Electrical Engineering Department, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Technical Presentations

Electrical Engineering Department, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Technical Presentations


How to Give a Technical Talk

• Preparing your talk– Who is your audience – What is your purpose– Write out your speech– Practice your presentation


Technical presentation

• Lecture = presentation ?


Technical talk

• Delivering your talk– Consider the elements of delivery– Help the audience to interact– Be ready for questions

• Evaluate your efforts and improve


Audience & purpose

• Who is the audience– Background (education)– Experience level– Category (fellow students, supervisor)

• Consider your purpose– Write out your report– Have one main theme to a speech


Write your speech• Begin with an outline

– Introduction – statement of presentation– Major sections – support for argument – Conclusion – restatement of objectives

• Write out each point in body of text• Consider visual aids you will use

– Reserve time for your visual aids (for example playing a video)

• Write out introduction and conclusion


Outline of speech

• Introduction– State objectives– Create friendly atmosphere– Interest the audience – Announce plan of development


• Body– Offer technical support for presentation– Use simple visual aids to add interest– Provide intelligent repetition of topic and

subtopics

• Conclusion– Restate objectives– Give a call for action or an upbeat comment


Rule of three• People often need to encounter something

at least three times before it starts to sink in:– Tell them what you are going to tell them– Tell them – Tell them what you told them– In a lecture, this is the case– But you can’t do this in your project

presentation, why?


Visual aids

• We learn:– 1% through taste– 1.5% through touch– 3.5% through smell– 11% through hearing– 83% through sight

• We retain:– 10% what we read– 20% of what we hear– 30% of what we see– 50% of what we see

and hear

Visual aids will help !!!


Visual aids

• Nowaday, power point is common visual aid for presentation

• But there are others– Slides– Overheads– Flip charts and posters– Black and white boards


Practicing your delivery

• Reading directly from manuscript (try not to!)

• Be natural – speaking not reading– Read your speech many times– Practice without reading until it is natural (tape

your speech and listen to it)– Write outline, figures, quotes on an index card– Number your slides to match the topics on

your outline


Practice

• Talking from overheads:– Use the slides as your index cards– Don’t read but paraphase

• No pain, no gain (your need to more “real” presentation to obtain good results)


Delivering your talk

• Consider the elements of delivery– Voice– Movements– Gestures 手勢– Eye contact


voice

• Project your voice

• Pronounce words clearly

• Give an animated delivery

• Use pauses at suitable time

• Avoid slang 俚語 and colloquialisms 口語體


Movements• Pointing finger plus emphatic comment to

reinforce a point

• Sideward step at moment of transition shows shift in thought

• Step backward indicates conclusion

• Step forward indicates beginning of a new point


Gestures & eye contact

• Gestures– Use natural, relevant gestures– Normal descriptive conversational gestures

can indicate length, height, speed, roundness

• Eye contact– Talk to people, not to windows, floors or

yourself– Relax


Audience interaction• Analyze their background• Keep your point few, repeating major

points through variation• Provide interesting examples• Interest them through movement and by

varying your speech rate, pitch and volume• Adjust to audience reactions as you go

along


Questions and answer• Be ready for questions

– Anticipate questions (write down all possible questions and answers beforehand)

– Prepare slides with possible answers

• Stay clam

• Shut down your protection mechanism

• Fielding questions afterwards:

– Make sure you understand the question

– Keep your answer brief but honest

– Admit it when you don’t have the answer

– Handle each questioner courteously


Evaluate your efforts

• Be aware of errors:– Poor visuals– Lack of movement, enthusiasm– Overuse of notes– Monotonous voice– Poor eye contact– Repetition of certain phrases– Use of slang, colloquialisms


Improve with practice

• Work on vocabulary

• Work on technique– Observe others– Adopt humor– Learn to elicit audience response

• Turn stage fright to advantage, animating your delivery


• Stay positive– Imagine yourself succeeding– See technical talking as a skill

• Video tape a practice session


Evaluate your efforts

• Positive traits– Enthusiasm – Poise– Interest in subject– Audience interaction– Good use of visuals


Negative traits

• Poor eye contact

• Reading or reciting speech

• Not on listener’s level

• Poor use of visuals

• Poor organization


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Documents

Electrical Engineering Department, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Technical Presentations