<p>It will probably take you as long to set up your Power Point as the length of the presentation. I would suggest just talking. It’s five minute presentation…keep it simple.</p>
<p>Thanks for those thoughts. We will be there 30 minutes prior to presentation to be sure that the AV is working properly. I personally have a hard time with many presentations that have too many slides and too much itty bitty text.</p>
<p>I did find a “Billy” circuitous cartoon that would work. Thanks for that thought!</p>
<p>Powerpoint is unnecessary and undesirable. Docs will remember a patient who speaks with emotion much better than a patient who presents powerpoint slides.</p>
<p>The photo of you, H, S & D will add a personal dimension to a patient perspective presentation. Doctors should be able recognize and remember the attempted and effective treatments.</p>
<p>Listeners will recall at most three points from any lecture, so be sure to identify which three points you want to emphasize.</p>
<p>Add me to the “no slides” vote. You only have 5 minutes - really, that’s 2 slides, max, and I think you will be more memorable if you just talk.</p>
<p>BTW - I have to do a four-minute presentation tomorrow night and wrestled with the same question (to powerpoint or not). No slides for me either.</p>
<p>I’m an architect. I’m a big fan of slides, but not of powerpoints - at least not of all those dumb bullet lists. I think a cartoon slide and some photos related to your talk are fine. I’ve seen talks where there were slides a mile a minute and one famous one where my prof showed on one slide (of a panopticon) and spent the next 45 minutes talking about the subject without every showing us another slide. (Unheard of at an architecture lecture and he joked at the end "Would you have stayed if you knew I was only going to show one slide?) A good lecturer can make either work.</p>
<p>HIMom – Question is do you want them looking at you or would you be more comfortable to have their attention slightly diverted from you? I’d go with whatever makes you feel more at ease.</p>
<p>^ I agree. I would personally do the slides because I am not the most powerful speaker and feel that visual aids help me rather than hinder me. But other speakers don’t really want or need them.</p>
<p>Wow, thanks for all this feedback & Xiggi, for the suggestions about powerpoints. I may just have a title slide, slide of me & H & kids, and contact slide for end.</p>
<p>I am not covering a complex topic and it is only 5 minutes. I may also be sitting for the presentation, which may be memorable as well (since nearly all stand at the podium). For my health, it is probably better for me to sit to present so I don’t desaturate too badly while speaking.</p>
<p>I am told I am a very charismatic, powerful speaker and am quite outgoing. I have presented to various groups over the years, including at conferences and while sitting on the bench. This may be one of the reasons my mentor doc & H suggest NO SLIDES.</p>
<p>Well there you go. Makes absolute sense. If you’re not presenting data and you’re a great speaker, skipping the slides is probably the way to go. Good luck.</p>
<p>I have idiopathic emphysema (no known cause, never smoker, no known genetic type). The session will be about COPD in Non-Smokers: The Hidden Epidemic. COPD = Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.</p>
<p>I am having a hard time shrinking the script down. Have reduced it from 8-9+ minutes down to 6, but it’s tough. I also don’t know whether I’ll speak rapidly (as I sometimes do when nervous) or slowly, because I’ll be using supplemental O2.</p>
<p>I used to have a job where I took notes at scientific meetings and wrote up summary reports.</p>
<p>May I suggest the following:</p>
<p>If you use slides, put them on a flash drive but don’t just show them from the flash drive. Make sure that they’re copied into the meeting computer. If you walk off with your PowerPoint presentation without having it copied into the meeting computer, the summary writer won’t be able to obtain a copy and therefore won’t be able to incorporate material from the slides into the meeting summary.</p>
<p>If you use slides, try not to look at them when you’re talking. That takes your mouth away from the mike and makes you hard to hear. You’re probably being recorded, but often the recorder only picks up what the microphone picks up.</p>
<p>Am still trying to figure out how to shorten the script any further without diluting it unduly. I am not sure that they summarize the patient’s stories/perspectives when they do a summary of the sessions. The other speakers are all presenting data from their research and have slides with stats & graphs. My presentation is supposed to introduce the rest & remind them why they DO research and present the “FACE” of patients who are helped by their work.</p>
<p>My mentor doc doesn’t think I should bullet lists on the slides & it would only be pictorial with a title & contact info of our non-profit.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyone’s help & thoughts to date.</p>
<p>It seems like presentations are really a challenge for all of us–how to keep the audience engaged and stick with the timelines and constraints.</p>
<p>Fendergirl, I think it would probably be best if you start a new thread about your topic, as it seems significantly more complicated in many ways to me.</p>
<p>OK, have cut it down so I can say everything in about 6 minutes of less, so when I get more nervous or practice more, I should be able to cut it down to 5 minutes, speaking more rapidly.</p>
<p>Have sent it to one of our board members & she thinks it’s fine as well. Can’t see how it can be cut further anyway. Appreciate everyone’s thoughts.</p>
<p>OK, next question, how much to memorize & how much just to use the gist and cover main points? I have mainly just used the gist in the past with an outline, so it comes out natural but I cover the main points.</p>
<p>This time, they wanted me to write a script & stick to their time limit. I find listening to “canned,” memorized speeches pretty painful and boring.</p>
<p>Write a script <em>and</em> notes/outline. Then use the notes. Word-for-word speeches are a yawn a minute because people tend to let all the inflection die out of their voices when reading aloud…for which I blame grade school.</p>
Go with your gut on this and you will be fine. It’s only 5 minutes.</p>