35 Presentations
The assessment for this part of the course is a short recorded presentation. The task is to communicate a finding to people who hear it once, at the pace set by the speaker. Follow the course schedule and assignment instructions for the presentation’s date, length and required files.
The principles from Chapter 34 still apply: lead with the answer, give each chart one job and state the limits. A presentation needs more signposting because the audience cannot turn back a page.
35.1 Presentation tools
There are several different presentation tools available. The most common are:
- PowerPoint. The default in industry and in this course. Everyone can open the file, collaboration is easy.
- Quarto. Allows you to create slides in Positron with R coded embedded directly inside. It can allow for really cool dynamic visuals. Worth trying once you are comfortable in R.
- Canva. A browser-based design tool with polished templates. Good-looking slides quickly, but charts have to be pasted in as images.
- Beamer. LaTeX slides, common in academic research talks, strongest when a presentation is heavy on equations. You are unlikely to need it in this course.
Use PowerPoint for the course presentation unless you already have a reason to use one of the others.
35.2 How to structure a presentation
The structure of a presentation is arguably even more important than the structure of a written report. A reader who loses the thread of an argument in a written report can return to the previous paragraph. A listener has to keep moving.
It is important to try to keep the audience with you throughout the presentation. If your presentation is long, don’t be afraid to repeat your main finding or research question. You can say something like “Recall that what we are trying to answer is…” or “The main finding is that…”. This will help the audience keep track of the main point of your presentation.
For a five- to ten-minute presentation data drive presentation, a reasonable structure is:
- Question: What did the analysis investigate, and why does it matter?
- Answer: State the main finding in one sentence.
- Evidence: Use two or three charts or compact tables, each supporting one part of the answer.
- Limits: Identify the uncertainty or missing information most relevant to the conclusion.
- Answer again: End with the finding and its practical meaning.
Do not save the result for the final slide. A presentation is not a mystery novel. The audience should know the answer before the end, so they can follow the evidence and understand the limits.
Your presentations in this class will be five minutes and five slides. That is tighter than the sequence above, so the question and the answer share the opening slide:
| Slide | Purpose | Approximate time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction. This covers what your presentation is about; the research questions you will analyze, why it matters, and your main finding. | 60 seconds |
| 2 | Background. This covers the context for your analysis, including what is grown in the RM and how yields have changed over time. Be judicious with this – it doesn’t have to cover every fact that you learned. | 60 seconds |
| 3-4 | Analysis and results. State what you analyzed, your main finding, and the implications of that finding. | 120 seconds total |
| 5 | Conclusion. Restates your main finding, discusses limitations. | 60 seconds |
35.3 Creating slides for a data-driven presentation
Each point below has an expandable example with a PowerPoint file you can download and open. Most are two slides, the bad version then the good one; a couple use more. The speaker notes say what to look at. Where a well-documented real case exists I have used it and linked the source. The rest are made up, but the numbers in them are real – they come from the RM weather and yield data you are working with.
- Use a clean slide template. If you will be putting in graphs and charts, then a noisy template will create too much clutter. You can have a bit more of an intricate title slide, but other slides should be more minimal – a subtle header or footer can be a nice touch or a simple background. Many academics opt for a very spartan pure white background, which can say “I am focused only on the data/results, not the design.” Industry presentations often use a simple gradient or a single image that is relevant to the topic.
- Use a consistent font and colour scheme. Your aesthetics are a visual language, and you should keep the same visual language throughout the presentation.
Four slides: the first two change background, palette and font between them; the last two use the USask template and share one visual language. The speaker notes say what to look at.
- Use a large font size. The audience should be able to read the slide from the back of the room. If you are unsure, test it by projecting the slides and walking to the back of the room. If you cannot read it, then it is too small.
Two slides, neither with a chart, so type size is the only thing that changes. The speaker notes say what to look at.
- Give one takeaway point per slide. A useful rule of thumb is that someone should be able to grasp each slide’s main point in five seconds.
Three slides: the overloaded version, then the same evidence split across two. The speaker notes say what to look at.
- Try to keep bullet points to one line, and use no more than about four bullets on a slide.
Slide 1 is the bad version, slide 2 the good one. Use the arrows to move between them; the speaker notes on each say what to look at.
- Keep charts simple and large. Simple charts in a report are important – they are doubly important in a presentation. You want the audience to take away your main message at a glance. Use colour to highlight the important parts of a chart, and make sure the chart is labelled properly.
Slide 1 is the bad version, slide 2 the good one. Use the arrows to move between them; the speaker notes on each say what to look at.
- Tables are particularly difficult to read in a presentation. If you are using a table, ensure that it is simple and that the important parts are highlighted. Consider whether a chart can be used instead of a table.
Slide 1 is the bad version, slide 2 the good one. Use the arrows to move between them; the speaker notes on each say what to look at.
- Slides can be titled with takeaway points. For example, you could title a slide “Canola yields have doubled since 1990” instead of just “Results”.
Slide 1 is the bad version, slide 2 the good one. Use the arrows to move between them; the speaker notes on each say what to look at.
35.4 Giving the presentation
Presentations can be nerve-wracking, but the best way to get over that is to practice. Practice in front of a mirror, or record yourself and watch it back. Practice in front of friends or family. The more you practice, the more comfortable you will be with the material and the less nervous you will be. As you give more presentations, you will feel more comfortable and confident.
Talk to the audience, don’t just read your slides. The bullet points on your slides are there to help the audience follow along, they aren’t a script for you. It can be helpful to actually write out a script for yourself, and practice from this script a few times, then practice without it.
Slow down. It is common to speed up when you are nervous, but this can make it difficult for the audience to follow along. Take a deep breath and slow down. Pause between points to give the audience time to absorb the information.
Explain charts. When you are presenting a chart, start by explaining the data that is being plotted and then explain what the chart shows. You don’t need to go into the minutae of the chart – if the horizontal axis is year, then that should already be evident to the audience without you having to say it. Finally, explain what the chart means in the context of your analysis.
Keep the main thing the main thing. As mentioned above, it can be easy to get sidetracked by interesting details, but the audience will lose track of the main point. Keep the main point in mind and make sure that everything you say is relevant to that point.
Of course, your presentation is recorded – so you can watch it back and see how you did. And you don’t have to worry about the live audience.