Preparing a presentation on quantitative data

1. Preparing a presentation on quantitative data Udo Buchholz, WHO/Stop TB/TME

2. Outline • How to get started: preparing the concept of the talk • Preparing the concept of the slides • Preparing the individual slides • Layout "rules"

3. How to get started? • Who is my audience? • What will be the main message that the data will support? • Which are the data that I want to present? • Whom do I need to include as co-author?Whom do I need to ask for permission to show certain data? • If the presentation is for a conference: when is the deadline? • Make sure you get the first draft ready early enough so that co-authors and colleagues have time to read and comment

4. Preparing the structure of the presentation • How much time do I have for the talk? • Calculate 1 minute per slide, so e.g.: 15 minutes  15 slides • Usual scientific presentation is divided into (but may vary):Title slide (1)Outline (1)Objectives of the study (1)Background (1-2)Methods (1-3)Results (2-4)Conclusions (1-2)Recommendations (1-2)Acknowledgements (1) • Next: give all slides a title to see if you can show and say everything you want to present • Make sure that you have always the same order in the Methods, Results, Conclusions (and Recommendations); e.g.: (1) TB in the general population; (2) TB among homeless; (3) TB among prisoners

5. Preparing the data • Which core data do I want to present? • How can I present them best: • Purely descriptive? • As a FIGURE? (Yes. Remember: A picture says more than 1000 words!!!) • In a table? • Collect the core data you want to present • Create all figures and tables

6. Title slide • You can be creative • Include: • Title • Meeting for which presentation was prepared • Authors • Affiliations

7. Outline • Overview of contents of presentation • 5-6 bullets

8. Background/Introduction • Background information that … • can give important background information, e.g. about the set-up of the surveillance system as long as it contributes to the understanding of the presentation • sets the stage, e.g. basic statistics on TB and small studies that have shown high rates of multi-drug resistance • shall lead to the objective of the study

9. Objectives • 1-3 objectives • "To do …" – sentences • Example: "To investigate the relationship of the proportion of re-treatment cases among all cases and antituberculous drug resistance"

10. Methods • Data used (if necessary, acknowledge the source), e.g. surveillance data, survey data, … • Study methodology • Case definition (if necessary) or clarification of terms, e.g.: "A homeless person was defined as a person without a registered home". • Keep "Methods" to a minimum, but have information at your finger tips (or on "reserve slides"), such as: • Sample size • Statistical methods (tests) used • Software used (epi-info, Excel, etc.)

11. Results • Present data without any opinion, just report • Start with descriptive data: study population, time of study, place of study, age, sex, ….. • Then analytical results, incl. the FIGURES and tables that you had prepared already

12. Preparation of a figure (1) • Method 1: Create figure in Excel > copy > Menu:Edit:Past special > Picture (Enhanced metafile) • Otherwise you have all the data still connected with the figure which makes the file very large • Method 2: Use the chart creation feature of Excel (Menu:Format:Slide Layout:Content Layout), but this is not as flexible as Excel

13. Grey chart background makes it hard to see data points; gridlines not necessary Unreadable title; Title often not necessary because information is already contained in slide title Data points too small Unreadable x and y-axis; No axis description Preparation of a figure (2):How NOT to do it zx Legend for one data series usually not necessary; but for >1 data series important

14. Preparation of a figure (3):Please NO 3D-figures • Unreadable • Confusing • Unscientific

15. White background; no horizontal lines; Even bordering lines of plot area can be removed X- and y-axis readable; axes are defined Preparation of a figure (4): How to do it better TB notification rates, all forms; country X, 1995-2004 No title • Optional here: the main message of the figure Data points well visible; connecting line not always appropriate Notification rate Legend only if there are more than one data series displayed Year

16. Preparation of a table • Method 1: From Word (Copy > Paste special) • Method 2: From Excel (Copy > Paste special) • Method 3: Use Excel feature (Menu:Format:Slide Layout:Content Layout) which is sometimes a bit painful to work with

17. Example of a table • Optional: put the main message below the table • Put in the title and table header all of the information necessary to understand the table

18. Conclusions • Conclusions must follow from the results presented, for example: • "Treatment success rates below WHO targets" • "Proportions of retreatment cases correlate well with MDR-rates"

19. Recommendations • Must follow from the Results • Recommend only what you get approved from authors or "higher-ups" (if recommendations are politically delicate)

20. Acknowledgements • Who ever you think is appriopriate • Every author AND every acknowledged persons should agree with the presentation •  all of these persons should also see the presentation before it is finalized

21. Last slide and beyond The last slide: • E.g. "Thank you", foto of your team, … After the last slide: • Think of possible questions and prepare "reserve slides" for that

22. Layout (1) • Consider using a simple master slide (Go to "View">"Master">"Slide master") • Nothing wrong with black and white • Keep the slides well legible, avoid "busy" slides • Avoid too fancy make-up (words flying in from left and right). It distracts. • Wording: "headlines" preferred, .e.g.:"Reduction of mortality by 6%/year" and not: "The mortality was reduced by 6%/year"

23. Layout (2) • Abbreviations must be introduced the first time they are used, e.g. drug resistance (DR) • Words must be clearly legible: • Font: no fonts with serifs (e.g. Times New Roman), use sans serifs, e.g. Arial. • Bold everything (already in master slide) • Size: large, such as (32)36-44 for the title, 24-32 for bullet points • Not more than 10-12 lines per slide • Lastly: a presentation that is well understandable is also well remembered

24. Some example slides

25. Average age of SS+ patients The chards show average age of the revealed cases segregated by years. As can be seen the average age of male patients ranges between 39-45, and female patients accordingly – 35-44. We can observe adverse trend among females – TB becomes younger.

26. DOTS Coverage: 2002 - 2005

27. Age groups and Gender distribution

28. Regional Data

29. Outcomes of cases registered in 2002

30. TB Control Programme in Georgian Prisons Graph with notification rates of new, new SS+ and all cases (all types and smear positive)