Presentation tips

Presentationtips
Marco D’Ambros

“ 95% of presentations
SUCK
”
—Guy Kawasaky

“ OK, maybe I’m exaggerating.
It is actually 99%
”
—Guy Kawasaky
99%

don’t suck
1%

suck

Examples?
Ok, but be prepared for what follows

Preparation Design Delivery

“ Preparing a 30-slide36-90
presentation takes
hours
”
—Nancy Duarte

Start with the goal

What is the message?

Simplify

to the essential
(but not more)

“ Simplicity is about
subtracting the obvious,
and adding the meaningful
”
—John Maeda

“ More appears like less
simply moving it far, far away
—John Maeda
”

“ Multitasking, when it comes to paying
attention, is a myth

We are biologically
incapable of processing
attention-rich inputs
simultaneously
”
—Dr. Medina

People who are interrupted:

Make

50% more
errors

Take

50% longer to
complete a task

Being always online
is being always distracted and
unproductive

You need time off the grid to prepare

Go analog

Use post-it

Brainstorming and
mind mapping

If you are stuck go for a
walk or a run...
just move!

If you are stuck go for a
walk or a run...
just move!

why?

How the brain
works in 12 rules
By Dr. Medina

Rule #1
Exercise boost
brain power

Examples of anti-brain environments
according to Dr. Medina

Exercise is not just good for
general health, it actually
improves cognition

“Exercise increases oxygen ﬂow into the brain,
which reduces brain-bound free radicals [...] an
increase in oxygen is always accompanied by
an uptick in mental sharpness.

Exercise acts directly on the
molecular machinery of the
brain itself. It increases
neurons’ creation, survival,
and resistance
”—Dr. Medina

Even more beneﬁts!
• Reduces depression
• Treats dementia
• Improves reasoning
• Improves long-term
memory
• Improve ﬂuid intelligence
• Helps you solve problems
• and more...

Your audience will have
to seat and listen

think from their
perspective

5
min

presentation

key point
solution key point
key point

15
min

presentation

explanation
key point explanation

lution explanation

45
min

presentation
detail
explanation detail

key point detail

“If keepin
in a lectu
would ha
g someo
re was a
ne’s atte
business
ntion
ve an 80 , it
% failure
rate.
— Dr. Jo
hn Medin
a
”
Rule #4
We do not pay attention
to boring things

How should the story be?

nﬂict & climax
co
resolution
exposition

pe rspe ctive
ke anot her
Ta

• pick another perspective

Adopt a beginner’s mind

“ In the beginner’s
mind there are
many possibilities,
in the expert’s
mind there are few
”
—Shunryu Suzuki

1. T E L E P R O M P T I N G

People tend to put every word they are going
to say on their PowerPoint slides. Although
this eliminates the need to memorize your
talk, ultimately this makes your slides
crowded, wordy, and boring.You will loss your
audience’s attention before you even reach
the bottom of your ...

Slide from Don McMillan, “Life After Death by PowerPoint”: http://bit.ly/aYxegN

2. Spelling mistakes

Many people do not run spel cheek
before there presentation

BIG MISTAK!!! Nothing makes you lok
stupder than speling erors


3. Bullet pointing

• Avoid • Bullet-Points
• Excesive • And
• Buller-Pointing • Your
• Only • Key
• Bullet • Messages
• Key • Will
• Points • NOT
• Too • Stand
• Many • Out


4. Too many levels

• What is worst
• Too many bullet point levels are shown
• Type size gets smaller and smaller
• Until it is utterly unreadable

• Even for audiences in the 4th row

• So you better have just one bulletpoint level
• Better yet, forget about bullets (bullets, not guns,
kill people. Don’t you know?)
• Use them sparingly

• There are many other ways of detailing your ideas!

5. Color schemes gone wrong

bad
color schemes can
lead to...

• Distraction
• Confusion
• Headache
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Loss of bladder control

6. Stick to the default template

earlier periods of time, i.e., earlier modifications,basedHas-
exponential decay model. EDHCM was introducedhave the
Variants. LDHCM (Linearly Decayed) and LGDHCM
We define three further variants
by
on
san. Similarly,
contributionthings people won’tperiods in the past.a
HCM, withreduced exponentiallyfor understand
7. Use an additional have their contributions reduced
weight over time, modelling
(LoGarithmically decayed),
exponential decay model. EDHCM was introduced by for
In EDHCM (Exponentially Decayed HCM) , entropies Ha
over Similarly, LDHCM (Linearly Decayed) and LGDHC
san. time in a respectively linear and logarithmic fashion.
earlier periods of time, i.e., earlier modifications, have their
Both are novel. The definition of the variants follow:
(LoGarithmically decayed), have their contributions reduce
contribution reduced exponentially over time, modelling an
P HCP Fi (j)
over time in{a,..,b} (j) = EDHCMand logarithmici)fashion
EDHCM a respectively linear was introduced by Has-
exponential decay model. i2{a,..,b} e 1 ⇥(|{a,..,b}| (5)
Both are novel.LDHCM (Linearly the variantsFi (j)
san. Similarly, The definition of Decayed) andfollow:
P HCP
LGDHCM
(LoGarithmically (j) =
LDHCM{a,..,b} decayed), have their contributions reduced
Pi2{a,..,b} 2 ⇤(|{a,..,b}|+1 i) (6)
HCP Fi (j)
EDHCM{a,..,b} (j) = P i2{a,..,b} e HCP Fi (j) i) (5
over time in a respectively linear and logarithmic fashion.
1 ⇥(|{a,..,b}|
LGDHCM{a,..,b} (j) = i2{a,..,b} 3 ⇤ln(|{a,..,b}|+1.01 i) (7)
P
Both are novel. The definition of the variants follow:
HCP Fi (j)
LDHCM{a,..,b} (j) = i2{a,..,b} 2 ⇤(|{a,..,b}|+1 i) (6
where 1 , 2 and 3 arePP decay factors. Fi (j)
EDHCM{a,..,b} (j) = the HCP
(5)
HCP Fi (j)
i2{a,..,b} e 1 ⇥(|{a,..,b}| i)
LGDHCM{a,..,b} (j) = P i2{a,..,b} 3 ⇤ln(|{a,..,b}|+1.01 i) (7
HCP Fi (j)
LDHCM{a,..,b} (j) = i2{a,..,b} 2 ⇤(|{a,..,b}|+1 i)
(6)
where 1, 2 and 3 are the decay factors. F
P HCP i (j)
LGDHCM{a,..,b} (j) = i2{a,..,b} 3 ⇤ln(|{a,..,b}|+1.01 i)
(7)
where 1, 2 and 3 are the decay factors.

Design the
zen way
simplicity

clarity

uncluttered

Rule #10
Vision trumps
all other senses

rec all
ett er
ve ab at ion
e ha nfo rm
W sua li
for vi

“ we are wired to pattern ”
—Dr. Medina

IRSYMCAWTFIBMKGBFBI

Visual information are easier to remember

Oral 10%
3x
Visual 35% 6x

Oral & 65%
Visual
Source: Najjar, LJ (1998) Principles of educational multimedia user interface design (via Brain Rules by John Medina, 2008)

don’t
decorate
slides

add
communication
values

90
90 %
%
of the

of the freshwater
freshwaterworld is
in the
in our planet is

Slide from Garr Reynolds: http://www.slideshare.net/garr/sample-slides-by-garr-reynolds
Inspired by www.slideshare.net/garr/sample-slides-by-garr-reynolds

ice
ice
Source: SCAR

90 %
of the ice in our planet

is in Antarctica


80 %
of our planet’s freshwater
is ice in the
Antarctic
80 %
of the world’s freshwater
is ice in the
Antarctic
Source: SCAR
Inspired from Garr Reynolds: http://www.slideshare.net/garr/sample-slides-by-garr-reynolds
Slide by www.slideshare.net/garr/sample-slides-by-garr-reynolds

Bring your message visually

Eat only
until
80% full

foxy sad happy

Use faces

smiley undecided angry

Find beauty

Slide from Christina Quick : http://www.slideshare.net/ChrisQuick/new-rules-for-power-point-presentations

Dramatize


2% of the
world

Use
metaphorical
image
owns
50% of the
wealth


The poorest 50% of the world

owns 1% of the wealth


66% of Americans
are obese or overweight.

All adults 134 million (66%)
Women
65 million
(62%)
Men

69 million
(71%)

Be provocative
OECD Factbook 2007

Slide from Garr Reynolds: http://www.slideshare.net/garr/sample-slides-by-garr-reynolds

Text and fonts

No more than 2-3 types

Text and fonts

use color and size to build contrast

Text and fonts

Blinking, sparkling, or twirling text is
just not cool

Text and fonts

Ro tation can make the slide more
intere sting, but don’t overdo it

Reduce to the max
Text is redundant

People cannot listen and
read at the same time

Use quotes

“Simplicity means the achievement
of maximum effect with minimum
means
” —Dr. Koichi Kawana

Design principles
Contrast

Repetition

Alignment

Proximity

Repetitio n of design
elem ents gives a
co hesive lookR e petition

Slide from Jesse Desjardins: http://www.slideshare.net/jessedee/steal-this-presentation-5038209

no templates
or
the following one

Black: is all about elegance

White: is about trust

Apply a contrasting color
palette

Choose with tools

www.colorschemer.com

http://kuler.adobe.com

Do not forget that 7-10% of
people are color-blind

Small images
Ugly clip art
Do not use

Distorted images
Watermarked images

Make images transparent

or
use

Where to get good images?

www.istockphoto.com (pay)


google images


sxc.hu (free)

Do not omit the credits

Image from irishﬁreside.com

Be consistent
Stick to your settings

a slide costs 0$
avoid clutter: make more slides

Show the data

A must see:
www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html

World of Warcraft users worldwide
11M

9M

2M

2005 2007 2008

Not memorable

World of Warcraft users worldwide

1.4 times the swiss population

Facebook users

800
Millions
Not memorable

World most populated countries

1,333M

1,170M

800M

307M

iPod capacity

5 GB

vs

1,000 songs

Break the rules, but do it sparingly

Slide from Eduardo S. de la Fuente: http://www.slideshare.net/eduardo.delafuente/the-art-of-presentation-following-the-zen-path-why

Some before/after examples
by presentation guru Garr Reynolds

before

after
Slide from Garr Reynolds: www.slideshare.net/garr/sample-slides-by-garr-reynolds

before

after after


before

after


Rehearse Rehearse Rehearse

Spend some time in the light table view

Show your passion

• show your passion

Keep it short
Audience attention steadily
drops after 10 minutes

The 10-minute rule
The 10-minutes rule

High

Attention
Attention

Low

10 20 30 40 50
Minutes of class time
Minutes of class time
Source: www.brainrules.net/attention

Source: www.brainrules.net/attention

do something
emotionally relevant
at each 10-minute mark
to regain attention

Move away from the podium

audience screen

laptop
you

Use a remote

• use the presenter view

• do not apologize

Do not
apologize

Use Keynote presenter display

actually no

Keep
lights
on

• keep the lights on

Be prepared

Check the beamer beforehand

Body language matters

body language

55%
voice

38%
content

7%

Be slightly more elegant
than the audience

Always recap

Preparation Design Delivery

Share your work

speakerdeck.com

www.slideshare.net

Resources

www.garrreynolds.com

www.ted.com

Takeawa ys & DQJohnotes
u a’s Credits
ules
Medin

rain R
r. from

BWhat all pres
enters ne ed to know

s)
tion (of sort
A presenta eynolds
by Garr R

SEMINAR (I)
http://slidesha.re/3mMo3c http://slidesha.re/fausgs

Following the ZEN path

http://slidesha.re/i8QMa Zen Rocks by Lane Pierce
Alberto de Vega
http://slidesha.re/8Ykmry
Eduardo S. de la Fuente

http://slidesha.re/17P2Hh
Sample slides
Here are a few before/after slides

Garr Reynolds

Marco D’Ambros
Computer science researcher

Marco earned a PhD in Informatics from the University of
Lugano (Switzerland), and MSc degrees from both Politecnico
di Milano (Italy) and the University of Illinois at Chicago (USA).

His research interests lie in software engineering, software
evolution, and software visualization. He authored more than
30 technical papers, and is the creator of several software
visualization and program comprehension tools.

Marco is passionate about presentations: He distilled his
experience, gained by giving more than 30 talks at
international conferences, in this presentation.

www.inf.usi.ch/phd/dambros/ On the Evolution of
Source Code and
www.linkedin.com/in/dambros Software Defects
amzn.com/1460953568
www.slideshare.net/marcodambros

twitter.com/marquitodambros

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