Effective Technical Presentations

John Brocato

Shackouls Technical
Communication Program
Fall 2009
[1]
[2]
Cite presentations just like documents.
DISCLAIMER: Slides 7-12 of this presentation come
from Virginia Techs The Craft of Scientific
Presentation (a product of the Virginia Tech
Engineering Education Department). These slides
are marked with an icon in their lower right-hand
corner and are used with permission. The
presentations internet link is
http://www.writing.eng.vt.edu/handbook/presvisuals.html.

Slides marked with MS appear courtesy of Dr.
Miriam Smith, MSU CEE Dept.
Overview of Topics
1. Speakers obvious knowledge of
content
2. Noticeable enthusiasm
3. Eye contact
4. Logical organization
5. Useful, attractive slide designs
6. Suitably formal speech
Always include an overview/outline!
Brocatos Big Three
1. Speakers obvious knowledge of
content
2. Noticeable enthusiasm
3. Eye contact
Excellence with these three takes
experience.
Effective speakers must know their
content.
Delivery
This means study &
practice.
Your knowledge
should be apparent.
Experts should be
gracious.
No one knows
everything I dont
know...
Be noticeably enthusiastic!
What do you
achieve by being
enthusiastic?
[3]
1. Capture
attention
2. Convey
confidence
3. Instill
confidence
4. Increase
retention
What do you communicate with eye
contact?
1. Confidence
2. Preparation
3. Trustworthiness
4. Authority


Your eyes can also
gauge your audience.
[4]
Organize logically.
1. Beginning
2. Middle
3. Ending
1. Introduction
2. Body
3. Conclusion
Organize logically (cont.).
1. Overview
2. Introduction
3. Theory
4. Equipment & Setup
5. Data / Results
6. Conclusions
and so on
Readers
expect
beginning,
middle, & end
anticipate &
use this.
B
e
g
i
n
n
i
n
g
E
n
d
i
n
g
Middle
The structure of presentations should have clear beginnings,
middles, and ends.
Technical Presentation: Preparation
MS
Technical Presentation: Preparation
Beginning:
Mapping slide
Background Why is the work needed / important?
Big picture
Middle:
Details of work May be more technical
Theories, formulas, tables, figures, etc.
Ending:
Review What did the work contribute? Remind audience why
it was important.
Conclusions
MS
This presentation reviews analyses of a soil-
cement column-supported test embankment
3. Development of
calculation procedure
1. Description of column-
supported embankments
2. Verification analyses and
parametric studies
Vertical Stress (kPa)
0 100 200 300 400 500
D
i
s
t
a
n
c
e

a
b
o
v
e

T
o
p

o
f

C
o
l
u
m
n

(
m
)
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
D
i
r
e
c
t
l
y

a
b
o
v
e

c
o
l
u
m
n
s
B
e
t
w
e
e
n

c
o
l
u
m
n
s
c
col
= 240 kPa
Base Case
c
col
= 480 kPa
Pressure Cells
Beginning
MS
0 1 2 3 4 5
Radial distance from center (ft)
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
C
a
l
c
u
l
a
t
e
d

v
e
r
t
i
c
a
l

s
t
r
e
s
s

(
p
s
f
)
Stresses calculated 21" above top of column
3D analysis
3D "axisymmetric" analysis
2D axisymmetric analysis
x

a
x
i
Middle
fill s
f col
E a 2
q) H ( SRR) )(1 (1 A

+
=
u t
(

|
|
.
|

\
|

+

=
) a (s
n Ktan H a 4
exp 1
tan K q) H ( a 4
) a (s
SRR
2 2
2 2
lim
|
|


deflected shape
r
c

C
L
d
r
t

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
SRR from Theory
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
S
R
R

f
r
o
m

F
L
A
C
SRR
fndn
(no geosynthetic)
SRR
net
(with geosynthetic)
MS
Choose a format that is easy to read.
Arial


BOOK ANTIQUA
Choose legible type
Choose a helpful layout
words
words
words
words
words
words
words
words
AaBbCc Sans-Serif font
AaBbCc Serif font
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
THE QUICK BROWN FOX JUMPS OVER THE LAZY
DOG.
MS
TYPE SET IN ALL CAPITALS IS READ SLOWLY
BECAUSE EVERY LETTER MUST BE READ.

Type set in lower case can be read more quickly
because words can be recognized by their shape.
Did you know..??
MS
Black against yellow
Black against white
Did you know..??
Black against red
Red against black
And blue and green are soothing colors;
orange and red can agitate an audience.
Quickest to read
Slowest to read
MS
Black against yellow
Black against white
Did you know..??
Black against red
Red against black
And blue and green are soothing colors;
orange and red can agitate an audience.
Quickest to read
Slowest to read
MS
Black against yellow
Black against white
Did you know..??
Black against red
Red against black
And blue and green are soothing colors;
orange and red can agitate an audience.
Quickest to read
Slowest to read
MS
Black against yellow
Black against white
Did you know..??
Black against red
Red against black
And blue and green are soothing colors;
orange and red can agitate an audience.
Quickest to read
Slowest to read
MS
Black against yellow
Black against white
Did you know..??
Black against red
Red against black
And blue and green are soothing colors;
orange and red can agitate an audience.
Quickest to read
Slowest to read
MS
Black against yellow
Black against white
Did you know..??
Black against red
Red against black
And blue and green are soothing colors;
orange and red can agitate an audience.
Quickest to read
Slowest to read
MS
What font sizes are effective for slides?
12-point
16-point
20-point
24-point
28-point
32-point
36-point
40-point
44-point
48-point
52-point
56-point
???
Example Slides
for
Discussion
Table 3: Total Purchase Cost of Equipment

Table 3: Total Purchase Cost of Equipment

Table 3: Total Purchase Cost of Equipment

Make a handout

Highlight critical items

Show only critical
items

Show only totals

Use sans serif
A
B
C
D
A
B
C
D
B C D
A
A
C
B
D
?
Digital Acquisition System
O
v
e
r
w
h
e
l
m
i
n
g
Accelerometer outputs an analog voltage
Hardware converts analog signal to digital
Computer samples a number of points
Data is exported to popular applications
o Microsoft Excel
o Matlab
MS
Converting an analog signal to a digital signal
Accelerometer
outputs an analog
voltage
Hardware converts
analog signal to digital
Computer samples
a number of points
Data is exported
to popular
applications
Excel MS
U.S. Resource Use
The United States uses:
42% of all the aluminum produced worldwide
31% of all the petroleum
29% of all the phosphate
27% of all the copper
27% of the nitrogen
25% of the zinc
Approximately 30% of all resources worldwide
MS
Although the U.S. has 5% of the world's population,
we use an average of 30% of all resources.
United States use of specific resources
(percentage of worldwide use)
MS
Although the U.S. has 5% of the world's population,
we use an average of 30% of all resources.
United States use of specific resources
(percentage of worldwide use)
MS
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
a
l
u
m
i
n
u
m
,

4
2
%
p
e
t
r
o
l
e
u
m
,

3
1
%
p
h
o
s
p
h
a
t
e
,

2
9
%
c
o
p
p
e
r
,

2
7
%
n
i
t
r
o
g
e
n
,

2
7
%
z
i
n
c
,

2
5
%
3D skews the y-axis

Vertical text is hard to read
Project Title: Spatial Dependence of the Atmospheric
Concentration of Particulate Matter
(This project was developed during visits with James Droppo of
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.)
A) Key Factors
1) Gravitational Settling
2) Particulate Matter Concentration
3) Resuspension
4) Turbulence (Dispersion)
5) Wind (Constant or Positional)
B) Problem Background
1) Interest started with the question of particulate matter
concentration near superfund sites.
2) A related problem in the literature is connected with
radioactive
material redistribution in the Chernobyl area of the Ukraine.
3) Dry deposition is a boundary condition. (It is not a direct
treatment of gravitational settling.)
MS
Omit light

Increase contrast

Use sans serif

Split into two
slides

Add images
MS
Change fonts

Make scales the
same

Split into two
slides?
Avoid certain excesses in slide design.
1. Avoid using too much animation.
2. Avoid putting too much text on one
slide (just make more slides).
3. Avoid changing fonts, sizes, and
colors inconsistently or without
reason.
Please dont do this.
MS
MS
Please dont do this.
Strive for professional diction and
delivery.
uh
Use concrete words.
Be as specific as
possible.
Avoid slang,
nonfluencies, & multiple
interpretations.
Why do we say uh?
Strive for professional diction and
delivery (cont.).
Enunciate open
your mouth.
Be loud enough.
Avoid monotone
be polytone.
[5]
Other important points
Provide smooth, audible transitions
between speakers (And now Stacy will
discuss the experiment itself.).

If you have a clicker, let each speaker
control it; if not, work out an efficient
system to advance slides before your
talk.
Other important points (cont.)
Handouts and other tactile visual aids
can help tremendously with attention and
retention.
Avoid blocking any part of the screen or
any audience members line of sight.
In engineering, using notes/note cards is
often considered unprofessional.
Other important points (cont.)
No matter what happens

verbal mistake
memory lapse
teammate breakdown
power outage
find a way to keep the
presentation moving ahead.
[6]
What Not to Do
References
[1] Photo of Edward Tufte, in The Work of Edward Tufte and Graphics Press, January 30,
2008. [Online.] Available: http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/
[2] J. Brocato, The Luddite Exam: Not Using Technology to Gauge Student Writing
Development, Slide 4. Presented at the American Society for Engineering Education
Annual Conference, Honolulu, HI, June 2007.
[3] Howard shows some enthusiasm for his boys in red, white and blue, January 30, 2008.
[Online.] Available: http://clubsoccer.nike.com/inside/images/main-
gallery/usvmex_howard_450.jpg
[4] The Eye of God, January 30, 2008. [Online.] Available:
http://z.about.com/d/urbanlegends/1/0/-/7/eye_of_god.jpg
[5] Close View of the Open Mouth of a Captive Hippopotamus, January 30, 2008. [Online.]
Available: http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/NGSPOD07/117083~Close-View-
of-the-Open-Mouth-of-a-Captive-Hippopotamus-Posters.jpg
[6] S. Adams, Dilbert Cartoon for August 23, 2009, August 23, 2009. [Online.] Available:
http://www.dilbert.com/strips/
[7] Photo Illustrating Enthusiasm, in Management Team, Oceans Blue, January 30, 2008.
[Online.] Available: http://www.oceansblue.co.uk/v2/images/enthusiasm.jpg
Provide a References slide as in documents.
Questions?
[7]