Preparing for a talkGraduate School Office of Professional Development
Giving a big presentation of your research can be challenging. With the right tips, tricks, and preparation you can reduce or eliminate anxiety and give a strong presentation. Come learn how to prepare slides, figures, and your talk to give the best impression and showcase your hard work.
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Today’s slides
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Office of Professional Development
Mission: The Office of Professional Development positions graduate students and postdocs for success in their careers at UMass and beyond.
OPD collaborates with a broad network of partners to offer support and programming in key areas, including: Career Preparation Communication Grants & Fellowships Personal Development
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Giving a talk
Academics regularly give presentations as a way to disseminate their work.
Scientific talks
Casual
Extemporaneous
Public speaking is scary
There are two major things to consider Only practice makes it better. Realize that they can’t hurt you.
10 points
1. Ingredients for a good presentation
A. Introduction
B. Method
C. Results
D. Conclusion/Summary
1A. Introduction
Motivation
Context
Audience
1B. Methods
Story like
1C. Results
Focus on major findings
You don’t have to show everything
1D. Conclusion
Repeat your outline
Three to four points
Future research
Multiple exposures
Tell them what you are going to tell them
Tell them
Tell them what you told them
2. Practice
Calm
Practice in front of someone.
Good speakers are sometimes too confident.
3. Less is more
Don’t overwhelm
Focus on one or two main points.
Never go over time.
4. Avoid Equations
People need to study equations
If you do show equations slow down, be simple, and explain fully.
5. Have only a few conclusion points.
Keep it simple
The take home message
6. Talk to the audience
Notice which way you are facing
7. Avoid making distracting sounds
Ummm
Ahhhhh
Repetitious
8. Use humor
9. Taking questions
Pausing
Repeat the question
Say “I don’t know” but follow up
9. Taking questions
Never be condescending
Ending a line of questioning
Bonus tips
Thank people
Dress up Especially if your nervous
Arrive early and make sure everything works
10. Polish your graphics
Big fonts (bigger than your paper)
Only show what you intend to talk about.
Making Great Figures: November 14th, 2:30 pm
10. Polish your graphics
Keep it simple
Think about your color usage
Outline
A. Should your figure be a figure?
B. What makes a good figure?
C. The design process
D. Kinds of figures and graph basics
E. Graphic design
F. Practical tips
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A. Should your data be a figure?
Text: Would a figure enhance or distract from your point?
Tables: present data when the precise numbers are important.
Figures, graphs: present trends or relationships
Figures, images: when there is no other way to understand
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TableFigureText
B. What makes a good figure?
Has a clear message Helps to tell a story Adds to the text, and links to it
Is focused Don’t confuse one message with another
Is easy to interpret correctly Good data visualisation Good design
Is an honest and true reflection of the data
C. Design Process
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Collect Raw DataProcess and Filter
DataClean Dataset
Exploratory Analysis
Generate Conclusion
Generate Visualisation
D. What kind of figure?
Table
Photographs
Drawings and diagrams
Graphs (the most common)
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D. Basic types of graphs
Line graphs Use line graphs for dynamic comparisons
Bar graphs Use bar graphs to compare or display findings that do not
change continuously
Scatter plots Use scatter plots to find a correlation for a collection of
data
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D. Sample Line Graph
3–4 curves ideal
3–4 curves ideal
Straight lines or smooth
curves
Straight lines or smooth
curves
Key on graph or label curves
directly
Key on graph or label curves
directly
End at scale point; no
arrow
End at scale point; no
arrow
Reasonable scale
calibration
Reasonable scale
calibration
Y-axis reading upward
Y-axis reading upward
Include variable and
(units)
Include variable and
(units)
Tic marks on outsideTic marks
on outside
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y-axis label reads upwardy-axis label reads upward
Axis scale has proper spacing; font of numbers and label is large enough
Axis scale has proper spacing; font of numbers and label is large enough
Data sets are clearly distinguishable and labeled
Data sets are clearly distinguishable and labeled
Include error bars as neededInclude error bars as needed
D. Sample Bar Graph
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X-axis label is horizontalX-axis label is horizontal
D. Whenever possible show all your data points
This should only be done when there are less than 30 data points
It shows the whole range of the data and allows people to more full understand what they are seeing.
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Dis
tan
ce t
rav
elled
(km
)
Time (min)
Freq
uen
cy o
f vi
sits
No box or border around chart
No box or border around chart
Axis scale has proper spacing; tick marks are on the outside
Axis scale has proper spacing; tick marks are on the outside
D. Sample Scatter Plot
Axis stops at real number (no arrow)
Axis stops at real number (no arrow)
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Axis label shows units in parentheses(using SI abbreviations)
Axis label shows units in parentheses(using SI abbreviations)
No grid lines, unless there is a compelling reason.
No grid lines, unless there is a compelling reason.
26.5
38.4
12.6
16.5
3.4
0
2.5
5
7.5
10
12.5
15
17.5
20
22.5
25
27.5
30
32.5
35
37.5
40
42.5
Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri
0
10
20
30
40
Mon Tue Wed Thur Fri
D. Simpler figures are easier to interpret
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E. Elements of Graphic Design
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ContrastAlignment
Symmetry Color
ProximitySpace
RepetitionSize
E. Alignment
We are sensitive to aligned edges, even when they are separated.
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E. Use a grid to help align disparate parts of a figure
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E. Consider color blind people
Affects 1:12 men and 1:200 women worldwide
“If a submitted manuscript happens to go to three male reviewers of Northern European descent, the chance that at least one will be color blind is 22 percent.”
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E. Color can have multiple uses
• Color can be used to:– Highlight specific data
– Group categories of data
– Encode quantitative values
• The more selective you are with color, the greater its effect
• Figures must work in black and white
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E. Sparing use of color is most effective
Which is most effective at conveying your message?
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0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
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1 2 3 4 5 6
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E. Color — Popout
A distinct item immediately stands out from the others
Triggered by our low level visual system
You don’t need to actively look at every point (slow!) to see it
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E. Color — Popout (find the red circle)
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E. Color — Popout (find the red circle)
Speed of identification is independent of the number of distracting points
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E. Color — Popout (find the circle)
Color pops out more than shape
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E. Color — Popout (find the red circle)
Mixing channels removes the effect
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E. Space
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E. Contrast
When overlaying information, make sure you have sufficient contrast.
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Poor contrast Good contrast
Poor contrast Good contrast
Vibrating colorBusy
backgroundGood contrast
E. Repetition
Consistency across figures makes interpretation easierSame color/marker for same group Size of comparable figures should be the samePositions of axis titles and labelsFont styles and sizes Order: If presented ‘Sample A’ and then
‘Sample B’, maintain this throughout
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E. Fonts
Font choice and size matter!
Points are 1/72 of an inch, so 72 pts should be an inch tall. This doesn’t always work in reality.
12 pts is ideal for the final printed figure.
6 points is the absolute minimum, many journals will not allow this size.
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E. Fonts — Keep text and fonts simple
All fonts for figures should use sans serif fonts
All text in figures should be black or white
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Wild type
Knockout
Wild type
Knockout
E. Fonts — size
Make sure all text is legible at the final size
0
6
12
18
24
30
1 2 3 4 5
06
12182430
1 2 3 4 5
6 point font is the smallest you can comfortably read (just over 2mm height on paper)
E. Fonts — Keep text horizontal
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E. Fonts — Keep text horizontal
Numbers are small, text is big
All graphs still work when rotated 90o
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F. Validation
Validate the figures you create
You have seen your data too often to get an unbiased view.
Show the plot to someone not familiar with the data What does this plot tell you? Is this the message you wanted to convey? If they pick multiple points, do they choose the most
important one first?
F. General Rules
No unnecessary figures Does a graphical representation make things clearer? Would a table be better?
One point per figure Design each figure to illustrate a single point Adding complexity compromises the effectiveness of the
main point.
No absolute reliance on color Figures should still work in black and white
Color should help perception
Gush About Something You Don’t Love
Enthusiasm is contagious.
If you want your audience to be excited about your topic, then you need to show enthusiasm for it.
Choose something you’re indifferent about, a kitchen utensil, and practice speaking about it enthusiastically. Use your voice, emphasis, and body language to make it seem like the most exciting thing in the universe.
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General Contact Information 538 Goodell 413-545-6001 www.umass.edu/gradschool/opd [email protected]
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