So You Are Going to Present a Scientific Paper?*

THE SITUATION

       The hard truth is that professional knowledge, experience, and status do not insure good speaking or good listening. It would seem that the essentials of a listenable oral-platform presentation would be evident to anyone who has been a member of an audience. And all speakers are, at times, listeners. But human behavior seems to serve as insulation against the auditory version of Burns' classic observation, " . . . to hear ourselves as others hear us." The inability probably stems from a speaker's view of his or her role. They see themselves as the "deliverer" of a message, the important "giver" of the talk, almost never as the "receiver" of the message, the critical "listener" to his or her own presentation. This summary has been developed in the hope that it will provide practical guides to the improvernent and "listenability" of oral presentations at technical and scientific meetings.

THE PROBLEM

       "When we make ourselves understood, we always speak well," said the French author Moliere(Wiksell 1956). Communication is the art of being understood. It involves the transfer of ideas from one mind to another. But a speaker cannot transfer his ideas and material from his brain to that of his listener; he must present his ideas in such a way that meanings are stirred up in the mind of the listener. Effective communication is a cooperative venture and requires a speaker with a purpose and one or more active listeners(Phillips 1955).

       The physical grouping of people in front of a speaker does not, in itself, mean that they are listening. They may be unable to leave the group, but they can, and do, turn off their minds. A speaker has lost the attention of his audience when they look at the ceiling, gaze into space, doodle with pencils, shift position. An audience is listening when their eyes are fixed on the speakers face and they do not move.

       What can a speaker do to establish personal contact with his/her audience and make himself/herself aware of his listeners? According to Atwood(1960) "Before we can learn to lead we must learn to follow." This same reasoning applies to an oral presentation. We must project our thoughts before we speak- organize them before they become words. By doing this "we listen to what we say before we say it." By such deliberate discipline the speaker begins to see himself/herself in the listener- receiver role and develops an awareness of his/her audience. This changed attitude and newly developed audience sensitivity may temporarily introduce a small measure of self-consciousness. But this is good; the self-consciousness disappears rapidly as the speaker learns to use these valuable tools.

Attention limit. Listener interest, no matter how intent, is limited. A speaker defeats himself/herself if he/she talks beyond this limit. The limit may vary, depending on the audience, the occasion, and the conditions, and it can be extended by a skillful speaker. The normal span of listening attention lies within 20 to 40 minutes. The speaker who requests more time, unless the occasion and the person are exceptional, is asking for trouble. It is better to stop talking while the audience wants to hear more than after it wishes the speaker would stop.

SPEECH PREPARATION

       Speech preparation begins with defining the speech limitations. First identify a clear-cut purpose: to entertain, inform, convince(Phillips 1955). In technical meetings the purpose, for most speakers, is to inform. Consider next the assigned time and the restriction this imposes on the treatment of the subject. These two factors- limited time and limited topic development- are the basic guides to the organization of the speech. And organization is the key to good oral presentation(Surles 1957).

The speech outline. You are ready now to develop a speech outline. Organizing the material into an orderly, sequential outline is hard work-but skip it at your peril. A cleanly developed outline puts you solidly in control- and control, in turn, builds confidence. Start with two or three divisions. Here is the meat of your talk. Hold your idea development to these principal topics, grouping the remaining facts under these leaders. Keep going in the same direction without jumping back and forth from one point to another. Make your transitions clear. Let your listeners know as you move from point to point(Atwood 1960). Assign a portion of your allotted time to each main division (Table 1).

Your role as a speaker. It is impossible in an oral presentation to cover the detail included in a written manuscript. Your role as a speaker is to distill the salient points from your material, what you did, why you did it, to summarize, and to explain and interpret. You assume the listener is fully capable of reading the complete text. If a speaker's only purpose is to "read a paper" and that paper is in a form for printing, it would be better merely to distribute copies and let the audience use the speaker's allotted time to sit quietly and read instead of listen. And to fulfill your role as a speaker, you must be willing to rehearse,  rehearse, and rehearse, again and again before presenting, preferably before test group.

Writing your speech. Obviously much time and effort could be saved if a single writing would suffice for both publication and oral presentation. But inherent differences between listening to the spoken word and reading the printed page call for different subject organization and different writing techniques. A speaker includes only those steps vital to the development of his/her limited subject area (the salient points). The speaker eliminates minutiae of detail, uses only essential data (nonessential data dilute rather than strengthen the message), and presents statistics in round numbers (Atwood 1960). One should keep the structural development of the theme in focus with back references or repetition (a reader can reread, but a listener hears only once), and one writes in a conversational style (Surles 1957; Murphy 1960).  If one is tempted to let the manuscript serve both oral and publication purposes , he/she must be able to make on-the-spot adjustments, shift emphasis, omit detailed portions, and talk rather than read his/her speech. The temptation should be resisted, for current performance demonstrates that the technique is doomed to failure.

       Having made your one-page oral presentation outline, should you write your speech in full or speak from the outline? If you lack confidence in your ability to speak from an outline, or if you are unwilling to rehearse, writing your speech is sound practice. But confidence increases in direct proportion to your willingness to rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. However, writing will typically clarify your thinking, point up weaknesses in your outline, and provide the means of checking your vocabulary and hence of improving the word quality of your presentation (Murphy 1960).

Good writing. The rules of good writing apply equally to both oral presentations and written manuscripts. Listener familiarity with the vocabulary of your subject is a guide to the language of your presentation. Quips about the inability of one scientist to communicate with another are not without foundation. Moreover, the greatest art is still the greatest simplicity. Use the simplest language possible and the least involved sentence structure. Verbal circumlocutions conceal rather than express the thought... for example:

• Poor: The foregoing experiments are favorable indications that the molecules of the compound in the process of being studied did not under these conditions undergo a type of linkage which might be called crosslinking.

• Better: There was no evidence of crosslinking (Murphy 1960).

Pompous, pedantic language is the plague of much present-day writing.

• Poor: Since the anticipated student body will consist of approximately 50 in each course, it will be mandatory that we utilize the auditorium for these courses.

• Better: Since we anticipate classes of approximately 50, we need the auditorium.

The "crossbreeding of the parts of speech" was labeled by Strunk(1959)," the language of mutilation."   For example:

Poor                    Better

utilize                    use

solubilize                dissolve

verbalize                talk, put into words

obsolete                make obsolete

finalizes                 complete

habituates             accustoms to

routinize                establish a routine

Words and vocabulary. Write and speak in the language of your listeners' experience, for words can be either highways or barriers to communication (Bateson 1988).  Bateson (1988) postulates "... new ideas can be learned only in terms of old ideas; and that new ideas should be presented through experience existing in the recipient mind," a technique called reference to experience-explaining the unknown in the terms of the known, for example:

Poor                                Better

manual implements        tools

monetary funds            money

fatal termination           death

       Define the technical terms your audience may not understand. Use concrete examples. Appeal to human wants and concerns, and don't be afraid to use the personal pronoun. Avoiding "I" and "we" is a rule based more on convention and false modesty than on logic. Use of the third person can be ambiguous. The experiment was done. When? Where? By whom(Murphy 1960)?

• General: The experiments were carried out ...

• Specific: We designed the experiments to demonstrate ...

• General: It was discovered ...

• Specific: We discovered ... or I discovered ... or It was found ...

       Do not confuse the conversational style with wordiness or loose sentence structure, or simplicity of language with colloquial or trite phraseology. These faults, together with vagueness, imprecision, ambiguity, result from inadequate vocabularies- the lack of precisely descriptive words. And do not misinterpret an extensive vocabulary for exotic or scholarly words found only in the encyclopedia. Use of such words suggests that the speaker is trying to impress his listeners. In reality they detract from rather than contribute to the communication of information. A desirable vocabulary is one copiously stocked with known and understood but seldom used words, for example:

• Poor: He didn't give a very good performance.

• Better: He performed ineptly. Or, He gave a shoddy performance.

• Poor: The report needs a lot of editing.

• Better: The report needs considerable editing.

• Poor: Her writing is filled with unnecessary details.

• Better: Her writing is cluttered with details.

The precise word often eliminates the need for explanatory phrases and clauses.

• Poor: Writing that compels attention ...

• Better: Vigorous writing.

• Poor: The statement which did not give all the facts ...

• Better: The imprecise statement ...

• Poor: The tank was fastened tightly so that it could not be moved.

• Better: The tank was rigidly secured.

After you have written your speech, check your verbs. You can add interest, emphasis, and color by replacing the commonplace verbs- is, are, has, have, get, got, were- with "action" verbs.

• Poor: Mr. Bateson's statement is that ...

• Better: Mr. Bateson postulates that ...

• Poor: She got an award for her discovery.

• Better: Her discovery was acclaimed by an award.

• Poor: The prevailing winds are from the east.

• Better: The prevailing winds blow from the east.

       Funk and Lewis (1952) states "A pianist may have the most wonderful tunes in his head, but if he had only five keys on his piano, he would never get more than a fraction of these tunes out.

       "Your words are your keys for your thoughts. And the more words you have at your command the deeper, clearer, and more accurate will be your thinking."

       "A command of English will not only improve the processes of your mind. It will give you assurance; build your self-confidence. . . . Your words are your personality. Your vocabulary is you."

       A command of words permits you to express your thoughts with clarity and precision, endow them with vigor, and clothe them with color. Your writing can be simple, direct, concise, clear, yet refreshingly free of clichés, colloquialisms, and weary repetition.

Voice, pitch, pace, enunciation. "Speak clearly, if you speak at all," stated Oliver Wendell Holmes. "Carve every word before you let it fall." Seneca, a slightly older jurist in point of history, stated: "Even the most timid man can deliver a bold speech (Wiksell 1956)."

       You speak with your voice. The printed word cannot convey the interest in a subject as effectively as the voice, which can inject variety, carry conviction, impart enthusiasm, end emphasis (Wyman 1988).

       Voices differ. Some are resonant, full, mellifluous; some are thin, high-pitched, raspy. Other than actors or professional lecturers, few people are inclined to work at the business of changing their voices, but pitch and pace are attributes which, with small effort, can be modified and controlled. A conversationalist unconsciously varies the pitch of his voice. But a speaker, particularly if he reads his speech, often hits the beginning of each sentence with full breath and high pitch gradually lowering his pitch as he reads and exhales-new sentence, new breath, high pitch, and the monotonously descending pattern ( Natl. Safety & News 1956)

       Some people speak rapidly, some slowly. Either speech mannerism can have a soporific effect. The too rapid speaker outpaces his listeners' ability to absorb the information and the too slow speaker dulls his listeners' will to attend. In a technical or scientific presentation the rate at which information can be absorbed may be low at the start, because much of the information is probably new. The rate increases as the talk progresses, until, at the conclusion when no new material is being presented, the rate can be very high (Bateson 1988) .  The desirable end is not to slow down fast speakers, or to speed up slow speakers, but to make all speakers sensitive to their own rate of delivery and to pace their remarks for understanding, variety, and emphasis.

       The almost universal characteristic of American speech is mumbling. The mumble slurs over syllables (not to be confused with unaccented syllables) and comes up with such words as "reely" (two syllables) for "really" (three syllables), "intersting" (three syllables) for "interesting" (four syllables), "partickler" (three syllables), for "particular" (four syllables). He/she churns the words in his/her mouth rather than "carving them before he lets them fall." Mumbling and poor enunciation are not synonymous, but they produce the same result-ineffective communication.

       The effects of mumbling and faulty enunciation are better understood if the process of listening is viewed in slow motion. The listener is perpetually "catching up" with the speaker, who builds a reproduction of his/her idea with words, one at a time. The listener receives the words, one at a time, and using them as building blocks, reconstructs the idea in his/her mind. The exactness of the reconstructed idea depends on the kind of building blocks offered by the speaker, and the manner of their transmittal. The latter is the concern here. If a word is mumbled or poorly enunciated, the listener instinctively stops listening to grope for it. By the time he/she returns to listening, he/she has lost the speaker's succeeding words, perhaps an entire sentence, and communication is broken. Unfortunately, microphone amplification does not correct these faults; it merely highlights them.

       If a microphone is not provided or fails to operate, a speaker can make themselves heard if one will gear the delivery to the size of the room. When the presenter speaks to someone in an adjoining room, he/she unconsciously amplifies the voice to a volume sufficient to span the intervening space. But in an audience-filled room with the listeners plainly in view, one is inclined to direct the eyes to the first three or four rows and to gear the voice volume to that distance. If the presenter will deliberately look at the last row of listeners, he/she will, again automatically, amplify his/her voice sufficiently to span the greater distance and carry it to the most distant hearers.

Edit and rehearse. If you have written your speech, you will surely do some editing. Now is the time to discover if it is a speakable speech (Funk and Lewis 1952). Sentences should not be too long or complex for comfortable delivery and awkward phrases (These are our . . . ) should be rewritten. Rehearsing aloud will uncover these faults. Whether you speak from an outline or read your written script, rehearsal is of first and final importance, Until you hear yourself as your listeners will hear you and one rehearsal at least should be before a group of your colleagues you are not ready to give your oral presentation.

The extras. A well-known 16th century expert (Shakespeare) on effective communication said: "I do not dislike the matter but the manner of his speech." On another occasion he commented: "Set the action to the word, the word to the action." A more recent commentator puts it this way: "Your manners are showing (Keating 1957)." Most writers offer advice on platform manners-the need to smile, to gesture, to move or stand immobile, to ask rhetorical questions, to ask only the questions you intend to answer, to look at your audience, not to look at one person, to sweep the audience with your gaze (Keating 1957) .

       The advice generally is good. Of course, to smile while talking is a near impossibility. What is the real concern is the whole facial expression. It can and does reveal warmth of feeling, or lack of it; it can invite, bore, or repel the listener.

THE SPEECH OF INTRODUCTION

       The speech of introduction has a simple, straightforward task- to make the speaker known to his audience, make him feel welcome and at ease, and announce his topic (McWilliam 1959).   Pronounce a speaker's name correctly; state correctly his/her title and professional association. Briefly and accurately describe his/her background, but don't embarrass him/her by overstating his/her position or accomplishments. Announce his/her topic and, at the very last, his/her name, or if you have previously mentioned his/her name, conclude with "Mr./Ms. ___________will speak to you on______________…."

EFFECTIVE VISUAL COMMUNICATION

       "I see!" These are welcome words to a speaker. They tell him/her that the listeners understands. Use of this word is natural, for it denotes the impact of visual perception.

       So far this over-view of a good presentation we have concerned ourselves with effective communication through words. Visual communication -the one picture that equals a thousand words- is practically a standard accessory today for the platform/oral presentation. People understand more readily and retain longer what they see than what they hear (Atwood 1960). "For even though you may carefully select your words (verbal symbols), listeners tend to distort their meanings to fit preconceived opinions and attitudes (Coffman 1955)." What does the simple word "wall" mean to the Native American . . . to the architect . . . to the river engineer? The combination of hearing and seeing is the ideal for both understanding and retention (Atwood 1960).

       Visual aids, properly used, should meet several important goals. They should amplify and illustrate, not the words but the ideas of the speaker. They should add the extra dimension of visual imagery in a way to make the ideas more easily understood and remembered. And they should, perform accomplish this without intruding on the message (Salmons 1962).

       Informed people have written competently on this subject. The literature offers sound advice on the appropriate use of visual illustrations, and also provides information on composition and technical preparation from the do-it-yourself materials to the most modern available equipment.

       Major complaints from listeners refer to the too prevalent use of slides with "too high an information rate" -the crowded, too-busy, over-complicated illustrations, particularly those lifted from the printed page and converted, without modification, to the screen; over-long tabular information or tables; too much reading matter or text; illegible words and figures; and obsolete or out-of-date slide design.

       With poor "visuals" a speaker cripples his performance and disrupts or destroys communications. But there are other pitfalls. Slides that are "too clever" can so impress an audience with the skill of the creator that they distract from listening (Salmons 1962). And poorly organized slides/visuals and faulty projector operation can give the final shove into complete boredom, restlessness, or total alienation.

       A good visual illustration (Figure, Table, chart, graph, diagram, map, picture or pic) makes the point quickly. It supplements the speaker's remarks by communicating in seconds, pictorially, what would take minutes, or more, to relate. It shows relationships, makes comparisons, details patterns of flow, motion, or sequence. It gives figure information rather than merely converting a set of figures into a drawing (Haemer 1959). It is clearly visible and easily read by the listener in the last row. It presents "core" material, allowing the speaker to build and amplify. With the slide or visual that "tells all," the speaker sells himself/herself out of his/her role. He/she should remain master of the pres- tation- proceeding from spoken word to visual and back to spoken word, talking, explaining, but always keeping control. The good visual does all of these more quickly, more forcefully, more completely, more accurately than can be done in any other way (Haemer 1959).

       To guide your review of present slides and visuals or your evaluation of proposed new slides and visuals, ask the following questions:

1. Are they necessary, i.e. do they convey a message you will discuss?

2. Are they direct?

3. Are they simple?

4. Are they clear (understandable)?

5. Are they accurate?

6.  Are they well designed with test "bulleted in "robust" font?

6. Are they legible to the remotest viewer?

THE FINAL CHECK

       In the preceding paragraphs the role of the speaker has been defined. The hazards of the "deliverer" attitude have been contrasted with the values of the "receiver" attitude- the need "to listen to what you say before you say it." As a final step in the making of an effective oral presentation, check your material and your delivery against the following 14 points.

1. Be convinced that the material you present contributes to the knowledge of the audience.

2. Use simple, clear, precise, and appropriate terminology.  Do not let hackneyed expressions dull your communication or too technical language obscure your message.

3. Speak up.  Speaking up is speaking with heartiness and vitality. It requires opening your mouth. Mumbling and poor enunciation result from lazy lip and mouth muscles. To discover the difference between speaking up and mumbling, try this experiment. Read a paragraph of your paper with your teeth clenched. You will be forced to stretch your lips. Now, unclench your teeth and read the same paragraph. You will feel a limberness in your lip muscles and a new freedom in your delivery and you will discover that you can enunciate clearly. Try this same experiment on words that customarily cause you to stumble.

4. Look interested.  You can't expect your audience to be interested if you are frozen-faced. Rehearse before a mirror. Observe the expression the audience will see. Decide honestly if you find it stimulating.

5. Read from the "Screen"... Not from paper copies.  By the time your eyes have reached the last line of the page, you are facing the page and are presenting the top of your head to your listeners. Must you read the presentation then keep your face forward facing your listener's view.

6. Look at your audience.  Try to take in every person in the room. Do not stare at one or a few, at one corner of the room, or at one spot on the ceiling. Make each person feel that you are communicating with him. If you are reading and think you may lose your place when you look at the audience, put your finger at the break -or your thumb if you are holding the paper in your hands-so your returning glance will fall on the starting line.

7. Gestures are unnecessary unless they are spontaneous and natural.  Vitality and enthusiasm expressed in your face can hold your listeners' attention. However, gestures, if spontaneous, and movement, if meaningful, add to the dynamics of an oral presentation, provided they do not follow a pattern. Any set pattern may turn your listeners into watchers. Movement, such as stepping to the side of a lectern, can often achieve a change of pace. Approaching the first rows of your audience can establish "eye contact" and build audience rapport. But movement, just for its own sake, can be distracting and annoying.

8. Timing is Everything... Time your speech and rehearse it.  You can speak within your time limit if you organize and rehearse it for the allotted time limit. Should you be forced to "read" the presentation remember that the average rate of reading or speaking is 100 to 150 words a minute. If necessary you can speak more rapidly and be understood, if you speak up and enunciate distinctly (No. 3). To facilitate the "reading" process, write in short paragraphs, double spacing the lines and triple spacing the paragraphs. If you find it necessary to "cut" as you approach your time limit, it is easier to omit a short paragraph than to skip lines in a paragraph. This process works well when presenting your presentation from the "screen" and not "reading" from a paper copy.

9. If your talk is to be followed by discussion, prepare three or four pertinent questions. See that these questions are placed in the hands of persons who will ask them. They will catalyze the discussion and lead it into the channels you regard most important. As ice-breakers, they also open the way for other questions.

10. Never distribute materials while you are talking.  Your audience cannot simultaneously inspect "samples" and listen.

11. Pause and change of pace.  Do not feel that you must fill every instant of your time before an audience with sound. Occasional pauses can be used for emphasis, to introduce a new topic, to vary voice inflection, or to initiate a change of speaking pace.

12. If speaking into a stationary microphone, voice distortion is best avoided if your lips are 6 to 12 inches from the mike.

13. A relaxed, at-ease posture is desirable.  Poise communicates itself to the audience. But it is better to be visibly nervous than to assume an over-relaxed, lounging posture that may offend the audience. Stand erect. Let your posture indicate respect for your listeners. They, in turn, will respect you.

14. Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse.

REFERENCES

Atwood, R. (1960) "How to Sell Your Ideas Orally." Petroleum Refiner 39:126; ASTI (Mar. 1961).

Bateson, J. (1988) "Technical Presentations, Some Theories and Techniques." 11th Technifax Seminar-Workshop in Visual Communication, Technifax Corp., Hollyoke, Mass. 

Wyman, R. (1988) "The Option is Ours." 11th Technifax Seminar Workshop in Visual Communication. Technifax Corp., Holyoke, Mass. 

Coffman, J. W. (1955) "The Role of Visual Communication." Photographers' Assn. of America, 75th Ann. Convention, Chicago.

Funk, W. and Lewis, N., (1952) "30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary." Pocket Books, Inc., New York. 13th printing.

Haemer, K. W. (1959) "Making the Most of Charts." American Telephone & Telegraph Co., New York (1960); 15^th Technifax SeminarWorkshop in Visual Communication, Technifax Corp., Holyoke, Mass.

Keating, L. A. (1957) "How to Give a Speech." World Oil 144:62.

McWilliam, G. (1959) "Three Hard Speeches to Make." Petroleum Refiner 38:255; ASTI (1960).

Murphy, L. (1960) "That Next Talk You Have to Give," Chem. Eng. 67:151; ASTI (1960).

Natl. Safety&News (1956)"Oral Communication Can Be Interesting." Natl. Safety&News 73:202.

Phillips, D. C. (1955) "Oral Communication in Business," Chap. 4, McGraw-Hill.

Salmons, N.E. (1962) "Make Your Slides do a Better Job-" Pub, Works, p. 98.

Strunk, W., Jr. (1959) "The Elements of Style." Macmillan Co.,New York.

Wiksell, M. J. (1956) "How to Make a Good Speech," Heating, Piping, Air-Cond. 28:126; IAI (1956)

ADDITIONAL REFERENCES

Bacharach, A. L. (1959) "Oral Communication at Scientific Meetings." Chem. and Ind., London, p, 1244; ASTI (1959).

Bryant, W. C. (1957) "How to Give a Technical Talk," Petroleum & Proc. 12:84; IAI (1957).

Casey, R. S. (1958) "Oral Communications of Technical Information." Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York.

Crew, W. H. (1956) "Candid Comment on Reading Papers." Jour. Eng. Educ. 47:23; IAI (1957).

Emerick, R. H. (1957) "When Engineers go Public Speaking." Air. Cond., Heat. and Vent. 54:93; IAI (1957).

Guthrie, W. (1958) "But . . . is Anybody Listening"' 13th Technifax Seminar-Workshop in Visual Communication, Technifax&Corp., Holyoke, Mass. 

Hartman,J.L.J., and E.A.LeMay (2001) Presentation Success: A step-by-step approach, South-Western Publ., Ohio

Haskitt, H. 0., Jr. (1957) ''So You're Going to Read a Paper." Jour. Eng. Educ. 47:393; IAI (1957).

Heinmiller, R. R. (1959) "So You've Been Asked to Give a Speech." Chem. Eng. 66:164; ASTI (1959).

Jones, B. A. (1952) "Slides: Confusing or Clear?" Ethyl Corp. (Amer. Chem. Soc. Div. of Chemical Literature).

Lorsch, H. G. (1961) "Presenting a Paper? Here's How." Mech. Eng. 83:94; ASTI (June 1961),

McHugh, F. J. (1956). "Graphic Presentation." 9th Technifax Seminar-Workshop in Visual Communication, Technifax &Corp., Holyoke, Mass. 

McMahon, T. P. (1951) "We'd Like You to Give a Talk; Ten Speech Making Tips." Printers Ink 260:59. 

Tangerman, E. J. (1960) "Seven Steps to Better Oral Reporting." Prod. Eng., 31:38,51,63,61,68. 

Wonson, R. C. (1960) "How to Improve With Demonstrations." Electronic 218, ASTI (1960).

"Speecbcraft." (1949) Educational Bureau, Toastmasters International, Santa Ana, Calif., p. 2, Revised Ed.