...to the dude I watched giving a job talk.
Dear Unemployed,
Your research may have been very important, but I wouldn't know because I have no idea what you were talking about. Not because I am not smart or knowledgeable in this field. Not because I was not initially interested in the topic. No, my dear colleague, you lost me when you violated the 6x6x1 rule of presenting and I was so distracted by your whack-a-balloon slides, that I gave up and started daydreaming about which shoes I should buy to go with my new red plaid skirt. The 6x6x1 rule is as follows:
Thou shalt include no more than 6 lines of text on your slide with each line containing no more than 6 words. Further more, though shalt spend no less than one minute per slide. Thusly, though shalt have no more slides than the number of minutes you plan to talk. And even then , though shalt have ideally half that number.
Because, seriously dude! Your paragraphs of 8 point white font on a blue background, read while you sat in a chair with your back to us, made me want to stab myself in the eye with my mascara wand to end my own misery. In case there is still any confusion, allow me to illustrate:
Figure 1: Panel A -- An effective slide. Panel B -- A slide that will make Dr. Isis wonder if there really is a God and, if so, why he has forsaken her. And a 10 line table? Seriously, you should know better,
You may have cured cancer, but I don't really care because my head hurts so bad from trying to read your clusterfuck of a slide. Now, if you have a way to cure my squinting-induced headache, I might be willing to give you another listen. With that, I leave you with one additional piece of advice that may have made this all a little less painful:
Never, ever, ever, ever find yourself in a position where you have to apologize for your slides.
You now know the 6x6x1 rule and, if you ever consider violating it again, slap your own hand and tell yourself it was from Isis. But also of importance to you after seeing the shenanigans that took place today is that, when I give a talk, I carry my presentation with me on 2 forms of external media (usually a CD and a flashdrive) and I email the little piece of brilliance to myself. I make sure I know what type of computer I am going to be using in advance so I can be sure that images and fonts are compatible. Cause, really, it doesn't matter how cool your movies are when they don't work.
All my best,
Isis
Education & Careers
Technology
Comments
Having chaired more than a few large meetings and having been the Archive Ogre for too-freaking-many more, my advice is simple:
Forget PowerPoint. It was designed to be totally unique to your own personal machine with your own account settings, and trying to display it on anything else is spitting in Murphy's eye and begging him to do his worst.
If you can, use PDF. If you can't do PDF, do (gag me) Flash. For all their faults, they are pretty reliable in terms of:
(1) Being readily available just about anywhere, and
(2) Actually looking the same there as when you created them.
Needless to say, however, always review the presentation copy, not the editable one. And it doesn't hurt to have transparencies, either.
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | January 8, 2009 5:16 PM
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!!!?11!!!
Posted by: Isis the Scientist | January 8, 2009 5:18 PM
Projectors fail. Been there, done that.
You can either sit around burning cubic dollars and losing everyone's attention while someone who makes even less money than you do tries to scrounge up a replacement, or you can demonstrate your resourcefulness and general Boy Scout preparedness by going to Plan B. If there isn't an overhead projector around (and they're handy for doing ad hoc to groups too large for whiteboards) then by all means be prepared to give your talk with pen and whiteboard.
The electronics are tools. I make them. I don't trust them when something I really care about is at stake.
You've been there too. Just because there are way-nifty tools for taking vitals automagically do you let them be a single point of failure when a life is on the line?
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | January 8, 2009 5:30 PM
Great post, and even better interview, Dr. Isis.
Though I must confess, I am absolutely DYING to know why CPP is your hero!
I love the dude, but he has yet to obtain hero status in my mind.
For the moment (and since I told you through email) as I sit here and contemplate trying to get pregnant next year (hopefully my first year of grad school) and facing down the reality of what I need to accomplish - YOU are my hero.
Posted by: JLK | January 8, 2009 5:38 PM
TRANSPARENCIES???!!11!!!WTF!?!?!1!??!1!
if the projector blows up, get another room. Boy Scout preparedness is to find another campground!
Posted by: jc | January 8, 2009 5:48 PM
If I'm at a talk where the speaker puts up a big table of numbers and says "I know you can't read this, but...", I walk out.
Posted by: Mark | January 8, 2009 5:49 PM
Google "boy scouts" November 15, 1958.
How important is this to you?
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | January 8, 2009 5:55 PM
And, I might note, very few organizations have all of their conference rooms wired with built-in projectors. In many (most? Can you afford to bet?) there are a limited number of departmental projectors that you can check out -- assuming that someone else hasn't made off with them first.
What are you willing to bet on second-rate electronics?
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | January 8, 2009 5:57 PM
I don't think I've seen a projector since undergrad (ca. 2000)
Posted by: nm | January 8, 2009 6:10 PM
I'd be curious to know D.C. Sessions' generation and field. Most conferences and departmental classrooms/lecture rooms I've visited in my field lately have been amply supplied with built-in projectors or at least portables, along with (esp. at conferences) back-up bulbs as needed. Yes, PowerPoint can blip in the mac/PC transition, but again most rooms I've spoken in in the last few years have been set up primarily to handle PowerPoint and not much else. Maybe it's a failure of my understanding, but I don't really see how a .pdf would achieve the same screen-filling slide-mimicking appearance as PP. If you can run down a quick how-to that'd be really helpful, since it sounds like a good back-up format if it works.
As for transparencies, I used to do this, but now it seems like a big waste of plastic to have a stack of overheads for every single talk (imagine a teacher putting every lecture on overheads!) just in case of a rare equipment failure.
Portable projectors are more and more affordable - my small department at a museum has two. We often bring them with us, just in case local technology fails. That seems like a pretty good solution, and many these days fit into a bag smaller than a laptop case.
Posted by: MAL | January 8, 2009 6:12 PM
Sorry I meant an overhead projector for transparencies. Those I haven't seen since undergraduate
Posted by: nm | January 8, 2009 6:19 PM
may I also add another cardinal rule?
Do not put everything you are saying on your slides. If you don't have more to say than you've put on your slides, give us printouts and let us go home. I hate being read to, and I'd certainly rather be shmoozing with my colleagues than listening to you read every word you've written.
Do NOT turn your back to us to point at the screen. Whether you're using overheads or power point, use the tool, not the projection, if there's something you want to draw our attention to.
Don't stand in front of the light beam, you idiot.
I could go on...
Posted by: CanadianChick | January 8, 2009 6:26 PM
one of my all-time favorite snarky topics: bad talks.
and yet, I had never actually heard the 6x6 rule codified as such. I just always aim for the bare minimum of text (while still labeling everything clearly).
always nice to know I'm not the only one disgusted by poor presentation skills!
Posted by: msphd | January 8, 2009 6:31 PM
Alice over on Sciencewomen did a post on how to do a gawd awful talk (click 'jc') - it's a total crack up. Make sure you click on the "how not to give a talk" link in the 1st paragraph. You will bust up laughing.
Posted by: jc | January 8, 2009 6:47 PM
Commercial semiconductor electronics. I spent eight years as chair of JEDEC JC-16; our meetings ran for a week solid four times a year and set the roadmap for a $50 billion business.
And, on at least one occasion, we ended up stalled for about two hours while someone tracked down a replacement projector for the portable that died.
Our only approved archival format was PDF, precisely due to font and version incompatibility issues.
Works like a champ. Adobe Acrobat Reader (damn near uninversal) does full-screen mode with ctrl-L or the view menu. You can create PDF in several ways; my preferred one is to just hit the "export to PDF" from OpenOffice but there are several ways to trick MSOffice into doing it too.
If you need animation, OpenOffice also exports presentations to Flash.
That depends on the stakes. If you have one hour of everyone's time and the projector dies, are you willing to write off the chance or is it important enough to have Plan B ready?
What if the power fails and your flight leaves in four hours? (Been there, by the way -- an interviewee who isn't fazed by "let's go outside and continue at a picnic table" makes a very good impression.) One thing about transparencies is that you can use a Maglite and fake it. If the slides aren't too cluttered.
One way or another, be able to give your whole presentation with a whiteboard. Sure, the main chance is that you won't have to -- but if you can, you really are prepared. For what it's worth, one of the most successful presentations I ever gave was pure whiteboard. I gave the room a choice of slides or pens, and they unanimously preferred pens.
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | January 8, 2009 6:52 PM
dude.
not only would i be personally embarrassed to walk in somewhere with a talk like that- but if i wasn't- my mentor, who is in the line of work of teaching these things, would have beaten me repeatedly for merely suggesting i use a slide that busy.
maybe not beaten me repeatedly, but you get it. this is how mentors should function. what happened?
Posted by: leigh | January 8, 2009 7:27 PM
That interview was totally hot.
Posted by: ScienceMama | January 8, 2009 8:21 PM
I'm better than some of this, but basically, I am hanging my head in shame.
Posted by: Virginia S. Wood, Psy.D. | January 8, 2009 9:47 PM
Pdf actually works fine. Just export your slideshow to Pdf (OpenOffice has that option; I'm sure PP has too). The slides will fill the screen and look just like in your presentation software, with the added benefit that any "cool" transitions become simple switches.
The only drawback is that movies won't work from within the Pdf view. It's OK; you can run important stuff from outside. It's good enough for a backup solution.
Posted by: Janne | January 8, 2009 9:48 PM
My *favorite* (eye-stabbing inducing) line ever: "Sorry, I know you probably can't see this...."
This seems to always be said in reference to a slide that has been shown 2873 times. Fix that sh!t !
Posted by: unbalanced reaction | January 8, 2009 9:50 PM
I Googled "6x6x1 rule" and this blog was the first page that came up. Did you invent this rule?
Posted by: Dizzlski | January 8, 2009 9:51 PM
For shame, Dr. Wood! You should know better ;)
And Dizzlski, I probably coined the term "6x6x1 rule." I mean, I thought of it today independently of any other reading when I wrote the blog post. The concepts, however, are not my own. These are rules I learned as an undergraduate, while working in industry, and again as a grad student in one form or another. They are good rules.
Posted by: Isis the Scientist | January 8, 2009 10:01 PM
when I give a talk, I carry my presentation with me on 2 forms of external media (usually a CD and a flashdrive) and I email the little piece of brilliance to myself.
Oh goody - I thought I was the only person anal enough to do this. I usually carry a flash drive (sometimes two), have it sitting on the memory card of my cell phone and also email it to myself. Paranoia knows no boundaries sometimes.
Posted by: Professor in Training | January 8, 2009 10:43 PM
I once went to a talk where a guy put up his ENTIRE list of (25-30-ish?) references for a paper on ONE slide. Yeah, it was like font size 8. Unbelievable.
I am giving a big talk soon and I will certainly NOT make this mistake!
Posted by: PhizzleDizzle | January 8, 2009 11:13 PM
Making fun of abysmally shitty talks is totally fucking hilarious!!!
Posted by: Comrade PhysioProf | January 8, 2009 11:26 PM
Ugh, this was horrible Comrade. Truly, truly horrible.
Posted by: Isis the Scientist | January 9, 2009 12:18 AM
When I attended my first conference last April, I was horrified to see that students (we were all undergrads) from other institutions gave presentations that did not include introductions, discussions, experimental rational, previous studies, citations or titled graphs. Their slides were so sparse and the research so horribly presented that I had couldn't even formulate a question beyond "Wha...?"
Of course, said horrification could be a result of my institution's own method of instructing undergrads in the ways of presenting and paper-writing (to PhizzleDizzle, if we don't list ALL of our references at the end of an in-class presentation, we lose a letter grade. Not kidding). I'd like to believe that after doing at least 3 presentations a semester for most of my undergrad career I'd be pretty awesome at the whole presenting thing, but I know that I can always improve something.
Anyways, back to the point I was trying to make: I think we can all agree that presentations can be far too cluttered, but they can also be too sparse, leaving the audience scratching their heads in confusion.
And since this is my first time posting here, I'd like to say that I greatly enjoy the Domestic and Laboratory Goddess's blog and think she has incredibly awesome-spectacular-amazing taste in footwear.
Posted by: Beth | January 9, 2009 2:12 AM
Apologies for drifting off topic. Is the phrase "whack-a-balloon" unique to the Queendom of Isis or is it part of the common argot? As a British reader I would welcome some guidance and examples of how to use this phrase effectively
Posted by: Michael fitzGerald | January 9, 2009 2:34 AM
http://scienceblogs.com/isisthescientist/2008/12/little_isis_says_science_1.php
Posted by: BikeMonkey | January 9, 2009 2:42 AM
Neither. Precocious Little Isis coined it, when his mom asked him to say "PhysioProf". But Little Isis, no common tot, has gone viral, and therefore "whack-a-balloon" can be found in use by minions within the Queendom as well as the unconquered land beyond.
Posted by: Juniper Shoemaker | January 9, 2009 2:44 AM
You people are out of control with both speed and accuracy
Posted by: Dr. Isis | January 9, 2009 2:46 AM
Why not bring your own laptop? I usual carry my own computer and have my presentation on a flashdrive. If the presentation is for anything important, they would let you use your own computer. That way you're sure everything will work. At a conference, you don't have the option and some of the above mentioned safe gaurds are a good idea... Except maybe the overheads. I would rather give my talk on the board with a pen or chaulk than bust out the O/H. In fact, I owuld rather do an interpretive dance of my research than time warp 15 years to the age of plastic. Might as well bring a slide carousel if you're going that far.
Posted by: prof-like substance | January 9, 2009 8:06 AM
This thread brought back nightmares from a talk I gave at THE major conference in my area back in 2001 (I didn't have a flash drive). I was in an awesome session with the best results of my career. The session was packed with all the big names.
I borrowed my husband's laptop and I showed up early and tested everything out. No problems. Thirty minutes later, I step up with my laptop to reconnect to the projector and there's nothing. The little tech weenie comes up and starts banging on the laptop. He proceeds to freeze the computer in some super-safe mode that I didn't know the password for.
No problem, I whip out my transparencies. The color printed a little weird on them, but they were ok. I'm trying my best to present my awesome results and I'm nearing the end when the light bulb burns out.
No problem, I push the button to switch to the backup bulb. Alas, the backup bulb was MIA. So I had nothing left but #32's interpretive dance option. Finally, I say, "I am SO done!" My colleagues were sitting near the front nearly falling off of their chairs laughing at my incredible bad luck. They still quote me on that.
Posted by: Female Engineering Professor | January 9, 2009 9:19 AM
Ask PZ Myers that question.
Whatever works. I'm not really so much about the medium as about the contingency planning. If your audience is small enough to handle with a whiteboard, then "chalk talk" is ideal. If you have too many for convenient whiteboard (and I agree that's a stretch) then there's a reasonable chance that there's a dusty overhead around that can sub in. If so, hand-written slides on the fly are effective.
Part of the "Plan B" impact (remember, this is in the original context of a job talk) is that it demonstrates that you're able to work past obstacles and improvise, and that you actually know the material well enough to not need a canned presentation. That counts for more in some circumstances than others, but I've never heard of anywhere that it isn't a plus.
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | January 9, 2009 9:26 AM
Let ME re-emphasize what Canadian Chick poster earlier:
"Do not put everything you are saying on your slides. If you don't have more to say than you've put on your slides, give us printouts and let us go home. I hate being read to, and I'd certainly rather be shmoozing with my colleagues than listening to you read every word you've written."
I do not think that this point can be emphasized enough.
And thank you Dr. Isis for the 6x6x1 rule, which I had not heard expressed so succinctly before your post.
AND TRY TO HAVE SOME DAMN FUN UP THERE PRESENTERS!
Posted by: J-Dog | January 9, 2009 9:39 AM
http://bluelabcoats.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/unsolicited-advice-job-search-pt-8/
At the end of this post there is a long list of specific points on slide preparation:
1. Limit the use of technical jargon.
2. Stick to 45 minutes, and plan on 10 minutes for questions.
And when I say stick to it, I MEAN IT.
3. Keep it simple without dumbing it down! and if possible tell a story.
4. Limit the use of TEXT on slides. There should be no more text than ABSOLUTELY necessary on slides- you want people listening to you, not reading the slides. (I fear 6x6x1 may still be TOO MUCH TEXT)
5. All text that appears on slides should be readable from the BACK of the auditorium. This means 18 point or larger, and all in BOLD.
6. Use simple, uncluttered slides. Don't just cut and paste from a previously published paper- go back to the original figures and lay out the slides in the best format for a presentation! Make the lines darker and bolder and in a color that can be seen even in the brightest room - i.e. every part of the figure should be visible from the back of the room! (This one came from Bugdoc, who is quite right!)
7. Make sure that text on figures is readable from the back (i.e. the axes on graphs, the text over the Western) is readable from the back of the room, so if the audience was so interested in the figure that they didn't hear what you said- they can still interpret your data. (also from Bugdoc & Mad Hatter)
8. Do not put things on the slides that you are not planning to talk about and can't answer questions about.
9. Remember that much of your audience probably isn't an expert in your area �
although there will probably be a few people who overlap with you closely.
10. Make the titles on your slides mean something.
Don't just put a generic description of the assay (Western blot of xyz), instead describe the
result!
11. Use simple diagrams when possible, to keep your audience on track, and to summarize.
12. Spell check absolutely everything you plan to put on the screen!
Posted by: drdrA | January 9, 2009 10:03 AM
I'm so sorry you had to suffer through that, Isis. BUT, it allows me some shameless self-promotion:
http://scicurious.wordpress.com/2008/08/12/and-now-a-powerpoint-presentation/
A post I wrote a while ago on giving a talk. Now I want to add a point about not including more than 6 lins of text. Unfortunately, I am guilty of that one...*shame*
Posted by: Scicurious | January 9, 2009 10:08 AM
I've seen a rule before about having one back-up projector when using slides, but it's better to have two backups. People at large meetings used to carry around their own personal projector as a backup.
And for text size, one very conservative rule of thumb used to be (from way back), type it on a 3x5 card in 10 point type, then photograph the card. I don't know what that translates to in font size, but I'll bet it's pretty large. That way everyone, even to the back of the room in a national meeting, could read the slides. (see DrDrA above for font size)
Most slides with graphs, data, etc, have way too much small writing on them and really need to be explained, since they often can only be read in the front row. (Or simplify them!)
If you use slides of landscapes and outcrops to illustrate geologic information, then you can often go much faster than one slide in one minute without overwhelming the audience.
Posted by: Silver Fox | January 9, 2009 10:46 AM
This thread is awesome. I just blogged about it on Page 3.14 and brought up Alice's old thread as well. I learned the slide rule as the 7X7 rule at umich. It is much more googelable.
Glad you all like the Interview! It was so much fun, and sparked a beautiful e-friendship. Her voice is actually extremely adorable, as you may have heard in some of the story time clips.
Posted by: Arikia | January 9, 2009 12:22 PM
Intern, you are you so l33t!!
Posted by: Isis the Scientist | January 11, 2009 1:25 AM