CMSC 304 Giving Effective Presentations

1. CMSC 304Giving Effective Presentations Professor Marie desJardinsApril 16, 2013 CMSC 304 - Presentations

2. Outline • Four rules for all presentations • General guidelines for preparing talks • Paper presentation guidelines for this class CMSC 304 - Presentations

3. Rule # 1 • Know what on earth you’re doing up there! • Rule #2: Know what you want to say • Rule #3: Know your audience • Rule #4: Know how long you have CMSC 304 - Presentations

4. Your audience wants to hear what your topic is, what your main point is, what you learned that was interesting, and why they should care You should give enough detail to get your interesting ideas and observations across, but not enough to lose your audience Examples are very useful to illustrate your points Whatever you do, don’t just read your slides! Rule #2: Know What You Want to Say CMSC 304 - Presentations

5. Depending on youraudience, you might beable to assume some background – or not Depending on the venue,you may need to focus on different aspects of your work The most important thing is to emphasize, in a way that they will understand and relate to, what your findings are , what your evidence is, and why they(this particular audience) should care! Rule #3: Know Your Audience CMSC 304 - Presentations

6. How long is the talk? Are questions included? A good heuristic is a minute or so per slide ...but it depends a lot on the content of those slides! If you have too many slides, you’ll skip some or—worse—rush desperately to finish. Avoid this temptation!! Almost by definition, you never have time to say everything about your topic, so don’t worry about skipping some things! Unless you’re very experienced giving talks, you should practice your timing Rule #4: Know How Long You Have CMSC 304 - Presentations

7. Slideology 101 • Don’t just read your slides! • Use the minimum amount of text necessary • Use examples and visuals (images, graphs, diagrams) • Use a readable, simple, yet elegant format • Use color to emphasize important points, but avoidtheexcessiveuseofcolor • “Hiding” bullets like this is annoying (but sometimes effective), but… • Don’t fidget, and… • Don’t just read your slides! Abuse of animation is a cardinal sin! CMSC 304 - Presentations

8. How to Give a Bad TalkAdvice from Dave Patterson, summarized by Mark Hill • Thou shalt not be neat • Thou shalt not waste space • Thou shalt not covet brevity • Thou shalt cover thy naked slides • Thou shalt not write large • Thou shalt not use color • Thou shalt not illustrate • Thou shalt not make eye contact • Thou shalt not skip slides in a long talk • Thou shalt not practice CMSC 304 - Presentations

9. CMSC 304 Paper Presentations • Content: You should provide a well organized presentation of the area that you studied: • What is the topic area? • What are the main ethical questions? • What is your overall conclusion? • What is the evidence and support for this conclusion? • You should include all of the main steps of the ethical analysis framework somewhere in your presentation • Timing: You should aim for an 8-minute presentation • This works out to (roughly) 8-10 slides • (but it depends on how detailed your slides are) • I will cut you off if you go too long! • There will be a few minutes after each talk for questions CMSC 304 - Presentations

10. Paper Presentations • Audience: Your audience consists of your fellow students. (I don’t count.) • If you selected a topic that we discussed in class this semester, they’ll all have some background • If you’ve selected a different topic, they may know little or nothing about the area CMSC 304 - Presentations

11. Giving the Presentation • You may use your own laptop or put the presentation on my laptop or Alec’s • You should arrive early the day of your presentation to test your laptop and/or transfer the presentation • Draft slides can optionally be sent to me for review, if you want feedback beforehand • I will only promise to review and comment on draft slides if they are sent at least 24 hours before your presentation! • Practice your presentation, even if it’s just to yourself, to make sure your timing is correct CMSC 304 - Presentations

12. Audience Participation • All students are expected to attend all of the presentations • Everyone should ask a question or make a comment at least once per day (except for the day you’re presenting) • At the end of each class (except for the day you’re presenting), I’ll ask you to turn in a short observation report • You should list three new things that you learned or aspects of the presentations that day that you found interesting. (This doesn’t have to be an essay, but it should be a sentence or two that is grammatically correct and complete.) • You may also include comments or thoughts about the effectiveness of the presentations (things that you thought worked or didn’t work). (I won’t share these with the other students, though I may work them into my own feedback if I agree with your comments) CMSC 304 - Presentations

13. Grading and Feedback • I’ll use a review form (which I’ll post in advance) to rate your presentation on various aspects • I will also typically provide some written feedback (comments) • Your grade will be based on: • Your level of preparation • The clarity of your presentation • The timing of your presentation CMSC 304 - Presentations