How to Optimize Images for Oral Presentations
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How to Optimize Images for Oral Presentations Tim Miller There is perhaps no more common tool used in the communication of materials research findings than the data graphic. Ranging from simple x-y plots to the hugely complex three-dimensional visualizations used in the biological sciences, data graphics have the capacity to convey volumes of numerical and spatial information in an incredibly concise format. The use of figures is nearly ubiquitous throughout the sciences, and we see them appear in articles, posters, and live presentations. Yet while researchers go to great lengths to obtain and interpret the information contained within these images, too few spend the time to carefully consider how that information is displayed. In order for data to have an impact on a viewer, it must not only be scientifically accurate, it must also be presented in a manner the viewer can comprehend, and which is appropriate to the medium in which it will be viewed. More often than not, the figures we see in live presentations are precisely the same figures that appeared (or will appear) in publication. In this article, I offer some simple tips on designing figures specifically for projected display during talks and lectures. The figures presented here are also available in powerpoint on the MRS Bulletin Web site (www.mrs. org/bulletinMar10) to view on screen.
Figure 1
Consider the Color Scheme
Perhaps the most obvious difference between figures designed for printing and those designed for projection is the color of the background (see Figure 1). We generally draw figures for publication with black (or colored) data, titles, and axes over a white background. This is appropriate for printing, because on paper, empty space is white (if you turn the printer off, you get a white page). Yet in projection, empty space is black (if you turn the projector off, you get a black screen). Thus the clearest projected image is one where the information is drawn in white (or in color) and the background is left black. This scheme is not only less tiring on the eye of the viewer, it also allows the speaker to move physically inside the projected area, without casting a shadow of his body on the screen or blinding himself with the light from the projector.
Figure 2
Avoid the Small Multiple
Another common practice in figures designed for printing is the use of the socalled “small multiple,” a series of several
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Figure 3
MRS BULLETIN • VOLUME 35 • MARCH 2010 • www.mrs.org/bulletin
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figures in an array (see Figure 2). This technique is extremely useful for published figures, as it encourages clear comparison between a large number of different data series. Yet it is the high resolution of the printed page, combined with the fact that the reader has an unlimited amount of time to cross-reference one figure to the next that makes these comparisons possible. When images are projected, the resolution is far lower, and the viewer can only consume the information for as long as the speaker chooses to display it. Thus, small multipl
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