Slide documents and presentation slides are two very different things using the same file format, and it is dangerous to simply transfer them as-is from one medium and one purpose to another. They each have their advantages and disadvantages which influence what works and what doesn\u2019t in terms of usability.<\/p>\n
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DISTILLING THE RELEVANT INFORMATION OUT OF A SLIDE<\/h2>\n
Let us look at one example from a recently published slide kit on cancer treatment (used with permission \u2013 all slides courtesy of\u00a0www.clinicaloptions.com<\/a>\u00a0\u2013\u00a0who DO offer editable slides!):<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How long would it take you, if someone were to project that as part of a presentation, to take up all the information on here? Quite probably longer than they will present the slide! That is, if you can read the text at all. There\u2019s an overload of data here: we\u2019re shown the results of an analysis of a host of different cancer cases, treated with a certain drug in a variety of different dosages, over different durations.<\/p>\n It also shows which mutations arose in those cases over the course of the treatment and specifically points out in text what mutations were and were not observed after drug treatment \u2265 8 weeks. Even an expert will take a deep breath being submitted to so much content.<\/p>\n So, for a presentation, I\u2019d first \u201cdeclutter\u201d the slide. It is not necessary to label every segment of the Y-axis \u2013 a few points, such as 20, 40, 60, should suffice. The explanatory text in the center right should go. If, as it points out, the key point is the difference in mutations beyond 8 weeks exposure and the different dosage regimes are not talked about, then the bars can all be done in the same color and the corresponding legend removed.<\/p>\n Likewise, it\u2019s unlikely that the host of different cancer types will be analyzed in detail. The entire lower part legend could then be removed, generating a lot more real estate, allowing the upper part of the diagram to be stretched out . The textbox on the right can be removed and replaced by oral pointers by the speaker.<\/p>\n In return, a marker for the 8 weeks mark can be introduced via animation when the speaker references that point. The five cases specially marked in red can then simply be done in a distinct color, rendering the marking far more noticeable than before.<\/p>\n Alternatively, if only those five cases are to be talked about, the full slide can be relegated to an \u201cas needed\u201d reference. The speaker could mention how many patients were tested, noting some of the cancer types involved, but presenting only the pared-down slide.<\/p>\n If there is audience interest in more details, they can be voiced during the Q&A and the full slide then be shown. Instead, the slide could be pared down to just those five cases. The next step then is to turn the graphs around to allow for horizontal labeling. Ironically, in the original publication, the entire graph IS turned 90\u00b0, improving readability a lot.<\/p>\n This is evidently not possible with the full graph in a presentation due to the landscape orientation of a slide vs. portrait orientation of a publication, but focusing on a subset of data points would allow reinstating that orientation of the visualization.<\/p>\n You will note that in the following example, I also added \u201cA, B\u2026\u201d to the cancer type label to illustrate some cases of the same type were left out in the visualization and increased the font size to improve readability further.<\/p>\n Let me illustrate some of my points with a sequence of two slides from a different slideset (Fighting a Smarter War on Colon Cancer: Immune Therapy in GI Cancers). In this case, we\u2019re dealing with the added challenge that the slides are supposed to demonstrate the interaction between a host of molecular players in the reaction of the immune system to the presence of cancer cells \u2013 some degree of complexity here will be unavoidable if we want to look at the whole picture:<\/p>\n This first slide is followed by a magnified excerpt in the next slide:<\/p>\n Once again, the fact that this is a downloadable slideset necessitates explanation that in a presentation would be best left to the speaker. So for the first slide, the text box on the right can be removed for a presentation. I\u2019d likewise eliminate the timeline underneath the visualization, since it is explored in-depth in the next slide.<\/p>\n The \u201creal estate\u201d gained can be used to magnify the cellular complex and put it at the center of the slide. I would then introduce some of the details via animations as the speaker talks about them, gradually increasing the complexity of the slide, e.g. like this:<\/p>\n Using newer versions of PowerPoint, the transition to the next slide could then be done with the\u00a0morph transition<\/a>, giving a zoom-in view that keeps it evident what is going on. The different stages of the timeline I would then introduce not just through numbering, but also through text appearing bit by bit as I talk about them. Therefore, the slide in the kit represents the end state whereas we would start out with something like this:<\/p>\n Note that a lot of these slides are now much less self-explanatory \u2013 but that is perfectly ok for a presentation slide, which relies on the speaker to give it meaning and context. You will also note that I removed the full references for the figures. While it is, of course, proper academic conduct to provide them, they are usually barely legible from a few rows back and more properly provided in the form of a handout, freeing slide \u201creal estate\u201d for more useful information.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The author of several general highly acclaimed presentation books, Nancy Duarte, coined the rule that a presentation slide should be understandable within but three seconds.\u00a0 For scientific slides, that will not always be achievable, since we\u2019re dealing with highly complex concepts. But the amount of information displayed or added at any one time should still be as easily digestible as possible (while still making sense). This avoids prolonged periods during which the audience is trying to figure out the slide.<\/p>\n This is the challenge in using slides both for reference and for presentation. But the same is obviously\u00a0also true vice versa \u2013 a good presentation slide should not be usable directly as a slide document for reference. \u201cCan I have your slides?\u201d is not something that should regularly be a fruitful question. After all, if the slides are fully self-explanatory, what was the purpose of having a speaker go through them in the first place? Like simply using slides out of publications or slide kits, it\u2019s all too convenient to simply print out our slides and hand them to someone for reference.<\/p>\n But convenience comes at a price \u2013 and in this case, that price may well be overloading our audience with information and jeopardizing the actual goal we are there for to begin with \u2013 getting a specific point across.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Originally published on\u00a0http:\/\/www.presentation-guru.com\/can-a-slidedoc-ever-be-a-presentation\/<\/em><\/p>\n Photo credit:\u00a0<\/em>Peter Kofler<\/em><\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0<\/em>VisualHunt.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\/\u00a0<\/em>CC BY<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN USE FOR PERSONAL REFERENCE AND USE FOR PRESENTATION Need to present the latest study on your product? That\u2019s easy! The publisher<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/drhauss.training\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/F1.jpg\")
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<\/p>\nMAKING UNAVOIDABLY COMPLEX DIAGRAMS MORE DIGESTIBLE<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>We gradually add to the complexity until we reach the full result. This is still not ideal in my eyes, but keeps the additional information the audience has to digest, at any one point, manageable.<\/p>\n<\/p>\nCAN I HAVE SLIDES WITH THAT?<\/h1>\n