6 ¢ January 1987 SIAM NEWS How to Improve Technical Presentations By George D. Byrne I mecting, you probably 3 some of us need help addressing our colleagues in our imum character and line counts, At a re- (But Are't Tut and Beauty Supposed to Be Enough?" —Sci es A well-known professional speaker, ‘Alan Cimberg, makes the point that non: formation delivered enthusi- presentations were in three parts. I ‘To make sure your visual aids are legi first: ble, do not use yellow view graphs made from per ‘A simple rule of thumb is large the audience might be, prepate some visual aids, and try them out in & room large enough to hold the audience. figures, and graphs help? ‘then fleshing out the bod ion helt sone Signing tte preset | Sen the degen ep he pesenaton: We area weg tyne reading ahea‘ i speaker, and one might ask: " Why is this speaker here?” ‘We ean also address re- Low-Density, Legible Visual Aids to members of the au Are Essential For most subjects, the speaker will do Dress Appropriately best by basing his or her present stoeal side tfotally aact'ot 25 cinta When we speak, we are selling our ideas, and our profes or view graphis. This article, for exampl was created from the view gi ‘oped for the Albuquerque mee Visual aids should provide outline of your talk, ever wondered why speakers do not face an audience? aoe used by the 3M company and others are: 20 characters pe li lines per . videotape, oF ‘even live in front of an audience. These can wed on page 11‘Technical Presentations, continued from page 10 to use the equip- are walking to the podium. with our audiences much better when everyone is comfortable and the equip- good sound system and microphone are needed. Tealso pays to ar carly fora presenta- phy is an optimist.” Making the Final Hurdle elit sep in giving a technical pre is difficult for many of us. Simply do not need to fear giving our pre- ms. The very best speakers use the rated before a perfor- rmendously in giving a good presentation, Improving Your Presentation Skills We can always improve our presenta- information about a Toastmasters club con- venient to you, send me a stamped, self- addressed envelope, along with the name and address of your employer or your hhome address. Using these tips should help us improve the understanding and acceptance of our fdeas, our methods, and our software. It should also help recognition. {ideas work out for you George D. Byrne is a senior applied mathe- ‘maticion with Exon Research and Engineering Company (Clinton Township, Rie 22 East, Are nandale, NJ 08501) and the thd president of the New Jersey Section ofS