ProfessionalPresentation Techniques

Steven M. Dunn, M.D.

Professor of Anesthesiology.

Program Director

Baystate Medical Center

Outline

• General principles on creating a good lecture

• Nuts and bolts on effective Powerpoint slides

Lecture format

• Tell them what you are going to say

• Say it

• Tell them what you just told them

Conclusions

• A good lecture can be distilled down to 3-5 points

• After writing your lecture figure out what they are

• Make sure to have a concise conclusion slide with those points

Face and engage your audience

• Don’t look at the screen

• Have your laptop in front of you

• Move your gaze around the audience

• Instead of a laser pointer use the mouse

Powerpoint General Principles

• Slides should reinforce what is said

• Poorly done slides distract

• People process short phrases quickly

• Reading is automatic

• Long written passages draw people in– Should be avoided

– Distract vs. reinforce

This is an example of a long text passage that is hard not to read. No

matter what the person who is presenting is saying you are probably

busy reading this and not paying attention. This is why you don’t want to put long passages of text into your

powerpoint slides.

Short Phrases are the rule

• Short phrases process instantaneously

• This allows them to keep up with you

• Keep each bullet to 1 line if possible

• 2 lines is OK

• 3 lines of text - best avoided

• If you need more space:– Nest points under the main heading

Short Phrases = keep them with you

• Slides should be an outline

• Long sentences require more processing

• If you put up sentences - people are busy reading/processing

• You will lose them!

• Example:

Sevoflurane emergence when there is no pain

• Cravero J et al Paediatric Anaes 2000

– Equal numbers of pediatric patients were randomized to get either Sevoflurane or Halothane general anesthesia for MRI scans

– The incidence of post operative agitation was significantly worse in the kids who got Sevoflurane anesthesia

– The total time from wake up to PACU discharge were not different between the two groups

Sevoflurane emergence when there is no pain

• Cravero J et al Paediatric Anaes 2000

– Sevo vs Halothane for pedi MRI scans– More post op agitation in the Sevo kids (p< .01)– Discharge times not different– Sevo causes agitation independent of pain

When you present a paper state a conclusion

Color Schemes and Fonts

• Some work better then others

• Example:

What not to do:

• This is a dead giveaway that the person giving the lecture is a powerpoint novice!

• No animation of lines• Light background with dark text• Background should be shades of blue

with yellow or white text• Use a sans serif font

This is an example of a reasonable color scheme

• Dark blue background/yellow text

• Animate your bulleted points

• If you present an entire slide at once– They are too busy reading to listen

• When they finish reading they wait for you– Boring– “He’s just reading his slides”

• “Just send me the talk as an email”

Use a Sans serif font

• This is a sans serif font•This is a serif font

Use a Sans serif font

• Sans serif is easier on the eye for on screen use

• Arial and Helvitica are best

• This is a sans serif font•This is a serif font

Font Size

• Size does matter in Powerpoint

• Try to use 32 sized fonts– 28 font – a bit too small

– 32 font (minimum)

–36 font - better

• Need to be able to see from back of room

How to cite papers

Common technique is to paste a copy of the journal

header

• White background/black text isn’t good

• The text is too small to be read

• Busy appearance with all the authors

• Name and year of journal not visible

Noninvasive Continuous ABP Monitoring with the Nexfin®

Martina JR et. al. Anesthesiology 2012

• Maintains consistency with your format

• Title easier to read

• Lead author and Journal name/date are visible

• You could go find this article if you want

Presenting Data• Cutting and pasting text from journals

doesn’t play well

• You can reformat the data from the journal using “Insert Chart”

Motor block:Intrathecal Ropiv vs Bupiv

Hughes D et al Br. J. Anaesth 2001

0

4

8

12

16

20

Bupivacaine Ropivacaine

P < 0.05

# P

atie

nts

with

de

tect

able

mot

or b

lock

8/20

1/20

Insert Chart function:

Use Animation with dimming when you

have a text dense slide

Late Decellerations

• Suggests uteroplacental insufficiency• During the uterine contraction the blood flow to

the placenta decreases• Gradually this causes hypoxia in the fetus which

results in bradycardia• After the contraction it takes awhile for the

oxygen debt to be restored

Late Decellerations

• Suggests uteroplacental insufficiency• During the uterine contraction the blood flow to

the placenta decreases• Gradually this causes hypoxia in the fetus which

results in bradycardia• After the contraction it takes awhile for the

oxygen debt to be restored

Animation with dimming

• Makes it easier to follow

• They can’t read ahead

• Dimming makes it less “busy”

Don’t go crazy with effects

• Animation effects are fine, but in moderation

• If you use different effects too often

• It can be distracting

• People stop paying attention to content and watch for the special effects

• Best to stick to one type of effect

Conclusions

• When presenting studies - Have a conclusion

– The study showed ….

– Or, the study was flawed because …

– Or, these two studies contradict one another…

• At the end of your lecture have a conclusion slide

Don’t use printed notes

• Your slides are your outline

• Printed notes = I don’t know my own material

Imbedding video

• Choose from the “Insert” menu

Imbedding video

Drag the corner to resize the video

Imbedding video

Imbedding video

• Imbed videos you have saved on your hard drive

• If you put the talk on a USB drive– video must be stored in the same folder

– Otherwise = “video not found”

• Try not to play internet videos– Unreliable connection = failed video

Conclusions:• A good lecture tells a story

– Intro/Middle/Conclusion

• Face/engage the audience• Good Powerpoint reinforces vs. distracts

– Color scheme – Dark background/lt. text

– Large sans serif font (Arial)

– Short phrases (1 or 2 lines)

– Animation/dimming

Questions?