The Art of Lecturing

Paul Sutton, PhD, MD

Associate Professor

General Internal Medicine

University of Washington

• The “Art of Lecturing”…really?

“Where facts are few, experts are many.” Donald Gannon

“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.” Niels Bohr

Overview

• Public speaking tips

• Tips for effective PowerPoint presentations

• Presentation of data

• “The 10 Minute Talk”

Public Speaking Tips

• Tell ‘em

• Tell them what you are going to tell them

• Tell them

• Tell them what you have told them

Overview

• Public speaking tips

• Tips for effective PowerPoint presentations

• Presentation of data

• “The 10 Minute Talk”

Public Speaking Tips

• Know your subject

• Know your audience– What’s in it for me?

• Structure– Particularly crucial for shorter talks

• Your style– Find your own voice– But seek to entertain as well as educate

Your Style

• “Good teaching is one fourth preparation and three fourths theater.” Gail Godwin

• Use eye contact, voice modulation, and animation (yours, not PowerPoint’s)

• Take chances (but be tasteful)

Public Speaking Tips

• Limited recall– “The magical number seven, plus or

minus two”. Miller GA. Psychol Rev 1956. 63:81-97.

• Emphasize key points– Don’t attempt the Vulcan mind meld– “If you only remember one thing…”

Effective Habits

• Outline the talk before opening any presentation software

• Scientific Presentation– Background– Objective– Methods– Data– Discussion

Effective Habits: outlines

Topic-based Lecture• Intro• Epidemiology• Clinical Features• Diagnostics• Treatment• Areas of study• Review

Case-based Lecture• Intro• Case 1• Teaching point• Case 2• Teaching point• Lather & repeat• Review

Effective Habits

• Prepare in advance!– “It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare

a good impromptu speech.” Mark Twain

• Practice– Particularly the introduction

• Peer review– Is the story coherent?– Is the presentation of data clear?– Eliminate ypographical errors

PowerPoint Tips

• Use PowerPoint– 95% market share– Presentation software options:

• PC/Mac/UNIX: OpenOffice by Sun• Mac: Keynote

– Can be difficult to share– Potential for formatting surprises

• Most conferences require .ppt

Savvy Slides(K.I.S.S.)

• Dark background, light text

• Consider using bold for all fonts• Shadowed text is more readable• Use font size 24 or greater

• Use easy to read fonts– Arial– Times New Roman– Comic Sans MS– English 111 Vivace BT

Savvy Slides (44 point)

• Arial 36• Arial 28• Arial 20

• Comic Sans MS 36• Comic Sans MS 28• Comic Sans MS 20

• Times New Roman 36• Times New Roman 28• Times New Roman 20

Backgrounds

• Readable, classic

• But, fatiguing over time

Backgrounds

• Annoying, pointless background• Poor contrast

• High contrast is minimally better

• Wow, what a great lecture

Slide Content

• About one minute per slide– This ratio increases as the length of the

talk increases

• 5-8 lines of text per slide

• Simplify information (on the slide!)– More Hemingway than Bulwer-Lytton– More haiku than Dante

Slide Content

• For goodness sakes, don’t read your slides!

• Avoid STDs– Speaker/text dissonance

• Use animations sparingly

“Death by PowerPoint”

http://norvig.com/Gettysburg/sld006.htm, accessed 4/14/09

http://canadiancpd.medscape.com/content/2002/00/43/71/437182/437182_fig.htmlAccessed 7/2/2009

PowerPoint Tips

• Don’t forget to stretch/change gears

• Attention span may be 10-15 minutes– Perhaps less in the age of Twitter

• Various techniques to re-engage the audience

Overview

• Lecture tips and effective habits

• Tips for effective PowerPoint presentations

• Presentation of data

• “The 10 Minute Talk”

So…Now I’m thinking about taking my

cousin downtown when she visits next

month…

Presentation of Data

• PowerPoint conveys data at relatively low bandwidth

Flather MD, et al. Lancet 2000. 355: 1575

Tables, Charts, and Graphs

• Avoid tables & figures from journals – they do not project well

• Tables & figures should be clearly labeled, and make sense at a glance

• Orient the audience & walk them through the data

Tables, Charts & Graphs

• You’ve failed if you have to begin with an apology

• Limit data to what is necessary to convey your point– But don’t deceive

• Highlight key points

Trial ACEI Controls RR (95% CI)

CONSENSUS ISOLVD (Treatment)SOLVD (Prevention)

Chronic CHF

Post MISAVE

TRACEAIRE

39% 54% 0.56 (0.34–0.91)40%35% 0.82 (0.70–0.97)

15% 16% 0.92 (0.79–1.08)

25%20% 0.81 (0.68–0.97)17% 23% 0.73 (0.60–0.89)

SMILE 6.5% 8.3% 0.78 (0.52–1.12)0.78 (0.67–0.91)35% 42%

ACE Inhibitors and Mortality Reduction

Mortality

Garg R et al. JAMA. 1995;273:1450–1456.

Average 21% 27% 0.77

Make another point with text box or highlighting

Placebo(n = 398)

Carvedilol(n = 696)

US Carvedilol Heart Failure Program:

Effect on Hospitalizations

*P <.05

Fowler MB et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2001;37:1692–1699.

0

10

20

30

29%* 28%* 38%*

AllHospitalizations

CardiovascularHospitalization

Heart FailureHospitalizations

%Duration of therapy:6.5 months (median)

Age-Adjusted Prostate Cancer Incidence and Mortality

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1975

1977

1979

1981

1983

1985

1987

1989

1991

1993

1995

1997

1999

2001

2003

2005

Years

Per

100,0

00

Incidence

Mortality

1975-2005 from the SEER database, accessed 4/12/08

FDA approves PSA

“Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler.” Einstein

The 10 Minute Talk

• The research equivalent of the oral case presentation– Structure is incredibly important

• Background/significance• Objective• Methods• Results• Discussion/future

The 10 Minute Talk

• Very little time

• Make every word count

• Seek early feedback

• Memorize the beginning (first impressions)

• Practice, practice, practice

The Delivery

• Redundancy– Computer, webmail, USB flash drive, CD– Include all files necessary for any animation

(e.g. video)

• Get there early, check out the room, controls, water

• Ask a friend/colleague for feedback– Learn something from every talk

Overview (“Tell ‘em”)

• Lecture tips and effective habits

• Tips for effective PowerPoint presentations

• Presentation of data

• “The 10 Minute Talk”

Take Home Points

• Be knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and animated

• Focus on a few take home points

• Legible slides (and don’t read them!)

• Pay particular attention to the presentation of data

• 10 minute talk is like an oral case presentation – structure counts

“Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening.” Dorothy Sarnoff

Suggested Reading

• Federman D. How do you give a great lecture? Parts I and II. SGIM Forum, June and July 2009. Accessed at http://www.sgim.org/index.cfm?pageId=809– Very practical, expert opinion

• Tufte ER. The cognitive style of PowerPoint: pitching out corrupts within. 2nd edition. Graphics Press (Cheshire, CT). 2006.– An essay on the limitations and cognitive shackles of PowerPoint

– Available at the bookstore for $7

• Keller J. Killing me microsoftly with PowerPoint. Chicago Tribune, January 5, 2003. Accessed at http://www.gbuwizards.com/files/chicago-tribune-julia-keller-05-january-2003.htm– Martin Luther King and Robert Frost à la PowerPoint

• Collins J. Giving a PowerPoint presentation: the art of communicating effectively. Radiographics 2004. 24:1185-92.