Seminars and Lectures
BIOL5700
Hal Whitehead
Seminars and Lectures• What do you like? • What do you dislike?
Seminars and Lectures:
Think of the audience
Think of the audience
• Do you like talks or lectures that:– try to say too much?– are poorly prepared?– run over time?– are inaudible?– go too fast for you to follow?
• Who are the audience?
Think of the audience
• Be direct
• Make it understandable
• Be enthusiastic
Seminars and Lectures:• Title: clear and descriptive
• Do not start with crucial information
• Say:– Why you did it– How you did it– What you found– What you think it means– Then stop
How to make yourself heard and understood:
• Look at audience, upwards
• Speak to people at back of room• Simplify results
– graphs better than tables usually
Using notes
• Do not read talk unless horribly nervous
• If fairly nervous– have backup readable version
– series of ideas, on cards, numbered
– have first (and last?) parts written out
– let Powerpoint lead you through
Timing
• Check
• Leave some slack
• About one Powerpoint slide per minute
Verbal style• Short words and sentences
• Finish every sentence
• Speak slowly (T.W. Fline)
• Speak loudly (consistently)
• Check yourself on tape or video
• Reduce number of words
• Avoid “Anderm” or “OK”
• Speak distinctly (T.W. Fline)
• Avoid cliches
• Use “I” sometimes
Maintaining audience interest
• Tell story
• Tell occasional funny jokes
• A few good “pretty” slides
• Recapitulate:– “What I hope I hope I have shown you so far”
• Visual, acoustic, olfactory, tactile aids
Use of Powerpoint
• Good... • Bad...
Figures versus Tables??
Reduction in haplotype diversity:
Conditions: <50% 50-90% >90% Extinction
Control 756 4 0 0
=0.05 757 3 0 0
=0.10 745 14 1 0
=0.20 700 57 3 0
=0.40 473 130 65 92
=0.0125 544 29 21 166
=0.0250 285 46 18 411
=0.0500 132 35 13 580
=0.1000 71 38 29 622
0 0.01 0.1 10
1000
2000
K=
103 ;
=10
-3
Haplotype diversity
0 0.01 0.1 10
1000
2000Nucleotide diversity
0 0.01 0.1 10
500
1000
1500
K=
104 ;
=10
-3
0 0.01 0.1 10
500
1000
1500
0 0.01 0.1 10
1000
2000
K=
104 ;
=10
-4
0 0.01 0.1 10
1000
2000
0 0.01 0.1 10
200
400
K=
105 ;
=10
-4
0 0.01 0.1 10
200
400
0 0.01 0.1 10
200
400
GST
K=
105 ;
=10
-5
0 0.01 0.1 10
200
400
GST
>90% reduction50-90%<50%
In Presentations (Powerpoint, slides or overheads):
• Generally use figures
• Use tables when:– Numbers are important– Fewer than ~10 numbers (minimum digits)
Tables in Presentations:
Number of Limbs
Birds 4
Mammals 4
Spiders 8
Insects 6
Tables in Presentations:
Reduction in haplotype diversity:
Conditions: <50% 50-90% >90% Extinction
Control 756 4 0 0
=0.05 757 3 0 0
=0.10 745 14 1 0
=0.20 700 57 3 0
=0.40 473 130 65 92
=0.0125 544 29 21 166
=0.0250 285 46 18 411
=0.0500 132 35 13 580
=0.1000 71 38 29 622
Tables in Presentations:
Uncorrected estimate Estimate g(0) corrected Area Density: Town-send’s
Chlorophyll*
Area n CV n CV (1,000 km 2) (whales/1,000km 2)
plot (t in first m) whales/t Ref.
Northeast Atlantic SS 5,231 0.3 6,013 0.32 1,226 4.9 0 - - 1.
Iceland-Faeroes SS 1,542 0.2 1,772 0.18 2,309 0.77 0 1,079 1.64 2.
US east coast SS 4,702 0.4 5,405 0.37 317 17.04 210 212 25.49 3.
Northern Gulf of Mexico SS-AS 530 0.3 609 0.32 258 2.36 32 117 5.21 4.
Antarctic (S of 60°S) SS 10,500 0.2 12,069 0.17 18,548 0.65 0 4,258 2.83 5.
Eastern tropical Pacific SS 22,666 0.2 26,053 0.24 19,148 1.36 5,083 3,657 7.12 6.
Eastern temperate North Pacific SS 20,880 0.5 24,000 0.46 7,786 3.08 154 912 26.32 7.
Hawaii AS 66 0.6 76 0.57 81 0.94 30 6 12.64 8.
Western North Pacific SS 25,816 0.1 29,674 0.14 25,681 1.16 1,896 4,923 6.03 9.
All surveyed areas 105,671 0.13 75,354 1.40 7,405 14,085 7.50
Total globe 316,620 21,336 54,992
Uncorrected estimate Estimate g(0) corrected Area Density: Town-send’s
Chlorophyll*
Area n CV n CV (1,000 km 2) (whales/1,000km 2)
plot (t in first m) whales/t Ref.
Northeast Atlantic SS 5,231 0.3 6,013 0.32 1,226 4.9 0 - - 1.
Iceland-Faeroes SS 1,542 0.2 1,772 0.18 2,309 0.77 0 1,079 1.64 2.
US east coast SS 4,702 0.4 5,405 0.37 317 17.04 210 212 25.49 3.
Northern Gulf of Mexico SS-AS 530 0.3 609 0.32 258 2.36 32 117 5.21 4.
Antarctic (S of 60°S) SS 10,500 0.2 12,069 0.17 18,548 0.65 0 4,258 2.83 5.
Eastern tropical Pacific SS 22,666 0.2 26,053 0.24 19,148 1.36 5,083 3,657 7.12 6.
Eastern temperate North Pacific SS 20,880 0.5 24,000 0.46 7,786 3.08 154 912 26.32 7.
Hawaii AS 66 0.6 76 0.57 81 0.94 30 6 12.64 8.
Western North Pacific SS 25,816 0.1 29,674 0.14 25,681 1.16 1,896 4,923 6.03 9.
All surveyed areas 105,671 0.13 75,354 1.40 7,405 14,085 7.50
Total globe 316,620 21,336 54,992
Do not usually present the same data as both Tables and Figures
Figures:Pseudo 3-D
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EastWestNorth
(Real) 3-D displays
4 5 6 7 8SEPALLEN
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01234567
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Colour
4 5 6 7 8SEPALLEN
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LWID
01234567
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Beware: Rainbow~=Horsehoe
Figures and Tables: Summary
• Presentations– Usually use Figure rather than Table– Keep it very simple
• General– No pseudo 3-D!– Use 3-D and colour sparingly and carefully