Preparing and Delivering Effective Educational

PresentationsJoyce M. FriedAssistant Dean

Co-Director, Office of CMEDavid Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Relevance of This Topic

• Many academic talks are poor

• Simple things can make your next talk better

• Everyone benefits from a good talk- Audience is happier- You get invited back

Evaluation Comments to Avoid

• “Tries to pack too much information in not enough time”

• “Very disjointed, poorly organized”• “Too much data and spoke too rapidly”• “Danced from topic to topic and was not real

organized”• “Went way over time”• “Used lots of abbreviations, many of them not

understood”• “Overuse of laser pointer and too much round

and round”• “Slow and dry and read his slides”

Today’s Topics

• Planning your content

• Improving delivery

• Creating effective PowerPoints

Think of a “WOW” presentation that

you heard…

***Why do you remember it?

How was it special?

Mark Twain said…

“It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech”

Preparation

• 10 hours yields 1 hour lecture

• Don’t wait until the last minute

• Borrow and acknowledge where appropriate

• Watch others and model

• Packaging

Type of Presentation

• Scientific/research talk on your latest data

• Review of topic or field

• Pitches to funding agencies/industry; job talks

• Teaching grad or medical students; CME

PLANNINGQuestion to Ask

1. Purpose of the meeting/lecture2. Anticipated audience 3. Time allotted—does it include

Q&A?4. Other presentations

5. Format—if panel, contact moderator and co-presenters

Different Perspectives about What to Include…

Your perspective:• What you believe is important

The audience’s perspective:• What they will find interesting

**Note: Resist the temptation to tell them EVERYTHING you know

Plan with Learners in Mind

Objectives

Audience buy-in Interests Prior experience

Outline

Attention

New knowledge is builton prior experience and requires a meaningful organizationToo much

informationInterferes with learning so leave things out

If they are not paying attention they cannot learn

Objectives

• What you want the learners to know/do after the presentation

• For a CME course, “At the conclusion of this lecture, participants will be able to:– 1.– 2.– 3. “

Create a Need to Know with the Introduction

• Clinical case

• Puzzle or problem

• Question to be answered– Jeopardy

• Survey of experience or understanding

• Visual stimulus– Video clip– Computer-simulation

Format for Research Presentation

• Background

• Aims/Hypothesis

• Methods

• Results

• Discussion--Implications

• Conclusion

• Acknowledgments (no need to read them all)

Structure

• New knowledge is built on prior knowledge. Link to prior learning.

• Meaningful links are essential for understanding. Provide a road map.– Prior experience– Relationship to other ideas– Interests– Rationale

Teach for Transfer

• Transfer from the classroom to the clinic is easier when material is organized in the way it will be used– Identify what you want listeners to

remember objectives– Use an organizing system that is clear– Link new material to clinical applications

• Take advantage of the power of the context

Provide Pockets of Depth Rather Than Only Broad Coverage

• Begin with a general statement• Follow with

– Deeper explanation– Demonstration– Memorable examples – Illustrations and applications

• Move from simple to complex, familiar to unfamiliar

Attention Span

In a lecture given by a brilliant researcher:

• After 15 minutes, 10% inattentive• After 18 minutes, fidgeting• After 35 minutes, everyone inattentive• After 45 minutes, trance• At 47 minutes, sleeping, reading• After 24 hours, insignificant details

recalled, and they were wrong

Maintaining Learner Attention

• Interact with the audiencePose a questionVoting

• Refocus the audienceKey pointsSummariesCase vignettes

• Insert active exerciseBuzz groupsWritten exerciseBrainstorming

If You Are Beginning to Lose the Audience

• Reiterate main points

• Visual reminders in the slides

• Verbal markers

• Use of 15 minute blocks

Delivery

“Three things matter in a speech: who says it, how it is said, and what

is said – and of the three, the last matters the least”

* * *“A good lecture is 25% content and

75% theater”

Once Upon a Time…

• You are telling a story

• Make it interesting and compelling

• Let it build

DO Show Enthusiasm• Your audience is more likely to

remember your personal style than your content

• Let your personality show

• Have a good attitude and smile

• Greet audience; thank organizers

• An enthusiastic speaker can make an average talk good, and a good talk great

Presentation Style—Pointers

• Speak to someone in the back of the room, even if you have a microphone on

• Make eye contact; identify a nodder, and speak to him or her (better still, more than one)

• Move!• Watch audience for signs of fatigue

Common Traps

• Using humor that bombs• Failing to highlight key points• Asking unclear questions• Upsetting, intimidating or

belittling members of the audience

• Technology or videos that don’t work

Annoying Habits

• Ummmmmmmmm• Frown/scowl • Monotone• Speaking too fast• Reading your slides• The dancing pointer• Turning away from mike• Accent

Do Not Apologize

• “I did not have time to prepare this talk properly”

• “My computer broke down so I will present only half of the data”

• “I do not have enough time to tell you about this”

• “I do not feel qualified to address this audience”

How to End Your Talk• Summary

– Why what they’ve heard is important– Take-home message

• Closing comment– I hope you found this interesting and important– Thank you for allowing me to share this with you

• I will be happy to entertain questions

Questions and Answers

• Repeat the question--So that everyone hears it

--To ensure you understood it

• Keep your answer focused--Less is more

• When you do not know the answer--Admit you do not have the answer

--Volunteer to follow up and then do so!

Conquering Those Butterflies

• Practice

• Experience

• Success

• Practice

PowerPoint™

There are 400 million copies of Microsoft Office software installed

and 30 million PowerPoint presentations given

every day!

Annoying Elements of PowerPoint Presentations

http://www.indezine.com/ideas/davesurvey.html

Text• Spelling and grammar

– Don’t rely on built-in fools– Get help

• Print the slides

• KILL (Keep it large and legible)

• Rule of fives (sixes, sevens)– Five words per line– Five lines per slide

tools

Fonts - Good

• Use 24-32 point font

• Use different size fonts for main points and secondary points– this font is 24-point, the main point font is

28-point, and the title font is 44-point

• Use a standard sans serif font like Arial

• Avoid CAPITALIZATION & underlining

Fonts - Bad

• If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written

• CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ

• Don’t use a complicated or condensed font

Slide Structure – Good

• Use 1-2 slides per minute of your presentation

• Write bullets, not complete sentences

• Include 4-5 points per slide

• Avoid wordiness: use key words and phrases only

Slide Structure - Bad

• This page contains too many words for a presentation slide. It is not written in point form, making it difficult both for your audience to read and for you to present each point. Although there are exactly the same number of points on this slide as the previous slide, it looks much more complicated. In short, your audience will spend too much time trying to read this paragraph instead of listening to you.

Slide Structure – Good

Show one point at a time:– Will help audience concentrate on

what you are saying– Will prevent audience from reading

ahead– Will help you keep your presentation

focused

Slide Structure - Bad

• Do not use distracting animation

• Do not go overboard with the animation

• Be consistent with the animation that you use

• Make sure your animation works

• Avoid videos

Color - Good

Use a font color that contrasts sharply with the background– Ex: blue font on white background

Use color to reinforce the logic of your structure– Ex: light blue title and dark blue text

Use color to emphasize a point– But only use this occasionally

Color - Bad

Using a font color that does not contrast with the background color is hard to read

Using color for decoration is distracting and annoying.

Using a different color for each point is unnecessary– Using a different color for secondary points is also

unnecessary Trying to be creative can also be bad

Background – Bad

Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from

Always be consistent with the background that you use

Animated Blue Line

This template has an animated blue line across the top. The font

used is Swis721 ExBT

44

WATCH THE DAY TURN TO NIGHT AS THE SUN SETS ON

THE TOP OF THIS ONE!

Is your audience absorbing the significance of your astounding data or are they mesmerized

by your slide’s animation?!?

Data Presentation

• Use graphs rather than just charts and words– Data in graphs is easier to

comprehend and retain than raw data– Trends are easier to visualize in

graph form

• Always title your graphs

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Charts & Graphs – When to Use

• Line graph – one item with 2 variables

• Bar graphs – when different items with 1 variable

• Pie charts – portions of a whole

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Last-Minute Tips:Rehearse

• Check length, content, flow, “speed bumps”

• By yourself and in front of audience that can give constructive feedback

• Print the slides and read them

• You do not have to accept every suggestion

Last-Minute Tips:Travel

• Bring back-up (CD/memory stick)

• E-mail it to yourself

• Carry it on the plane (same for good clothes if the talk is same day or early AM on day after)

• Laptop allows very last minute changes (experienced presenters)

Last-Minute Tips:Day of the Presentation

• Be rested

• Dress professionally but comfortably

• Arrive early/give yourself plenty of time

• After you have given the presentation to the organizers, review it one more time

• Check the room and the set-up

• Meal/Water

• Bathroom

Take-Home Messages

• Plan ahead

• Keep it simple

• Be consistent

• Be enthusiastic, clear and loud!

• Practice

• Do NOT exceed the time limit

• Have fun!

Evaluation Commentsthat Delight

• “Clear, concise, very practical and helpful”• “Top notch, very useful, clear and up to date”• “Most outstanding and useful lecture I have

ever had”• “Amazing”• “Truly inspirational”• “Enthusiastic, enlightened, and entertaining

speaker”• “Seek speakers who are interesting,

informative, charismatic, fast paced, crisp, and concise”