Giving a Technical Talk

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This is very closely based on a presentation that I saw as part of the Oak Ridge Science Semester in the Fall of 1989.

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In the beginning there was

• Too much or too little

• Too complex or too simplistic

• Too long or too short

• And a multitude of "what ifs."

One approach is to start at the beginning

• Getting started is the hardest part

• Start and Beginning are synonyms

• Technically it makes sense

Planning a talk is different from giving one

Nobody is watching ...

You can be:

• Silly
• Illogical
• Begrimed

You can also:

• Scratch
• Eat or drink
• Procrastinate
• Curse

And nobody but you will know.

Perhaps a better approach is to start at the end

• Your destination is crystal clear

• The path is easier to discern

• Extraneous side trips fall away

• You get where you are going
  • Faster

  • More efficiently

• Your audience will bless you

Presentation Commandment 1

Plot the course from where they are,
to where you want them to be

• Is there a necessary sequence?

• Define the key points

• Support with evidence

• Avoid unnecessary asides

Presentation Commandment 2

You only want to inform, not produce experts

• Data: trends not details

• Vocabulary: English, not jargon

• Content: brochure not encyclopedia

Presentation Commandment 3

There is an optimum pace at which people absorb data

• 6 or 7 facts per minute

• Giving more results in lousy digestion

• You defeat your purpose by force feeding

(They forget, hence they miss the destination.)

Presentation Commandment 4

Tell them where you're going each step of the way

• Your conclusion vs. theirs

• Excursion and Fantasy avoided

• Saves repetition and time

Punch lines are for comics - not communicators.

Presentation Commandment 5

Two of the senses are readily available to the speaker

• Some are lookers

• Some are listeners

• Most can do both (under certain circumstances)

• Cash in on the "stereo" opportunity

Touch, taste, and smell are rarely appropriate vehicles for a technical talk - unless your material stinks!

Presentation Commandment 6

The audience must be able to see and to hear your material for it to work

• Print too small

• Confusion from profusion

• "Real men don't need a mike"

• Bad enunciation with a mike equals load bad enunciation

• Respect your audience; see also http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/ppt2.html

  and

  http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/14/magazine/14POWER.html

Presentation Commandment 7

Failure to adhere to your time limit sends a variety of signals

• You're rude

• You're an egotist

• You lack compassion

• You can't tell time

Presentation Commandment 8

Reading or memorizing your text is an invitation to disaster

• It sounds stilted, hence insincere

• You are shackled to your script or notes

• Murphy's Law decrees that
  • You will lose your place

  • You will forget the next line

  • You will come unglued

  And then what?

Presentation Commandment 9

When you know:

• Where you are going,

• The shortest direct route,

• The appropriate speed,

• How to maximize retention,

• That your material can be seen and heard,

• You will meet or beat your schedule,

• You will need no notes,

only then should you move to the tenth commandment.

Presentation Commandment 10

Dick Piccard revised this file (https://people.ohio.edu/piccard/talk.html) on December 15, 2003.

Please E-mail any comments or suggestions to piccard@ohio.edu.