Mastering Presentation Skills: Effective Strategies from Research Papers

1. How to Give a Good Presentation? Cliff C. Zou CAP6135 01/08/09

2. Outline • How to Read a Research Paper • Prepare Presentation Slides • Give a Presentation • Follow up • Online Resource

3. How to Read a Research Paper • Find papers in high-quality conferences/journals • There are too many conferences/workshops!! • Security research conferences: • IEEE Security & Privacy, ACM CCS, Usenix Security • NDSS, RAID, ACSAC, SecureCom… • Conference papers are grouped into sections according to topics • Security research journals: • ACM Transactions on Information and System Security • IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing • IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security

4. How to Read a Research Paper • Glance through abstracts to find interesting ones • Read introduction and one more section to get the big picture • Understand the novel idea(s) provided by a paper • Read “related work” and glance over several related papers if not familiar with the topic • Read the whole paper if the paper is worth it

5. How to Read a Research Paper • Ask questions actively when reading: • What is the novel idea(s)? • Can I do this research, too? • Some research are not doable by yourself • E.g., require specific hardware, software, data • A bit frustrating , but keep you motivated • What are the weaknesses of the paper? • Which point(s) can I do further research on? • Important to conduct your own research

6. Outline • How to Read a Research Paper • Prepare Presentation Slides • Give a Presentation • Follow up • Online Resource

7. Prepare Presentation Slides • Create examples/figures/animations to explain • May not in paper, create by yourself • Animations or step-by-step figures are best in explaining a system, architecture, algorithm • Not in paper, must be done by yourself • Do not only put words in slides • Boring, too abstract

8. Prepare Presentation Slides • Be focused • Success if you pass ONE single central idea of a paper • Audience cannot understand everything in 30 minutes! • If you cannot explain a point clearly, skip it • Some ideas/algorithms are complicated to explain • Only use a sentence to say the name, and results • In most case, a complicated idea is not the novel point of a paper • Not too colorful Powerpoint template • Readable text: big font, clear color • e.g., no green/yellow text on white background • Readable figures • A project usually has fewer color, smaller resolution than a computer screen!

9. Prepare Presentation Slides • Concise, self-explanation text • Not too abstract, contain concrete information • No need for complete sentences • Some people prefer to read slides than listen! • Good acknowledgement • For others’ papers, put author names, publication place, time in the first page • Then, “presented by: your name” • Copying others’ slides must have acknowledgement

10. Outline • How to Read a Research Paper • Prepare Presentation Slides • Give a Presentation • Follow up • Online Resource

11. Give a Presentation • Dry run before presentation • Test timing • Get familiar (bad impression if you do not know what you talk!!) • Remember important words to say, be concise • But do not recite every word in speech! • Monotone, no personal attachment to what you say • Especially important to non-English speaker • Less grammar error, fluent, clear and concise • Intense dry run for important presentation • Write down talk notes for each page and remember them • Video tape yourself: body language, wasted words (tag) • Ask friends to listen your dry run, get feedback

12. Give a Presentation • Speak loud • Force you to speak slow, looks confident • Force you to remove murmur, be clear & concise • Most murmur are wasted words, not confident words • Audience cannot hear your murmur • Emphasize • Pause after an important point • Even slower, louder on important point • Do not read slides • Slides are for audience to read

13. Give a Presentation • Figures • Need to explain X/Y-axis; Don’t rush • Timing • Pay attention to time (put a clear clock in front) • Prepare to jump slides for timing • Don’t be frustrated for questions or your mistakes • Be friendly, confident • Your mood affects audience’s mood!

14. Outline • How to Read a Research Paper • Prepare Presentation Slides • Give a Presentation • Follow up • Online Resource

15. Follow Up • In job interview, always send “thank-you” notes to interviewers • A brief email is good • Online tutorial: google “thank-you notes” • Thank, acknowledgement • Explain unanswered questions • Provide paper, reference information promised by you • For this class, send your ppt file to me!

16. Online Resource • How To Give A Great Presentation • http://www.to-done.com/2005/07/how-to-give-a-great-presentation/ • Presentation Skills • http://lorien.ncl.ac.uk/ming/dept/Tips/present/present.htm • Advice on Research and Writing • http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/mleone/web/how-to.html • Western New England Editorial Freelancers' Network • http://www.editorsplus.com/members.html • For copyediting your thesis, paper • Best writing guideline book: • The Elements of Style by William Strunk • Google: “resume”, “job hunting”,“give presentation”, … • You can find tutorials, samples for any topics through web search