Wednesday, September 4, 2013

The Most Classic Mistake in a Science Presentations

William Ronco, at GEN, shares ten mistakes seen in science presentations:
We can and should expect much more of science presentations. We depend on presentations to carry out the organization’s core business, develop ideas, test hypotheses, and explore alternatives. Yet we accept levels of presentation effectiveness we wouldn’t begin to tolerate in the other, technical aspects of our work.
Agreed, but many times "the organization's core business" is ill defined.  Nevertheless, #5, Data Overload is the worse offender, in my mind. 

How many times have you watched someone flash through every figure they've created since the last time you met?  How many times have you committed this crime?

Yes, you're allowed to withhold some of your data, as long as it's not essential to make your point and you're not concealing data that argues against your case.  You can always share it your next opportunity.

When it comes to communication, oftentimes less is more.