Thissessioncoversgeneralnotesfromthedryrunsandisachanceforyoutoaskques7onsaboutnextweek’spresenta7ons.Overall,thedry‐runpresenta7onswereveryhighquality.Havingalltheinforma7oninplaceisjustastar7ngpoint,however,forthefinaldecisionsyouwillneedtomakeaboutcontent,emphasis,and7ming.Consideringyouraudienceanditsneedswillhelpyousetpriori7es.Whenyoucareaboutcontent,cuFngbackisneverfun.ButseFngpriori7esandlookingattheroleofinforma7onwillhelpyoumakedecisions.

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Thinkaboutyourrela7onshiptoyouraudience.Whatdoyouknowaboutthem?Whatdoyouneedtotellthem?Whatkindofresponsedoyouexpect?(Orfear?)

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Takeaminuteandbrainstormsomeanswers.Knowwhatyoutheaudienceneedstotakeaway.Areyoujustconveyinginforma7on?Orwouldyouliketoelicitapar7cularresponse?

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ThisisAristotle’sclassicalstructureofthestory.It’salsoahelpful“shape”forpresenta7ons.Somerecommendedreading:StoryStructure‐RobertMcKee(HarperCollins)TheCraWofResearch,3rdEdi7on–Booth,Williams,andColomb(UniversityofChicagoPress)ImprovingYourStorytelling:BeyondtheBasicsforAllWhoTellStoriesinWorkorPlay–DougLipman(AugustHouse)Thesearejustthreeofmanybooksyoucouldreadonthesetopics,buttheyallboildowncomplexideasintoconceptsthatareeasytoremember.Theseideasaren’tnew,ofcourse.Butwhenyouarelookingattheslidesandyourcontent,it’shelpfultoweighthecontentagainstyouravailable7me.Imposingastructureonyourtalkhelpsyoumakedecisions.Youcanask,“Whatpieceofthestorydoeseachsliderepresent?”

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Theclassicalstoryhasanarc.Theelementsdonoteachreceivethesameamountofspace.Wefocusonthepiecesthatarethemostintriguing.AstoryoWendoesnotendwhentheproblemissolved;thedenouementshedslightontheotherpiecesandmakesusseetheminnewways.

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Whatdoesallthishavetodowithtechnicalandscien7ficpresenta7ons?Booth,Williams,andColombpresentthemodelofanintroduc7onasastory.Theintroductoryandtransi7onalwordsmaybesomewhatdifferent,butwecanusethisframeworktoapproachideasatahighlevel.Althoughthehigh‐levelviewmayseemoversimplified,youcanusethisveryschema7csummaryofyourworktoconnecteachdetailtothewhole.

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Constrainingyourstorytothesemainpointscanhelpyoutoseewhatinforma7ontheaudienceneedsinordertogetthat“take‐awayidea.”Tomanageyourpresenta7on7me,setpriori7es.Imagineyouhadonlythreeminutes.Whatwouldyouabsolutelyhavetotellyouraudience.Focusonthatkeyidea.Whenyouconsidertheamountof7meyouactuallyhave,askhowmuchinforma7onisabsolutelynecessarytosetuptheidea.Setyour7megoals:“ByminuteXofourtalk,wewanttoreachpointY.”Ivisualizeananalogclockfaceandthinkofmytopicsaswedgesofpie.MyMostImportantThing(atermcoinedbystorytellerDougLipman)isusuallyabout60‐75%ofmytalk.Knowingthat,Iallowsome7meforrela7ngtotheaudience,abitof7metointroduceandsetgoals,andIaimtomakemycentralpointsabout8‐10minutesintothehour.

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Withthesolidpresenta7onsyouallhave,youcandosomeanalysisofyourcontentandset7megoals.Presenta7on7meisoWencutshortatconferencesandseminars,soknowinghowtosetpriori7eshelpsyoutoedit.Throwingoutvitalinforma7onisneverfun,buteveryspeakerhastodoit–frequently.Planafallbackstrategy.Ifyouwereactuallydeliveringthistalktoclients,students,orfunders,whatwouldyoudotosupplementorreinforceyourmessage?Abrochure?SupplementalslidesfortheQ&Asession?Asummarysheet?Avideoonyourwebsite?Knowingyouhaveanotherwayofcommunica7ngcanalsohelpyouletgoofdetailsthatareintriguingandimportant,butdon’tfitthe7meallomed.

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Goodluck!Getintouchwithus(jconnor@mit.eduormcaulf@mit.edu)ifyouhaveques7ons.

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