cleveland state university esc 720 research communications oral presentations dan simon

Cleveland State UniversityESC 720

Research Communications

Oral PresentationsDan Simon

Oral Presentations

1. Organizing a Presentation2. Dealing with Nervousness3. Presentation Tips4. Common Mistakes5. Responding to Questions

2Oral Presentations

1. Organization

• Title slide: Title, name, company, date, acknowledgments– Let your audience know what they are going to

hear and how it will help them– You are competing for your audience’s attention

• Outline and introduction• Body of presentation (sections)• Summary and conclusion

3Oral Presentations

1. Organization

Outline and introduction – your first impression• Create a favorable atmosphere

– Introduce yourself if your listeners don’t know you– Take your time introducing yourself– Confident but not overbearing

• Get the listeners’ attention (story, statistic, …)• Relate the subject to the listeners’ interests• Preview the main ideas in a clear, concise way

4Oral Presentations

1. Organization

Body of Presentation• Support your central idea (your thesis)• Maintain audience interest• Be accurate and organized – mistakes are

AMPILFLIED on a screen• Allocate your time carefully• Transition smoothly from one topic to the next

5Oral Presentations

1. Organization

Presentation and Conclusion• Better too short than too long – “less is more”• Conclusion

– Restate your central idea (your thesis)– Propose action, response, or future work– Invite discussion and questions; make sure that

you’ve allowed time for questions– References are optional

6Oral Presentations

1. Organization

• Repetition is needed to a certain extent“Tell your audience what you’re going to tell them, and then tell them, and then tell them what you’ve told them.”

• Repetition is needed to a certain extent

7Oral Presentations

1. Organization

• Number your slides• When giving a presentation to management

or supervisors, prepare handouts• Why is good organization more important in a

presentation than in a paper?

8Oral Presentations

1. Organization

• Number your slides• When giving a presentation to management

or supervisors, prepare handouts• Why is good organization more important in a

presentation than in a paper?– Audiences are often reluctant to ask questions– If your audience gets lost, they are gone for good

9Oral Presentations

1. Organization

Prepare handouts for your audience

But handouts could be misleading by themselves …

10Oral Presentations

In this example, six slides fit on each

page of the handout

1. Organization

• How many slides for a presentation?– Fewer is better; the audience should focus on you,

not on your slides– Between 30 and 60 seconds per slide

• But it depends on the content of the slide

• Use bullet points, not full sentences• Do not read your slides

Oral Presentations 11

Oral Presentations



2. NervousnessTop fears according to a Gallup Poll, Feb. 2001

12. Iatrophobia: Going to the doctor – 9%9. Brontophobia: Thunder and lightning – 11%9. Demophobia: Crowds – 11%9. Cynophobia: Dogs – 11%8. Aviophobia: Flying – 18%7. Musophobia: Mice – 20%


2. Nervousness

6. Aichmophobia: Needles and getting shots - 21%5. Arachnophobia: Spiders

Entomophobia: Insects4. Claustrophobia: Confined spaces – 34%3. Acrophobia: Heights – 36%2. Glossophobia: Public speaking – 40%1. Ophidiophobia: Snakes – 51%


27%

2. Nervousness

Why am I afraid of public speaking?


2. Nervousness

Why am I afraid of public speaking?• I may be judged by all those people• They won't like me• I might make mistakes and be humiliated• I’ll never be as good as ______ (fill in the blank)• They won't understand what I’m trying to say


2. NervousnessHow to handle nervousness


2. NervousnessHow to handle nervousness• Expect to be nervous• Have some water (or beer)• Your audience is probably not aware

of your nervousness • Nervousness energizes you• Your audience is there to learn• Distract yourself while waiting to

begin your talk• Be prepared


Oral Presentations



3. Presentation Tips

• Rehearse: Practice makes (almost) perfect• Use graphics liberally

– Use Color!– No page limit! (But plan for at least 30 sec/slide)– Keep your slides simple: “less is more”

• Maintain eye contact (convey credibility)• Use a pointer (laser or stick)



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Documentation• Software Requirements: 35%• Microcontroller System Requirements: 75%• Software Design Document: 10%• Software process management plan: 0%

– Schedule, change control, verification, etc.

3. Presentation Tips

• Use humor spontaneously and carefully• Ignore distractions Use visual aids if possible• Ask questions (maybe rhetorical) • Move around• Be energetic and passionate• Use interesting factoids, stories, and quotes

to spice up your presentation


Oral Presentations



4. Common Mistakes

• Reading your slides or notes (boring)• Talking at the screen• Slides are cluttered or wordy• Font is too small• Presentation is too short or too long

– Don’t cram too much material into your talk• Not enough time on each slide• Too much math, too many equations


4. Common Mistakes


Graphics are not suitable for presentation

4. Common Mistakes

• Speaking too softly• Speaking too fast or too slow• Blocking the screen• Not setting up ahead of time• Assuming that your PowerPoint slides will look

the same on every computer– Instead create a PDF


4. Common Mistakes

• Verbal tics: “you know, uh, I mean, like, …”– A thoughtful pause is better

• Physical distractions: jangling keys, tapping pencil, …

• Not being prepared for mishaps: projector or computer failure


Oral Presentations



5. Responding to Questions

• Make sure you understand the question• Don’t make up answers• Even if you don’t know the answer, still

address the question– Turn the question back to the audience– Don’t be afraid to postpone your answer– Suggest how to find the answer– Suggest further discussion after the meeting


Conclusion

• Be organized• Be interactive• Be interesting• Deal with your nervousness• Practice out loud, not just in your mind


Conclusion

How to Give a Bad Talk, by David Patterson and Mark Hill1. Thou shalt not be neat. Why waste your research time

preparing slides, worrying about spelling, and so on? 2. Thou shalt not waste space. Disk space is expensive. Cram as

much as possible onto each slide.3. Thou shalt not covet brevity. Use complete sentences, never

just key words. If possible, use whole paragraphs and read every word, because maybe the audience can’t read.

4. Thou shalt cover the screen. The suspense will add an aura of mystery to your presentation. Anyway, people should look at you, not at the screen!


Conclusion

How to Give a Bad Talk (continued)5. Thou shalt not write large. Be humble; use a small font.

Anyway, important people sit in front. Who cares about the riff-raff in the back?

6. Thou shalt not use color. Flagrant use of color indicates sloppy research. Serious reseach is not colorful. It's also discriminatory to emphasize some words over others.

7. Thou shalt not illustrate. It takes too much time to create graphics.

8. Thou shalt not make eye contact. Avert your eyes to show respect.


Conclusion

How to Give a Bad Talk (continued)9. Thou shalt not skip slides in a long talk. You prepared the

slides; people came for your whole talk; just talk faster. Skip your summary and conclusions if necessary. Or just go over your allotted time; after all, your talk is more important than the next person’s talk.

10.Thou shalt not practice. Why waste your time practicing a talk? It could take a full hour out of your two years of research. How can you appear spontaneous if you practice? If you do practice in front of others, argue with any suggestions that you get to establish your expertise.


Acknowledgments• Technical Communication, by Mike Markel (Chapter 21)• Pocket Book of Technical Writing, by Leo Finkelstein

(Chapter 17)• A Guide to Writing as an Engineer, by David Beer and David

McMurrey (Chapter 9)• www.aresearchguide.com/3tips.html• www.faceyourfearstoday.com/Top_10_Fears.html• http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~markhill/conference-talk.html


http://www.aresearchguide.com/3tips.html

http://www.faceyourfearstoday.com/Top_10_Fears.html

http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~markhill/conference-talk.html

cleveland state university esc 720 research communications oral presentations dan simon

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