BS13310 Research and Communication Skills

1. BS13310 Research and Communication Skills Dr. Mike Winson Presentation skills

2. Presenting information • Essay • Lab report • Web page (2nd year) • Abstract • Poster (or projected PowerPoint poster) • Spoken presentation • Group presentation • PowerPoint presentation

3. Spoken presentations PowerPoint presentation • BS13310 research and communication skills assignment • Semester 2 (10% of module) • Information retrieval and dissemination techniques • Similar approach to essay • Group peer assessment

4. Key areas • Preparation • The presentation • Delivery • Visual aids

5. Preparation • Know your subject! • Identify objective of talk and audience • 1 clear “message” • Main points relating to the message • Write out talk but do not “script” it. • Cue cards? • PRACTISE

6. The presentation • Introduce yourself and the talk • What you will talk about -intro • The subject –main body • What you have spoken about – conclusion • KEEP TO TIME • Approx 1 minute per slide 5 minute talk = 5 slides +title and acknowledgement slide.

7. Presenting material - appearance • Be professional and look the part • Arrive early • Smile! • Be enthusiastic • Good posture • Don’t chew gum • Remove your hat

8. Presenting material - spoken • Speak clearly - avoid monotone and Vicky Pollard style language • Look up and face the audience • Don’t rush • Effective pauses • Avoid blocking or talking to screen

9. Posture & Gesticulation • Stand upright • Use ‘body language’ • Use hands (but not too much!) • Reduce annoying habits • Don’t fidget • Look interested

10. Presenting material - slides • Keep it simple • Summarize information (graphs / tables) • Slides –less is better • Use relevant headings • Use standard slide design (why?) • Be consistent • Use appear / greying out for lists

11. Avoid too much information • It is very tempting to put all the information you would like to convey to the audience onto a single slide, especially if time is limited. Unfortunately you then just read from the slides rather than talking around the points you have presented on the slide. Summarise what you wish to say into a couple of words or very short sentence. • Summarise • Use VISUAL CUES

12. Visual cues • http://www.presentationhelper.co.uk/

13. Visual information

14. When presenting material • Introductory slide Name, subject, module etc • Set out your aims for the talk • Assume the audience knows nothing • Be organised & prepared • Don’t apologise !

15. Presenting material • Avoid irrelevant subject material • Restrict animation • Colours • Simple backgrounds • Don’t go over time Poor choice of colour combinations Poor choice of colour combinations Poor choice of colour combinations

16. Slides • Edit slides • Consistency of font, slide layout etc. • Spelling!

17. ‘Take home message’ • Summarise key points • Acknowledgements if applicable • Say ‘Thank you for listening’ • Stay at the front • Chairperson will ask for questions

18. Dealing with questions • Attempt to answer • Don’t know the answer? • Expand your answer (not just ‘Yes/No’) • Can enter dialogue with questioner eg ‘Good point’ • Do not argue –save it for later! • Consider using a handout sheet • Discuss future possibilities

19. Annoying things that are difficult to control • Reliability of computer equipment • The web • Latecomers • Absentees • Audience noise • Audience asleep • Mobile phones, iPods • Computer Messaging • etc etc

20. Continual improvement • Reducing ‘errs and erms’ • Avoiding difficult words • Not getting ahead of the slides • Not relying on slides • Not losing the plot!

21. Practice makes perfect • Take every opportunity to present Extra information in: • ‘Giving a spoken presentation’ • Chapter 15 (p87) Reed et al Practical Skills…

22. Remaining lectures • Careers • Very important –even at this stage • Register will be taken