Giving an Effective Seminar

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Giving an Effective Seminar
TYPES OF SEMINARS Although the type of seminar
will dictate its style, remember that everytime
you present before a group you are being
evaluated. Journal Club Progress
Report Lab., Vollum Friday Series Invited
seminar at university or biotechnology company
Job interview Public Speaking is an art that
is perfected by experience. It is an essential
skill for success in most professions including
academics. Whenever you give a talk, take it
seriously and put in the effort to make it good.
Success engenders confidence.
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General Pointers
1. Respect your audience. You are taking an hour
of their valuable time! 2. Prepare good quality
slides. Check speling! Not too much
information per slide. Cant see the trees for
the forest. Make slides attractive but not
showy - limit multiple colors.
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CaMKI Phosphorylates Ser516 in the Rac GEF ?PIX
Phosphorylation of ?PIX in neurons occurs in an
activity-dependent manner by CaMKK/CaMKI. Does
phosphorylation of ?PIX regulate its GEF activity?
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General Pointers
1. Respect your audience. You are taking an hour
of their valuable time! 2. Prepare good quality
slides. Check speling! Not too much
information per slide. Cant see the trees for
the forest. Make slides attractive but not
showy - limit multiple colors.
Make the font sufficiently large to read.
Use animation effectively.
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Hippocampal Neuron Development in Culture
Stage 2 neurons have multiple short dendrites
that extend and retract randomly. Suddenly, one
neurite exhibits rapid extension and becomes the
axon of a Stage 3 neuron.
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Stage 2 to Stage 3 Axon Formation
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General Pointers

• 1. Respect your audience. You are taking an hour
  of their valuable time!
• 2. Prepare good quality slides. Check speling!
• Not too much information per slide. Cant
  see the trees for the forest.
• Make slides attractive but not showy
  limit multiple colors.
• Make the font sufficiently large to read.
• Use animation effectively.

• 3. Turn off your cell phone.
• 4. Speak clearly and audibly.
• 5. Be confident but not cocky.
• If you are confident, the audience is more
  likely to believe your presentation.
• 6. Your opening lines set the tone and make the
  first impression.
• 7. Use eye contact move around if possible.

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General Pointers

• 8. Dont give a monotone presentation.
• Convey genuine enthusiasm for your own
  work. If you arent interest,
• why should they be?
• 9. Dont be a used car salesperson.
• Not every experiment you did deserves a
  Nobel Prize!
• 10. If someone in the audience has made a
  significant contribution,
• acknowledge it appropriately.
• 11. Use your pointer effectively dont wave it
  around on the slide.
• 12. Dont feel like you have to overwhelm them
  with every experiment you did.
• 13. Rehearse extensively, but dont have a canned
  (tape recorder) presentation.
• 14. Do NOT run over the allotted time. For an
  hour seminar, make sure your
• presentation does not exceed 45 min.
• If it is a job interview, leave an
  additional 5-10 min for future directions.

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Regulation of Spine Morphology by CaMKI/?PIX
Manipulations of CaMKI and ?PIX do not alter
spine head size but promote longer spines. What
do these manipulations do to spine density?
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General Pointers
16. It is OK to be nervous - usually goes away
quickly. Get a good nights sleep - use a
prescription if necessary. Request a
lectern. Steady your pointer against lectern,
your body or use two hands. Set up your computer
for your talk before the last minute. Have a
glass of water available. 17. Use transitions
between slides.
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CaMKK Inhibition Effects on Neuronal
Processes
Axonal Outgrowth (DIV2-3)
CaMKK Inhib.
Vehicle STO-609
Total Axonal Length (?m)
Con KKSI caKI Con KKSI
caKI
CaMKK/CaMKI regulate axonal but not basal
dendritic outgrowth. What about
activity-dependent dendritic arborization?
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Timing Attention Span
It is essential to capture their attention at the
very beginning. Present an interesting and
informative backdrop slide.
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Regulation of Neuronal Development by CaM-kinase
I
Tom Soderling Vollum Institute,
Portland Oregon
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Regulation of Neuronal Development by CaM-kinase I
Tom Soderling Vollum Institute,
Portland Oregon
CaM-Kinase I
Control
Stimulated
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Introduction

• Know your audience and tailor your introduction
  appropriately.
• Dont overestimate your audience. Better to
  shoot a little low.
• Dont insult the intelligence of your audience.
• Your Introduction needs to set the context of
  your work.
• Summarize the overall state of the field.
• What important gap does your work address?
• How will this knowledge advance the field -
  helps capture their attention.
• 3. Often it is effective to use a cartoon or
  model to summarize.
• 4. If your experimental section has multiple
  themes, give them a
• map of its organization. Probably should not
  address more than
• two major themes in a talk.
• 5. Some people like to give an overall summary at
  this point.

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CaM-Kinases in Neuronal Functions
Barria et al, Science, 1997 JBC 1997 Derkach et
al., PNAS, 1999 Nat. Neurosci, 2005 Atkins et
al., J Neurosci, 2004, 2005
Barria et al, Science, 1997 JBC 1997 Derkach et
al., PNAS, 1999 Nat. Neurosci, 2005 Atkins et
al., J Neurosci, 2004, 2005
Synaptic Plasticity
Ca2
Ca2
GluR1
CPEB
CaMKII
Ca2
CaM
Ca2
E.R.
Nucleus
Demonstrate roles for CaMKI in neuronal
development. Dendritic arborization via
CREB-dependent transription. Synapse
formation via a multiprotein signaling complex.
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Experimental Section

• Present your experimental results in a logical
  sequence.
• Each slide should be a logical extension of the
  previous one.
• Give more detail (e.g., controls) for the first
  set of experiments.
• Establishes you are thoughtful and careful.
• Subsequently, only show critical controls - have
  others prepared
• for the question period.
• Use conclusions/transitions between experiments.
• These results using dnCaMKI implicate its role
  in synapse formation, so
• we next determined which isoform is involved
  using RNAi.
• At the end of each major section, give a very
  short summary. Repetition
• of major conclusions is good - this is the
  take-home message.
• Dont try to overwhelm them with complex data.
  Only present what is
• necessary for the conclusions. Try to
  simplify when possible.

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CaMKI/Mek Dependent Dendritic Growth Requires CREB
Synaptic Activity
CaM KI?
MEK
Erk
What is the CREB-dependent target gene?
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Conclusions

• Make your conclusions concise - you have probably
  already stated
• them previously.
• Dont point out every minor nuance - it will only
  distract from the
• big picture.
• Reiterate how your work has advanced the field,
  but dont overstate it.
• State unresolved issues and your future
  directions.
• 5. Acknowledgements.
• 6. Thank the audience for their attention.
  Invite questions.

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Soderling Laboratory
Schmitt
Saneyoshi
Wayman
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Questions

• During your presentation. Do not encourage this
  unless informal.
• It disrupts your train of thought and continuity
  of your presentation.
• If it is highly pertinent, answer it briefly.
• If it can be deferred, state that it will be
  dealt with by subsequent data
• or ask the questioner to hold it for the
  question period.
• During the Question Period.
• Answer concisely without a filibuster.
• Try to anticipate questions and have slides
  prepared.
• If a questioner keeps asking follow-up questions,
  suggest that you
• talk after the seminar.
• If you dont know the answer, dont try to
  bluff it. Say something
• like, I appreciate that suggestion and will
  have to give it some more
• thought. Maybe we could talk after the
  seminar.
• Dont use false flattery by saying, That is a
  great question to