The Basics of PowerPoint and Public Speaking in Medical Education
Transcription
The Basics of PowerPoint and Public Speaking in Medical Education
EDUCATION The Basics of PowerPoint and Public Speaking in Medical Education Margaret J. Tarpley, MLS, and John L. Tarpley, MD Department of Surgery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee COMPETENCY: Medical Knowledge, Professionalism, Interpersonal and Communication Skills Effective medical education presentations require a working knowledge of computer software such as Microsoft PowerPoint (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington) and skills in public speaking. Electronic presentations require readability as well as worthwhile content; projection before the scheduled presentation is necessary for evaluating layout and color. The often overwhelming amount of data tempts the educator to crowd slides with graphs, illustrations, or tiny print and then to announce, “I know you can’t read this, but . . . .” Constructing effective slides entails close attention to the number of text lines, font size, and font style as well as templates and backgrounds to maximize visibility and readability. The medical educator can benefit from discovering and using features of PowerPoint such as the Master Slide for personalized templates, Custom Animation, Compress, and the spelling and grammar checking software. Preparation for oral and electronic presentations requires knowledge of the audience, careful choice of words, and timed practice for clarity and appropriate volume. Medical educators depend on electronic and oral presentations for didactic teaching, formal lectures, and research forums. Accusations such as “death by PowerPoint,”1 might be avoided if educators, residents, and students acquire basic skills in public speaking as well as PowerPoint. After a discussion of selected features of Microsoft PowerPoint, the general principles of public speaking will be addressed. MAKING THE MOST OF POWERPOINT Originally developed for business and marketing purposes, Microsoft PowerPoint can enhance teaching and information sharing when used properly. The following pointers are not intended to be exhaustive but are an introduction to the basics. Correspondence: Inquiries to Margaret Tarpley, Associate in Surgery, Vanderbilt University, D-4314 Medical Center North, Nashville, TN 37232-2730; fax (615) 322-0689; e-mail: [email protected] Presented, in part, at Surgical Education Week, APDS Section, in Washington, DC, April 13, 2007. Because successful and effective use of PowerPoint requires skillful manipulation rather than a casual approach, designing appropriate and understandable presentations requires attention to every detail. Font style and size, layout, backgrounds, and color must be chosen carefully with the subject matter, audience, and—above all—legibility and readability in mind. FONT STYLE AND SIZE Font is the technical term for the style of type face. A type font is either serif or sans serif. Serif means stroke or line in German and refers to the little extra stroke at the edge of letters. Sans serif (without a stroke) is preferred for projection clarity. Sometimes PowerPoint supplies Times New Roman, a serif style, as the default font; therefore, the user must learn to change to a sans serif font such as Arial. Font size (measured in points) and the number of text lines on a page must be considered. Provide margins that keep the text away from the edges of the slide, particularly at the bottom. Stay at 20 points or larger, and avoid the use of all capital letters. Avoid overuse of italics if used at all. Seven to 8 lines of text per page is ideal—if you have more than 8 lines, project the slides and observe how readable they are. When outlining main points and subpoints, 1 item only under a topic does not warrant a bullet or a number according to proper outlining rules. BACKGROUNDS—TEMPLATES AND MASTER SLIDE When creating the presentation, many users uncritically choose one of the numerous default templates available in PowerPoint, which negates any layout decisions. These default templates often distract, obscure, or compete, thus proving dangerous to your presentation. The default font may not be sans serif, and the font color and size may not always be read easily. Red type on a blue background or vice versa is often difficult to read and may not be visible at all to those with some color-blindness. Why use a template if you must override defaults? Backgrounds (eg, clouds in a sky) may have an uneven hue or distracting design, which causes words to have varying contrast and poor visibility. Numerous backgrounds are unattractive and inap- Journal of Surgical Education • © 2008 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the Association of Program Directors in Surgery 1931-7204/08/$30.00 doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2007.10.004 129 propriate for scientific or academic subject matter. Designing your own template is encouraged. Personalized templates may be created by using the Slide Master feature. Plain white backgrounds with a sans serif black font are acceptable but potentially boring for a presentation lasting longer than a few minutes. Here are the steps for editing the Master Slide (PowerPoint 2003): • • • • • Click View on Toolbar. On the View drop-down menu, click Master. On the Master drop-down menu, click Slide Master. Slide Master View appears. Working in the slide, edit the Master Slide by going to Format on the Toolbar and working on Font and Background. Insert graphics if desired (on the Toolbar, click Insert, then click Picture, and select source of graphic). • Return to Normal View by going to View and clicking on Normal or by clicking on Close Master View on the dialog box that often appears in Slide Master view. With the Master Slide on the screen, the background can be designed with color, copyright information, logos, or other graphics. A sans serif font such as Arial can be selected. Customized templates created with Slide Masters are personal and distinctive. The institutional colors are always a good starting point as is the approved logo (consulting the institution is advised because some schools insist on use of approved images). White or light font on a dark background can be as readable as a dark or black font on a white or light background. Do not rely solely on the computer screen for design and clarity. Continually view each slide in Slide Show projection by going to the Toolbar, clicking on Slide Show and choosing View Slide or by clicking on the small screen icon in the lower left corner of the screen. To return to edit mode, press the Escape key in the upper left corner of the keyboard. Projection will reveal color and layout difficulties as well as readability of your text and graphics. When editing the Master Slide, keep in mind that any items added to the Master Slide will appear on every slide in the show. Any individual slide can be customized and graphics can be removed if a graphic interferes with layout by following these steps: To remove Master Slide graphics from an individual slide: • • • • • Place cursor on the slide (but not in a text box) and right-click. In the dialog box that appears choose Background. Background dialog box appears. Click “Omit background graphics from master.” Click Apply button not “Apply to all” if only the one slide is involved. To change individual slide background: • • • • • Place cursor on the slide and right-click. In the Dialog box that appears choose Background. Under “Background Fill” is a button for color selection. Click on the button and choose a color or effect. Click Apply button not “Apply to all” if only the one slide is involved. 130 GRAPHICS AND ANIMATION Graphics provide interest and visual appeal. Learn to use the Format Picture feature that offers size, color, position, and resolution adjustments for graphics. Consider taking some training in a graphics software program such as Adobe Photoshop (Adobe Systems Incorporated, San Jose, California). High resolution and excessive numbers of graphics may increase file size to the point of unwieldiness and add difficulty to storage and e-mail transfer. Keep size and resolution to a minimum. Be aware that a resolution of 72 to 100 dpi (dots per inch) is all that most projected presentations require. Large images may be compressed within PowerPoint by inserting a graphic in the slide and then compressing it. The Compress feature is found within the Format Picture dialog box. Format Picture may be accessed two ways: 1. Select the graphic and right-click to produce the Format Picture dialog box; then click Picture tab and access the Compress button. 2. Select the graphic, click Format on the Toolbar, and then click Picture; in the dialog box, click the Picture tab to access the Compress button. When the Compress button is clicked, options appear that relate to which graphics need compression. Choices are as follows: “Apply to” and “Change resolution.” Under “Apply to,” choose “all pictures in document” if the entire file needs reduction in size and quality will not be compromised. Choose “selected pictures” if compression causes the visual quality of some items to deteriorate. Under “Change resolution,” choose “Web/ screen (96 dpi)’” to reduce the size of those graphics. Clipart is useful, but clipart file sizes can vary widely. Avoid clipart with excessive actions; if on the screen too long, animations are tedious, not to mention distracting. The Custom Animation allows text and graphics to enter or exit the slide in a lively manner. This feature is found within Slide Show on the Toolbar. To access: • Select text or graphic to animate (ie, appear, disappear, or change). • Click on Slide Show. • Then click on Custom Animation from the drop-down menu. • Click the Add Effect button. • Choose Entrance, Emphasis, Exit, or Motion Path. All graphics should be large and sharp enough to be recognizable, and all charts and graphs should be readable. Never say, “I know you can’t read it, but this chart (or graph or illustration) proves my hypothesis.” Other factors related to readability include font selection, room size, and light control as well as vision and location of the viewers and quality of projection. Journal of Surgical Education • Volume 65/Number 2 • March/April 2008 PREPARATION, PRACTICE, AND SET-UP What About the Room? The best view is found in front, not to the side. If you do your own setup, project parallel to the long axis of the room when possible. Learn how the microphone works, whether lavaliere or stationary. Test the volume level. Know how to adjust the lights or ask the host if someone will handle the light level. Never assume your local host is computer-literate—ask about computer technology support if your presentation is complex or includes video or DVD. Practice Never view your presentation on a screen for the first time at the venue. Project it first, and find the bugs. Avoid placing text too close to any slide margin. Use the spell-checking and grammarchecking features found on the Toolbar under Tools. Some presentations convince viewers that the presenter was unaware of those useful features. A visual edit is mandatory because these checkers are not fool-proof and do miss some errors such as word use as in “wit” versus “with.” As soon as one arrives at the speaking venue, one must always test out the laptop connection or the disk or flash drive to make certain the file will appear for projection. Quickly run through the show to be certain all graphics are compatible. Deleting (on Toolbar under Edit) or hiding (on toolbar under Slide Show) a slide with an invisible graphic is preferable to projecting an empty slide. Load the presentation file to the desktop if possible; the PowerPoint program runs faster from the hard drive. Remove your USB flash drive or disk. If left in place on the computer, flash drives can be bent by speaker or host movement and disks might be forgotten. Especially if you have video components, try them out as well. Resolution incompatibilities can cause the video portions to fail. Canned talks are proven and time-saving but must be adjusted to the occasion, time, and audience. PowerPoint is very flexible; therefore no excuses are permitted for failure to adapt the prepared talk. If you have too much material, hide slides rather than race through and perhaps skip something vital and then be forced to rerun the presentation and hunt. Whenever possible, go ahead of time to the room where you will speak. Make certain the microphone and all other electronics are working. If you need a laser pointer, take your own or check on availability. The mouse arrow also works as a pointer. Try out the projector, whether LCD or 35 mm. Do your slides and/or presentation work with their equipment? Patient privacy and copyright issues must be considered. Good manners as well as regulations such as HIPPA make it necessary to disguise patient information. Give credit or provide the sources for copyrighted materials. If your talk contains copyrighted materials and patient information, ascertain that it will be password protected if it might be uploaded on the institution’s web site. Audiences enjoy handouts. Consider providing a hard copy of key references and perhaps the key points as FIGURE 1. PowerPoint “pointer’s” checklist. well. Avoid last-minute preparation; some hosts request or even require the speaker to submit the talk beforehand for public relations or educational purposes (Fig. 1). PUBLIC-SPEAKING PRINCIPLES Public-speaking essentials date back to the Greek orator Demosthenes in the 4th century BCE: know your audience, be prepared, be understandable, and hold their attention. Even 2500 years later, these 4 broad guidelines continue to underpin public presentations, both oral and electronic. Although speaking in public raises anxiety levels for many, including experienced professional speakers, this fear is normal. Being thoroughly prepared and practiced proves the best remedy. 1. Know Your Audience. The first principle might seem obvious for the teacher of medical students or residents but more complex for someone invited to give a talk in a different city or even to a nonmedical audience on the home campus. Even medical groups are not homogeneous; primary care physicians, basic researchers, and academic surgeons are distinct. The presenter should ask several questions of the host: To whom will I address? Is everyone a professional? Will spouses or guests be present? Are ages mixed? (Gory operating room shots or naked torsos might need hiding in some venues). Journal of Surgical Education • Volume 65/Number 2 • March/April 2008 131 2. Be Prepared. Acquire information about the circumstances of presentation. Make a note of the host, occasion, and institution, and use this information in the introduction—audiences appreciate a personal touch (eg, copy an institution’s logo from their website and use it on the introductory slide). Before leaving home, ask the host exactly how much time is allotted for the talk and inquire about computer compatibility (ie, Mac vs PC). Take to heart the old saw, “Practice makes perfect.” Project your talk: practice it out loud at home and time it. Fit the material to the time given—too much is worse than too little— count on a late start and build in a few minutes for questions. Pay attention to your clothing. A business suit for either gender is usually correct for any geographic area, but sometimes the occasion may be casual. Cultural distinctions exist between medical specialties as well as for grand rounds, retreats, and educational conferences. If any uncertainty exists, ask. 3. Be Understandable. If you know your audience, you will adjust the content and vocabulary accordingly. A certain amount of nervousness is normal, but to know that one has prepared, practiced, and timed the talk increases confidence. Speak loudly enough to be heard with or without the microphone. Look at the audience and not just at your notes, especially if you do have a microphone. The ability to project your voice outward and to engage in eye contact results from being prepared (ie, practicing the presentation out loud several times). Try not to rush the words. If one has too much material for the time allotted, one probably is not “prepared.” Pronounce words clearly and distinctly, and even practice your pauses. Saying the talk aloud will reveal those tongue-twisting word combinations and other potential stumbles and allow you to work through them. 4. Hold Their Attention. Be certain you can be heard—remember to check your sound equipment and the room. Vary your tone of voice; monotones are soporific. Project interest and excitement in your own topic—it’s contagious! Make eye contact—it’s engaging. Tailoring material appropriate to your audience increases the likelihood for maintaining attention. Humor can be effective, but use it carefully—avoid politically incorrect and insensitive remarks. Ad libbing is dangerous; the prudent course is to clear questionable humor with the host. Apologies and self-denigration contribute to attention loss. Do not apologize for coughing, throat clearing, stumbles over word enunciation, or a dropped pen or pointer; these actions interrupt the flow and serve only to draw attention to something that might well otherwise go unnoticed. No speaker should ever 132 FIGURE 2. Ten suggestions for effective public speaking. begin a talk—for the sake of humility or any other reason— with an apology for the forthcoming presentation or a declaration of unworthiness to stand before the group. Those persons responsible for the invitation considered the speaker worthy and would not wish to be proven wrong and that might happen after a convincing self-denigrating introductory declaration. Although “thank you” has become a standard concluding remark, it may detract from a strong ending. Offer thanks in the beginning if you feel that it is necessary. Effective talks should end with a strong concluding remark—then project a black or white slide and use body language to signify you are finished. The audience owes you thanks. A dramatic pause is effective; calling for questions is OK, or look over to your host or sit down (Fig. 2). Acquiring basic public-speaking skills as well as learning to manipulate basic features of PowerPoint will provide the tools for the medical educator to improve the effectiveness of teaching and communication. REFERENCES 1. Taylor D. Death by PowerPoint. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2007;49:395. Journal of Surgical Education • Volume 65/Number 2 • March/April 2008