Research Methodology

Making presentations.
Making presentations.

 The aim is good, clear

communication.
 Most people are afraid
of public speaking.
 There is no substitute
for preparation.
 Collect and order
relevant material.
ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods
 Put your audience first!
 Prepare the opening sentences carefully.
 Use a non-technical opening…… but only if it’s
relevant.
 Avoid openings like “Thank you Mr Chairman for those
kind words. It is a great pleasure to be here again in
this great ……”
 Throw your audience straight into the story “Is it
possible to improve on the reliability of Airbus
software?”

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Speaking style.
 An informal, conversational style is best.
 Avoid long, complicated sentences.
 Vary tone of voice to give expression.
 Vary the speed of delivery to provide
emphasis.
 But don’t speak too quickly: fast deliveries
are difficult to understand.

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Time keeping.
 Don’t speak for too long.
 People remember up to 40% of a 15 minute
talk, but only 20% after 45 minutes.
 Assume a presentation rate of 100 words
per minute.
 Keep to time!

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Using notes.
 NEVER read a script.
 Write out the text.
 List the key words to form your notes.
 Produce notes on cards rather than paper.
 Keep notes in order with a treasury tag.
 Practise… in front of a mirror!

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Composure.
 Hold your notes in one hand; let the other
hang by your side.
 Look at the audience - but not at one
person!
 Start slowly, having learned the first
sentence.
 Be aware of mannerisms and repeated
gestures.

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Practical issues.
 Explore the layout of the lecture room
BEFOREHAND.
 Understand how to control the projectors,
microphones, lights, video…..
 Do not speak while turning away from the
microphone to look at a slide.
 Overhead projectors should project upwards
 Do not obscure the slide projection.

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 A pitfall to avoid.
 Never, NEVER apologies for being an
inexperienced speaker.
 Never say
“You will have seen all this before”
“You will know more about this than I do”
 Audiences will be embarrassed - they are on your
side.
 Nervousness leads to uncertainty about your
material.

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Another pitfall to avoid.
 Never try to be a stand up comic.
 Be humorous, but humour is often at
someone’s expense - make it your own.
 It is easy to offend people -
and lose their sympathy.
 Humour depends on timing.
 A joke that falls flat is embarrassing.

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Preparing the content.
 The old salesman’s adage contains a good
deal of truth: Tell ‘em what you’re going to
tell ‘em; Tell ‘em;
Tell ‘em what you’ve just
told ‘em.
 Don’t pack too much information into a
talk.
 Start with a brain map - and then order the
material into a sequence.
ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods
 Visual aids 1.
 OHPs can build on one another and are easy
to produce.
 35mm slides are more professional, easier
to manipulate but more difficult to produce.
 Computer screen projection is becoming the
preferred option.
 Laser pointers need practice and can be
dangerous.

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Visual aids 2.
 To point to an OHP place a pencil on the
projector.
 Slides should not be cluttered with
information.
 Use colour to emphasise a point and not for
its own sake.
 The minimum size font on an OHP should
be 16 point.

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 What makes a good presentation? - Some guidelines

 Guideline 1 - Consider whom the presentation is designed for.

 Think about the audience. Do they know much about the subject?
 Are you using jargon or symbols that they are unfamiliar with?
 If you are talking to a small number of people, then they should be able to see the computer
screen without any problems. If there are a large number of people, then you will need to use
a projector of some sort.
 Guideline 2 - Keep the charts simple and uncluttered.
 Don’t put in any more or any less than is required
 Guideline 3- Make sure that the charts are legible, even from the back of the room.
 If you are making a presentation using a projector, then the characters need to be a minimum
of 0.5 cm high for members of the audience who are 100 metres away. For more mature
people, the minimum height needs to be 1 cm.
 Guideline 4 - Highlight key information
 Make it easy for the audience to pick out the most important details.
 Guideline 5 - Focus attention on one concept at a time
 Make sure that you are not giving the audience too much to think about at any one time.
 Guideline 6 - Reinforce your conclusion
 Finish the presentation with a summary of the main points that you want to make sure that the
audience has understood.

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Good presentation guidelines
 Guideline 1 - Consider whom the
presentation is designed for

• The audience
• Terminology, Jargon or symbols
• Number of people

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Good presentation guidelines
 Guideline 2 - Keep the charts simple and
uncluttered.

• Don’t put in any more or any less than is

required

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Good presentation guidelines
 Guideline 3 - Make sure that the charts are
legible, even from the back of the room
• If you are making a presentation using a
projector, then the characters need to be a
minimum of 0.5 cm high for members of the
audience who are 100 metres away. For more
mature people, the minimum height needs to be
1 cm.

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Good presentation guidelines

 Guideline 4 - Highlight key information

• Make it easy for the audience to pick out the

most important details

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Good presentation guidelines
 Guideline 5 - Focus attention on one
concept at a time

• Make sure that you are not giving the audience

too much to think about at any one time

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Good presentation guidelines
 Guideline 6 - Reinforce your conclusion

• Finish the presentation with a summary of the

main points that you want to make sure that the
audience has understood

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Presentation Guidelines

 Who the presentation is designed for

 Keep charts simple
 Charts must be legible
 Highlight key information
 One concept at a time
 Reinforce your conclusion

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Project Costs
10. Smart Project Cost
Cash Flow Forecast (April 1998 - June 1999)

Months Apr-98 May-98 Jun-98 Jul-98 Aug-98 Sep-98 Oct-98 Nov-98 Dec-98 Jan-99 Feb-99 Mar-99 Apr-99 May-99 Jun-99 Total
Expenditure (£'000)
Pay of personnel 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 3000 45000
Overheads 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 400 6000
Materials consumed 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 750
Consultancy fees 0 0 2500 1000 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2500 0 0 0 6000
Sub-contract charges 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fees for trials/mapping data 1000 1000 1500 0 500 0 0 0 0 0 0 100 100 50 50 4300
Prepartion of technical manuals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 500
Intellectual property costs 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 500 500 1000 1000 3000
Capital equipment/hardware 0 0 3000 5000 0 0 0 0 0 500 500 0 0 0 0 9000
Market assessment 500 500 0 0 0 0 500 0 0 0 0 0 500 500 500 3000
Training 1000 500 500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2000
Software 0 0 2500 0 0 0 2500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5000
Other 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 5950 5450 13450 9450 3950 3450 6450 3450 3450 3950 3950 6550 4550 5000 5500 84550

Income
DTI 15000 12000 2500 4000 4750 38250
Balance 9050 3600 -4400 -1850 -5800 -9250 -13200 -16650 -20100 -20050 -24000 -30550 -30350 -35350 -40850

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Project Costs

Costs per month

16000
14000
12000
10000
Pounds

8000
6000
4000
2000
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Months

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 Cost by Category

COSTS
6%
2%
4%
Pay of personnel
Overheads
11%
Materials consumed
Consultancy fees
Sub-contract charges
4%
52% Fees for trials/mapping data
1%
Prepartion of technical manuals
5%
Intellectual property costs
Capital equipment/hardware
7%
Market assessment
1%
Training
7%
Software
Other

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

 References

 Campbell, J., (1990), Speak for yourself, BBC

Books, London, ISBN 0563215119

 Boothe, V., (1984), Communicating in science:

writing and speaking, Cambridge University Press,
ISBN 052127771 X

 Tufte, E., (1983), The Visual Display of

Quantitative Information, Graphics Press

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods

Good luck: better still, prepare
thoroughly!

ISM20 – Project Management and Research Methods