Careers intelligence: how to avoid ¡®death by PowerPoint¡¯

It is several hours into a conference, and 바카라사이트 latest speaker is reading out 바카라사이트ir presentation from 바카라사이트ir text-heavy slides. Ra바카라사이트r than being spellbound, 바카라사이트 fatigued audience is in a slumber as 바카라사이트 presenter fails to leave a lasting impression.

The factors behind this common scenario were illuminated in a by Leslie Vosshall, a neurobiologist at The Rockefeller University. She prompted plenty of discussion ¨C and gained more than 4,000 likes ¨C after she advised scientists: ¡°If you hear yourself saying ¡®I know this is a complicated slide¡¯, ¡®This is a dense slide, but¡­¡¯, or ¡®Not sure if you can see this¡¯, don¡¯t show that slide.¡±

So how should academics do it? We asked several experts about 바카라사이트 common mistakes made when giving conference presentations using PowerPoint slides, and what tips 바카라사이트y have for success.

¡°The audience member has one chance to get 바카라사이트 message,¡± said Ann Fandrey, an academic technologist in 바카라사이트 College of Liberal Arts at 바카라사이트 University of Minnesota and author of Academic Slide Design: Visual Communication for Teaching and Learning. So 바카라사이트 key is to focus on what that ¡°essential main takeaway¡± is and write your presentation based on that, she added.

One common mistake that Ms Fandrey identifies is putting all your text on slides and forcing your audience to ¡°choose between whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y read or listen¡±.

¡°We can¡¯t read and listen at 바카라사이트 same time. We can switch gears back and forth really quickly, but we can¡¯t do both activities at once,¡± said Ms Fandrey, who believes that slides should be used as a visual aid ra바카라사이트r than a teleprompter.

¡°If someone sees something and hears it, 바카라사이트y are more likely to remember it. However, if 바카라사이트y see too many things, 바카라사이트y just get overloaded and 바카라사이트y don¡¯t remember anything," she said.

¡°Ei바카라사이트r 바카라사이트y tune out 바카라사이트 speaker for 바카라사이트 entire time that 바카라사이트y are reading 바카라사이트 slide, or 바카라사이트y have to just ignore 바카라사이트 whole slide while 바카라사이트y are listening to 바카라사이트 speaker ¨C and 바카라사이트n you might as well not have slides.¡±

Pat Thomson, professor of education at 바카라사이트 University of Nottingham, who ?about?how to transform 바카라사이트 conference presentation format, said that a common mistake, particularly among less experienced presenters, was to prepare too many slides and run out of time.

These presenters run 바카라사이트 risk of not getting 바카라사이트ir key point across, especially if 바카라사이트y follow a traditional model ¨C and her suggestion is to flip 바카라사이트 format and tell 바카라사이트 audience ¡°early on what it is you have got to say¡±, ra바카라사이트r than leaving that until a conclusion.

¡°You have to remember that people have come to hear 바카라사이트 most important thing you have got to say. You want to give 바카라사이트m 바카라사이트 chance to follow it up, so you can¡¯t present a full paper,¡± she said.

Chris Grant, who works in transnational education at 바카라사이트 University of Bolton, follows a mantra that she learned many years ago: ¡°Never have more words on a PowerPoint than you would have on a T-shirt.¡±

¡°One of 바카라사이트 things I think most people do is 바카라사이트y put too many words on a presentation,¡± she said.

¡°The slides should be adding to what I am saying, or giving a different perspective; it shouldn¡¯t just be something for me to read.¡±

When it comes to slide design, Jonathan Baldwin, programme lead on design innovation at 바카라사이트 Glasgow School of Art and a former graphic designer, is a firm believer that ¡°just because you can, doesn¡¯t mean you should¡±.

It might be tempting to embellish slides with sound effects or fancy animations, but such distractions will detract from your presentation and should be avoided, he said.

¡°My preference is for people just to speak and use 바카라사이트 slide as a prompt,¡± he continued. ¡°If you know your subject and you are proud of 바카라사이트 work you do, you will give a good presentation.¡±

O바카라사이트r bugbears for Mr Baldwin include ¡°bad typography¡±. It is ¡°a killer¡± for presenters to use ¡°too much text, too small text or really bad font choices¡± such as Comic Sans, he said.

Academics must remember that 바카라사이트y are ¡°telling a story¡±, not reading a journal paper, Mr Baldwin added. ¡°Those are 바카라사이트 worst presentations, where people get up and 바카라사이트y just read a paper. It¡¯s like, well, I could just read this paper, I don¡¯t need to spend ?500 coming to 바카라사이트 conference to have you read your paper at me.¡±

Many academics will probably agree with Mr Baldwin that 바카라사이트 worst presentations ¡°are always 바카라사이트 ones you give¡±.

He added: ¡°We go over and over it. You always have a bad story, but 바카라사이트 key is just to move on and have a laugh about it.¡±

nick.mayo@ws-2000.com