&ow we,ll build an introduction and a !ome slidet!at puts t!e previous data into context1


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;ur bodies are full of tubes


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;ur bodies are full of tubes

digestive en)ymes

+ntestine


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#ow do cells become polari)ed and form a lumen"

digestive en)ymes

+ntestine

?D$- cells are a model system for a


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?D$- cells are a model system for apolari)ed cell type Efrom t!e kidneyF



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apical proteins



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apical proteins centrosome



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apical proteins centrosome

tig!t (unctions



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apical proteins

microtubules

centrosome

tig!t (unctions



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apical proteins

microtubules

tig!t (unctions

extracellular matrix

centrosome

ll l ! l l


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?D$- cells lose t!eir polarity in low H$aIIJ

low H$aIIJ

?D$- cells regain t!eir polarity


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?D$- cells regain t!eir polarityin normal H$aIIJ and reform a lumen

normal H$aIIJ

?D$- cells regain t!eir polarity


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?D$- cells regain t!eir polarityin normal H$aIIJ and reform a lumen

time

normal H$aIIJ

*?-2 Ealso known as Par2F is a serine@t!reonine


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*?-2 Ealso known as Par2F is a serine t!reoninekinase t!at regulates polarity in many cells

*?-2 Ealso known as Par2F is a serine@t!reonine


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*?-2 Ealso known as Par2F is a serine t!reoninekinase t!at regulates polarity in many cells

*?-2 locali)es to tig!t(unctions in ?D$- cells

M ti dd d t d


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Muestions addressed today:

M ti dd d t d


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+s t!e kinase *?-2 essential for polari)ing kidney cells"

M ti dd d t d


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+s *?-2 important for lumenformation"

M ti dd d t d


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#ow do different tissues formdifferent types of tubes"

0! iddl is t! t f t! t lk


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0!e middle is t!e meat of t!e talkN

Nbut talks are delivered to audiences


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wit! limited attention spans

'udience attention curve

0!e middle is t!e meat of t!e talk


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0!e middle is t!e meat of t!e talk

0!e middle is also t!e time at w!ic!t!e audience tends to )one out

*nabling t!e audience to tune back in


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'fter going into dept! come back toyour !ome slide to make transitions



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&ontec!nical

General

tec!nical

Specialist

'fter going into dept! come back toyour !ome slide to make transitions



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&ontec!nical

General

tec!nical

Specialist


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#ow do different tissues formdifferent types of tubes"

*?-2 Par2 can be knocked down in


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0@P$

Western

?D$- cells

?D$- EkidneyF cells using si&' met!ods


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gp27K

in *?-2 knockdown cells

@catenin L;@2




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*?-2 is re%uired for cell polari)ation


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&ormal ?D$- cells:

low H$aIIJ normal H$aIIJ



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*?-2 knockdown cells:

low H$aIIJ normal H$aIIJ

Use your !ome slide repeatedly to build a t!eme


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over time and enable t!e audience to catc! up

!ome slide

&ontec!nical

General

tec!nical

Specialist

;ver t!e course of t!e talk you can


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progressively build a fairly complex model

final !ome slide

&ontec!nical

General

tec!nical

Specialist

*?-2 regulates microtubules and


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cell polarity in two steps

+ncreasing t!e level of *?-2 can alterl


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t!e type of lumen formed in step 4

0!e structure of a good talk: start broadf d d b d


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get specific and end broad

/ocus now on conclusions

'udience attention increases as you signal! d f ! lk d f l d >


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t!e end of t!e talk A so avoid false endings>

'udience attention curve

*nd wit! t!e most specific conclusions t!enb ild b k ! Cbi i


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build back out to t!e Cbig picture

*?-2 regulates microtubules andll l i i


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cell polarity in two steps

+ncreasing t!e level of *?-2 can altert! t f l f d i t 4


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t!e type of lumen formed in step 4

0!e type of lumen formed by epit!elial cellsi diff t ti


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varies among different tissues

digestive en)ymes

+ntestine


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types of tubes in different organs

digestive en)ymes

+ntestine


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;rgan ) ng a great talk

;rgani)ing a great talk


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g n ) ng g

Be smart about Powerpoint



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g g g


+ntroductions s!ould startbroad t!en get specific



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0!ink of your talk asconsisting of episodes



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g g g




Use a !ome slide to maketransitions effectively



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Use a !ome slide to maketransitions effectively

$onclusions s!ould start wit! specifics but end broadly

+s t!is all you need to knowto give a great talk"


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to give a great talk"

+s t!is all you need to knowto give a great talk"


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to give a great talk"

CONTENT






Understandable

'voids (argon




STYLE AND DELIVERY

-eeps me awake

.aries voice

$onveys ent!usiasm



EXPERTISE

$redible

+nspires trust and confidence


&o but it,s a good first step>


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g p

CONTENT






Understandable

'voids (argon




STYLE AND DELIVERY

-eeps me awake

.aries voice

$onveys ent!usiasm



EXPERTISE

$redible

+nspires trust and confidence



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' great resource foradditional information is:

0!e $raft of Scientific

Presentations

by ?ic!ael 'lley

giving an effective presentation - stanford university

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