Making presentations

Psych 231: Research Methods in Psychology

Announcements

Remember to bring your group project materials (intro, methods, results, etc.) to lab

Additional Presentation resources on you syllabus page– syllabus page

Presentations

Presenting your research– Posters – Talks– Papers

Why do presentations?

To present your work/theory/research– Get feedback

• It is an opportunity for peers to ask you questions about your work

• For you to ask them questions

– You want your audience to walk away remembering a few key points

So your goal is to be as clear as possible

Rough sketch of a presentation

Introduction of the issue Background information

Specific hypotheses Design Results

Interpret the results General Conclusions

Hourglass

shape

Broad

Specifics of your study

Broad

Preparation Consider your audience

- who are they, what do they want, what do they already know Start collecting the things that you think that you’ll

need- graphs, tables, pictures, examples, data analyses, etc.

Determine the key points that you want them to remember– focus your presentation on these points

Camping trip analogy– Your initial pack usually has too much stuff– Need to figure out what to take out

Practice, rehearse, and then practice again

Poster content

Stick to the hourglass shape for content Balance of text and figures

– Use bullet points– Give example stimuli

Use large enough font to read from 6 feet away

End with 3 or 4 key “take home” points

Title Authors and affiliation

Introduction•Not a lot of detail•Just the main points•Hypotheses & predictions

Methods•Not a lot of detail•just the main points•Participants•Design•IVs & DVs•Examples of stimuli

Results•Graphs/tables•Bullet points of main results

Conclusions•3 or 4 take home points•Potential limitations

References•If you cite something give the full reference

Title Authors and affiliation

Introduction Methods Results

Conclusions References

Brief checklist for the poster

Initial sketch/outline Rough layout

– Balance (text/pictures, data/conclusions)– Typography– Movement– Simplicity

Final layout

The pen is mightier than the brush. Leon DaVinci and Bill Shakespear

Illinois State University

•Remembering things is often a challenge in everyday life. “What was I supposed to get at the grocery store?”(Cutting, 2000)

We examined two factors

We predicted:• mnemonic devices will help memory for both pictures and words• effect larger for words than pictures

•900 native English speakers•2 x 2 between groups design•Measured the percent correctly recalled items from a free recall procedure• 24 pictures and words

•Stimulus type matters: participants remembered words better than pictures• Use of mnemonic devices helps memory performance

•Potential limitations

Cutting J. C. (2000). Finding things in your house.

Journal of Memory and Stuff, 17, pg 1-230.

mnemonicsNo

mnemonics

Perc

ent r

ecal

l

pictures

words

Results

• main effect of stimulus type

• main effect of mnemonic

• no interaction

• stimulus type: pictures/words• use of mnemonics

Introduction

Methods

Conclusions

References

words picturesbooks

frog

Presentation of the poster

Arrive early and set up Author(s) stand next to poster Have a short “walk through” presentation

ready Answer questions (also ask questions) Handout copies of the poster available

(sometimes), or a request sign-up

Your posters (our checklist) Content

– Introduction• Problem of interest• Very brief summary of past research• Basic purpose of experiment(s)• Hypotheses

– Method• Brief but clear• Design• Materials• Procedure (brief)

Your posters (our checklist) Content cont.

– Results• Descriptive statistics• Inferential results

– Discussion• Hypothesis rejected or supported• Implication of results• A few take home points

– References– Tables and figures

• Useful info to reader• Easy to understand

Your posters (our checklist)

Format– Overall clarity– Organization– Font size– Figure/text balance– Title– Authors

Different kinds of talks

Research Presentations – (typically 10 to 30 mins)

Paper with respondent Panel Presentation Workshop

Talk Content Create a logical progression to the talk

– Hourglass shape– Work on the transitions between slides

Be brief, but include enough details so that the audience can follow the arguments– Use slides to help simplify/clarify points

• Include tables, graphs, pictures, etc. • Don’t just read the slides• but do “walk through” those that need it (e.g. graphs of

results)

– Be careful of jargon, explain terms (if in fact you really need them)

Presentation of the talk

Make it smooth (lots of practice will help) Watch your speaking rate (again, practice) Maintain eye contact with whole audience Emphasize the key points, make sure that the

audience can identify these Point to the slides if it helps Beware jokes, can be a double-edged sword Don’t go over your time

Dealing with questions

Repeat the question in your own words– so that the rest of the audience can hear it– to make sure that you understood the question– to buy yourself some time to think about the answer

Try not to be nervous– you know your study better than anyone else

When preparing, try to think of likely questions and

prepare answers

Checklist for the talk

Preparation– Analyze the audience– Choose your main points

– etc.

Prepare the Final Outline– fix any problems/loose ends

Construct your “speaking” outline– e.g., the note cards that you’ll read

Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse

Next time

Summarizing the research process

Preparation Consider your audience

- who are they, what do they want, what do they already know

Start collecting the things that you think that you’ll need- graphs, tables, pictures, examples, data analyses, etc.

Determine the key points that you want them to remember– focus your presentation on these points

Camping trip analogy– Your initial pack usually has too much stuff– Need to figure out what to take out

Practice, rehearse, and then practice again