HowtogiveasuccessfuloralpresentationDiamondApril8th,20092Introduction●

Howoftenhaveyoubeenlisteningtoanoralpresentationthatdealtwithinterestingsciencewhileyouhaddifficultytopayattentiontilltheend?●

Howoftendidyouloseyourinterestbeforethespeakerhadevencomehalfway?

●

Wasitbecauseofthesubjectofthetalkorwasitthewaythespeakerpresentedit?3TheAttentionCurveFigure1Typicalattentiontheaudiencepaystoanaveragepresentation.Figure2Idealattentioncurveofan

audiencewhenthespeakerdivideshistalkinrecognizableparts,eachsummarizedbyintermediateconclusions.4Whydoesanaudiencegetdistracted?

Thespeakerlivesinhisownlittleworldofresearch,hebelievesthatallthebackgroundinformationneededtoexplainthemeaningofhisworkiscommonknowledge.

Thestructureofthepresentationisunclear,andconsequentlythelineofreasoningishardtofollow.Visualaids(transparencies幻燈片)areinadequate,confusing,unreadable,toosmall,toocrowded,etc.Thespeakeruseslong,complicatedsentencesandunnecessarydifficultwords.Evenworseiswhenthespeakerreadshisspeechfrompaper.Monotonous(單調(diào)的,無變化的)sentences,speakeithertoofastortooslowly,lackofemphasis,unclearpronunciation,allmakeitdifficulttheaudiencestofollow.5HowtoorganizeyourpresentationFigure3

Inanoralpresentationyoushouldgrouptogetherwhatbelongs

together.6InTenStepsToaSuccessfulPresentationYoushouldrealizethekeypointsinthepreparationofatalk:●Themessage:WhatdoIwanttheaudiencetoknowwhenIamfinished?●Theaudience:HowdoIpresentmytalksuchthattheaudiencewillunderstandandrememberwhatIhavetosay?

7Startintime

SubmittheabstracttotheconferenceorganizerssubmitThinkingabouthowtoorganizethematerial

inatalkaccept

Background/relatedwork/results/themostrelevantconclusions

readTrytoimaginewhattypeofaudienceyouwouldhaveaudience8TheMessageTrytocapturethemessageofyourpresentationinasinglesentence.Example“IwanttoconvincetheaudiencethatamongaclassofbimetalliccatalyststhecombinationofFe-Ir/SiO2showsthebestcatalyticperformanceforCOhydrogenationandthatitworksbecausetheadsorptionenergyofcarbonmonoxideisefficientlydiminishedwithrespecttothatonthesinglemetals.”9SelectResultsandOrderThem●Selectwhichresultstoinclude,inwhat

order,whatbasicinformationisneededtoexplaintheseresults,andwhichexperimentaldetailsarenecessaryandwhicharenot.●Thinkaboutwheretodiscusshighlights,atthebeginning?Neartheend?●Thescientificbackgroundofyouraudiencedetermineshowmuchyoushouldexplain

aboutexperimentalmethods,characterizationtechniques.

●Hardlyanyonemindstohearsomethinghealreadyknows,aslongasyouexplainitwellinanentertainingway.OpeningandIntroductionNOTDOTHISHowever,itisgoodtostartwith“MisterChairman,LadiesandGentlemen…”Ascientificquestion/catchy/conclusionspeakslowly/emphasis/theaudienceSummarizethebackgroundofresearchExample11ConclusionsandEnding●PresentyourconclusionsinrelationtothequestionsyouraisedintheIntroduction.●Avoidall

irrelevant

details.●Whenfinishedtheconclusions,youmayacknowledge

peoplewhohelpedyouandtheFundingAgencies.●Thenyoumayendwithafinalsentencethatrepeats

themessageofyourtalk.“LadiesandGentlemen,IhopeIhaveconvincedyouthatXY/Supportisaverypromisingcatalystforconvertingmethaneintosyntheticgasolineatroomtemperature.”ExcellentfigureshavethehighestimpactAgoodpicturetobeusedinanoralpresentation:●Easytoread(largeletter(字母),goodcontrast)●

Explainsitself(cleartitle,preferablyaconclusiontoo)●Containsonlyrelevantinformation●Doesnotcontainjargon(行話）ordifficultcodesFigure4

Spreadsheets(數(shù)據(jù)表)oftenproduceunsatisfactoryfigures,particularlywithrespecttolabeling.NotRecommended●Tableswithnumbers●theoreticalformulas●mathematicalderivations13Figure5

Becarefulwithcolorsandbackgroundsonoverheadsheets,slidesandposters.VisualAids:OverheadTransparencies,Slides,orComputerProjection?14Communicationinsteadofperforming●Yourpresentationwillbemosteffectiveifyouusethesameeverydaylanguageinwhichyouexplainthingstoafellowstudentinthelab.●Thinkaboutoralpresentationsintermsofcommunicationanddonotseeitastheperformanceofaliteraryplay.●Thereisabsolutelynoneedtouseamoreformallanguage.●Donottrytoimpresstheaudiencewithfancywords,

formalconstructions,subject-specificjargon

(行

話),orunnecessaryabbreviations（縮寫）.15Timing:AbsolutelyNecessaryQuestion:Doeseverythingyoupreparedfitwithintheavailable

time?●Takeyourstopwatchandgo.●Writethefirstpartoutinclear,short

sentences.●Cutdownthematerialunnecessary.●Skipafewless

importantitemsinthemiddleofyourtalk.Method:16AreYouNervous?Hopefullyyouare!

Onlyveryfewofus