old slides—download the pptx version on the same web site on technical presentations part 1...

OLD SLIDES—DOWNLOAD THE PPTX VERSION ON THE SAME WEB SITE

On Technical PresentationsPart 1

Douglas Wilhelm Harder

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

http://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~tppe000/University of Waterloo

April 19, 2023

Copyright © 2008-12 by Douglas Wilhelm Harder. Some rights reserved.

TPM Technical Presentation Milestone



On Technical Presentations

Outline

This two-session presentation covers:– Background

– The Milestone

– Bad presentations

– Aspects of a good presentation:• Interest and knowledge• Organization• Visual aids• Presentation skills• Responding to questions

– Consequences of failures

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Outline

This first session covers– Background

– The Milestone

– Bad presentations

– Two foundational aspects of a good presentation:• Interest and knowledge• Organization

– Homework assignment

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Background

Two primary means of technical communication:– Written reports

– Oral presentations

Each has its own distinctive characteristics– Time scale, references, feedback, ...

A speaker does not read a report– Each has strengths and weaknesses

– Focus on the strengths

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Background

A technical presentation– Informs

– Persuades

the audience on a particular technical topic

A technical presentation does not:– Sell/pitch

– Teach/lecture

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Background

There are many styles of presentations:– Memorized

– Read

– Slide-based

Each has advantages and disadvantages...

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Background

Memorized presentations:– Interactive and dynamic

– Enthusiasm

– Significant preparation

– Strong possibility for error

– Difficult for presenting technical data

Read presentations:– Accurate

– Less preparation

– Not very dynamic

– Poor for enthusing the audience

– Difficult for presenting technical datahttp://www.shaunchng.com/

http://www.nymag.com/

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Background

Slide-based presentations:– Good for presenting technical data

– Possibility for dynamics

– Less interaction than a memorized talk

– Smaller probability of error

– Requires more effort than a read talk

The de-facto standard for technical presentations

http://www.daylive.com/

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Background

UW has always had Co-op– We use employer feedback

We were told“Your students cannot give presentations...”

We introduced the Technical Presentation Milestone– A 12-15 minute slide-based presentation

– A following questions-and-answers session

– Two evaluators and a peer audience

http://www.uwaterloo.ca/

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The Technical Presentation Milestone

All 2B students are scheduled in a 3-hour session– TPM 1X000

Each 2B student will:– Bring a .ppt presentation on a USB key

– Bring two copies of the TPM Evaluation Form

– Be present for all presentations (2-3 hours)

– Ask at least one question of another presenter

Bring your own computer if you choose a different format– Your responsibility

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Information available at:http://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~tppe000/

This site includes:– Requirements and Evaluation

– Conduct

– Guidelines

– Example Talks

– FAQ

– Check List

– Schedule

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Grading is based on four aspects:– Organization

– Overheads

– Presentation

– Questions

Each is equally weighted

A pass is 75%

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Statistics:– Failures fluctuate between 2% and 25%

• Based on the attitude of the class—the evaluators don’t change

– Numerous students have ignored this milestone and were surprised when they were not enrolled in 4A (previously 3B)

– Question: How do they fail?

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The 10 Commendments

• The 10 Commendments for giving badly presentations by David PattersonComputer Science Division, University of California-

Berkeley I. Thou shalt not be neat

Why waste research time preparing slides? Ignore spelling, grammar and legibility. Who cares hat 50 people think?

II. Thou shalt not waste space

Transparencies are expensive. If you can save five slides in each of four talks per year, you save $7.00/year!

III. Thou shalt not covet brevity

Do you want to continue the stereotype that engineers can't write? Always use complete sentences, never just key words. If

possible, use whole paragraphs and read every word.

IV. Thou shalt not expose thy naked slides

You need the suspense! Overlays are too flashy.

V. Thou shalt not write large

Be humble: use a small font. Important people sit in front. Who cares about the riff-raff?

VI. Thou shalt not use color

Flagrant use of color indicates imprecise research. It's also unfair to emphasize some words over others.

VII. Thou shalt not illustrate

Confucius says “A picture equals a thousand words.”

Dijkstra says “Pictures are for weak minds.”

VIII. Thou shalt not make eye contact

You should avert eyes to show respect. Blocking screen can also add mystery.

IX. Thou shalt not skip slides in a long talk

You prepared the slides; people came for your whole talk; so just talk faster. Skip your summary and conclusions if necessary.

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The 10 Commendments

X. Thou shalt not practise

– This commendment is critical

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Aspects of a Good Presentation

It is easy to say what not to do during a presentation E.g., don’t read the screen

don’t play with your zippers

It is difficult to describe how to give a good presentation “How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct.”

Benjamin Disraeli .

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/

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Aspects of a Good Presentation

We will look at five aspects of a presentation:– Interest and knowledge

– Organization

– Visual aids

– Presentation skills

– Responding to questions

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Interest and Knowledge

We will begin with the fundamentals:– Interest and knowledge

– Organization

– Visual aids



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The prerequisites are interest and knowldege

“Nothing great has been accomplished without passion.” Georg Hegel 19th-century philosopher

You must be interested in your topic– Enthusiasm fuels enthusiasm—it is contagious

– Boredom is also contagious

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David ShankbonePhoto by Adam Jones adamjones.freeservers.com




Technical presentations require knowledge and expertise– Speaker must not present to the limit of their knowledge

– Requirements:• A general understanding of the broader scope• A solid understanding of the topic• A general understanding of relevant specific details

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Example: Wireless Local Area Networks standards– Must have a general knowledge of wireless and modulation

– Must have an in-depth knowledge of IEEE 802.11a, b, and g

– Must have a general understanding of modulation techniques• E.g., Direct-sequence spread spectrum

Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing

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Knowledge requires training and time– The TPPE gives you the training

– Co-op gives you the time

We do not expect masters theses– Use knowledge gained from previous co-op placements

– SE required work-term based presentations

– We allow you to talk on other technical interests

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Now we must organize our thoughts:– Interest and knowledge

– Organization

– Visual aids



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Organization

You are now:– Enthused

– Have a topic where you have expertise

Next, organize your thoughtsinto a coherent technicalpresentation

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Organization

Four aspects of organization:– Objective

– Structure

– Scalability, flow and persuasion

– Timing

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Organization: Objective

First you must determine the objective

To do this, you must understand your situation:– What is the objective and motivations of the presentation?

– Who is the audience?• What is the technical level of the audience?• What are the audience’s expectations?• What are your expectations of the audience?

– How much time do you have?

– Are there preconceived notions ormisinformation that must be clarify?

– What time of the day will it be?

Should I bring coffee?

Pedro Cardoso, “Stop Death By PowerPoint - Make Your Presentations "suck" Less”

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You should summarize the objective in one sentence

This focuses the talk:– Does x help me to reach my objective?

– Here x could be a slide, an image, a supporting argument

– If “no”, then save that gem for it for later

http://www.anniversaryrings.net/

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This talk has:– An audience of 2nd-year students

– Supporting material on the web

The objective of this talk is:To introduce technical presentations and the milestone and to give an overview of guidelines for a good technical presentation

This is actually two objectives but– I have two hours and a captive audience

– This is a lecture, not a technical presentation

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Organization: Structure

We have an objective

The structure counts:– The speaker has one opportunity to present

– The audience has one opportunity to observe

– There is no opportunity for reviewing relevant background

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The presentation must be appropriately framed– Requires an appropriate welcome and finish

The talk must start with a point of reference:– Introduction to the topic and speaker

– An brief overview

The talk must finish with a reinforcement:– A summary and conclusions

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This framework is supported by three slides:– A title slide

– An outline slide

– A summary and conclusions slide

All three are required for the TPPE

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The Title Slide contains:– A descriptive title

– The speaker’s name and affiliation

– Today’s date• Make the audience think

this not a repeat

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At this point:– Introduce yourself, your collaborators and your organization

– Give a one- or two-sentence summary

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The second slide is the Outline Slide– Easier to follow a journey with directions

– It provides a framework

– The audience can anticipate the flow

– Gives the audience familiarity

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The last slide contains your Summary and Conclusions:– Numerous ideas have been presented

– The speaker must now re-emphasize those which are most important

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You may have one final slide with:– The statement “Are there any questions?”

– Your references

– A memorable and relevant quote or image

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The Title, Outline, and Summary frame the presentation

The presentation interpolates these with– An introduction

– A body

– Conclusions

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The scope of each component may be summarized with:

– The introduction gives the background, big picture and topic

– The body focuses on the objective

– The conclusion reframes the presentation in the broader scope

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The introduction includes:– The title and outline slides

– The big picture: why is the audience here?

– Necessary background information

– The introduction of the topic

The introduction should be:– Memorized

– Free of new information and facts

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Background information should not be detailed

Give sufficient information for the audience to follow the presentation– Understand the level of your audience

– Assume they are intelligent

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E.g., consider presenting softwarewhich merges images– The wrong background: a discussion

of linear algebra

– The right background: an example

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Next, the body supports the objective

You will have a number of supporting ideas– Some ideas may support other ideas

Initially brainstorm these ideas– Write down all your ideas

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Group the ideas under 3-5 main points– Secondary points support main points

– Time permitting, tertiary points support secondary points

– Question whether outliers actually support the talk

All points should be mutually exclusive– The same aspect should not be discussed multiple times

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Next we must order the main points:– Chronologically

– Problem-Solution-Justification• Engineering analysis

– Problem-Reasoning-Solution• Engineering design

– Spatial

– Importance

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The main points of this presentation are chronological– Interest and knowledge are fundamental

– The thoughts must then be organized

– Creating the visual aids

– Give the presentation

– Respond to questions

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Finally, you’ve been presenting for 15 minutes

Your audience has thought of a lot of things– Various distractions

– Their vacation (or lack thereof)

– What they’re doing this weekend

– The next meeting

– All the small problems with your talk...

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It is now your responsibility to summarize and conclude– Tell them what they must remember

– Flag what you think is important

– These will be your last words in the presentation

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Other issues with respect to the structure include:– Scalability

– Flow

– Persuasion

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A good report is broken into sections– These are broken into sub-sections

– May be further broken into sub-sub-sections

A presentation should be similar– Main points should be supported by secondary points

– Secondary points may be supported by tertiary points

This allows scalability

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Scalable allows dynamic changes to the pace:

Example, a sequence of tertiary points may be– Glossed over if time is short

– Expanded upon if the audience is interested

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Consider grouping 20 points as follows:– Linear and binary groupings are awkward

– Easier to visualize groupings of 4-6 points

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As the number of points grows, scalability is critical

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The sequence of topics in a talk must flow:– Each idea must transition to the next

– The audience expects a logical flow

– A jump or discontinuity will confuse the audience

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All talks require persuasion or rhetoric– Three rhetorical appeals defined by Aristotle:

• Ethos• Pathos• Logos

– Logical appeals are the tool of the technical speaker:• A clear description of the situation, requirements and constraints• Your engineering analysis or design• The appropriate logical deductions

– Avoid fallacies• Begging the question• Red herrings• Ad hominen

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You are interested and prepared– You know:

• What you’re going to say• How you’re going to say it

– However, the main question is:• How much time do you have to say it in?

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Organization: Time

You are required to speak for 12-15 min

Timing is critical:– Your audience have their own schedules

– Executives are even less tolerant• they expect you to finish on time

– Don’t finish early• Everyone will ask “Is that it?”

You will fail for < 12:00 or ≥ 15:30

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Organization: Time

We will look at a number of aspects with respect to the timing of a presentation– Justification

– Planning

– Racing against the clock

– The timer

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Organization: Time

A nice story from a co-op placement:– A remote sales presentation was scheduled for 50 min

– Management left after 60 min

– After 80 min, only the co-op was left

The product was not purchased...

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Sharese Ann Frederick



Organization: Time

The three slide occupy 30-60 s each– This leaves 11-14 min

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Organization: Time

Timing should be planned as follows:– Introduction 15-25%

• Welcome and Outline minimal• Background 10-15%• Introduction of topic 5-10%

– Body 60-70%

– Conclusions 10-15%

– Questions left for after...

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Organization: Time

Ultimately, a presentation is a race against the clock– All enthused speakers love to talk

– Other factors affect time

– You can dynamically change the pace of your presentation if:

Your talk is scalable and you practiced

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Organization: Time

A timer counts down from 15:00 to 0:00

The clock is started when you begin talking

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Organization: Time

When the timer starts: TALK – As long as the light is green, keep talking

After 12 minutes: SUM-UP – 3 minutes left

After 15 minutes: STOP – Maximum 1 for organization

– Listen to the given advice!

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Organization: Time

If you talk for another 30 s:– The red light flashes

– The timer beeps

– You have failed

A bad talk cannot be saved in 30 s...

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Organization

We have seen how to organize a presentation through– Defining the objective

– Structuring the flow

– Scalability, flow and persuasion

– Timing the presentation

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Organization

You are now interested and organized– Interest and knowledge

– Organization

– Visual aids



Our theoretical foundation…

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Organization

The next session:– Interest and knowledge

– Organization

– Visual aids



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Homework

Your homework assignment for next week:– Come up with a topic– Determine your situation and objective– Determine and group your supporting points into 4-5 main points

• Main points should be mutually exclusive• Determine the order (consider transitions)

– Download the template technical presentation if you wish– Prepare five slides:

• Your title slide under the assumption you are giving this presentation in 2B• An outline slide which includes an overview of the 4-5 main points• An introduction slide where you brief the audience on your topic• A summary and conclusions slide• A slide of possible references (need not be complete)

– Submit your homework on UW Learn before the presentation of Part 2 of this pair of lectures on technical presentations

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Summary

In this presentation, we have seen:– Background

– The Milestone

– 10 Commandments of Bad Presentations

– Two foundational aspects of a good presentation:• Interest and knowledge• Organization

– Homework assignment

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Summary

The next session will:– Take-up of homework

– Consider those aspects which make a presentation out of interest and organization:

• Visual aids• Presentation skills• Responding to questions

– Consequences of failure

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Questions?

“How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct.”

Benjamin Disraeli

All references are listed onhttp://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~tppe000/http://ece.uwaterloo.ca/~dwharder/

TechnicalPresentations/

All unreferenced images are the work of the author

Some images are published under the GFDLhttp://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html

References

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old slides—download the pptx version on the same web site on technical presentations part 1...

Documents

technical presentations

web site slide

styles of presentations

pptx version

technical data http

technical data possibility

particular technical

session presentation