RickInOz

Being a doctor requires more than knowledge and practical ability. Increasingly communication skills have become crucial. This does not simply mean being able to provide explanations to relatives, but also being able to present information to colleagues in a coherent format.

I’ve noticed that many doctors are highly competent on the “shopfloor” yet, put them in a room with their colleagues, turn into jibbeing wrecks. This may sound surprising, but is actually quite common. I’m sure these unfortunate individuals are not unique to medicine, and there are a number of people different professions unable to talk in front of their peers.

The most obvious manifestation of this at work is the quality of PowerPoint presentations. On the whole the standard is good but people forget the most important tenet of audio-visual material, which is that slides should support what you have to say, not replace it.

Common mistake #1

If you put too much text on your slides, people either end up reading it or lose interest. Either way they stop listening. Worse still is if the presenter simply reads the text on the slide, as this makes the presenter completely redundant.

Common mistake #2

You might think your favourite font looks funky, but if it is unreadable on a large screen you might as well have not produced the slides.

Common mistake #3

Putting coloured text against a coloured background only works if there is a significant difference in tone and hue between the two. Many projectors lack resolution and contrast so slides lose definition if colours are not considered properly.

Common mistake #4

Put too much clutter on slides and the message can get lost. Images should support text and not overshadow it.

I know there are a hundred and one other flaws, many of which I am probably guilty of, but the above are the ones that stand out the most for me. This is mostly because it is almost agony having to sit through a poorly executed presentation. The desire to offer constructive criticism is strong, but I tend to keep my opinions to myself, as what bugs me may not bother the rest of the audience.

However, I still stick to the principle that you should still be able to deliver you presentation even if the projector fails and, as such, the slides should augment what you have to say, not steal the thunder.