Research Presentation TemplateTraining and Mentoring Subcommittee

Professional Development InitiativeCenter for Research & EvaluationMissouri Institute of Mental Health

March 2013

Objectives

• Describe content, organization and format of effective slide presentations─ Focus on research and evaluation─ Use MIMH template

• Improve quality and consistency of presentations by MIMH faculty/staff

Best Practices

• A presentation is not a paper─ Use headings─ Summary statements only

o No complete sentenceso Do not cut/paste from narrative

• Spell check slides• Stay within your time limit• Be animated

Things to Avoid

• Visual clutter from too many colors• Un-bolded, serif fonts like Times New Roman• ALL CAPS (HARD ON THE EYES)• Pseudo-3D charts and graphs• Animation• Clip art and stock photos

Things to Avoid (cont’)

• Unnecessary grid lines in figures• Necessary lines that are too thin

• Slides full of small numbers and words that cannot be read• Offer details on website or by email

Content and Organization

Structure of Presentation

• Title• Background• Study Questions• Methods• Results• Discussion• Questions and Answers• Selected References• Acknowledgements

Title Slide

• 1 slide for title slide

• Presenters’ names and titles

• Presenters’ affiliation

• Appropriate logos

Background

• Introduce topic ─ Explain importance of planned study or

program ─ Establish relevance in evaluation/research─ Detail program or intervention

oTarget populationoSite size & locationoFundingo Intended outcomes

Study Questions

• State primary study hypothesis

• Enumerate evaluation questions

• List program issues or concerns

Methods

• Study Design

− Survey, experimental, or quasi-experimental?

− Formative or summative?

− Qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods?

− Cross-sectional or longitudinal?

Methods (cont’)

• Participant characteristics − Inclusion/exclusion criteria

• Sampling frame, procedures, and size− Randomization, power analysis, pipeline

study results

• Measures used − Self designed, established, or modified

instruments− Validity, reliability, appropriateness

Methods (cont’)

• Describe data analyses employed− Descriptive− T-tests− Correlation− ANOVA− Logistic regression− Hierarchical modeling− Survival analysis− Propensity scoring

Results

• Present significant findings only ─ Hypothesis testing─ Demographics─ Descriptive data─ Correlations

• Use mixture of text, tables, and figures as appropriate to data

Discussion

• Interpretation of findings − Don’t repeat results− Prioritize findings from most to least

important− Link findings to study questions− Put findings into context with previous

studies

• Conclusions based on findings

Discussion (cont’)

• Limitations - only most important

• Recommendations ─ Significance of results for practice, policy,

and further research

Formatting Effective Slides

Effective Slides

• Are uncluttered, clear, visible• Use informative titles• Use bolded, sans serif font

─Calibri, Arial, Tahoma

• Have simple, high-contrast, consistent, color schemes─ Avoid red lettering (may cause problems for

color-blind persons)

• Use MIMH template provided

Example of Font and Sizes

• For Arial (bolded):

─Titles 36 pt─Main bullets 28 pt─ Sub-bullets 26 pt ─ Avoid sub-sub bullets, if possible, & reformat

insteadoUse 24 pt if using sub-sub bullets

Effective Slide Wording

• Order of slide text matches order of presentation

• Text should reinforce, not match narrative• Text should be as concise as possible

─Use key words only, not complete sentences─Avoid use of articles (i.e., “a” and “the”) if

possible

• Bullets better than numbers in most cases

Practice Review

What are strong/weak points of slide?

× Poor color selection—prefer light background

× Too much text – summarize

What are strong/weak points of slide?

Good content× Background

too busy× Do not use

parentheses around numbers – use bullet points instead

What are strong/weak points of slide?

Good research questions

× Pale slide × Points need

to be spaced out more

25

What are strong/weak points of slide?

Good content

× Summarize points

× Eliminate period

What are strong/weak points of slide?

Clear and concise points

× Light background, dark letters preferred

× Sub-bullets too small

What are strong/weak points of slide?

Clear, concise points

× Slide too busy× Poor contrast× Light

background, dark headings preferred

What are strong/weak points of slide?

Concise points× Remove clip art × Prefer light

background and dark letters

What are strong/weak points of slide?

Good content but busy slide

× Background too dark

× Text hard to see× Photo not

necessary and distracting

What are strong/weak points of slide?

× Slide too pale—minor points fade away

× Needs stronger contrast and bolder bullet points

Good content Text concise Citations

should be eliminated

What are strong/weak points of slide?

Text concise Good content× Slide pale and

cluttered× Text too small × Graph too

small

What are strong/weak points of slide?

× Repetitive title× Poor contrast× Lines too thin× Scale not labeled× Graph too small

Use blank slide

What are strong/weak points of slide?

Good content× Slide too pale

and cluttered× no contrast × needs spacing× text needs

summarizing

What are strong/weak points of slide?

Simple, clear, concise text

× Dark background× Font size too small

How can this slide be improved?

Change background —too busy —needs more contrast Summarize text Create sub-bullets

Delivery Tips

Preparation

• Flesh out bullet points into sentences• Practice is key to making presentation flow• Time presentation• Be sure to bring a back-up of presentation • Bring business cards• Get there early

Delivery

• Do not look at projected image─ Breaks presenter-audience link

• Stand up straight─ Don’t hang onto the podium like it’s a life

preserver

• Check if correct slide is projecting

Delivery (cont’)

• Speak slowly with sufficient volume• Be careful with humor• Explain charts and graphs • Pause before advancing to next slide

Questions & Answers

Q & A Do’s

When asked a question…

Do take a moment to think

Do give short, direct answers

Do say you don’t know, if you don’t know

Q & A Do’s (cont’)

When asked a question…

Do ask for clarification, if needed

Do write down multi-part questions

Do have a definite end to your answer

Do use Q&A to fill in points not previously discussed

Q & A Don’ts

When asked a question…

× Don’t be defensive even if a question is hostile

× Don’t ask, “Did that answer your question?”

× Don’t thank the questioner for the question

× Don’t feel you have to answer every question

× Don’t criticize a question

Summary

Selected References

• Reference slide useless except as a handout ─ Text cannot be read─ Text cannot be copied fast enough

• Display web address for paper download

• Share your email address

Acknowledgements

• 1 slide

• Recognize coauthors, contributors, and collaborators

• Organize by agency

• Same logos as on the title slide

Acknowledgements

Presentation developed by the CRE

Professional Development Initiative,

Training & Mentoring Subcommittee

─Jean Campbell, facilitator─Mary York, research assistant─Other input by MIMH faculty & staff

oMatthew Hile, Joel Epstein, Suzanne McCudden