Every academic career is filled with presentations. In fact, giving a good presentation is one of the more important tasks of our careers. Talks/presentations are how we inform our peers and students about recent developments in science/medicine, our research, new techniques, etc. They are how we inform colleagues (who might also be reviewers) of our work before they see it in grants or papers. And, they can and should be fun to give. Therefore, to ensure that you get your message across and do not completely bore or overwhelm your audience, I would suggest following these “Ten Rules.”
1. Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them. This particular rule does not require a great degree of explanation. However, it can be easily forgotten. Remember the introductory slide, follow the order of that slide, and conclude
with a slide that generally lists, at a minimum, the most important points you were trying to make.
2. Keep it short and simple. While some of this is dictated by the people asking you to give a talk, shorter really can be better. Most studies have suggested that 30 minutes is the limit for most people’s
attention span, with the best attention early and some pickup at the end.
If you are asked to give a longer talk, consider giving the “less important information” between one-half to two-thirds of the way through, and finish with the most important data. In general, don’t try to cover too many topics during your talk, especially if your audience is relatively new
to the area. Finally, as a general rule of thumb, plan on one minute per slide. For example, if your talk is 30 minutes, 30 slides would be ideal.
3. Know your audience and environment. Unless you are giving a talk at your local institution, check with the organizer to determine who is attending. It can be uncomfortable to give a very simplistic talk to a well-educated/knowledgeable audience and vice versa. In addition, it is helpful to know the venue that you are talking in. If this is rather early in your career, it is even helpful to see the room and its setup before you speak. While computer/projection systems have become much better over the last few years, there are still occasions when they don’t work. Make sure you arrive in plenty of time to fix any glitches that arise.
4. Look at your audience. All too often, presenters are so busy looking at their slides or their notes that they forget to interact with their audience. Focus on individual faces, but change your focus frequently. Find a few that appear to be engaged. It not only makes the listeners believe that you are interacting with them, it also allows you to better gauge the response of your audience. Check for the number of people nodding off! If you see that, try to change something (cadence in your voice, speed of your talk, etc.) so that you regain their attention.
5. Use effective slides. While many segments of society give talks without slides, we almost always interact with them in some manner. In fact, the content/format of slides can easily make or break your talk. Good slides require the right amount of data. Do not try to put too many points in a single slide, and never put in a large data table with unreadable fonts. Rather, create your own summary table to highlight your key points. In addition, pay some attention to the title of the slide. The title should be a “mini-summary” of that slide, giving the most important point.
6. Know and interact with your slides. As boring as it ca be, practice, practice, practice. Practice “talking your talk” in front of an audience at least once, if at all possible. Reviewing your slides silently is just not the same thing. However, it is important to know what is on each slide and to be able to anticipate the next slide. As part of interacting with your slides, learn to use the pointer. The pointer is not a weapon to be brandished wildly around the room! It should only be used when it helps to emphasize your point and should specifically interact with the portion of the slide you are attempting to highlight.
7. Have a logical progression. This obviously refers back to both Rules 1 and 2. You can set the stage for this with your introductory slide and then build your story from the ground up. Try your best not to “jump” from point to point or area to area, as this can be more difficult to
follow. And, again, remember to end with your most important data or point, as this is when attention may be picking up again.
8. Work on segues. This, of course, also refers to Rule 6—knowing and interacting with your slides. If at all possible, try to begin to introduce your next slide before you actually show it. Obviously, this is easier if the two slides are related to each other. However, in transition
areas of talk, this may require an actual “mini-introduction” which serves to begin the discussions on the next topic.
9. Quote at least one other person’s data. Believe it or not, this point is often not observed by seasoned presenters. Yet, to me, quoting other people’s work makes you look more knowledgeable. And, it can be very stimulating to point out differences between your work and others. In general, we all learn from the differences and the similarities of our work with others. Believe it or not, most of what we do is a “model” of disease with its own inherent limitations.
10. Deliver with passion and a sense of humor. If you have the option, give talks primarily on topics you can have some general sense of excitement about. If you are not excited about giving your talk, then no one will be excited to listen to that talk. Some of the hardest talks to
give are those when your data did not work out as you had hoped (i.e., the experiments failed). But in that case, remember to refer back to Rule 9. There probably was some reason/experiment that led you down this path. Perhaps even the negative experiment can teach us something, including some concern that the original studies may have some “issues” surrounding them that could not be repeated or built upon. Finally, do throw in some humor. Personal and humorous anecdotes are almost never offensive and generally can help you connect with your audience. This can be particularly helpful when you are talking about negative results... a situation we all have been in at some point or other.
1. Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them. This particular rule does not require a great degree of explanation. However, it can be easily forgotten. Remember the introductory slide, follow the order of that slide, and conclude
with a slide that generally lists, at a minimum, the most important points you were trying to make.
2. Keep it short and simple. While some of this is dictated by the people asking you to give a talk, shorter really can be better. Most studies have suggested that 30 minutes is the limit for most people’s
attention span, with the best attention early and some pickup at the end.
If you are asked to give a longer talk, consider giving the “less important information” between one-half to two-thirds of the way through, and finish with the most important data. In general, don’t try to cover too many topics during your talk, especially if your audience is relatively new
to the area. Finally, as a general rule of thumb, plan on one minute per slide. For example, if your talk is 30 minutes, 30 slides would be ideal.
3. Know your audience and environment. Unless you are giving a talk at your local institution, check with the organizer to determine who is attending. It can be uncomfortable to give a very simplistic talk to a well-educated/knowledgeable audience and vice versa. In addition, it is helpful to know the venue that you are talking in. If this is rather early in your career, it is even helpful to see the room and its setup before you speak. While computer/projection systems have become much better over the last few years, there are still occasions when they don’t work. Make sure you arrive in plenty of time to fix any glitches that arise.
4. Look at your audience. All too often, presenters are so busy looking at their slides or their notes that they forget to interact with their audience. Focus on individual faces, but change your focus frequently. Find a few that appear to be engaged. It not only makes the listeners believe that you are interacting with them, it also allows you to better gauge the response of your audience. Check for the number of people nodding off! If you see that, try to change something (cadence in your voice, speed of your talk, etc.) so that you regain their attention.
5. Use effective slides. While many segments of society give talks without slides, we almost always interact with them in some manner. In fact, the content/format of slides can easily make or break your talk. Good slides require the right amount of data. Do not try to put too many points in a single slide, and never put in a large data table with unreadable fonts. Rather, create your own summary table to highlight your key points. In addition, pay some attention to the title of the slide. The title should be a “mini-summary” of that slide, giving the most important point.
6. Know and interact with your slides. As boring as it ca be, practice, practice, practice. Practice “talking your talk” in front of an audience at least once, if at all possible. Reviewing your slides silently is just not the same thing. However, it is important to know what is on each slide and to be able to anticipate the next slide. As part of interacting with your slides, learn to use the pointer. The pointer is not a weapon to be brandished wildly around the room! It should only be used when it helps to emphasize your point and should specifically interact with the portion of the slide you are attempting to highlight.
7. Have a logical progression. This obviously refers back to both Rules 1 and 2. You can set the stage for this with your introductory slide and then build your story from the ground up. Try your best not to “jump” from point to point or area to area, as this can be more difficult to
follow. And, again, remember to end with your most important data or point, as this is when attention may be picking up again.
8. Work on segues. This, of course, also refers to Rule 6—knowing and interacting with your slides. If at all possible, try to begin to introduce your next slide before you actually show it. Obviously, this is easier if the two slides are related to each other. However, in transition
areas of talk, this may require an actual “mini-introduction” which serves to begin the discussions on the next topic.
9. Quote at least one other person’s data. Believe it or not, this point is often not observed by seasoned presenters. Yet, to me, quoting other people’s work makes you look more knowledgeable. And, it can be very stimulating to point out differences between your work and others. In general, we all learn from the differences and the similarities of our work with others. Believe it or not, most of what we do is a “model” of disease with its own inherent limitations.
10. Deliver with passion and a sense of humor. If you have the option, give talks primarily on topics you can have some general sense of excitement about. If you are not excited about giving your talk, then no one will be excited to listen to that talk. Some of the hardest talks to
give are those when your data did not work out as you had hoped (i.e., the experiments failed). But in that case, remember to refer back to Rule 9. There probably was some reason/experiment that led you down this path. Perhaps even the negative experiment can teach us something, including some concern that the original studies may have some “issues” surrounding them that could not be repeated or built upon. Finally, do throw in some humor. Personal and humorous anecdotes are almost never offensive and generally can help you connect with your audience. This can be particularly helpful when you are talking about negative results... a situation we all have been in at some point or other.
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