Transcript Document

Power to PowerPoint
Some hints to improve your powerpoint presentation
Guus Smit & Keimpe Wierda
Considerations before even starting…….
Design template
When starting to make the powerpoint presentation you might
select a design template. They couple the slides and make the
presentation more continuous
However be careful, some of them are pretty distracting
For example: movement in template when slide is first shown.
Very distracting for the audience!
Font size and font style
Choose a font style that is easy to read and use it
throughout your presentation. Do not change between font
styles in a single powerpoint.
Make sure you can read the text even when you are at 10
meters distance of the screen (step back some distance from your
computer screen to see what happens)
Trying to read small text AND listen to a presentation is very difficult for the audience
Some background Issues
Choosing the appropriate background is often crucial to
your lecture, certainly with a fatigued audience…
This is an extreme example but…
This background is used a lot
Use gradients only if they have a function
the point is that the further we go down on the slide
the worse the visibility of the text gets
You can think of using a textbox with
background color on gradients...
the point is that the further we go down on the slide
the worse the visibility of the text gets
If you use a continuous background color then
Keep in mind that the font colors have
sufficient contrast with the background
Keep in mind that the font colors have
sufficient contrast with the background
In organizing the Powerpoint…
• Introduce your work (background, aim)
• Then briefly show how you technically went along
(you may give this also along with the results, up to you).
• Show the results, be brief. Show the major findings,
Leave details, leave detailed methods
• Conclusions, perspectives
The first slide (The eye-catcher)
• Title: a short and eye-catching title for your presentation
(re)-focuses the audience on what you are going
to present, but keep in mind that a long title does not
help to comprehend it’s content.
• Speaker’s name
• Research team
• Logo or small picture
About showing text…..
1. Avoid too much text, it doesn’t work
Over the years many brain areas and transmitter systems have been implied in attention, but
as concerns sustained and executive attention the role of the prefro ntal/anterior cingulate
cortex stands out. Therefore this area has been selected for those projects assessing attentionrelated processes by neurophysiological, molecular-biochemical, pharmacological and
behavioral measures. Of the major modulatory transmitter systems in the brain, dopamine,
acetylcholine and noradrenaline have been implied most strongly and consistently in the
modulation of attentional processes. While certainly not less interesting for attention in
general, the noradrenergic system has been especially implied in the control of wakefulness,
vigilance, arousal and reactivity to salient stimuli. Dopamine appears more strongly involved
in orienting and attending to salient stimuli and in executive aspects of attention such as
switching and attentional set shift ing.
If you really need it, then highlight
Over the years many brain areas and transmitter systems have been implied in attention, but
as concerns sustained and executive attention the role of the prefro ntal/anterior cingulate
cortex stands out. Therefore this area has been selected for those projects assessing attentionrelated processes by neurophysiological, molecular-biochemical, pharmacological and
behavioral measures. Of the major modulatory transmitter systems in the brain, dopamine,
acetylcholine and noradrenaline have been implied most strongly and consistently in the
modulation of attentional processes. While certainly not less interesting for attention in
general, the noradrenergic system has been especially implied in the control of wakefulness,
vigilance, arousal and reactivity to salient stimuli. Dopamine appears more strongly involved
in orienting and attending to salient stimuli and in executive aspects of attention such as
switching and attentional set shift ing.
Quote, Jansen et al.(2001) J.Neuroscience 121,345
or even better extract the quote:
‘Of the major modulatory transmitter systems in the brain,
dopamine, acetylcholine and noradrenaline
have been implied most strongly and consistently
in the modulation of attentional processes’
Quote: Jansen et al. (2001) J.Neuroscience 121,345
2. If you address various issues
Issue 1. This is what I want to say
Issue 2. This is what I want to say now
Issue 3. This is what I want to say
If you address various issues
Issue 1. This is what I want to say
Issue 2. This is what I want to say now
Issue 3. This is what I want to say
Highlight the issue of interest (but only that one!)
Another advantage is that your audience will see where
you are in your talk as the other issues are also depicted
3. Informative Title
• A title on a slide briefly gives the major message or finding
• Give it a larger font than the rest of the text
• If you are using the above title box, then keep using it
in all other slides. Be consistent.
4. If you present figures …..
Break them down in individual components
Glial cells contain a nAChR
sensitive to -Bungarotoxin
nicotine
0.2
0.0
0.0
current (nA)
0.2
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
0
2
4
6
8
time (s)
10
normalized current %
ACh dose response
100
75
50
-0.2
?
-0.4
-0.6
EC50 4 mM
25
-0.8
0
2
4
6
time (s)
Acety lcholine (M)
10
-Bgt
-0.1
wash
control
-0.2
0
10-8 10-7 10-6 10-5 10-4
8
-Bungarotoxin sensitivity
0.0
current (nA)
current (nA)
acetylcholine
0
1
2
time (s)
3
4
Here your audience gets data all at once so where should
they focus at?
Glial cells contain
Acetylcholine receptors
nicotine
0.2
0.2
0.0
0.0
current (nA)
current (nA)
acetylcholine
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-0.4
-0.6
0
2
4
6
8
time (s)
-0.8
10
ACh dose response
0
2
4
6
time (s)
100
75
50
EC50 4 mM
25
Acety lcholine (M)
10
-Bgt
-0.1
wash
control
-0.2
0
10-8 10-7 10-6 10-5 10-4
8
-Bungarotoxin sensitivity
0.0
current (nA)
normalized current %
-0.2
0
1
2
time (s)
3
4
Here you take them through the figures, which makes it
much easier to follow your textual explanation
Glial cells contain
Acetylcholine receptors
nicotine
0.2
0.2
0.0
0.0
current (nA)
current (nA)
acetylcholine
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-0.4
-0.6
0
2
4
6
8
time (s)
-0.8
10
ACh dose response
0
2
4
6
time (s)
100
75
50
EC50 4 mM
25
Acety lcholine (M)
10
-Bgt
-0.1
wash
control
-0.2
0
10-8 10-7 10-6 10-5 10-4
8
-Bungarotoxin sensitivity
0.0
current (nA)
normalized current %
-0.2
0
1
2
time (s)
3
4
If you present figures one by one then let them ‘appear’
instead of ‘flying in’…..less distracting….
5. What else about figures?
• As you might have noticed, every sub-figure on the previous
slides has it’s own title. If a viewer misses your comments he or she
has at least a clue to what is depicted… that helps.
• Leave out large legends, they cannot be read in a short time frame
• Do explain color use in the figures, e.g., --- = chocolate, --- = sugar
• Make sure that if you copy a figure that there is a description
on the axis, and it is readable.
• Using someone’s data? Give source (in small font).
Second but last slide
• Conclusions, main findings. What you will summarize as the
take-home message will be remembered!
• Give them one by one. However if you have more than 3 points,
you can be sure that a large part of your audience does not
remember these a minute later!
• Use one slide for conclusions. Several slides will distract
and main finding(s) will not be remembered.
One but last slide
• Give your audience a perspective. What will you or
your research team do as a next step.
• What promises are ahead of us…
P.S. You might want to present first a next step, and then
the conclusions, up to you….
Last slide, thanking your ‘collaborators’
• In many instances supervisors, granting organizations
and external collaborators need to be acknowledged.
• Affiliate them appropriately! Where? Institutes?
• You may add a few logo’s or pictures institutes or of people
Involved
• Add your e-mail address for if someone wants to contact you
Check if the presentation is written to the
destination (e.g. CD) completely!!
• Check presentation on other computer(s)
• Save as a ‘Pack and Go’-file
This method will include all the necessary data in a
self-extracting file (figures, font styles, special symbols etc)
Course ‘Pack and Go’:
- Go to File, select ‘Pack and Go...’
- If function is not installed: insert MS Office CD (auto-installation)
- Follow instructions in ‘Pack and Go’ Wizard
- The .exe file AND the .ppz file that are created by ‘Pack and Go’
are needed for extraction on another machine!! Copy them both to
CD or disk.
- Double-click on .exe file to extract presentation to destination folder.
Now you are sure that all data/files of your presentation are available!