General Notes for speakers.

Lecturing at an international conference demands all the normal requirements of public lecturing, but also a special effort as you will be talking to people whose language is not your own, or you will be lecturing in a language which is foreign to you. This should be good experience in making you think more about your presentation, and hopefully make you a better lecturer!

General points on lecturing.

- Do not turn your back on the audience or talk to the screen.

- Before you start, check the microphone if there is one, and make sure you can be heard at the back of the audience. Do not move away from the microphone when lecturing in a large hall.

- Choose someone at the back of the hall as the person to whom you are talking, and try to keep their interest; this will help you to project your voice to the whole audience.

- When lecturing in your own language, keep it simple, and do not use colloquialisms or expressions which may not be easily understood by people for whom the language is not their mother tongue. Native English speakers are especially bad in this respect as they are generally less used to speaking in a foreign language.

- In a 20-minute presentation you can only make a limited number of points, so be clear about what is important, and do not attempt to do too much.

Styles of lecturing.

There is no one way of giving a good lecture, indeed a mixture of styles will make a session more interesting. However, there are basic rules which should not be broken.

- Lecturing without a text is a good way for those who can do it – it works on the principle that if you cannot hold in your head what you want to say, there is no way the audience will be able to grasp it. Use your PowerPoint/Keynote slides as prompts; if you are lecturing in a foreign language, and forget a word, ask the audience – it keeps them involved! This style needs careful preparation beforehand (talking to oneself!). It allows you to address the audience more directly, to adjust your time (but keep a close eye on the clock!). The disadvantage is that you may miss a key point, or get your timing completely wrong.

- Lecturing with a prepared text. You have greater control over the timing (but read the lecture out loud, and slowly, two or three times beforehand – if you have to read fast, then it is too long). The dangers are that your style will be too literary, you will read it in a monotone, not looking up at your audience, and if something goes wrong, you have little flexibility. In some lecture theatres there can be problems with lighting so you cannot read your text and show PowerPoint at the same time. Make the text easy to read – large lettering, and widely spaced; a 20 minute lecture will consist of about 6 typed pages with 1,5 line spacing, but usually you should restrict yourself to 17 minutes to allow time for changeover of speakers.

- Lecturing with only brief notes. This can be difficult as you have continually to look up from your notes to the audience, and then back again to the notes. Put your notes on your PowerPoint slides – it will help the audience to follow your argument.

Lecturing to foreigners.

English is the international language for science, and also for this conference, so you must ensure that your presentation can be understood in English. There are various ways of doing this, and rules for helping your audience. Assume you will have three types of people in the audience and try to cater for them all: those who speak the language fluently (no problem); those who understand nothing; and those who understand some, and are trying to improve their language skills.

- Lecturing in your native language. Speak slowly, use short sentences, simple words, and avoid colloquial idioms. Names of sites and numbers are difficult for foreigners to pick up, so make sure these appear in your visual aids.

- Lecturing in a foreign language. Recognise that you will probably be speaking with an accent and intonation, stressing the wrong syllables, which may be comprehensible to the native speaker, but may be difficult for non-native speakers. You may also use the slightly wrong word. If possible get a native speaker to check your text beforehand. We all make mistakes, often to the amusement of the native speakers, but do not let this worry you — this should be one of the delights of international communication!

The best preparation in either case is to rehearse your talk beforehand, using both your visual aids and a stopwatch or timer. If a friend can help you with pronunciations, pauses, etc., that is the best solution; otherwise, record yourself and listen carefully to make sure you are comprehensible.

There are various ways of making your presentation comprehensible:

Simultaneous translation. This is expensive, but if available give your text to the translator beforehand so that specialist terms can be sorted out.

A summary of major points on PowerPoint/Keynote. This should be done in whatever language you are speaking, as it helps people follow your points. Your visual presentation should be in English in any case, but it should spell out any foreign terms.

Handouts for the audience. This should have more detail than the published abstract, and should allow the audience to follow your lecture step by step.

Verbal summaries of your lecture in another language, preferably before the lecture. This does take up precious time in a session, but may be necessary in discussion sessions.

Using PowerPoint or Keynote.

PowerPoint, Keynote or other presentation software allows a combination of text and graphics, but it is important to get the balance right: too much text is unreadable; too little can leave the audience lost. Sometimes it is better just to create a simple html Web presentation to show locally. A few general words of advice.

- Generally visual aids should be bold and simple – audiences cannot take in too much information when they are listening at the same time.

- Make sure that every slide makes a point, and do not pad your lecture with unnecessary slides.

- Do not put too much text on one slide. Usually it is best not to use text below about 28 pt. If you have several points to make, spread them over several slides.

- One way of emphasising the change from one topic to another is to change the background colour of your slides (Format – Background). When using dark background colours using white letters is more effective (Format – Font – Color).

- Make sure you label slides and plans with the names of the sites (proper names and large numbers are difficult for foreigners to spell or comprehend).

- Make sure images are properly trimmed, redraw frames, and perhaps clean up lettering on scanned images (poor quality images reflect on your preparation and therefore your credibility).

- Make sure your version of PowerPoint/Keynote is compatible with that which will be used at the conference (if you are not 100% certain, save a copy of your presentation as a PDF file).

- PowerPoint and other presentation software include all manner of bells & whistles, visual and audio gimmicks. Avoid these unless they truly enhance your presentation, as they can distract the audience from what you are saying and become very annoying.

For publication of illustrations you will normally need a minimum of 300 dots-per-inch (dpi), but for lectures, 200 dpi or less will usually be sufficient. You can compress individual images, or the whole presentation. This will increase the speed your presentation can be loaded on to the computer, and the speed you can flick from one slide to the next. Generally, image display is more faithful and less lossy in Keynote than in PowerPoint, which is more text-oriented. Compressing the file as a PDF will also speed up your presentation.

Before the lecture.

Notify your session organizer well in advance that you will be using PowerPoint, Keynote, a web browser, or other presentation software, which version and what platform you used.

Make yourself known to the session organiser and any one providing technical help as soon as possible – the organiser should arrange a meeting beforehand of all participants in the session.

Bring your file on both a memory stick and a CD, just in case, unless you have already emailed it to the organiser. Always be prepared to lecture without the visual aids in case some disaster strikes.

All the files should be loaded on to the computer before the session starts, and the icons should be displayed on the screen in the order that the lectures will be given.

Try out the equipment in the lecture hall beforehand, so you know how to switch equipment and lights on and off, use of the mouse, pointer, etc.

Take a watch or clock with you – all lecture theatres should have a clock, but many don’t!

Other visual aids.

Slides. If you intend to use analog (35 mm film/glass) slides, be sure to discuss with your session organizer far in advance of the meeting, as it can be difficult to reserve a slide projector these days. You should put a spot in the bottom left-hand corner of your slides. For projection, slides are simply turned upside down, and you can quickly check that all the dots are visible. It is also an insurance in case of disaster – boxes of slides do get dropped, and the dots help quick sorting! Hold your slides at arm’s length – if you cannot see the detail you require the audience will not be able to see it either. You should not have more than 10 or 15 slides maximum for a 20 minute lecture, and you should mark clearly in your text where they should appear.

Transparencies for the Overhead Projector (OHP). Again, discuss with the organizer well in advance if you will need an OHP. Lettering should be large and colourful. Hold the page at arm’s length and screw up your eyes. If you cannot read it, neither can the audience.

After the session.

To stimulate discussion, "seed" your audience with a fertile question or two. You may also suggest a few questions to your organizer. Use the discussion period to clear up any misconceptions or to point toward further research.

After you have given your paper, try to get advice from someone on how you might have improved your presentation.

Session organisers.

It is your duty to make contact with the contributors before hand to ensure that they provide their files to put on the lecture theatre computer, and know how to work the buttons! You must also familiarise yourself in detail with the function of equipment and the features of the lecture theatre, though there should be someone available trained in the technical aspects to help in case of emergency. This should include the use of PowerPoint, the controls on the computer or console, lighting, microphones, blackout, etc. If contributors agree, you could also provide feedback on their presentations.