Presentation Skills For Scientists And Engineers: The Slide Master

Description

This book provides concise and effective tips spanning all relevant areas to deliver engaging scientific presentations. Readers will strengthen their skills in preparing, practicing and delivering presentations at both physical and virtual conferences and seminars. Best practices for structuring presentations and elements to include and those to exclude such as detailed sections on the use of videos, animations and tables are included. Common errors often seen in scientific presentations are highlighted along with tips on how to interact with audiences and keep them engaged. This will be a valuable resource for scientists in all areas of chemistry and materials science as well as engineers who wish to elevate their scientific presentations. Contents About the Author 1: Introduction 1.1 Introduction to This Book 1.2 Get Inspired by Documentaries 2: Basics 2.1 Don’t Compete with Yourself! Avoid Text! 2.2 Provide Visual Info Exactly When Needed 2.3 Stick to the Same Fonts 2.4 Leave the Template Aside 2.5 Choose a White Background 2.6 Use Color! But Don’t Abuse! 2.7 Choose the Right Screen Ratio 2.8 International Audience? 2.9 Slides Reviewed for Approval? 3: Animations 3.1 Avoid “Fancy” Animations 3.2 Option 1: Animate on Multiple Slides 3.3 Option 2: Use Animation Tools 3.4 Group to Facilitate Animations 3.5 Animate Your Bullet Points 3.6 Apply Exact Positioning 3.7 Do You Use Too Many Animations? 3.8 Introduce “Pop-Ups” 3.9 Maximum Number of Slides Allowed? Use Animations! 4: Images 4.1 Use Simple and Clean Photographs 4.2 Avoid Close-Up Photos! 4.3 Complement with Internet Images 4.4 Generate Your Own Silhouettes 4.5 Use the Screen Capture Button 4.6 Use CAD, FEA Software to Generate Illustrations 4.7 A Bit of Photoshop… 4.8 No Photoshop or Equivalent? 4.9 Layout Images for Perfect Balance 4.10 Grey Out Images to Remove Emphasis 5: Videos 5.1 Limit the Number of Movies 5.2 Automatic or Manual Activation? 5.3 Replace Videos by Series of Still Images 5.4 Generate Your Own Short Videos/Animations 5.5 Your Video Does Not Work? 5.6 Should You Use Sounds? 6: Graphs 6.1 Invest Time on Your Graphs 6.2 A Graph for Each Key Finding 6.3 Favor Bar Charts vs. Scatter Plots 6.4 Make Data Points Clearly Visible 6.5 Use Minimalist Axes and Grids 6.6 Apply Legends Directly on Data 6.7 Use Icons and Images on Graphs 6.8 Add Values Directly on Graphs 6.9 Beware When Zooming Bar Charts 6.10 Animate Your Graphs 6.11 Show Credibility 6.12 Use Colors in Graphs 6.13 Change the Graph’s Aspect Ratio 7: Tables 7.1 Replace Tables by Graphs 7.2 Create Tables “Externally” 7.3 Animate Your Tables 7.4 Use Icons in Your Tables 8: Maths 8.1 Avoid Maths and Equations 8.2 Use Just Enough Significant Digits 8.3 Put Values in Perspective 8.4 Really Need Equations? 8.5 Manage Metric vs. Imperial Units 9: Structure 9.1 What to Do with the Cover Page? 9.2 Ditch the Table of Contents 9.3 Keep Track of Progress? 9.4 Use Appropriate Slide Titles 9.5 Start with a Question, or Odd Fact 9.6 Have Clear Objectives and Scope 9.7 Use “Flashbacks” as Conclusion 9.8 Use Last Slide for Acknowledgments 10: Interactions 10.1 Get Interactive! Use Action Buttons 10.2 Use Existing Slide Elements as Action Buttons 10.3 Take Advantage of Action Buttons During the Question Period 11: Practice 11.1 Never Learn Your Text by Heart 11.2 Short Talk, Long Practice (and Vice Versa) 11.3 Second Language? Avoid the Tough Words! 11.4 Do Not Leave “Untranslated” Stuff! 11.5 The First Slide Over and Over Again! 11.6 Practice Using Your Smartphone! 11.7 Do Dry Runs with Friends and Peers 11.8 Cut… and Cut Again! 11.9 Adapt Your Slides to Your Talk 12: Planning 12.1 More Than One Presenter? 12.2 Explore Alternative Software 12.3 Use Your Own Laptop? 12.4 Dry Run: Rule Out Technical Issues 12.5 Go Through a Checklist! 12.6 Slides for Day-to-Day Meetings 12.7 Slides for Teleconferences 13: Delivery 13.1 Be in Control! 13.2 Look at the Audience 13.3 Use the Microphone 13.4 Avoid the Laser Pointer 13.5 Euh… 13.6 Take Your Time 13.7 Insert a Blank Slide 13.8 The Art of Citing Quotes 13.9 Joking Around… Really? 13.10 Follow the “TED Recipe”? 14: After the Talk 14.1 Repeat/Rephrase All Questions 14.2 Leaving Your Slide Deck Behind 14.3 Also Good for Reports 15: Conclusion 15.1 Conclusion