I'm presenting to an audience of analytical chemists, but talking about soil chemistry concepts that use analytical chemistry methods to characterize soil organic matter. Do I need to start with big picture and work my way down to the chemistry? Or just hop right into the mass spec methods because that's what they really want to hear?
The most common cause of serious analytical errors, erroneous assumptions of output, faulty research methodology and ultimately erroneous results and conclusions, is insufficient knowledge of the object of analysis.
So, in my opinion, you should start with a solid foundation of soil chemistry issues, and even soil science.
You can formulate prerequisite knowledge in the first slide and then from the short dialog with the audience select you strategy of you lecture, e.g. to make some basic introduction(you should have hidden slides for this case) or to go directly to the massspec.
The short answer: Maybe 20 % of your presentation time for the big picture, 70 % for the new and cool stuff and 10 % for the Q&A part. // The long answer: always tailor your presentation to the expected audience - and its rare that the whole audience consists 100 % of experts in the field, so its always a good idea to give a short overview of the "big picture". Reserve more time for the "big picture" and introduction section, if you expect a diverse audience from many different fields or a younger audience with limited expertise in a certain topic.
Mallory, I would practice my intro (i.e. first five sentences or so to get the presentation started) and the transitions between different parts upfront - if you do not feel comfortable with the transitions yourself it is very easy to lose a lot of time, especially if you are addressing very different aspects.
Also, if your audience is analytical chemists then do not waste any time on explaining analytical chemistry or mass spec basics to them - I have seen that happening a lot, and it is a sure way to lose your audience. They will appreciate your soil chemistry more as it will be new to them, as long as you motivate why you are telling them, and find a smooth transitions into the mass spec results.
Good luck!
Definitely the big picture first. A chemist needs to know what exactly you are doing and how (which analytical technique) you are using, and whether any one technique is better thatn others. Then try to include international standards and internal standards and calculate your errors, which then could be applied to the analytical process
- Badges
- Science method
- Similar topics
- Chemistry
- General Biochemistry
- Biochemical Techniques
- Analytical Chemistry