communications
Giving Your Data Its Due:
A Few Pointers for Conference Speakers
by Afua Owusu, intern, Communications
3. Make your slides readable.
What is visible on your office computer
screen may be difficult to decipher in a
darkened conference room. If people are
squinting to distinguish the information
on your slides, you will lose them quickly.
Use 26-point type or greater for the main
text and avoid cluttering slides with
unnecessary copy, logos or graphics.
Be sure to include white space (i.e.,
blank space without text or graphics)
to focus the audience’s attention on
your content. Make graphs, flow charts
and other data visualizations large,
and label elements clearly. Consider
presenting successive views of a graph
to show nuances in your data.
4. Be consistent.
Given their expertise and passion for their work, one might expect
public health laboratory scientists to be strong speakers who
convey their findings in a clear and compelling manner. However,
an informal assessment of APHL conference presentations indicates
that this is not always the case. Below are some pointers that
will help you to give your data its due at the next conference.
1. Slides are visual guides.
Your slides should support, not repeat,
your oral presentation. Limit bullets
to five per slide, use key words rather
than full sentences and consider using
animation to present one bullet at a
time. By controlling the quantity and
flow of visuals, you make it easier for the
audience to assimilate your content and
prevent them from reading ahead while
you are speaking. Remember, less is more.
PublicHealthLabs
@APHL
2. Choose compatible software
programs.
Make sure that your software programs
are compatible to avoid issues
with display of graphs and charts,
notably in Microsoft PowerPoint. It’s
best to create graphs in Excel and
then embed them in slides instead
of pasting them as an image.
APHL.org
Watch out for inconsistencies in your
presentation that can distract the
audience and dilute your message. Do
not use more than three fonts and keep
colors consistent across the presentation,
including graphs and other visuals.
5. Keep your presentation lively.
Open with a riveting anecdote, example
or data point to engage the audience.
Hold their interest by varying your
tone and pitch, and speaking with
enthusiasm. Close by recapping your
key points in a memorable way.
6. Make time to rehearse.
Your presentation will go more
smoothly if you rehearse. Even if your
in-box is overflowing with emails,
make time to practice aloud with
your slides. You’ll be glad you did.
Done well, presentations advance public
health laboratory science and practice,
and raise your standing as an expert
in the field. Done poorly, they give your
listeners a chance to check their email.
Consider these points in planning your
next presentation. Your data deserves
to be heard—and understood. n
Fall 2017 LAB MATTERS
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