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Preface
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Who Is This Book for?
5
What Will I Learn from This Book?
5
How Should I Read This Book?
6
Other Books in This Series
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Why Do a Presentation at a Conference?
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Isnt Just Attending a Conference Enough, Why Is It a Good Thing to Give a Presentation?
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What Kind of Presentations Do Audiences Like to See?
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What Constitutes a Professional Presentation?
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What Kind of Presentations Do Audiences NOT Like to See?
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What About Posters?
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Contents
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Part I Preparation and Practice
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1 Ten Stages in Preparing Your Slides
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1.1 Find out about the potential audience
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1.2 Identify your key points/messages
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1.3 Prepare a two-minute talk
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1.4 Record and transcribe your two minutes
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1.5 Expand into a longer presentation
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1.6 Practice with colleagues
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1.7 Give your presentation a structure
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1.8 Create the slides
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1.9 Modify your script
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1.10 Cut redundant slides, simplify complicated slides
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2 Writing Out Your Speech in English
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2.1 Why should I write a speech? Im giving an oral presentation, not a written one
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2.2 Use your script to write notes to accompany your slides
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2.3 Use your speech for future presentations
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2.4 Only have one idea per sentence and repeat key words
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2.5 Simplify sentences that are difficult to say
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2.6 Do not use synonyms for technical/key words
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2.7 Avoid details/exceptions
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2.8 Avoid quasi-technical terms
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2.9 Explain or paraphrase words that may be unfamiliar to the audience
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2.10 Only use synonyms for nontechnical words
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2.11 Be conciseonly say things that add value
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2.12 Use verbs rather than nouns
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2.13 Avoid abstract nouns
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2.14 Avoid generic quantities and unspecific adjectives
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2.15 Occasionally use emotive adjectives
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2.16 Choose the right level of formality
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2.17 Summary: An example of how to make a text easier to say
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2.18 Tense tips
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2.18.1 Outline
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2.18.2 Referring to future points in the presentation
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2.18.3 Explaining the background and motivations
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2.18.4 Indicating what you did in (a) your research (b) while preparing your slides
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2.18.5 Talking about the progress of your presentation
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2.18.6 Explaining and interpreting results
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2.18.7 Giving conclusions
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2.18.8 Outlining future research
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3 Pronunciation and Intonation
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3.1 Understand the critical importance of correct pronunciation
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3.2 Find out the correct pronunciation
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3.3 Learn any irregular pronunciations
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3.4 Be very careful of English technical words that also exist in your language
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3.5 Practice the pronunciation of key words that have no synonyms
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3.6 Be careful of -ed endings
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3.7 Enunciate numbers very clearly
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3.8 Avoid er, erm, ah
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3.9 Use your normal speaking voice
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3.10 Help the audience to tune in to your accent
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3.11 Dont speak too fast or too much
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3.12 Mark up your script and then practice reading it aloud
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3.13 Use synonyms for words on your slides that you cannot pronounce
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3.14 Use stress to highlight the key words
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3.15 Vary your voice and speed
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3.16 Sound interested
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4 Practice and Learn from Other Peoples Presentations
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4.1 Use your notes
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4.2 Vary the parts you practice
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4.3 Practice your position relative to the screen
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4.4 Dont sit. Stand and move around
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4.5 Use your hands
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4.6 Have an expressive face and smile
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4.7 Learn how to be self-critical: practice with colleagues
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4.8 Analyze other peoples slides
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4.9 Watch presentations on the Internet
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4.10 Test yourself on what you remember of the presentations youve watched
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4.11 Improve your slides after the presentation
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5 Handling Your Nerves
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5.1 Identify your fears
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5.2 Dont focus on your English
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5.3 Write in simple sentences and practice your pronunciation
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5.4 Identify points where poor English might be more problematic
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5.5 Have a positive attitude
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5.6 Prepare good slides and practice
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5.7 Opt to do presentations in low-risk situations
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5.8 Use shorter and shorter phrases
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5.9 Learn relaxation techniques
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5.10 Get to know your potential audience at the bar and social dinners
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5.11 Check out the room where your presentation will be
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5.12 Prepare for forgetting what you want to say
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5.13 Prepare for the software or the equipment breaking down
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5.14 Organize your time
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Part II What to Write on the Slides
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6 Titles
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6.1 Decide what to include in the title slide
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6.2 Remove all redundancy
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6.3 Make sure your title is not too technical for your audience
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6.4 Use a two-part title to attract both a general and a technical audience
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6.5 Dont be too concise in titlesuse verbs and prepositions not just nouns and adjectives
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6.6 Check your grammar
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6.7 Check your spelling
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6.8 Use slide titles to help explain a process
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6.9 Think of alternative titles for your slides
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7 Writing and Editing the Text of the Slides
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7.1 Be aware of the dangers of PowerPoint
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7.2 Print as handout then edit
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7.3 Only use a slide if it is essential, never read your slides
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7.4 Only write what you are 100 sure is correct
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7.5 One idea per slide
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7.6 Generally speaking, avoid complete sentences
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7.7 Only use complete sentences for a specific purpose
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7.8 Dont put text in your slides to say what you will do or have done during your presentation
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7.9 Avoid repeating the title of the slide within the main part of the slide
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7.10 Use only well-known acronyms, abbreviations, contractions, and symbols
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7.11 Choose the shortest forms possible
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7.12 Cut brackets containing text
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7.13 Make good use of the phrase that introduces the bullets
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7.14 Avoid references
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7.15 Keep quotations short
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7.16 Deciding what not to cut
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7.17 When youve finished creating your slides, always check your spelling
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8 Using Bullets
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8.1 Avoid having bullets on every slide
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8.2 Choose the most appropriate type of bullet
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8.3 Limit yourself to six bullets per slide
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8.4 Keep to a maximum of two levels of bullets
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8.5 Do not use a bullet for every line in your text
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8.6 Choose the best order for the bullets
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8.7 Introduce items in a list one at a time only if absolutely necessary
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8.8 Use verbs not nouns
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8.9 Be grammatical
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8.10 Minimize punctuation in bullets
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9 Visual Elements and Fonts
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9.1 Only include visuals that you intend to talk about
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9.2 Avoid visuals that force you to look at the screen
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9.3 Use visuals to help your audience understand
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9.4 Simplify everything
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9.5 Use a photo to replace unnecessary or tedious text
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9.6 Avoid animations
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9.7 Make sure your slide can be read by the audience in the back row
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9.8 Use maps to interest the audience and boost your confidence
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9.9 Choose fonts, characters, and sizes with care
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9.10 Use color to facilitate audience understanding
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9.11 Choose the most appropriate figure to illustrate your point
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9.12 Explain graphs in a meaningful way
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9.13 Remember the difference in usage between commas and points in numbers
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9.14 Design pie charts so that the audience can immediately understand them
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10 Getting and Keeping the Audiences Attention
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10.1 Gain and keep your audiences attention
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10.2 Exploit moments of high audience attention
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10.3 Dont spend too long on one slide
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10.4 Maintain eye contact with the audience
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10.5 Be aware of the implications of the time when your presentation is scheduled
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10.6 Quickly establish your credibility
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10.7 Learn ways to regain audience attention after you have lost it
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10.8 Present statistics in a way that the audience can relate to them
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10.9 Be aware of cultural differences
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10.10 Be serious and have fun
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Part III What to Say and Do at Each Stage of the Presentation
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11 Ten Ways to Begin a Presentation
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11.1 Say what you plan to do in your presentation and why
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11.2 Tell the audience some facts about where you come from
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11.3 Give an interesting statistic that relates to your country
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11.4 Give an interesting statistic that relates directly to the audience
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11.5 Get the audience to imagine a situation
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11.6 Ask the audience a question/Get the audience to raise their hands
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11.7 Say something personal about yourself
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11.8 Mention something topical
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11.9 Say something counterintuitive
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11.10 Get the audience to do something
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12 Outline and Transitions
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12.1 Consider not having an Outline slide
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12.2 Use an Outline slide for longer presentations and for arts, humanities, and social sciences
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12.3 Use transitions to guide your audience
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12.4 Exploit your transitions
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12.5 Signal a move from one section to the next
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12.6 Only move to the next slide when youve finished talking about the current slide
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12.7 Only use an introductory phrase to a slide when strictly necessary
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12.8 Be concise
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12.9 Add variety to your transitions
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13 Methodology
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13.1 Regain the audiences attention
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13.2 Give simple explanations and be careful when giving numbers
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13.3 Give examples first, technical explanations second
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13.4 Reduce redundancy
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13.5 Just show the key steps in a process or procedure
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13.6 Explain why you are not describing the whole process
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13.7 Use active and passive forms effectively
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13.8 Indicate where you are in a process
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13.9 Tell a story rather than sounding like a technical manual
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13.10 Bring your figures, graphs, etc., alive
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13.11 Minimize or cut the use of equations, formulas, and calculations
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14 Results and Discussion
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14.1 Tell the audience what they need to knownot everything that you know
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14.2 Explain statistics, graphs, and charts in a meaningful way
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14.3 Communicate the value of what you have doneput your results in the big picture
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14.4 Avoid phrases that might make you sound overconfident or arrogant
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14.5 Tell the audience about any problems in interpreting your results
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14.6 Be positive about others in your field
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14.7 Explain whether your results were expected or not
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14.8 Be upfront about your poor/uninteresting/negative results
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14.9 Encourage discussion and debate
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15 Conclusions
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15.1 Be brief and dont deviate from your planned speech
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15.2 Make sure your final slides give useful information
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15.3 Show your enthusiasm
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15.4 Five ways to end a presentation
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15.4.1 Use a picture
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15.4.2 Directly relate your findings to the audience
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15.4.3 Give a statistic
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15.4.4 Ask for feedback
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15.4.5 Talk about your future work
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15.5 Write/Show something interesting on your final slide
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15.6 Prepare a sequence of identical copies of your last slide
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16 Questions and Answers
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16.1 Dont underestimate the importance of the QA session
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16.2 Prepare in advance for all possible questions
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16.3 Learn what to say before you introduce the QA session
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16.4 Give the audience time to respond to your call for questions
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16.5 Get the questioner to stand up and reply to the whole audience
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16.6 Repeat the questions
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16.7 Remember that it is not just your fault if you cant understand the question
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16.8 Dont interrupt the questioner unless
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16.9 Be concise
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16.10 Always be polite
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17 Useful Phrases
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17.1 Introductions and outline
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17.2 Transitions
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17.3 Emphasizing, qualifying, giving examples
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17.4 Diagrams
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17.5 Making reference to parts of the presentation
159
17.6 Discussing results, conclusions, future work
159
17.7 Ending
160
17.8 Questions and answers
161
17.9 Things that can go wrong
163
17.10 Posters
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Links and References
165
Introduction
165
Part I: Preparation and Practice
165
Chapter 2
165
Chapter 3
166
Chapter 4
166
Chapter 5
166
Part II: What to Write on the Slides
166
Chapter 6
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Chapter 7
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Chapter 8
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Chapter 9
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Chapter 10
167
Part III: What to Say and Do at Each Stage of the Presentation
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Chapter 11
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Chapter 13
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Chapter 14
168
Chapter 15
169
Other Sources
169
Acknowledgements
170
About the Author
171
Contact the Author
172
Index
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