Keys to SuccessfulClassroom PresentationsDR. BARRY JOHNSON

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TRAINING CENTER - TAMUK

WHY BOTHER GIVING A GOOD TALK?

First impressions matter!

TYPES OF PRESENTATIONS:oQuick 1-minute “what I do” talko25 minute conference paper presentationoProject presentationoThesis defenseoJob talk

Thesis presentation tip #1

Write a good thesis.

Thesis presentation tip #2

Rehearse your thesis presentation beforehand.

Thesis presentation tip #3

Make small note cards.

You might be nervous during your thesis presentation, so you may forget to mention some important things.

Thesis presentation tip #4

Find out who the members of your thesis committee are!

Thesis presentation tip #5

Rest well the night before you present your thesis.

Thesis presentation tip #6

Practice a breathing exercise before you make a presentation… inhale deeply several times,

gaining “inner confidence”.Http://unipapers.org/blog/2008/05/05/six-thesis-presentations-tips/

POINTERS FOR A GOOD PowerPoint:

o Be neato Avoid trying to cram too much into one slideo Be brief - use keywordso Use a large font

o Use illustrations/color to get across key concepts (minimal animation use)

o Make eye contacto Skip slides if time is shorto Practice !!

A “TYPICAL” PROJECT/TALK OUTLINE o Title/author/affiliation(1 slide)

o Forecast(1 slide) Give gist of problem attacked and insight found

o Outline(1 slide)

o Background

o Motivation and Problem Statement(1-2 slides)

o Related Work(0-1 slides)

o Methods(1-3 slides) Explain your approach; illustrate algorithm What is the problem? Why is it important? What have others done? My approach?

o Results(2-6 slides)

o Present key results and key insights. This is main body of talk, but don’t show ALL results.

o Summary(1 slide)

o Future Work(0-1 slides)

o Backup Slides(0-3 slides) Optional – be ready, anticipate questions

HOW TO IMPROVE?

Practice in front of someone who will give you honest feedback

Take note of effective speakers and adopt their successful habits

http://www.princeton.edu/~archss/webpdfs08/BaharMartonosi.pdf

Thank you