HOW TO GIVE AN ORAL HOW TO GIVE AN ORAL RESEARCH RESEARCH

PRESENTATIONPRESENTATION

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Professor Phillip NagleyProfessor Phillip Nagley

EFFECTIVE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION COMMUNICATION

IN SCIENCEIN SCIENCE

Content

Audiovisual aids

Delivery

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Content

Audiovisual aids

Delivery

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

CONTENTCONTENT

Telling a story about your research

Content of presentationContent of presentation

Statement of the problem Background The issue or question to be addressed Specific aims The approaches used Results

continues…...

Content of presentationContent of presentationContinued……

Interpretation of data Summary of research findings Implications in a wider sphere Conclusions

Statement of the problemStatement of the problem

Headline

Sets context

Encapsulates the gist of the talk

Tell them what you’re going to tell them

BackgroundBackground

What is known already

Some indication of significance in broader context

Keep it relevant to your talk

Issue or question to be Issue or question to be addressedaddressedPossible aspects…….

What you wanted to find out

Issue to be resolved

Keep it general at this point

Specific aimsSpecific aims

List the particular goals of your research

These should be carefully chosen to match what you actually carried out or what you achieved

Don’t raise unrealistic expectations in your audience(but don’t undersell yourself, either)

The approaches usedThe approaches used

Experimental system Methods in general Highlight any novel methods used or

invented for this research

Don’t go into too much detail here ……It’s NOT a Materials and Methods

section!

ResultsResults

What you did for each experiment (or phase of the investigation)

What you observed (i.e. the data)

Specific methods can be mentioned here……

This helps in the description of the experimental set up or technique used

Interpretation of dataInterpretation of dataWhat you……. found out discovered measured re-evaluated identified as being an artefact realised had not answered the

questionThis is often integrated with the

presentation of individual Results

Summary of research Summary of research findingsfindings Outline succinctly what you found

This is what you know today, that you did not know before you started

This helps the audience absorb the salient features of what you have been telling them in detail

Implications in a wider Implications in a wider spheresphereThis can be ……. what you would like to find out further experiments or techniques to solve

the problem or extend the field further

why others may have got it wrong new insights or opportunities application of novel methods to other

biological or clinical issues or topics…….or anything else relevant

Implications in a wider Implications in a wider spheresphere

The integration of your talk into the “bigger picture” is very important

ConclusionsConclusions

Summarise the main points of your talk

Relate these back to the initial question

Link these to the specific aims

Outline the implications

Try to do this on one slide (or transparency)

ConclusionsConclusions

THIS IS THE TAKE HOME MESSAGE

Do not finish your talk without it!

Do not let your audience leave without it!

ContentContent The organisation listed above may

not be applicable to all talks

Use your judgment in arranging your talk to achieve the optimal organisation

GOOD ORGANISATION IS ONE OF THE THREE ELEMENTS OF

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Content

Audiovisual aids

Delivery

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Display itemsDisplay items

Transparencies

Slides (35 mm)

PowerPoint slides

Clarity of logicClarity of logic Relevance of content to the intended point

Logical links (wherever possible) to the preceding and subsequent display items

These only need to be cues (words or images) that you use, as presenter,to help the audience follow the talk

Number of slides to be as Number of slides to be as few as possiblefew as possible Do not use more than required

Omit irrelevant items

The audience will appreciate a small number of slides, handled well, rather than a large number that induces “PowerPoint Fatigue Syndrome”

Keep slides non-clutteredKeep slides non-cluttered

Avoid too much data

Do not show schematics that are too detailed

Omit unnecessary or irrelevant information

Keep slides non-clutteredKeep slides non-cluttered

128 scans0 scansB

CMX- Ros

Rh123

128 scans0 scans

A

0

20

40

60

80

100

Rh123 + CMXRos Rh123 Hig

h delt

a-psi-

m (%

cells

)

Keep slides non-clutteredKeep slides non-cluttered

0

20

40

60

80

100

Rh123 + CMXRos Rh123

High d

elta-p

si-m

(% ce

lls)

Figure 1. CMXRos photosensitization on a subpopulation of mitochondria induces rapid m loss in non-irradiated mitochondria. (C) Quantitative determination of Rh123 retention in non-irradiated mitochondria of cells. Control cells to indicate either high m and low m were either treated without or with CCCP (20 M) respectively (n=20, n=15 respectively), loaded with Rh123 but not photoirradiated (Irr-). Other cells loaded with Rh123 alone (n=13) or with Rh123 and CMXRos (n=9) were subjected to partial irradiation (Irr+). Three regions of interest in the non-irradiated zone from each cell were arbitrarily selected to determine the fluorescence intensity of Rh123 in pixel units. The mean fluorescence intensity ( SEM) of Rh123 in each cell was obtained by averaging the pixel values of the three regions of interest. Measurements were taken before and after partial irradiation. The fluorescence intensity of Rh123 retained in non-irradiated mitochondria (Fafter) following irradiation was expressed as a percentage of the initial fluorescence intensity (Fbefore) in the same cell prior to irradiation. Cells containing non-irradiated mitochondria with Rh123 retention values above 60% and below 20% were considered as manifesting high m or loss of m

respectively. No cells tested showed intermediate levels of Rh123 retention. (D) Fraction of cells manifesting high m in non-irradiated mitochondria (see above). Cells were loaded with Rh123 and CMXRos (n=21) or Rh123 alone (n=16). Black bars indicate cells before irradiation. Open bars indicate cells after 128 scans under partial irradiation condition.

Slides must be easy to Slides must be easy to readread Font sizes must be big enough Don’t use black font on dark backgrounds Avoid the “serif” fonts like Times New Roman or

CourierAvoid small fonts like Times New Roman

Avoid small “skinny” fonts like Courier

Use “sans serif” fonts like ArialUse Sans-serif” fonts like Arial

Use Sans-serif” fonts like Arial (use bold if it needs to be very small)

Slides must be easy to Slides must be easy to readread Avoid abbreviations that are not

defined Do not use lab jargon, if there is a

conventional term in wide useCertain fields are particularly

prone to this problemAsk yourself if the audience can be

reasonably expected to understand the terms you use on the slides

Proper sizes of text and Proper sizes of text and graphicsgraphics Use the available space

Keep the font sizes large and readable

Make sure the graphics are big enough

Don’t show a very small image or table surrounded by a sea of blank space

Improper size of graphicImproper size of graphic

Rh12

3 re

tention

(mea

n %

of Faf

ter/

Fbef

ore

)

0

20

40

60

80

100

Rh123 Rh123 Rh123 Rh123 +CMXRos +CCCP

Irr - + + -

Better size of graphicBetter size of graphicR

h12

3 re

tention

(mea

n %

of Faf

ter/

Fbef

ore

)

0

20

40

60

80

100

Rh123 Rh123 Rh123 Rh123 +CMXRos +CCCP

Irr - + + -

DecorationDecoration

Make sensible use of colours and borders

Don’t let PowerPoint Backgrounds dominate your data or statements

It is the content that the audience should remember, not the colours and the special effects!

Order of display itemsOrder of display items

Make sure the order is correct before you start

If an item needs to be repeated during a presentation, make sure there is a duplicate in the correct place

Avoid shuffling through items during a presentation: the audience will (rightly) think you are not properly organised

GOOD ORGANISATION AND WELL

PREPARED VISUAL AIDS ARE

TWO OF THE THREE ELEMENTS

OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Content

Audiovisual aids

Delivery

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

GOOD ORGANISATION WELL PREPARED VISUAL AIDS INFORMATIVE AND

ENTERTAINING PRESENTATION

ARE THE THREE ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION