CIS 400 Senior Design Fall 2013

Insup Lee Computer and Information Science

lee@cis.upenn.edu

Tips to be Covered

n  Outlines n  General Guidelines n  Making Power Point Slides

n  Slide Structure n  Fonts n  Color n  Background n  Graphs n  Spelling and Grammar n  Conclusions

n  Questions

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Outline

n  Make your 1st or 2nd slide an outline of your presentation n  Ex: previous slide

n  Follow the order of your outline for the rest of the presentation

n  Only place main points on the outline slide n  Ex: Use the titles of each slide as main points

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General principles

n  Meet listener needs n  Use the medium appropriately n  Use visuals to support your presentation, not

take it over n  Practice!

Failure to meet listener needs

n  Intro has taken three minutes! Get to the point! (What IS your point?)

n  Can’t tell where you’re going! n  Try to show a little enthusiasm! n  You dropped us at the end! Ask for questions! n  You didn’t really practice, did you?!

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Presentation style distracts!

n  You’re dancing. n  You’re frozen. n  You’re staring at me. n  You never look at me. n  All your sentences are questions? n  The screen has your undivided attention.

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MAKING POWERPOINT SLIDES

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Bad Slides

Slide Structure – Good

n  Use 1-2 slides per minute of your presentation

n  Write in point form, not complete sentences n  Include 4-5 points per slide n  Avoid wordiness: use key words and phrases

only

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Slide Structure - Bad

n  This page contains too many words for a presentation slide. It is not written in point form, making it difficult both for your audience to read and for you to present each point. Although there are exactly the same number of points on this slide as the previous slide, it looks much more complicated. In short, your audience will spend too much time trying to read this paragraph instead of listening to you.

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Slide Structure – Good

n  Show one point at a time: n  Will help audience concentrate on what you are

saying n  Will prevent audience from reading ahead n  Will help you keep your presentation focused

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Slide Structure - Bad

n  Do not use distracting animation

n  Do not go overboard with the animation

n  Be consistent with the animation that you use

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Arduino - Bad

n  Arduino is an open-source single-board microcontroller, descendant of the open-source Wiring platform designed to make the process of using electronics in multidisciplinary projects more accessible.

n  The hardware consists of a simple open hardware design for the Arduino board with an Amtel AVR processor and on-board input/output support. The software consists of a standard programming language compiler and the boot loader that runs on the board.

n  Arduino hardware is programmed using a Wiring-based language (syntax and libraries), similar to C++with some slight simplifications and modifications, and a Processing-based integrated development environment.

n  Current versions can be purchased pre-assembled; hardware design information is available for those who would like to assemble an Arduino by hand. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino

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Why Arduino?

n  Single-board microcontroller n  Simple hardware and software

n  Questions: n  Powerful enough? n  Robust in this application?

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Fonts - Good

n  Use at least an 18-point font n  Use different size fonts for main points and

secondary points n  this font is 24-point, the main point font is 28-point,

and the title font is 36-point n  Use a standard font like Times New Roman

or Arial

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Fonts - Bad

n  If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written

n  CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. IT IS DIFFICULT TO READ

n  Don’t use a complicated font

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Colour - Good

n  Use a color of font that contrasts sharply with the background n  Ex: blue font on white background

n  Use color to reinforce the logic of your structure n  Ex: light blue title and dark blue text

n  Use color to emphasize a point n  But only use this occasionally

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Color - Bad

n  Using a font color that does not contrast with the background color is hard to read

n  Using color for decoration is distracting and annoying.

n  Using a different color for each point is unnecessary n  Using a different color for secondary points is also

unnecessary n  Trying to be creative can also be bad

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Background - Good

n  Use backgrounds such as this one that are attractive but simple

n  Use backgrounds which are light

n  Use the same background consistently throughout your presentation

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Background – Bad

n  Avoid backgrounds that are distracting or difficult to read from

n  Always be consistent with the background that you use

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Graphs - Good

n  Use graphs rather than just charts and words n  Data in graphs is easier to comprehend & retain

than is raw data n  Trends are easier to visualize in graph form

n  Always title your graphs

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Graphs - Bad

January February March AprilBlue Balls 20.4 27.4 90 20.4Red Balls 30.6 38.6 34.6 31.6

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Graphs - Good

Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002

0102030405060708090

100

January February March April

Blue BallsRed Balls

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Graphs - Bad

20.4

27.4

90

20.4

30.6

38.634.6

31.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

January February March April

Blue Balls

Red Balls

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Graphs - Bad

n  Minor gridlines are unnecessary n  Font is too small n  Colors are illogical n  Title is missing n  Shading is distracting

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Images: Be sure to indicate scale.

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Photo by Mark Fickett Posted on Wikimedia Commons 13 Jun 2012

Spelling and Grammar

n  Proof your slides for: n  speling mistakes n  the use of of repeated words n  grammatical errors you might have make

n  If English is not your first language, please have someone else check your presentation!

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Conclusion

n  Use an effective and strong closing n  Your audience is likely to remember your last

words

n  Use a conclusion slide to: n  Summarize the main points of your presentation n  Suggest future avenues of research

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Final points for slide presentations

n  Add Penn or Penn Engineering logo n  Begin clearly; end clearly n  Number slides n  Include words that you have trouble pronouncing n  Include a guide showing where you are in the

talk n  Have a backup plan (Handouts? Chalkboard?) n  Be prepared for questions (practice!)

n  Prepare answers n  Prepare slides 12/7/13 28

Acknowledgements

n  Slides were from n  “Oral Presentation Guidelines” by Mary Westervelt n  "PowerPoint Tips“ from International Association

of Science and Technology for Development

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Questions??

n  End your presentation with a simple question slide to: n  Invite your audience to ask questions n  Provide a visual aid during question period n  Avoid ending a presentation abruptly

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