The Presentation on How to Give a Presentation

1. The Presentation on How to Give a Presentation

2. Disclaimers • There is no right way to do a presentation but there are common characteristics of good presentations • Some of the stuff that I tell you might seem really intuitive, but I think it is sometimes helpful to articulate your intuitions, because then they become more clear • If I’m going too fast please tell me

3. Assignment • Begin to outline a presentation only after you have summarized the potential presentation in a declarative sentence that captures the central idea of the message • Do this early, about 10-14 days before your presentation date • Ask yourself the question: "How would I explain my research to a friend from another college?" • Use this as a guide for developing the "story" you are going to tell your COW audience.

4. Audience • Knowledgeable in general science • Avoid technical detail, everyone should be able to understand your presentation • Define key terms • Explain difficult concepts • A bit of redundancy can be very helpful • “tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you just told them”

5. General Guidlines • Estimate about 1 minute per slide. • A slide that takes less than 1 minute is probably not as effective as it could be. • If a the general content of a slide cannot be understood in 4 seconds, it is often a bad one • A slide that takes longer than 2 minutes probably contains too much information. • For an 8-10 minute talk, an estimate of 8-12 slides in addition to the title slide is probably good.

6. General Structure • Title slide • Strive first for a title that communicates accurately the direction of the message, and then see if you can reduce the number of words while retaining clarity. • Outline • This is optional. • One advantage is that the audience knows where the talk is going. • One disadvantage is that the audience knows where the talk is going. • If this is used, be very careful that it does not steal your thunder

7. Outline of Intro Example • What is glaucoma? • IOP • Secondary degeneration • What is Oculotrophin Protomorphogen (PMG) Extract? • What is neuroprotection? • What is ischemic-reperfusion injury?

8. General Structure • Intro/Background (why was the project undertaken?) • ***Start with a statement of purpose or significance*** • Methods (what was done?) • Results (what was learned?) • Conclusion (what does it mean?) • Sometimes conclusion/summary can be the same as the discussion

9. General Structure • Use the same font throughout the presentation, recommended fonts are Times New Roman, Arial and Verdana • Titles should be ≈ 44 point font, subtitles ≈ 32 and the text ≈ 24 • Usually PowerPoint will decide what is best for you • Clearly label all structures, axes and symbols in a slide • Provide complete references typically at the bottom of the slide in a smaller font than the main text when using other people's work

10. General Structure • Template • Readability requires good contrast in colors • Make the template consistent • Keep the PowerPoint transitions between slides simple and consistent

11. A picture is worth… • Represent topics pictorially rather than with lots of words • This really helps with clarity • Pictures can be understood much more quickly than text • The next four slides are early drafts of the three slides following the next four slides

12. What I did Example - Bad • Three groups of rats • Control • daily placebo treatment of 2 mL of water by gastric lavage • Low dose experimental group (LD) • daily dose of 3.3 mg of Oculotrophin PMG extract in 2 mL of water by gastric lavage • High does experimental group (HD) • daily dose of 6.6 mg of Oculotrophin PMG extract in 2 mL of water by gastric lavage

13. What I did Example - Bad • Duration • Each rat received the treatment for 14 days • Ischemic-reperfusion injury • On the 7th day the IOP in the right eye of each rat was increased to 10 times the normal pressure for 45 minutes • The left eye of each rat was uninjured and served as a control • Explain value of this injury

14. What I did Example - Bad

15. What I did Example - Bad • On the 14th day the rats were sacrificed and the eyes were removed • Histological evaluation of each eye followed • Six, 20 μm thick, frozen sections from each eye were obtained • three sections from the central retina spaced 200 μm apart • three sections from the inner retina spaced 100 μm apart • All sections were then stained with cresyl violet • Four random locations, spread as far apart as possible, were chosen and the cell density was calculated

16. Methods Example - Good Eye Removal Glaucomatous Injury • Treatment by gastric lavage • Three groups of rats • Low dose experimental group (LD) • 3.3 mg of Oculotrophin PMG extract • High does experimental group (HD) • 6.6 mg of Oculotrophin PMG extract • Control • Control treatment of water Gave treatment by gastric lavage

17. Methods Example - Good Eye Removal Glaucomatous Injury • Glaucomatous injury • Right Eye • IOP increased to 10 times the normal pressure • 45 minutes • Left Eye • Uninjured and served as a control Gave treatment by gastric lavage

18. Methods Example - Good Eye Removal Glaucomatous Injury • Eye Removal • Histological evaluation of each eye followed • 3 sections from each eye • 20 μm thick • from the central retina • spaced 200 μm apart • stained with cresyl violet • The density per unit area was obtained for each eye Gave treatment by gastric lavage

19. Effective Slides • Slides should not be crowded nor should they have too much white space • each slide should be designed to illustrate a particular point or perhaps to summarize a few • The next two slides are early drafts of the two slides following the next two slides

20. What is glaucoma? Example - Bad • Secondary degeneration • The slow loss of damaged neurons and death of previously healthy neurons that become injured by an excitotoxic cascade This is a repeat • During ischemia excessive glutamate is released which causes the overstimulation of ionotropic glutamate (NMDA) receptors • Overstimulation of NMDA receptors causes an influx of calcium through the NMDA receptor channel depolarizing the cell and causing voltage gated calcium channels to open • increased calcium levels activate destructive cascades like activation of phospholipase A2, nucleases which act on DNA, proteases which disrupt ribosomes, neurofilaments and microtubules, oxygen-free radical synthesis and nitric oxide production • All of this eventually triggers apoptosis (Check that)

21. What is glaucoma? Example - Bad • Secondary degeneration • Treatment • Lower glutamate • Inhibit NMDA • Ex. Betaxolol • Lower Ca2+ levels • Phenytoin • and Oculotrophin PMG?

22. Ischemia Dead or dying cell ↓ O2 ↓ ATP ↑Glutamate release Overstimulated NMDA receptor Healthy cell ↑ Ca2+ in cell Prolonged depolarization Apoptosis RGC Loss and Glaucoma Example - Good • Secondary Degeneration • The slow loss of damaged neurons and death of previously healthy neurons that become injured by an excitotoxic cascade

23. Ischemia Dead or dying cell ↓ O2 ↓ ATP ↑Glutamate release Overstimulated NMDA receptor Healthy cell ↑ Ca2+ in cell Prolonged depolarization Apoptosis RGC Loss and Glaucoma Example - Good • Secondary Degeneration • Treatment • In the past 5 years research has been directed towards halting the progression of these cascades from one step to the other.

24. Effective Presentations • Practice, practice, practice • Rehearsing a paper before members of one’s own department or group can make the difference between success and disaster. • If you practice enough, you will often find that it is easier to give a talk without using notes • Practice enough so that you have ‘memorized’ the framework and concepts of your presentation • Don’t memorize the exact wording that you use, that can sound forced.

25. Effective Presentations • What to memorize/rehearse • Everything you are going to say on the first slide • Once you get past the first slide often you can just put your mind on autopilot and before you know it you will be done with your presentation • The verbal transitions between slides • These can make the difference between an amazing presentation and a mediocre one.

26. Effective Presentations • General Pointers • Become comfortable with some silence • Effective use of pauses can really help • Put inflection in your voice in order to stress important points, don’t be monotonous • Use a pointer in order to clearly "walk" the audience through the ideas you are presenting. • Speak audibly and clearly so that even those sitting in the back row can hear • Make eye contact with the audience to help keep their interest, but not necessarily specific people