Oral and Poster Communication

1. Oral and Poster Communication Robert Bortolussi MD FRCPC Professor of Pediatrics, Dalhousie University

2. Objectives • Answer question, why do we want to communicate? • Describe how to prepare a great oral or poster presentation. • Learn to convince people that your discovery is: • Unique • Important • Worthy of support Workshop 2012

3. Who is your audience? • Gear presentation to the level of knowledge of the audience. • Language we use with colleagues may be nonsense to others. • Strive to be clear without insulting their intelligence. Workshop 2012

4. Which is best? Poster or oral presentation • Oral • Pros • Large groups • One way communication • Cons • Little dialogue • Anxiety • Poster • Pros • One to one interaction • 2-way communication • Focused • Cons • Limited audience • Perception of less prestige Workshop 2012

5. Oral presentations From google.com images From google.com images Workshop 2012

6. What are the objectives of your oral presentation? • Objectives must be relevant and achievable. • limit yourself to 2 or 3 objectives. • State each objective as a short sentence. • Test your objectives:  • What is the key message in the objective? • Does this message relate directly to the storyline? Workshop 2012

7. Slides • Designed to serve the objectives. • Not to show you have mastered Powerpoint’s gimmicks. “KISS” : Keep it simple, stupid. Workshop 2012

8. The usual order of slides • Title Slide ……….. (1 slide) • Background …… (1 slide) • Objectives ……… (1 slide) • Methods ………. (1 or 2 slides) • Data Slides ……….. (2 or 3 slides) • Summary ……….. (1 slide) • Big Picture ……….. (1 slide) • Acknowledgements (1 slide) _____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Total…… fewer than 11 slides including title! Workshop 2012

9. Do’s and Don’ts Text • 8 or fewer lines per slide, • Use bullets • Use clear words and concise phrases Animation Don’t overdo it! • Let text simply appear, rather than having it swirl in with sound as it enters. Workshop 2012

10. Do’s and Don’ts Colours Too many colours in text is distracting. Black text works well on most backgrounds. • White or yellowon a blue background is easier to read and easy on the eyes. X Avoid using red with green and other less common colours since they may not exist on all computers. 10% of the males are red/green colour blind! Workshop 2012

11. Do’s and Don’ts Graphics • Use a diagram or picture rather than text or a list of statistics. • Use schematics to illustrate unfamiliar protocols. Remember. The average attention span of a university graduate listener is 10 minutes! Workshop 2012

12. Do’s and Don’ts A Graphs and Diagrams Which graph is best? • A ? • B ? No. of people A B C D Research sites B No. of people A B C D Research sites Workshop 2012

13. Do’s and Don’ts Graphs and diagrams • Never give graphs coloured backgrounds. • All graphs should have axis labels in "sentence case“ • Never display 2-D data in 3-D. Though it looks good, it obscures accuracy. No. of people A B C D Study sites No. of people A B C D Study sites Workshop 2012

14. Test drug vsplacebo: Results Text presentation of result Randomized, placebo controlled study involving 303 subjects of whom 203 agreed to participate. 102 were randomized to the study group and 101 to the placebo group. Poor outcome was noted in 10% of the treated group compared to 50% in the placebo group (p< 0.01). However 50% withdrew in the treatment group because of intolerance to the drug compared to 2% withdrawals in the placebo group (p< 0.001). Workshop 2012

15. Test drug vsplacebo: Results Graphic presentation of Result * * * p< 0.01 ** ** ** p< 0.001 Workshop 2012

16. “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Albert Einstein • Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. • Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it. • We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. Workshop 2012

17. The usual order of slides Practice • Title Slide • Background • Objectives • Methods • Data Slides • Summary • Big Picture • Acknowledgement • Timing is quite variable, but plan to use less than one slide a minute • Practice to allow change • in slides, orientation, use • of pointer etc. • Practice before a small • group. Workshop 2012

18. Poster presentations: google.com images google.com images Workshop 2012 google.com images

19. Example Posters Examples of posters will be shown and discussed at workshop, to illustrate the Strengths and weaknesses of various options! Workshop 2012

20. Anatomy of a Poster “Catchy Title goes here!” Conclusion Conclusion Introduction Results 2 Methods Results 1 literature Acknowledgements Other Workshop 2012

21. Poster Chatter Drive bye browsers ! • Make sure poster is viewable from 6 feet • Weed out those interested from the crowd Get the most out of the interaction. • Meet and engage people at every opportunity. • Learn from their questions, and seek advice. • If they’re interested give them a copy of poster, • Exchange cards and follow up with an email. Workshop 2012

22. Elevator exercise ! • Pretend you are accidentally on an elevator with Bill Gates! • You will have 2 minutes to tell him: • What is your passion in a research project • Why it is important • Why this may be of interest to him Workshop 2012

23. What is your story? Any Volunteers? Have you ever sat next to Bill Gates? …. The president? …. The mayor? …. The chief? Did you instill curiosity and enthusiasm. Workshop 2012

24. Have the Objectives been met? • Why do we need to communicate? • Tricks on preparing a great oral or poster presentation. • How to convince people your discovery is • Unique • Important • Worthy of support Workshop 2012