No excuse for tedium: Advice on giving technical presentations

Long before there was "death-by-PowerPoint," there were bad presentations. Really bad presentations. So don't blame the software or Microsoft; the genesis of painfully dull presentations predates the computer. No one knows this better than scientists, researchers, and academics, etc. who have always been required to attend numerous conferences each year, conferences which typically feature a keynote speaker and scores of shorter presentations by others in their field.

I've been very interested to hear from people with technical backgrounds about what is a good presentation and what is not. I've heard from many of you over the year -- doctors, researchers, scientists, programmers, etc. -- and your comments have been very helpful. I've also been studying several presentation books specifically designed for scientists and others who need to give more technical presentations. Here are three:

• The Craft of Scientific Presentations
• Scientific Papers and Presentations, Second Edition
• Communicating in Science : Writing a Scientific Paper and Speaking at Scientific Meetings

Scientist offers his presentation advice
Yesterday, while on the train to the office, I found a wonderful essay in the appendix section of "Scientific Papers and Presentations." This editorial essay was written by Dr. Jay H. Lehr, an engineer and scientist with a Ph.D. in Ground Water Hydrology who has attended scientific presentations since the '50s. The title of the essay, which appeared in Ground Water in 1985, is "Let there Be Stoning!" This should be required reading for all academics and business people, especially those who are to present at a future conference. And perhaps proof that there is a God, this 21-year old essay is available for download (here) from the Western Washington University website, and  (here) from the Washington State Dept. of Ecology. So spread the word.

As you read the editorial, please keep in mind that it was written by a professional with an engineering and scientific background, not by a "right-brain creative type" (like me) who knows more about design and communication than about scientific investigation and processes for evaluating empirical knowledge. Here are just a few highlights from Dr. Lehr's editorial:

On dull conference speakers:

"They are not sophisticated, erudite scientists speaking above our intellectual capability; they are arrogant, thoughtless individuals who insult our very presence by the lack of concern for our desire to benefit from a meeting which we choose to attend."

On the importance of presenting well at technical conferences:

"Failure to spend the [presentation] time wisely and well, failure to educate, entertain, elucidate, enlighten, and most important of all, failure to maintain attention and interest should be punishable by stoning. There is no excuse for tedium."

On reading a conference paper:

"There is never an excuse to read a paper.... Better to lower the level of verbal excellence and raise the level of extemporaneous energy."

On using slides (35mm and OHPs in those days):

"They must be brightly lit and convey a simple thought. If you need a pointer to indicate an important concept or location on a slide, it is probably too crowded or difficult to comprehend."

Please read the whole editorial when you get a chance. And if you have any success stories or details of great presentations you've seen at technical conferences, please feel free to share your wisdom
here.

Related posts
How to run a useless conference by Seth Godin.
How to kick butt on a panel by Guy Kawasaki.
M.D. gives advice on presenting technical information, Presentation Zen.
How to lecture and keep 'em engaged, Presentation Zen.

Comments

[Zen Faulkes]

I've been writing somewhat regularly on this matter in my own blog, NeuroDojo (http://dojo.shorturl.com or http://neurodojo.blogspot.com).

Part 1: *.pps -- http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2006/01/zen-of-presentations-part-one-blog-ive.html

Part 2: It's all about you --
http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2006/01/zen-of-presentation-part-two-its-all.html

Part 3: Can you do it on the radio? -- http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2006/02/zen-of-presentations-part-3-can-you-do.html

Part 4: Title slides --
http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2006/02/zen-of-presentations-part-4-titles.html

There are a lot of familiar themes. What has been called "going naked" here, I've called "the Bullock method," for instance. I don't think there's much difference between giving a research talk at a conference and other kinds of talks.

[Zen Faulkes]

I've just put up a new entry on technical presentations, which argues that they'd be better if they were more like Robin Williams.

Part 5: Legalized insanity -- http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2006/03/zen-of-presentations-part-5-legalized.html

[Arnon Rotem-Gal-Oz]

You've asked about great technical presentations
I guess http://www.identity20.com/media/WEB2_2005/ is one of the best I've seen

Arnon

[Kelly Miller]

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