Effective Communication: The Art of Oral Presentation

Effective Communication: The Art of Oral Presentation

Buddy D. RatnerUniversity of Washington Engineered Biomaterials (UWEB)

Seattle, WA 98195

If you cannot -- in the long run -- tell everyone what youhave been doing, your doing has been worthless.”

Erwin Schrödinger

The ability to communicate may be THE most valuable skill you

will learn.

• to teach• to persuade• to defend

Verbal Written

YourSeminarToday

There are different types of talks with different styles(a “cultural” thing)

• The contributed scientific talk (10 min - 20 min.) (Focus heavily on the data)

• The invited talk at a scientific society or University (30 min - 1 hr.) (Some “philosophy” and “teaching” are expected)

• A talk to the general public (entertain, inspire and teach)

• A talk to business people (teach and then sell, sell, sell!)

• A talk to science people at a company (teach, reasonable amounts of data, and then a bit of selling)

• A talk to a class (teach, gauge the experience level)

Some people absorb material visually

Others primarily learn what they hear.

It is your job to ensure that both groups get your message.

Gripping Graphics + Vibrant Vocal = Persuasive Presentation

Step 1 for any talk:

Write down, in one sentence, what you primarily want your audience to take away from the talk.

For this talk:

“I want this group to receive a set of skills that they can use to become more effective communicators.”

Three general considerations for professional presentation:

AV

Audience

Q & A

1

2

3

Three general considerations for professional presentation

Check it

Know it

Control it

Delivery Skills:Stance

Eye Contact

Voice

Gestures

Movement

Confidence

Graphics

Good posture; no fidgeting

Relaxed; 3-5 sec. at a time; focus around room

Vary pace and volume; use silence strategically

Use them; use them naturally

Don’t rock; don’t sway; move purposefully

Be fearful but do it anyway; Command!

Clear; concise; informative; interesting

Techniques for Degrading Your Own Scientific Talk

1. Include lots of unrelated items

2. Don’t waste time introducing the topic

3. Fill your slides with detail

4. Represent trends by tables of numbers

5. Omit compound name and x,y axes labels

6. Include loads of slides

7. Use lots of vertical slides

8. Create slides with lots of misteakes

9. Present every experimental detail

10. Speak in a low voice

Based on an article by J. Bunnett (1995)

TOTAL TOTALumol/ml ug/ml

Ala 0.0198 1.410Arg 0.0219 3.421Asp 0.2323 26.742Cys/2Glu 0.0251 3.235Gly 0.1683 9.608His 0.0070 0.963Ile 0.0046 0.521Leu 0.0080 0.901Lys 0.0233 2.988Met 0.0003 0.041Phe 0.0000 0.000Pro 0.0172 1.666Ser 0.0193 1.680Thr 0.0087 0.876TrpTyr 0.0086 1.402Val 0.0001 0.012

Clever quotes can spruce up a talk, but use them judiciously and appropriately

Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment. Anon

Many stumble over discoveries, but most of pick themselves up and walk away. Winston Churchill

Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards. Vernon Law

Talk is cheap because the supply exceeds the demand. Anon

Cartoons can be effective, but use sparingly and appropriately.

Handling Questions

• Anticipate• Prepare• Answer Directly and Control

Be conciseDon’t argue -- don’t sound defensiveRepeat the questionControl the question through eye contactWhen YOU are ready, ask for the next question

PREP (your Point of view; the Reason; an Example; summarize with your Point of view)

Q. Ratner, why are you so fixated on non-fouling surfaces?

A. I believe non-fouling surfaces may be the foundation forbiomaterials of the future.

I hypothesize that non-specifically adsorbed protein filmsare not recognized and are therefore “suspected” by thebody as being a foreign invader.

Consider the surfaces of living cells -- they don’t non-specificallyadsorb protein.

Therefore, I believe we should create biomaterials that do not adsorb protein, that is, non-fouling surfaces.

PREP (your Point of view; the Reason; an Example; summarize with your Point of view)

P

R

E

P

When you get up onthe podium, prepareto go into battle!

There are people out therewho may want you tolook bad.

Defend yourself! (smartly)

About PowerPoint:

FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION! It comes bundled with the software.

Let’s discuss graphics, particularly in the context of PowerPoint

These days, I use a light colored background in my talks.

If the projection room is bright (afternoon sun, poor light controls, etc.),dark type on this background will show up well. On dark blue backgrounds, often you cannot read any type color.

24 pt. type

Many font colors work out well in this format…Many font colors work out well in this format…Many font colors work out well in this format…Many font colors work out well in this format…Many font colors work out well in this format…Light colors are problematicalLight colors are problematicalLight colors are problematical

But, if you want a light color for effect, a shadow can helpBut, if you want a light color for effect, a shadow can helpBut, if you want a light color for effect, a shadow can help But, if you want a light color for effect, a shadow can help …… maybe maybe

24 pt.

32 pt.





This slide is in 18 pt. Type. Orange looks good here. This slide is in 18 pt. Type. Orange looks good here.

This slide is in 18 pt. Type. Orange looks good here. This slide is in 18 pt. Type. Orange looks good here.

If you insist on a blue background,throw away your blackthrow away the accursed redthrow away greens

The color palate useful on blue background is:White, yellow, a judicious orange … but try pastels,… but try pastels, … but try pastels, … but try pastels

What about font sizes? 12 pt.



What about font sizes? 32 pt.What about font sizes? 36 pt.

Bullets are excellent to enumerate points• clarity• conciseness• logical order

Bold can makesmaller typemore readable

Italic for emphasisor specialwords

Use multiplefonts with the greatest ofmoderation!

Boxes and highlightcolors can be

effective

Don’t overcrowdyour slides and keepa bit away from the edges -- your thoughtsmay get cut off.

UUniversity of niversity of WWashington ashington EEngineered ngineered BBiomaterialsiomaterials

An NSF Engineering Research Center

Want my opinion on Microsoft PowerPoint templates?

A picture canhelp your audienceremember a message!

•• IOLs (>2,700,000/yr) (PMMA, silicone)

•• Hip and knee Prostheses (>200,000/yr) (titanium, steel, PE)

•• Vascular Grafts (>100,000/yr) (Teflon, Dacron)

•• Heart Valves (>80,000/yr) (carbon, fixed tissue)

•• Percutaneous Devices (>25,000/yr) (titanium, silicone)

•• Stimulatory Electrodes (>25,000/yr)(platinum, iridium)

•• Catheters (millions/yr)(silicone, PVC, PEU, Teflon)

•• Stents (800,000/yr)(stainless steel)

Success in BiomaterialsSuccess in Biomaterials after ~50 years of research and development:

Millions of lives saved / The quality of life improved for millions more

U.S. healthcare market (1998) > $1 trillion

Bo JacksonBo Jackson

From a talk for the general public

MedicineMedicine

EngineeringEngineering

ScienceScience

http://www.chinavista.com/travel/greatwall/greatwall.html

Vascular density and capsule thicknessof foreign body capsules in control and TSP2-null mice

genotype material vessels/capsule

Thbs2+/+

Thbs2-/-

PDMS

Ox-PDMS

PDMS

Ox-PDMS

10±10

12±8

100±20

90±14

Capsule thickness facingdermis (µm) body wall (µm)

55±8

58±7

91±7

95±8

24±3

25±4

36±5

38±5

Data of Kyriakides, Leach, Hoffman, Ratner and Bornstein

(4 week implantation)

Materials in Heart ValvesAt the close of 20th Century

Dacron or e-PTFE

carbon

“leather”

Delrin or polypropyleneor metal

stainless steel

titanium

Cipro. Released from Plasma-depositedpoly(HEMA) Coated Films

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

0 5 10 15 20 25 30Time, hrs

Cum

ulat

ive

Rel

ease

, mg Uncoated film

20W80W

PHEMA Coatingswere relatively

ineffective in controlling release

C. Kwok

Ethics and the WWW?

Frankly, it’s too easy to “lift” stuff

Cite the WWW site!

Where the site requests permissionbefore use, ask permission!

There are many reference sources to help you out:

Many books on public speaking (for example, “Public SpeakingFor Dummies” or “The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense”)

On graphics, look at:

“Visual Revelations,” Howard Wainer, Springer-Verlag, NY, 1997

The three books of Edward Tufte

“Elements of Graph Design” S. Kosslyn, W.H. Freeman, NY, 1994

“Information Graphics” P. Wildbur, Van Nostrand Reinhold, NY, 1989 (advanced and “arty”)

Documents

Effective Communication: The Art of Oral Presentation