KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER Many health care professionals are involved in interesting projects, or have thoughtful perspectives on assessment and treatment that would be of interest to others. Yet many avoid presenting, perhaps due to a lack of confidence or a fear of speaking in front of others. The intent of this article is to help health care providers prepare for a presentation and offer some tips for successful public speaking. Abstract preparation An abstract submission process is part of the planning for most conferences. The conference website will provide information as to the required format for the abstract as well as the maximum number of words. It is important to precisely follow the required format; if you do not, your abstract may be disqualified before it is even read for content. Writing an abstract gives you the opportunity to organize your thoughts and determine the nuggets of information you want to share. As you prepare it, ask yourself the following questions: • Is there a foundation or groundwork for your presentation in the literature? If so, what is it? • If this is a new idea, or you have found a gap in the information, how did you come to identify this gap? • Why should this topic be of interest to others? How can you ignite their interest and increase their learning in this area? • What are the three to five major topic concepts, ideas or approaches you want to share? Why are these your top picks and why are they relevant to your overall theme? Remember that the abstract needs to give an overview of the session, but it also needs to be simple to read and concise. It is often helpful to have someone else proofread your abstract to help ensure clarity. Description Many conferences also require a description of the session. Descriptions are usually longer than the abstract, but remember, you are not writing a comprehensive paper on the topic. This is still simply an overview of what you intend to present. The description should follow a logical sequence and provide enough information so that the conference reviewers have a clear idea of the content of your presentation. At this point, you may also be asked to provide objectives for your session. Objectives are typically written according to Bloom’s Taxonomy (bit.ly/BloomsTaxonomy). Bloom’s Taxonomy is a way of classifying education objectives, and helps to indicate the depth of information that will be covered. For example, “participants will identify three causes of pressure ulcers” indicates more of an overview than “participants will analyze the root causes of pressure ulcers using a case study.” “Yikes! I’ve been invited to present!” Congratulations—the conference organizers have agreed that your presentation would be of interest to participants. Now you need to prepare the workshop or session. It is a good idea to go back and review your submission so that your original intent is still clear in your mind. (It may have been several weeks since you submitted your abstract.) The good news is that the submission will form the basis of your presentation, so some of the work has already been completed. As you consider your material, remember that the time you have been allotted usually goes faster than you expect. Typically, when using PowerPoint, count on two or three minutes per slide. For a 60-minute presentation, that means you should aim to have no more than 30 slides. PowerPoint does have standard templates you can use to help ensure the slides are not too busy. Typically, five point-form statements per slide are reasonable. It is also important to engage the participants in the learning process. Interactive components in the session make it more interesting, and participants will tend to retain more. There are some techniques you could consider incorporating (see sidebar). Be sure to practise your presentation, preferably in front of someone else, prior to the session, so that you can adjust your timing and incorporate any feedback to improve the clarity of the presentation. This can be especially important when working with other presenters during the same session. Having a sense of each other’s presentations can help to ensure consistent content without becoming repetitive. The day of the presentation This may sound crazy, but it is important to wear something comfortable, including sensible shoes. If you are not comfortable, it is difficult to deliver a quality presentation. If you will be using a lapel mike, make sure you have a belt or a pocket where you can put the receiver, and an appropriate neckline where the mike can be clipped. Remove noisy jewellery or name badges that may flop around, as this may interfere with the sound quality. Go into the room where you will be presenting ahead of time and make sure that your slides are saved on the computer and that the audiovisual system is working the way you expect. Check that the slides you have prepared display correctly on the screen; some computers may cause the spacing to change so that information drops off the side. Many conferences have an AV technician on-site who can help you with any issues. Next, relax. The participants are coming to your session because it is of interest to them. They want you to do a good job presenting. One way to combat any nervousness you may be feeling is to pick one person in the audience, make eye contact and present a few points to them, then pick another member of the audience in a different part of the room and present a few points to them. Continue in this way until you reach the end of your presentation. With this technique, you are essentially having a conversation about your topic with individuals in the room, with everyone else listening. As you make eye contact around the room, it keeps your audience engaged. When the presentation is over, reflect on what went well and what you could do differently the next time, as this will help you improve your skills. Most importantly, though, celebrate! Presenting at a conference or workshop is an accomplishment. With practice, you will even find yourself eagerly awaiting the next opportunity to share your knowledge. Linda Norton, MscCH, Bsc OT, OT Reg (Ont), is the National Education Coordinator with Shoppers Home Health Care. Try these simple techniques Think, pair, share: The presenter asks a question, and has the participants think of the answer. Participants then partner with each other and share their answers to the question. This gets everyone engaged and talking. You may want to ask some of the attendees to share with the larger group. This technique is sometimes useful to break the ice and set the tone for the workshop—i.e., that sharing perspectives and asking questions is encouraged. Case studies: Providing a case study where appropriate, and having the participants break into small groups to work through the case study, empowers them to apply new learning or helps them identify gaps in their knowledge base. Voting: This can be as simple as asking a question and having participants raise their hands for the right answer. Another way is to provide each person with coloured strips of paper that correspond to each answer. They can then hold up the coloured strip that corresponds to the correct answer. This is a powerful way of getting a sense of the level of knowledge participants have about a topic so you can adjust your presentation. Know that some in the room may not vote, as they do not want to be wrong. To encourage everyone to vote, you might explain that even if they don’t know the answer, they should feel free to guess, as guessing— even guessing wrong—helps to solidify the learning. Question and answer: Having an open question and answer section helps to ensure that you have been clear in your presentation and that you cover any other issues of interest.