giving effective academic presentations

Giving Effective Academic Presentations

How do I make my presentation interesting?

How do I begin my presentation?

Where do I go formore sources?

What are the type of questions mentorsusually ask?

LECTURE

There’s a difference between a LECTURE and a TALK.

TALK

Interruptions areforgivable

Interruptions aredistracting

Casual Formal

Flexible time Rigid, limited time

Each Chem Major will give at least 3 talks: seminar, proposal, and defense.

SEMINAR (3rd year, 1st sem)

Current trends in

your chosen field

10 mins. talk 5 mins. Q&A

TIPS:-READ journals.-If you don’t understand, ASK.

Each Chem Major will give at least 3 talks: seminar, proposal, and defense.

THESIS PROPOSAL (4th year, 1st sem)

METHODOLOGY

12 mins. talk 8 mins. Q&A

TIPS:-take advantage of the Q&A.

Each Chem Major will give at least 3 talks: seminar, proposal, and defense.

THESIS DEFENSE (4th year, 2nd sem)

RESULTS!

15 mins. talk 5 mins. Q&A

If possible, use the assertion-evidence lay-out.

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

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)

Before

After

Iron • An abundant metal, makes up 5.6% of

earth’s crust • Properties:

– shaped, sharpened, welded– strong, durable

• Accounts for >95% of metals used• Iron ores discovered in 1844 in

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula• Soon found other ores in upper

Wisconsin and Minnesota

Kesler 1994

Iron Ore Distribution

Before

[Kesler 1994]

Iron Ore Distribution

[www.star-bits.com]

Iron ore

Iron ores make up 5.6% of the earth’s crust and account for 95% of the metals used

Can be shaped, sharpened, and welded

Is strong and durable

Iron

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

Before

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)

Use scholarly reference. http://scholar.google.comhttp://pubs.acs.orghttp://sciencedirect.comhttp://scopus.comWhat if the journal is unavailable?1. Are you outside school? Contact

dormers. 2. Try re-googling it. 3. What are friends are for. 4. Email authors.

NOT FREE FREE!!!

Reviewarticles

The title should tell the readers what your research is about.“mini-skirt principle”

◦LONG enough to cover the essentials◦SHORT enough to be interesting

It should NOT be misleading.

“The wonders of the Virgin Coconut Oil”

“Liver tissue regeneration from Mesenchymal Stem Cells”

“Comparative Analysis of Pb2+,Cr3+, and Cd2+ Content and Inference of the Sources of Such Ions in the Pasig River During Rainy and Dry seasons”

Mention what happens not what you will do in your methodology.A list bores the audience! No need to mention amounts,

unless crucial.

Dissolve 0.70 g gold sample in 70mL aqua regia (1 part conc.

HNO3 to 3 parts conc. HCl)

Repeatedly concentrate the solution and add doubly-deionized

water until pH 7

Crystallize AuCl4-. Add sodium citrate to a boiling solution of the redissolved crystals to produce

AuNP. 18From Schubert, U., et.al, Materials Syntheses: A Practical Guide. New York: Springer Wien

AuCl4

NaBH4

Au

Au

Au

Au

++ +

+ ++Au

+

++

+

+++

AuNPs are synthesized from AuCl4- and are stabilized by CTAB

19

CTAB

Keep explanations brief.Use pictures rather than long

stretches of sentencesTables instead of listing dataPRACTICE your spiel! (avoid

unnecessary words and/or repetitions)

Varying the aspect ratio varies the λmax of the spectra.

‘Guide’ the audience when you explain complicated pictures/graphs.That’s why you’re given a laser

pointerOrganize the way you introduce

the picture/graph

23

HaCaT Non-malignant cell

HSC Malignant cell

HOC Malignant cell

80

mW

120

mW

Huang, X.; El-Sayed, I.H.; Qian, W.; El-Sayed, M.A. Cancer Cell Imaging and Photothermal Therapy in the Near-Infrared Region by Using Gold Nanorods. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2006, 128 (6), 2115-2120.

30:70 (v/v) EtOH/H2O

50:50 (v/v) EtOH/H2O

70:30 (v/v) EtOH/H2O

280nm

2.0 2.9 3.1

475nm

1.4 2.0 2.4

520nm

0.3 0.6 0.6

800nm

0.5 0.8 0.9

Absorbances at various wavelengths were obtained after immersing the complex in different solvent systems.

Use pictures for enumerating examplesA list is okay… but a list of

pictures is better.

Different types of interaction allows for bioconjugation

26

Avoid text-heavy slides. If inevitable, do not flash them at once.“7x7 rule”(for the body): 7 words,

7 lines per slide ONLY. Use SIMPLE animations. My

personal favorite is “appear” and “wipe”.

SUMMARYParticles exhibit quantum-size

effects when reduced to nanosize which is not present in bulk molecules.

Using AuNRs with appropriate aspect ratios, one can couple cancer detection with selective killing of cancer cells

Even labels in the pictures are distracting when they are too many.

Be conscious about the font color, size, background color, etc.What you see is NOT what you

get.The truth about the LCD

projector…◦Backgrounds = lighter◦Contrast = less

Ask help for color combinations if you are not too familiar with them.

Font size: title = ~40; body = ~30

Some common ppt tools Crop“Set transparent color”Use of semi-transparent

background text box

Your body posture and gestures can affect the way you deliver a talk.Don’t be a distraction to your

own talk!Voice projectionBe conscious of your “uhmms”

and “aaahs” and “like”….

Keep within the time allowed. Practice and time yourself!Estimate the length of your talk. Time management is 5 points of

the talk. Most profs give you 0 if you go beyond the time.

TECH STUFF: Include an outline at the start of your talk.It gives the audience a sense of

the “big picture”.

Before

The Core of This TalkScientists are on the move from

programming complied languages (Fortran, C/C++) to environments like Matlab

Why? Matlab is easier to use and feels more productive

We can extend “Matlab way of working” far beyond Matlab.

manual

somewhatmanual

MATLAB

Python

automated

Fortran 77

C++

This talk shows the evolution from a manual to an automated environment.

TECH STUFF: Include slide page #. Begin and end with the title slide.Teachers need to know who you

are! (…and sometimes they come in late. :P)

Slide page # is for reference (for questions/notes)

TECH STUFF: Always put references. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE.Font size: ~18Pictures, graphs, tables must

have references when they appear in the slide.

Summarize all references at the end.

TEM image of AuNR shows uniform aspect ratios.

39Daniel, M.; Astruc, D. Gold Nanoparticles: Assembly, Supramolecular Chemistry,Quantum-Size-Related Properties, and Applications toward Biology, Catalysis, and Nanotechnology. Chem. Rev. 2004, 104, 293-346

SUGGESTIONS: Talk about the relevance of your topic at the start.“hook” your audience by

claiming it is relevant to them

41

SUGGESTIONS: Prepare extra slides containing “additional info”Answers to “potential questions” Specifics of an experimental

setup/condition

INSIDER: Each mentor has his/her own “style” of asking.

Doc V - practical questions such as setup; experimental conditions, how much etc…

Doc Guidote - if you were the researcher….. (esp when you talk about "limitations")

Doc Soma - anything and everything about the polymer you talked about (crosslinker, monomer)

INSIDER: Each mentor has his/her own “style” of asking.Doc EPE - "did the literature

mention….", theoryDoc Rojas - curious questions…

facts about your presentationDoc So - mechanism and

structure

Answer the questions “smartly”.Good if you know the answer.If you don’t...

“I’ll look into that…”“I don’t exactly know how it works,

but if I were to guess…”

Better yet, don’t mention things that you aren’t really sure about.. :P

Questions?:D