10-20-30 Science Presentation

May 26, 2009

I have seriously contemplated gouging my eyes out with knitting needles during a number of boring science presentations. I think we can do better. How about this as a place to start?


“You just have to subtract from 10 to know how much longer, I suck.”


“I can read faster than this bozo can speak.”

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    1. Luc
      May 26th, 2009 at 6:00 PM #

      I like the 10-20-30, although I never saw anybody following it in a scientific meeting, even myself.

      The main reason I get bored by a speaker is because he has too many slides and things to say, so the main point is lost. He makes a presentation to satisfy his ego by showing how much work he did, but he forgot the main purpose of a speak, to communicate with the audience and deliver a message.

      And honestly I never saw anyone using a 30 pt font in a presentation, even for the title. It’s already nice when the title fits in one line, especially in Structural Biology.

    2. Sean
      May 29th, 2009 at 6:40 PM #

      I also have never seen it used in a scientific meeting. I think it would be interesting to see it attempted by a number of presenters and see if the main point is better conveyed.

      I was discussing this with a colleague who brought up the need for presenting data that could not be done in 30 pt. font. My belief is that scientific presentations can still be done well without data such as the presentations at the TED conference (there is always Q&A).

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