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Talking
the
Talk
Presenting at a Scientific Meeting Soon?
We’re Here to Help!
The 58th ASH Annual Meeting is right around
the corner, which means some of our readers
are preparing to take the podium.
Whether you’re a novice speaker taking the
stage for the first time or an expert who could
find his or her way to the podium blindfolded,
you could always use a refresher on how to
make your presentation count. As Mikkael
A. Sekeres, MD, MS, editor-in-chief of ASH
Clinical News, wrote in an editorial, “No matter
how many times you’re fortunate enough to
be invited to present your research at the ASH
annual meeting – and for me, it hasn’t been that
often – you still get nervous during that long,
quiet walk, and hope against hope that you
won’t be the guy who trips while climbing up
the stairs.”
We culled through other gems from our
archives to compile tips and tricks from
experts in their field about what to do – and
not to do – during an educational or scientific
presentation.
address every single piece of evidence
in existence to educate the audience on
the topic being discussed. That’s a great
danger because, often, the presentation
turns into a recitation of minutiae.
2
#
3
#
Presenter Talk Pretty One Day
With apologies to David Sedaris. In an earlier
“How I Teach” column, Morie A. Gertz, MD,
chair of internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minnesota, provided his top 10 list
of what to do – and what not to do – during a
presentation. The basic idea: “Tell them what
you are going to tell them; then tell them; and
then tell them what you told them.”
1
#
60
ASH Clinical News
Don’t fall in love with your data.
Many individuals feel that they have to
4
#
Know your audience.
Every audience is different – if you
try to give the same talk to medical
students and practicing physicians
and your colleagues, you’re making a
grave mistake. Tailor your talk to your
audience, their comprehension, and
their training level. In a similar vein, an
academic presentation is not the time
to test out some new jokes.
Don’t over-complicate things.
Follow the “KISS” principle: Keep
It Simple, Scientist. Experts tend to
become so familiar with their data
that they may overestimate what their
audience really understands. That’s
not to say that you should dumb down
your presentation, but try to find the
balance between over-simplifying
and making higher-level information
understandable.
Narrow your focus to key data.
Most presentations tend to be too
dense with respect to the data being
presented. Similar to point #1, you
need to focus on the key points that are
representative of other published data.
November 2016