A succinct primer on delivering more effective medical presentations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a succinct 5-page article by Adin Nelson et al. in the Journal of Hospital Medicine for April 15, 2026 pages 946 to 950 (Volume 21, Number 8) titled Developing, designing, and delivering more effective research and didactic presentations: A primer and recommendations. Their advice applies to presentations in general, not just medical ones.

 

The article has sections titled:

 

Introduction

Learning Objectives

Explicit Organization

Slide Design

Accessibility

Public Speaking Skills

Next Steps

 

The second paragraph in their section on Learning Objectives begins by stating that:

 

“Objectives should be outcome‐focused and learner‐centered. Outcome‐focused means describing what will happen after and because of (not during) the presentation. Learner‐centered means describing what will happen to or for learners, rather than describing what the speaker will do.”

 

The third paragraph begins:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Bloom's Taxonomy [Ref. 5] and the SMART framework are two useful tools that can help ensure objectives are learner‐centered, actionable, and achievable. Bloom's Taxonomy is a set of suggested keywords to use in learning objectives. The words are all action verbs (e.g., ‘list’, ‘plan’, or ‘contrast’), so using one of them ensures that the learning objective is outcome‐focused. Additionally, Bloom's Taxonomy divides the verbs into six categories, [as shown above] which are ranked in order of increasing cognitive challenge from Remembering (e.g., Recall, List, etc.) to Creating (e.g., Design, Construct, etc.). SMART is an acronym for five characteristics of effective learning objectives. They should be Specific (not overly‐broad or vague), Measurable (possible to objectively determine whether or not a learner meets them), Achievable (able to be accomplished by the targeted learners), Relevant (appropriate to the learners' needs), and Time‐bound (planned to be accomplished within a predetermined period, not open‐ended).”  

 

The second paragraph in their section on Slide Design states that:

 

“The Assertion‐Evidence framework is a more effective alternative to slide design. It consists of four core tenets: (1) Each slide should contain one key point, and multiple points should be divided across multiple slides. (2) Each slide's key point is expressed in a single declarative sentence - the assertion - in place of the slide title. (3) The remainder of the slide is devoted to visual evidence (ideally a picture or diagram) demonstrating or reinforcing the key point (see Figure 1). (4) Supporting details, background explanations, and additional context go in the oral presentation, not on the slide.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I blogged about it back on February 19, 2014 in a detailed post titled Assertion-Evidence PowerPoint slides are a visual alternative to bullet point lists. An example is shown above from a post on August 20, 2023 titled Reading a fracture surface like a road map – fractography in failure analysis.

 

Their final section on Next Steps says:

 

“Learning to be a more effective presenter can seem intimidating, but as with any new skill, practice makes progress. In this article, we explain core concepts and key first steps for planning goals and objectives, designing slides, and optimizing your public speaking for clear and effective presentations. If adopting all of these recommendations at once feels overwhelming, pick one - maybe using assertion sentences in place of slide titles - and incorporate that into your next presentation. Then solicit feedback and continue to iterate. Making one small change at a time, every hospitalist can improve their teaching skills and become a master educator.”

 

 

Effective Scientific Presentations Across Formats - A Modern Guide for Science Trainees, Researchers, and Others

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a very detailed 17-page pdf article by Steven C. Grambow and Kevin P. Weinfurt at Advances in Social Science Research on September 19, 2024 (Volume 11, number 9, pages 42 to 55) titled Effective Scientific Presentations Across Formats: A Modern Guide for Science Trainees and Researchers.

 

The abstract says:

 

“This paper presents a comprehensive tutorial on delivering effective scientific presentations in the modern era, addressing a landscape altered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The shift to virtual and hybrid formats has fundamentally changed the norms of how scientific findings are shared, creating new challenges and opportunities for presenters.

 

Drawing from over a decade of experience teaching and refining presentation skills, we address a soft-skill gap in clinical and translational science training. The tutorial outlines four key topics: (1) identifying your scientific story, (2) using effective slide design, (3) presenting data, and (4) delivering your presentation. These lessons, developed through extensive seminars and individual coaching at various academic institutions, enable researchers to enhance communication and audience engagement across presentation formats.

 

Our approach, informed by cognitive processing and data visualization principles, has adapted to the new reality of virtual and hybrid presentations. This work contributes practical insights for optimizing presentation skills in this changed communication landscape. By offering actionable recommendations derived from real-world experience, this tutorial provides valuable guidance for science trainees, junior faculty, and established researchers across disciplines. It aims to equip readers with the necessary tools to deliver compelling scientific presentations in any format, advancing effective academic discourse in an era where virtual and hybrid presentations have become the norm.”

 

This article is useful for most presenters, not just scientists. There are four particularly useful figures that are shown by individual images:

 

Figure 1. Comparison of a Slide with More (top) versus Fewer (bottom) Words

 

Figure 2. Directing the Audience’s Attention Through Outlined Shapes or Highlighted Boxes

 

Figure 3. Elements of an Effective Presentation Palette

 

Figure 4. Presenting a Complex Figure in Steps to Support Your Storytelling

 

Back on January 7, 2019 I blogged about A good (but not great) article on how to give a scientific talk. And on February 19, 2014 I blogged about how Assertion-Evidence PowerPoint slides are a visual alternative to bullet point lists.

 

The 2013 image of Edward C. Stone came from Wikimedia Commons.

 

An xkcd cartoon shows a hilariously overloaded flag design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Randall Munroe’s xkcd comic for May 25, 2026 (which I colorized to yellow) has an awful flag design. Apparently all dozen ideas from the flag design committee were included. The worst is the bottom fringes that remind me of a for sale notice thumbtacked to an office bulletin board. The flag is analyzed at Explain xkcd. 

 

On May 14, 2016 I blogged about how Looking at flag design will change how you make PowerPoint slides. And on September 23, 2017 I posted about an example - A new, simpler, better flag for the city of Pocatello, Idaho. On June 30, 2020 I blogged about how Mississippi is going to change its state flag.

 

 

Watch out for different cultural styles!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a good, brief article by Maria Garaitonandia on pages 26 and 27 in the February 2026 issue of Toastmaster magazine titled Untangling cultural knots and subtitled How to turn misunderstandings into bridges between cultures. Also there is a 32-minute Toastmasters Podcast (on YouTube) with Bo Bennett titled #292 Untangling Cultural Knots to Create Mutual Connection – Maria Garaitonandia.

 

Maria talks about two different cultural types that focus on either relationships or tasks. She begins with an example of Mexican executive Pedro and his American colleague Owen in her second and third paragraphs:

 

“When an urgent matter needed Owen’s sign-off, Pedro hurried to his office, only to find him on the phone. Pedro peeked in, but Owen didn’t acknowledge him, so he walked in and interrupted Owen by signaling with his hand.

 

Taken aback, Owen interrupted his conversation and said to Pedro, ‘Can’t you see I’m on the phone?’ Pedro apologized and tried to explain, but Owen interrupted him and said, ‘When I’m finished, I’ll take care of it,’ and promptly turned his back on Pedro.”

 

Then Maria talks about cultures focused either on relationships or tasks. In cultures focused on relationships (like Brazil, Mexico or in the Middle East) trust and loyalty are the priorities. Communication is contextual and layered. Being attentive and available shows respect. In cultures focused on tasks (like Germany Switzerland or the United States) efficiency and results. Communication is direct, concise, and explicit. Following schedules and procedures shows respect. These differences are summarized above via my PowerPoint table based on her discussion. I think a similar table would have been a useful addition to the article, but could have been left out due to squeezing it into just two pages.

 

Of course, if we were doing a speech that table better would be a build with the following four PowerPoint slides – adding the new information in green and graying out the previous information:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does the design of slides for medical lectures follow the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course not! There is a very recent and serious article by Rajin Le Blanc and Nicola Cooper at Clinical Teaching on December 10, 2025 which is titled Investigating Death by PowerPoint: Do Medical Lecturers Adhere to the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning in Their Slide Design? They examined 52 lectures presented at the University of Nottingham. And they found that:

 

“Students were exposed to text‐heavy slides 84.4% of the time, an approach that CTML [Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning] shows impairs learning through violating the minimal text principle. In addition, the mean word count per slide was 38.2 – significantly more than the ‘few words’ suggested by the principle. Lecturers did however use images relatively frequently at 59.9% of the time.”

 

Counting its title, my slide example modified from Section 2.1 (and shown above) has 85 words, more than twice the 38.2 average.

 

There is another succinct four-page pdf article by Jacob B. Waxman and Sue J. Goldie from the Center for Health Decision Science at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health titled Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning. That theory is also described by Richard E. Mayer in the 2020 third edition of his book, Multimedia Learning.

 

8 presentation mistakes: how to avoid them and fix them

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a useful post by Naba Ahmed at the Prezi Blog on October 15, 2025 mistitled 8 presentation mistake: how to avoid them and fix them. Those mistakes are:

 

1]  Don’t read directly from your slides.

2]  Avoid overwhelming slides with text.

3]  Create a clear visual flow.

4]  Give your presentation a solid structure.

5]  Pace your speaking.

6]  Use confident body language.

7]  Learn to read audience cues.

8]  Don’t underprepare.

 

Regarding her first point, back on June 10, 2015 I blogged about Don’t annoy us by reading your PowerPoint slides.

 

The article also has advice on How to design slides that connect:

 

Guide the eye with visual hierarchy.

Use color and contrast with purpose.

Choose your fonts wisely.

Select powerful, relevant images.

Balance your visuals and text.

 

I blogged about balancing visuals and text in a post on February 19, 2014 titled Assertion-Evidence PowerPoint slides are a visual alternative to bullet point lists.

 

And the article has sections on how to Master Audience Engagement and to Perfect Your Delivery.

 

A star with eight points was adapted from one at OpenClipArt.

 

Give people a picture to teach them about health

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a brief and useful article by Pernilla Garmy in the Journal of Research in Nursing on October 23, 2025 titled Reaching beyond words: supporting self-care through visual health education. She says that:

 

“From my own experience as a nurse and educator, I know that there is no single educational format that works for all patients. Some people benefit from verbal dialogue, others prefer detailed written materials. But for many, visual aids are a crucial complement. Pictures can clarify, engage and motivate – especially when literacy is limited or when energy and focus are low due to illness, stress, or comorbidities.

The fact that this resource is printed – not digital – also matters. A physical object can be held, browsed at one’s own pace, and brought along to consultations. It does not require a smartphone, internet access, or digital skills; which may be barriers for some groups. At the same time, digital tools may be more effective in other contexts. The point is: healthcare professionals need a flexible set of educational tools, adapted to the needs, abilities, and preferences of each individual.”

 My PowerPoint cartoon was assembled from those of a nurse and a pain scale at OpenClipArt.  

 

 

Use ugly sketches to give a great presentation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an interesting 11-minute TEDx talk by Martin J. Eppler recorded on May 18, 2024 at TEDxDonauinsel and posted on December 31, 2024 titled Want to Give a Great Presentation? Use Ugly Sketches | Martin J. Eppler | TED. He said to:

 

Use provisional, unpolished images

Apply fitting visual metaphors [simple and concrete]

Vary your visuals

 

At 7:20 he has a monochrome cartoon image with visual metaphors (and captions at the right). My color PowerPoint version (with captions at the left) is shown above.

 

Martin also has a 32-page e-book from 2022 titled An Introduction to Visual Variation for Better Leading, Learning, and Living.

 

My PowerPoint slide used cartoon images of a bridge and car from OpenClipArt.  

 

What experts know that you don’t

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is a useful ten-minute YouTube video by Jim Cathcart on May 4, 2025 titled What Top 1% Experts Know That You Don’t. He shows a sketchy flipchart with Do (Doing) on the horizontal axis and Know (Knowing) on the vertical axis. And he mentions both can either be low or high.

 

We can divide things into a 2x2 table, which I have redrawn as a slick color version using PowerPoint, as is shown above. If both what you Know and what you Do is low, then you just are a Passenger (someone sitting in the back of the airplane). If what you Know is high but what you Do is low, then you are a Critic. If what you Know is low and what you Do is high, then now you are a Competitor. Finally, if both what you Know and what you Do is high, then you are a Leader (an Expert).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Furthermore, as shown above, there are six levels of expertise (in increasing order):

 

Competent

Excellent

Expert

Leading Authority

Celebrity

Star

 

 

Boil your strategy down to just one clear visualization

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the July-August 2025 issue of the Harvard Business Review, on pages 98 to 107, I found a useful ten-page article by Joao Cotter Salvado and Freek Vermeulen titled You Should Be Able to Boil Your Strategy Down to a Single Clear Visualization. It is referenced here, and an excellent graphic from it is shown here. The description for that graphic says that:

 

“Our research into the best way to communicate strategies reveals five key design principles, which can be seen in this visualization about the bank Capitec. It clearly illustrates the bank’s plan to build a network of accessible, user-friendly branches to deliver a value proposition of banking services that are simple, unintimidating, and affordable for low-income customers opening their first bank accounts.

 

1]  Group your ideas into three or four main concepts that form the base of your model.

 

2]  Within those concepts, add layers of detail that describe their concrete implications and how to implement the strategy.

 

3]  Use color and shading, but judiciously – only to distinguish layers.

 

4]  Indicate clear relationships among the elements – for instance, with connecting lines and arrows that delineate flows.  

 

5]  Make your framework easier for viewers to process by organizing it horizontally.

 

To read the full article you can look at the Business Source Premier database in EBSCOhost over at your friendly local public library. But you can also find a slightly different version in another article with the same title from June 24, 2025 by Joao Cotter Salvado.

 

Using histograms for visualizing statistics from playing a hundred games of solitaire

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It often is helpful to show the details of data rather than just a mean and standard deviation. Recently I played a hundred games of Solitaire to generate the game times shown above via a histogram (created using Excel with bins ten seconds wide). The mean time to complete a game is 221 seconds (3 minutes and 41 seconds), and the standard deviation is 31 seconds. But the range goes from 160 to 335 seconds. The distribution is roughly symmetrical, with three longer outliers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also kept track of the number of moves per game, as shown above via another histogram using a bin width of five. The mean is 133 moves, and the standard deviation is 13 moves. The range goes from 116 to 170 moves. The distribution is skewed positively (to the right) with two outliers.

 

Two very useful articles in the August 2025 issue of Toastmaster magazine on Five Tips for Depicting Data and Making Your Data Presentations Come to Life

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The August 2025 issue of Toastmaster magazine has two very useful articles. One by Florian Bay on pages 20 to 23 is titled 5 Tips for Depicting Data and subtitled How to use numbers and graphs to create a compelling story. His five headings are:

 

Be Clear on Your Purpose

Select the Right Visual

Remove the Clutter

Engage with Colors but Don’t Create Rainbows

Use Text to Guide Your Viewers

 

The first two line and column bar charts, at the bottom of Page 20 are missing a label for the vertical axis, which should be Number of UNESCO Sites. As shown above, I have added it in red.

 

Regarding pie charts, he says:

 

“Visualizing proportions? Then use a pie chart, but only if you’ve got two or three slices to share; any more than that and the proportions get hard to interpret. Stacked bar charts can also be useful.”

 

I don’t think pie charts ever are useful, as I discussed in a blog post on September 16, 2008 titled Pie charts do not speak clearly; they just mumble and one on July 29, 2022 titled Is there any excuse for using a pie chart?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And his example with Yearly Passengers in London Heathrow Airport 2005-2024 (shown above) has the numbers of years shown vertically rather than horizontally. My Excel version omits the bullseyes around the pandemic data and just shows numbers for all those data points. (On July 4, 2017 I blogged about Why is your audience tilting their heads sideways?)

 

The second article by Charlene Phua following on pages 24 and 25 is titled Make Your Data Presentations Come to Life and subtitled Avoid these 4 missteps to ensure your audience stays engaged. Her four headings are:

 

Including data that isn’t relevant to topic or audience

Having an inaccurate gauge of your audience’s understanding

Providing data with no context or comparison

Neglecting other aspects of your performance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For the third she uses the example of annual global carbon dioxide emissions. She didn’t mention a number, but in 2022 they are 38,521,997,860 tons. We can ask What’s in it for me? The global Population is  8,021,407,192 people so it is 4.802 tons per capita, or 9605 pounds. Per day it is 26.3 pounds, and converting that to a cube of dry ice, it is one 7.75 inches on a side, as shown above.

 

On December 23, 2024 I blogged about How should we present a huge number like the two billion dollars earned by the Taylor Swift Eras tour? And on July 12, 2016 I blogged about How to make statistics understandable. Also, on August 17, 2011 I posted on How to make a large number incomprehensible or comprehensible and on July 15, 2011 I blogged on What can we say about a really big hole in the ground?

 

 

A visit from the mythical Bar Chart Police could have improved the 2025 book Speak, Memorably: the art of captivating an audience

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been reading a 2025 book by Bill McGowan and Juliana Silva which is titled Speak, Memorably: the art of captivating an audience. It’s not awful, but it’s not great either. There is no index. On August 2, 2025 I posted about A bogus car story from the 2025 book Speak, Memorably.

 

On page 10 of that book they state that:

 

“….in the chapters that follow, we commissioned a survey by the Clarity Media Group of over one hundred people. The respondent pool was comprised of full and part-time employees between the ages of twenty-five and sixty-five.”

 

There are 31 horizontal bar charts shown in this book on pages 11, 15,21, 27, 36, 38, 55, 58,60, 71, 113, 114, 135, 139, 153, 155, 168, 183, two on 185, 194, 197, 199, 204, 214, 215, 226, 228, 229, 243, and 244. They are shown in monochrome, and only are 3.3” wide by 1.5” high. The percent is labeled at the center of the bar, and the description of the question is to the right of the bar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My slightly different Excel version of the chart on page 11 for Do You Consider Your Public Speaking Skills at Work Important? is shown above. But those bars are not presented in what should be their order, with the most significant and largest percentage placed at the top. My revised version also is shown above.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another example from page 168 about How Do You Determine What Your Audience Wants to Know? and a corrected version are shown above.

 

18 of 31 charts have this incorrect order, those on pages 11, 21, 27, 36, 113, 139, 153, 155, 168, 183, 185 bottom, 194, 199, 204, 214, 215, 228, and 229.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And as shown above, the chart on page 21 for How Often Do You Know with Certainty the First and Last Sentence of Each Slide? has silly labels from top to bottom of: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, and Frequently. That is opposite to what should be: Frequently, Sometimes Rarely, Never. They used the same sequence on pages 27, 113, 139, 155, 199, and 215. Also the chart on page 194 has Never, Seldom, Occasionally, Frequently.

 

Back on September 6, 2022 I blogged that we should Beware of surveys with small sample sizes, which have large margins of error. There is a Wikipedia page about Margin of error. For a typical national survey with a sample size of 1,000 the margin of error is 3.1%. For a sample size of 100 the margin of error instead  is 9.8% (as is shown above in my revised version for page 11).

 

Is the difference between the largest percentage and the second largest percentage twice the margin of error (or 20%)? That only is true for ten charts, those on pages 36, 55, 58, 71, 135, 139, 168, 183, 185 top, and 215. Not the other 21 charts!

 

I first mentioned the mythical Bar Chart Police (and showed a version of their badge) in a post on November 3, 2023 titled Five of six British age groups are more confident about public speaking after COVID.

 

A humorous YouTube video from Don McMillan about Venn Diagrams

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back on December 10, 2013 I blogged about Communicating ideas using Venn diagrams and other simple graphics. In another blog post on February 28, 2015 titled Don’t make things any more complicated than necessary I discussed Simon Sinek’s use of a bullseye (concentric circles) Venn diagram.

 

There is a humorous five-minute YouTube video by Don McMillan Comedy on July 8, 2025 titled Venn Diagrams About Venn Diagrams.

 

At 0:30 he explains that diagrams are overlapping circles with different colors (as shown above).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 2:05 he explains that a comedian has to be funny, socially challenged, and not afraid of public speaking (as shown above).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 2:50 he explains that a motivational speaker has to be funny, not socially challenged, and not afraid of public speaking (as shown above). Unlike a comedian you will tell people how they should live their lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 3:00 he explains that a mime has to be funny, socially challenged, and afraid of public speaking (as shown above).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At 3:10 he explains that Elon Musk is not funny, socially challenged, and not afraid of public speaking (as shown above).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He has another seven-minute YouTube video titled The Career Venn Diagram – Comedy in Place (E61) which at 1:25 has six circle diagram (as shown above) with Math Skills, Problem Solving, People Skills, Drinking, Heartless, and OCD.

 

 

Quit pissing around and fix your presentation slides

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

There is a brief but excellent article by Michael Leveridge at the Canadian Urologic Association Journal for April 2025 (Volume 19, Number 4, pages 78 and 79) titled This is a busy slide: Fix your presentations this year. He has the following advice:

 

Cognitive Load

 

“Your presentation imparts a ‘load’ on the audience member. All of the information piles into working memory for processing, and only if connections are made will schemata form and encode into long-term memory.

 

The intrinsic load is the complexity or difficulty of the material. It varies between recipients, as those already expert can process complex concepts more easily than novices. There’s not much you can do in the moment to change the complexity or the audience’s knowledge base, but you can think ahead about each.

 

The extrinsic load is everything about the speech and visuals that is not relevant to understanding the material. It is the mental effort required in deciphering redundant text, linking words and visuals, or parsing dense graphics: a marginally relevant image, the static of hearing words being read as you try to read them, irrelevant lines on that table, the back-and-forth to align the figure legend with the curves. These fall under the research-backed principles like coherence, redundancy, and spatial contiguity, and these names suggest the solutions (Ref. 2).

 

Cut the superfluous text and visuals, even if interesting. Signal to the relevant points on the tables and visuals. Bring like elements together on the slide to decrease the work of linking them. Graphic design principles – alignment, repetition and proximity – are the tools of facilitating understanding by removing clutter. Again, a sweep to declutter and intentionally arrange your slide deck is a quick and powerful thing.”

 

My cartoon was adapted from this one at Wikimedia Commons.