ART OF
PRESENTATION
MARKO TURINA
University Hospital
Zurich, Switzerland
There are some general rules about
presentations, valid everywhere and for
everyone; and there are some specific
rules about presentations in our
profession. Information about former
abounds in the web, but few people
seem to read it. When listening to talks
at meetings, it seems that many
speakers do not follow these general
rules.
Basic rules about presentations:
•
Keep your fonts simple (e.g. Arial)
•
Avoid italics, bold and underlined text
•
Stay with same slide format, colors,
fonts, and background through your talk
•
Font size 30 is minimum
•
Avoid visual effects (logos, clip art, too
much animation): they distract audience,
and your message gets lost.
Your institutional logo might
be impressive, but as a rule
it should appear only once
(title slide) or twice (title and
conclusion slide)
Some useful suggestions about
presentations and slide design can
be found on web:
•http://www.wsaua.org/old%20stuff/Van
couver05/powerpoint_instruction.htm
•http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~mihaib/presen
tation-rules.html
•http://entrepreneurs.about.com/cs/mar
keting/a/7sinsofppt.htm
Rules for slide construction
• Follow the 6 x 6 rule: 6 words across, 6 lines
down.
• Slide must be readable from the back of the
room.
• Never use red lettering on black or blue
background (unreadable for some people).
• Use graphs or diagrams, never rows of
figures!
• If you have to apologize for a slide, drop it!
• Adhere to the KISS principle (“Keep It Simple
& Short”)
Presentation tips
• The more you rehearse the talk, the better it
will be. A rehearsal is most useful when
carried out loud. Five (5) rehearsals is a
minimum for an important talk.
• Do not treat your audience as mentally
impaired: do not explain completely obvious
matters.
• Try to cut out as much as possible; less is
better.
Why your talk failed
•
Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Sucks, By Geoffrey James 2009
Why your talk failed
•
Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Sucks, By Geoffrey James 2009
Why your talk failed
•
Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Sucks, By Geoffrey James 2009
Why your talk failed
•
Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Sucks, By Geoffrey James 2009
Why your talk failed
•
Top 10 Reasons Your Presentation Sucks, By Geoffrey James 2009
Dealing with questions
• When someone in the audience asks a
question, always repeat it, because the rest
of the audience might not have heard it.
• If you couldn't hear it, ask them politely to
repeat it more loudly.
• Do not yell at them to speak up: people are
nervous about speaking loud in big rooms full
of people. Give them microphone.
Basic rules for
presentations at scientific meetings
• Congress presentation is not identical with
your scientific paper.
• At the meeting, you cannot read the paper
which you prepared for publication. Congress
presentation is totally different!
• Your audience are specialists, but not
necessarily experts in your special field: start
by introducing your topic in simple words.
This table might be good for a scientific journal, but
cannot be shown in a lecture!
Most Common Errors
in Oral Presentations:
Red on black or blue background is unreadable!
• Overloading the slide: Maximum 7 words in
one line, 10 lines maximum (font size 2830!)
• Not more than 3 lines in a graph
• Avoid 3-D graphs: not very comprehensible!
• Use blue or black background.
• Never use red on such a background!
• Avoid fancy backgrounds: difficult to read!
Avoid statistical overload, present your data as
graphs instead of columns of numbers!
By all means, avoid too many abbreviations!
Make at least your title understandable!
One of the most common errors in
presentation: False labeling of groups
• Give your groups self-explanatory, materialrelated labels: “control” and “intervention”;
“treatment” and “placebo”; OPCAB and OnPump; etc.
• Avoid labels like A, B and C; or “Group I” and
“Group II”. Three slide later, everybody has
forgotten the meaning of your mysterious
labels, and your message is lost.
Why not “Control Group” and “Hyperbaric Oxygen”?
If you have a complex slide, take time to explain the content, or
better still, split it into several slides .
Another Common Error
in Oral Presentations:
Overstepping the allocated time
• Overstepping your allocated time is an arrogant
behavior, and a discourtesy to other presenters.
• You are only as important as other speakers:
When you were given 8 minutes, this was not a
proposal, it was an order!
• Talk lasts longer than you think: check your timing
when speaking out loud, not when reading your
presentation!
• Never hurry through your talk, drop some slides
instead!
• Audience remembers such rude behavior, and you
are considered conceited and egotistical!
Presentation should not be
only interesting, but also
entertaining!
(“infotainment”)
LVAD ACTION
Most Common Errors
in Oral Presentations:
Disorganized Presentation
• Remember that you have only a very limited
time, at major meetings 8 or 5 minutes.
• Introduction is always too long: a single slide
labeled “Objective” is enough. This is by far
the most common mistake.
• “Methods” section should be brief: mention
only the important facts, but do not forget the
essentials, like methods or completeness of
your follow-up.
Most Common Errors
in Oral Presentations:
Disorganized Presentation (cont.)
• Leave enough time for “Results”; this is the
most important part of your talk. It should take
at least 50% of your time. Present your results
graphically, and avoid abbreviations.
• In short “Discussion”, compare your results
with the other work in the field. Avoid primacy
claims: somebody might remind you that it
was already published long ago.
• In the last slide, spell clearly your
“Conclusions”.
Most Common Errors
in Oral Presentations:
Incomprehensible talk
• Speak slowly!
• When practicing your talk, elicit help of a
native English speaker. Five rehearsals are
minimum!
• Avoid strange abbreviations!
• Give your groups logical labels: e.g. Offpump and On-Pump, instead of A and B
• Interpret your statistics, instead of unloading
a mass of numbers at the audience.
Most Common Errors
in Oral Presentations:
Do not get carried away by colors!
• Overloading the slide: Maximum 7 words in one
line, 10 lines maximum (font size 28-30!)
• Not more than 3 lines in a graph
• Avoid 3-D graphs: not very comprehensible!
• Use blue or black background.
• Never use red on such a background!
• Avoid fancy backgrounds: difficult to read!
• Overloading the animation (fancy appearance and
disappearance, too many colors)
Avoid ubiquitous, easily available clip art:
it is made for simpler minds
Most Common Errors
in Oral Presentations:
Overuse of laser pointer
• Use pointer only to highlight a particular
point on the slide, and then turn it off.
• Never wave with the pointer, or draw circles
or complex figures on your slide: they
should be highlighted in slide design.
• Use white or yellow bullet points instead, or
appearing text.
• Pointing with the mouse is more efficient.
Most Common Errors
in Oral Presentations:
Keep you background simple, with uniform color!
• Overloading the slide: Maximum 7 words in one
line, 10 lines maximum (font size 28-30!)
• Not more than 3 lines in a graph
• Avoid 3-D graphs: not very comprehensible!
• Use blue or black background.
• Never use red on such a background!
• Avoid fancy backgrounds: difficult to read!
• Overloading the animation (fancy appearance and
disappearance, too many colors)
Avoid too much animation: it distracts
from your message!
• Overloading the slide: Maximum 7 words in one
line, 10 lines maximum (font size 28-30!)
• Not more than 3 lines in a graph
• Avoid 3-D graphs: not very comprehensible!
• Use blue or black background.
• Never use red on such a background!
• Avoid fancy backgrounds: difficult to read!
• Overloading the animation (fancy appearance and
disappearance, too many colors)
Most Common Errors
in Oral Presentations:
Errors in slide design
• Overloading the slide: Maximum 7 words in one
line, 10 – 12 lines maximum (font size 28-30!)
• Not more than 3 lines in a graph
• Avoid 3-D graphs: not very comprehensible!
• Use blue or black background.
• Never use red on such a background!
• Avoid fancy backgrounds: difficult to read!
• Do not get carried away by the animation (fancy
appearance and disappearance, too many colors)
Minimal animation might be acceptable:
Changing Strategy in CABG
City Hospital Triemli, Zurich 2001 (269 pts.)
30
25
On
pump
115
20
15
Off
pump
154
10
5
0
n
Ja
b
Fe
ar
M
r
Ap
ai
M
n
Ju
l
Ju
g
Au
p
Se
O
kt
v
No
z
De
Simplify your graphs!
UNADJUSTED EARLY MORTALITY IN CABG
University Hospital Zürich, 1990 - 2000
5
4
4
3
3.6
2.7
2.7
3.7
2.6
2.2
%
2
1.8
2
2
2.16
1
Year
20
00
19
99
19
98
19
97
19
96
19
95
19
94
19
93
19
92
19
91
19
90
0
This graph is too fancy, and actual
values are difficult to read!
UNADJUSTED EARLY MORTALITY IN CABG
University Hospital Zürich, 1990 - 2000
4
4
3.6
3.7
3.5
3
2.7
2.7
2.6
2.2
2.5
2
2
2.16
1.8
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Avoid fancy backgrounds!
UNADJUSTED EARLY MORTALITY IN CABG
University Hospital Zürich, 1990 - 2000
3.6 3.7
Year
2.43
2.9
2000
1997
1995
1993
1992
2
1
0
1991
2
1.8
1998
2.2
2.6
1999
2.7
1994
2.7
1990
%
4
3
4
1996
5
“One picture is worth ten thousand
words”
Frederick R. Barnard, 1927
Short video clips are very helpful
when explaining technical details
When explaining a complex
matter, use all IT resources.
Example: Pulsatility during
LVAD pumping with
continuous flow pumps.
LV is unloaded (violet), but aortic pressure
curve (red) is still pulsatile. Why?
402
403
404
LVAD unloads left ventricle; aortic valve remains
closed, and pulsatile pressure curve
in the aorta is due to variable pump preload in LV
When listening to a scientific presentation,
watch for following quality features
• Check if it is a consecutive series.
• Look for exclusion criteria (missing groups,
elimination of high risk subsets).
• Data must be complete, including operative
mortality.
• Observe the follow-up: methods,
completeness (95% minimum) and length
• Look for conflict of interest.
But only 63% entered the study!
Hiding essentials in the abstract:
Abstract of the stentless valve trial
(STS meeting 2000)
The abstract does not state
that the operative mortality
was atrociously high, with
8.4% for stentless and
12.5% for stented valves !!!
LATE SURVIVAL IN PROSTHETIC VALVE ENDOCARDITIS
Add operative
mortality of 13 %!
Watch for conflict of interest!
Disclosure index (only a fraction, goes on for pages), AATS
2011 meeting
Summary:
Most Common Errors
in Oral Presentations
• Overstepping allocated time.
• Incomprehensible presentation: language,
abbreviations, terminology, labeling.
• Mathematical and statistical overload.
• Wasting time on “Introduction” and “Methods”
• Poor slide design.
• Ignoring other contributions in the field.
• Lack of a clear “Conclusions” section.