Presentation skills

Great presentations

• Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone, a classic technical sales & marketing presentation
• Dick Hardt talking about online identity in a tour de force presentation
• Ken Robinson on creativity in education, talking passionately without visuals
• Alan Siegel illustrates a point beautifully in about 4 minutes

Know your presentation software

• Don't assume you need slides! Maybe you don't.
• If you can, always use a remote, and make sure you know how it works.
• Avoid using the arrow keys to go through every slide in your presentation.
• If you're using PowerPoint, get to know these shortcuts:

Space	Advance slide
B, W	Blank screen to black/white
Home, End	Go to first/last slide
x + Enter	Go to slide number x

Know your space

• Arrive at the venue early and find out how everything works, where you will stand, how the room feels
• If you need to, re-arrange the furniture to suit your needs
• Make sure everything works
• Greet people as they arrive, and shake as many hands as possible; this will calm your nerves

Ninja skills

• Use live software when you can — it's much more useful and impressive than screenshots (e.g. maps in a GIS, sections in a 3D visualization tool)
• Use multiple components if you can — if there are multiple screens, or you have a viz room, then use all the space you can. Present maps alongside sections, or photomicrographs alongside logs
• Give handouts — if you have intricate maps, sections, or text, then put it in a handout for people. Show them what's on there, and give them a minute to look at it.
• Take props for people to pass around — take rocks, seismic sections, pieces of well hardware, bits of geophysical equipment. People love this.
• Use analogy and example — cast things in everyday terms: areas in terms of city blocks, depths in terms of storeys, and so on. It's easier to visualize and makes people think (and remember!).
• Take posters with you — in a small group, it's great to have a big picture (map, section, strat column) to stand around and discuss. Scribble on it.

More...

• GeoTalk — a Tumblr on presentation skills for geoscientists
• A Tumblr on presentation skills — lots of chaff here, but some titbits
• Ten Simple Rules for Making Good Oral Presentations — from the editors of PLoS One