The Craft of Scientific Presentations: Critical Steps to Succeed and Critical Errors to Avoid

247 Pages·2003·2.233 MB·English

by  Michael Alley (auth.)

The
Craft of
Scientific
Presentations
Springer
New York
Berlin
Heidelberg
Hong Kong
London
Milan
Paris
Tokyo
The
Craft of
Scientific
Presentations
Critical Steps to Succeed
and Critical Errors to Avoid
Michael Alley
With 41 Illustrations
Michael Alley
Mechanical Engineering Department
Virginia Tech
Blacksburg, VA24061
USA
[email protected]
Cover photographs: (Top): Richard Feynman, Nobel prize winner in physics, lecturing
on quantum mechanics (courtesy of the Archives, California Institute of Technology,
photo 1.10-118). In this photo, Feynman demonstrates the value of communicating
with gestures. Gestures and other aspects of delivery are discussed in Chapter 5.
(Bottom left): Lightning demonstration at the Deutsches Museum in Munich,
Germany (courtesy of the Deutsches Museum). In this demonstration, a lightning
bolt strikes a church that is not well grounded. Because the church is not well
grounded, a second stroke occurs between the church and a nearby house. Demon-
strations and other visual aids are discussed in Chapter 4. (Bottom right): Poster
presentation of capstone design projects at Pennsylvania State University (courtesy
of the Learning Factory, Pennsylvania State University, 2001). The design of posters
is discussed in Appendix B.
Color versions of all slides in this book can be found at the following Web site:
http://www.me.vt.edu/writing/
Ancillary information for this book can be found through the publisher’s Web site:
http://www.springer-ny.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Alley, Michael.
The craft of scientific presentations : critical steps to succeed and critical errors
to avoid / Michael Alley.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 0-387-95555-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Communications in science. 2. Communication of technical information.
3. Lectures and lecturing. I. Title.
Q223.A38 2003
808´.0665—dc21 2002030237
ISBN 0-387-95555-0 Printed on acid-free paper.
© 2003 Springer-Verlag New York, Inc.
All rights reserved. This work may not be translated or copied in whole or in part
without the written permission of the publisher (Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., 175
Fifth Avenue, New York, NY10010, USA), except for brief excerpts in connection
with reviews or scholarly analysis. Use in connection with any form of information
storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dis-
similar methodology now known or hereafter developed is forbidden.
The use in this publication of trade names, trademarks, service marks, and similar
terms, even if they are not identified as such, is not to be taken as an expression of
opinion as to whether or not they are subject to proprietary rights.
Printed in the United States of America.
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 SPIN 10887446
Typesetting: Photocomposed copy produced using PageMaker 6.5 files for the PC,
prepared by the author.
www.springer-ny.com
Springer-Verlag New York Berlin Heidelberg
Amember of BertelsmannSpringer Science+Business Media GmbH
◆
For two women of science—
Peggy White Alley
and
Karen Ann Thole
◆
Preface
On March 21, 1949, I attended a lecture given by Linus Pauling....
That talk was the best talk by anyone on any subject that I had ever
heard…. The talk was more than a talk to me. It filled me with a
desire of my own to become a speaker.1
—Issac Asimov
At the first stop of a tour in Japan, Albert Einstein gave a
scientific presentation that, with the accompanying trans-
lation, lasted four hours. Although his audience appeared
to be attentive the entire time, Einstein worried about their
comfort and decided to pare back the presentation for
the next stop on his tour. At the end of the second presen-
tation, which lasted two and a half hours, the crowd did
an unusual thing in Japanese culture, particularly in that
era. They complained. For Einstein, though, the complaint
was a compliment—this crowd had wanted him to de-
liver the longer version.2
When was the last time that you sat through two
and a half hours of a scientific presentation and wished
that it would go longer? Unfortunately, such responses
to scientific presentations are rare. Granted, Einstein was
a brilliant scientist, but just because one is a brilliant sci-
entist or engineer does not mean that one is an engaging
presenter. Consider Niels Bohr, the great physicist who
won a Nobel Prize for his proposed structure of the hy-
drogen atom. Despite being an inspiration for many
physicists,3 Bohr had difficulty communicating to
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viii Preface
less-technical audiences. For example, his open series of
lectures in the Boston area drew progressively fewer and
fewer attendees because “the microphone was erratic,
Bohr’s aspirated and sibilant diction mostly incomprehen-
sible, and his thoughts too intricately evolved even for
those who could hear.”4
So what is needed to become an excellent scientific
presenter? This question is difficult to answer, because
the presentation styles of excellent scientific presenters
vary so much. For instance, Albert Einstein was humble
and soft-spoken in his delivery, while Linus Pauling’s
delivery was dynamic and charismatic. Just because dif-
ferent presentation styles achieve success does not mean
that any style is acceptable. For every exceptional scien-
tific presenter such as Einstein or Pauling, ten weak pre-
senters make their way to the podium to bore, confuse,
or exasperate their audiences.
One failing that many weak presenters share is that
they present their results without preparing the audience
enough for those results. What occurs then is that the
audience does not understand or fully appreciate what
has been presented. Another common failing is that many
presenters show a host of slides that follow the defaults
of Microsoft’s PowerPoint program, but that do not serve
the audience or the situation. For instance, many slides
shown at conferences contain mind-numbing lists and dis-
tracting backgrounds, but do not contain well-worded
headlines or key images that would orient the audience
to the work.
So how should scientists and engineers present their
work? Given the diversity of audiences, occasions, and
topics, establishing a set of rules for how to give a strong
scientific presentation is difficult. For that reason, most
rules that do exist, such as tell them what you’re going to tell
them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them, have
exceptions. For instance, this often quoted strategy does
Preface ix
not fare well with an audience that is strongly biased
against the results.
Rather than present a list of simplistic rules, this
book examines the styles of successful scientific present-
ers. Included as models are Ludwig Boltzmann, Albert
Einstein, Richard Feynman, Rita Levi-Montalcini, and
Linus Pauling. In addition, the book presents the experi-
ences of other scientific presenters, such as Heinrich Hertz,
J. Robert Oppenheimer, and Chien-Shiung Wu, whose ini-
tial presentations were weak, but who became strong pre-
senters later in their careers. Moreover, the book looks at
a third category of presenters, who because of obstacles
never gave great presentations, but did rise above those
obstacles to make successful presentations. Heading this
category is Marie Curie, who overcame stage fright, hos-
tile audiences, and her husband’s tragic death, to com-
municate her work.
In addition to examining successes, this book con-
siders what causes so many scientific presentations to
flounder. To this end, this book considers ten critical er-
rors that undermine scientific presentations at confer-
ences, lectures, and business meetings. Some errors such
as a speaker losing composure (Error 10) are weaknesses
that everyone recognizes as errors. Other errors, such as
displaying slides that no one remembers (Error 6), are
such common practice that many presenters mistakenly
assume that no alternatives exist.
By showing you the differences between strong and
weak presentations and by identifying, for you, the er-
rors that presenters typically make, this book places you
in a position to improve your own presentations. The
ultimate goal of this book is much higher than simply
instructing you in how to present your work successfully.
This book’s goal is to give you enough insight that you
can effectively critique, reflect on, and learn from your
own presentations until they become outstanding.
Acknowledgments
Many scientists, engineers, and technical professionals
have contributed to this book. Of particular help have
been the book’s reviewers: Professor Harry Robertshaw
from Virginia Tech; Christene Moore from the University
of Texas; Dr. Joanne Lax from Purdue University;
Dr. Tom von Foerster from Springer-Verlag; and
Dr. Clyde Alley from Mason-Hanger.
For their stories and insights, I must give special
thanks to the following engineers, scientists, and manag-
ers: Professor Kenneth Ball from the University of Texas;
Scott Dorner from OPS Systems; Bob Forrester of the
United States Army; Mike Gerhard from Lawrence
Livermore Lab; Professor Dan Inman from Virginia Tech;
Dr. Tom McGlamery from the University of Wisconsin;
Professor Patrick McMurtry from the University of Utah;
and Patricia N. Smith of Sandia National Laboratories.
Finally, I must thank my students from Virginia Tech,
the University of Texas, the University of Wisconsin, and
the University of Barcelona. The insights, stories, and criti-
cisms of these individuals have broadened this book’s
vision and deepened its advice.
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Contents
Preface vii
Acknowledgments xi
Chapter 1 Introduction 1
Advantages and Disadvantages of Presentations 3
Four Perspectives on Presentations 8
Chapter 2 Speech: The Words You Say 13
Adding Flavors to Your Speech 14
Supporting Arguments in Your Speech 21
Critical Error 1: Giving the Wrong Speech 28
Targeting the Audience 29
Recognizing the Purpose 37
Addressing the Occasion 43
Critical Error 2: Drawing Words from the Wrong Well 45
Speaking from Points 46
Memorizing a Speech 49
Reading a Speech 50
Speaking off the Cuff 52
Chapter 3 Structure: The Strategy You Choose 55
Organization of Presentations 56
Transitions in Presentations 60
Depth of Presentations 61
Emphasis in Presentations 64
Critical Error 3: Leaving the Audience at the Dock 66
Anticipating the Audience’s Initial Questions 67
Anticipating the Audience’s Bias 75
Critical Error 4: Losing the Audience at Sea 79
Launching a Ship That Is Not Seaworthy 80
Failing to Warn About Changes in Course 83
Drowning the Audience in Detail 88
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