Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Correspondence: Inquiries to Margaret Tarpley, Associate in Surgery, Vanderbilt University, D-4314 Medical Center North, Nashville, TN 37232-2730; fax (615) 322-0689;
e-mail: Margaret.tarpley@vanderbilt.edu
Presented, in part, at Surgical Education Week, APDS Section, in Washington, DC,
April 13, 2007.
BACKGROUNDSTEMPLATES AND
MASTER SLIDE
When creating the presentation, many users uncritically choose
one of the numerous default templates available in PowerPoint,
which negates any layout decisions. These default templates
often distract, obscure, or compete, thus proving dangerous to
your presentation. The default font may not be sans serif, and
the font color and size may not always be read easily. Red type
on a blue background or vice versa is often difficult to read and
may not be visible at all to those with some color-blindness.
Why use a template if you must override defaults? Backgrounds
(eg, clouds in a sky) may have an uneven hue or distracting
design, which causes words to have varying contrast and poor
visibility. Numerous backgrounds are unattractive and inap-
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doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2007.10.004
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Place cursor on the slide (but not in a text box) and right-click.
In the dialog box that appears choose Background.
Background dialog box appears.
Click Omit background graphics from master.
Click Apply button not Apply to all if only the one slide is
involved.
To change individual slide background:
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PUBLIC-SPEAKING PRINCIPLES
Public-speaking essentials date back to the Greek orator Demosthenes in the 4th century BCE: know your audience, be prepared, be understandable, and hold their attention. Even 2500
years later, these 4 broad guidelines continue to underpin public presentations, both oral and electronic. Although speaking
in public raises anxiety levels for many, including experienced
professional speakers, this fear is normal. Being thoroughly prepared and practiced proves the best remedy.
1. Know Your Audience. The first principle might seem obvious
for the teacher of medical students or residents but more complex for someone invited to give a talk in a different city or even
to a nonmedical audience on the home campus. Even medical
groups are not homogeneous; primary care physicians, basic
researchers, and academic surgeons are distinct. The presenter
should ask several questions of the host: To whom will I address? Is everyone a professional? Will spouses or guests be
present? Are ages mixed? (Gory operating room shots or naked
torsos might need hiding in some venues).
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REFERENCES
1. Taylor D. Death by PowerPoint. Dev Med Child Neurol.
2007;49:395.