What makes a good presentation?

What makes a good presentation? 1. Structure 2. The slides 3. The talk 4. Miscellaneous

? 1. Structure 1. Presentation  paper  motivation is most important!!! (see Economic History presentations)  present as few equations as possible  emphasize the economic intuition

1. Structure 1. Presentation  paper 2. Rule of thumb: Put yourself into the shoes of someone who doesn’t know much about your topic, literature, details Best example: Recall how you felt during the most recent seminars  implement what you liked  avoid what put you to sleep

1. Structure 1. Presentation  paper 2. Rule of thumb 3. Outline of a good presentation: 1. “What is the point of being here?” (Motivation of your topic) 2. “When can I ask what question?” (Brief outline of your talk) 3. “What is new?” (Very briefly relate your work to the existing literature) 4. “What do I need to know to understand your results?” (Describe the essential parts of your economic/econometric model) 5. “What should I learn from your talk?” (Present, explain, and discuss your results)

2. The Slides 12 point font won’t do! (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

2. The Slides 12 point font won’t do! 20 point font is the absolute minimum 28 point font is even better Don’t do fancy things with Powerpoint Don’t have too many slides The 4 most important rules  10 – 12 slides maximum for a 40 minute presentation Don’t overload your slides

2. The Slides If you need to show equations: make them simple! mean loglikelihood ratio Kernel of the multinomial distribution observed shares Rankings Elections Number of voters predicted shares

Don’t reproduce tables from your paper

Assessment of six models of voter behavior

2. The Slides Don’t show anything on a slide that you do not plan to discuss in your presentation Don’t write out text in long paragraphs with detailed definitions that your audience cannot possibly digest at a single glance because your explanation is too longwinded and tedious.  use short bullet points  add verbal explanations  use graphics when possible

3. The talk Don’t read your slides! Don’t read your slides! Don’t read your slides!

3. The talk  the slides are for your audience, not for you  slides should have only short bullet points  write everything you plan to say on paper … but don’t read your presentation from that paper  practice your talk, with all your slides, - in front of a mirror - with your friends

3. The talk  only make things appear and disappear on your slides if you know your presentation cold  otherwise: show the entire slide  don’t be afraid of questions  If you cannot answer the question, say “That is a good question. I haven’t thought about it yet.”  Write the question down and work on it when you are back in your office

3. The talk  if you describe an equation, use the variable names and not their symbols This is not “beta” but “the marginal propensity to consume”

3. The talk  your audience is your friend, not your enemy  speak loudly enough  look at your audience, not at your shoes  smile  if you get nervous, imagine that everyone in the audience is naked

4. Miscellaneous  arrive at least 15 minutes early to set up your equipment  have a backup plan in case something does not work  email your presentation to yourself (in case the flash drive fails)  bring a printout of your presentation (to make transparencies if the computer fails)  be prepared to talk even without your slides (in case the projector fails)

Thank your audience for coming! It is bad if your presentation ends with “that’s it!”

What makes a good presentation?