Giving Presentation s

1. Giving Presentations Prof. Dr.-Ing. Reinhard German Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Informatik 7 (Rechnernetze und Kommunikationssysteme)

2. Motivation • Most people don’t believe that thinking about presentation style is important • Stand up, present the data, offer conclusions, and answer questions. Yep. Easy. And don’t forget the title and summary slides. • Presentations are an important form of communication • The way we communicate dictates a great deal of how successful we’ll be in our careers (academia, industry, government) • Is “success” more tied to technical ability or to one’s presentation? • We all have to be “salesmen”

3. Motivation • What can I tell you? • I‘m not an expert on the topic of communication skills, however, I do have some experience on giving and attending (too many bad) talks • Following the paper “How to Present a Paper in Theoretical Computer Science: A Speaker’s Guide for Students” by Ian Parberry and some other sources I can give some guidelines (not rules!) • Intended to assist you in developing a workable style of your own

4. Outline • What to Say and How to Say it • Getting Through to the Audience • Visual and Aural Aids • Preparing Graphic Charts • Question Time • How to Give a Bad Talk

5. What to Say and How to Say it • A few important guidelines to start with • Communicate key ideas • skip what is standard or too complicated • K.I.S.S: keep it simple stupid • Don‘t get bogged down in details • audience wants an overview • can interpolate/read details if interested • but also don’t deliver a talk with many colorful images and without serious content • Repeat key insights • Use examples, most talks are too abstract • Communicate/interact with the audience: get them active • Structure your talk and make this structure visible • Think about rhetorical goal: what is the kea idea the audience should remember afterwards?

6. What to Say and How to Say it • Know your audience •  4 categories • Scientists • Computer scientists/engineers • Computer scientists/engineers working in your field • Experts • Adjust your talk to the audience • More specialized content for experts and more general content for the others • Each talk is different (audience, goals, contents) • Typically the audience is mixed • must cover heterogeneity • address in layers: general aspects in the introduction, specialized topics later

7. What to Say and How to Say it • A generic talk outline (20 minute presentation) • Title/author/affiliation (1 slide) • Motivation (1 slide) • Motivate the audience: why is this work important? • Introduction • Define the problem (1-2 slides) • Related Work (1 slide) • Approach of this work (1 slide) • Outline/road-map (1 slide) • Body ( 6 slides) • Can be subdivided, as appropriate • Conclusion (1-2 slides) • Summary, future work

8. What to Say and How to Say it • Hints for the introduction • Addresses the non-experts • Determines whether audience will “prick up their ears” or “remain slumped in their chairs” • The most important part of your presentation! • State explicitly and succinctly contribution made by you • Define what you are going to address • If your talk is based on 1-2 references, give them here

9. What to Say and How to Say it • Hints for the body • The “meat” of your presentation with main results • Only after a good introduction people will remain to listen! • Abstract major results • Explain significance of the results • Explain things, rather than proof them • Or sketch a proof of crucial results • Use pictures • Avoid complex tables, avoid source code, avoid formal issues • “The secret of being a bore is to tell everything” (Voltaire ca. 1718) • Present one aspect in more depth (for the experts, to show the work is non-trivial) • Use examples/applications for illustrations and to win back the non-experts

10. What to Say and How to Say it • Hints for the conclusion • Summarize the results and their impact: hindsight is clearer than foresight • Be honest and indicate places where the work can be improved or has its shortcomings • If your talk is based on various references, list them here • State clearly which results are your own and which are based on others • Indicate that your talk is over: “Thank you. Are there any questions?”

11. Getting Through to the Audience • Practice your talk • Verbal, not just mental, not necessarily in front of an audience • Practicing forces you to chose your words carefully • Practicing in several rounds is one of the most efficient ways to improve presentation • Use repetition, tried and true: • Tell them what you‘re going to tell them. • Tell them. • Then tell them what you told them. • Convey Enthusiasm, Excitement, Confidence • “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm” • Believe in what you are doing • Use humor • Powerful for keeping the audience attention

12. Getting Through to the Audience • Don‘t overrun • The quality of a talk is almost always inversely proportional to the time that it overruns • Have prepared talk-parts that can be left out (technicalities, details) • Have prepared talk-parts that can be put in (details, examples) • Be sure not to leave out the motivation, application, conclusion • Maintain eye contact • Spread attention throughout entire audience • Try to interact with your audience • Control your voice • Speak clearly, not to fast, not to slow • Avoid utterances such as “Um, ah, er”, etc. (a sure giveaway that you haven‘t practiced your talk)

13. Getting Through to the Audience • Control your motion • Project energy + vitality, without appearing hyperactive • Keep not rooted on one spot, but avoid excessive roaming, and don‘t fall off the stage • If something embarrassing happens, just go on • Avoid fashionable, abusive, sexist, etc. language • Don‘t start with an apology • “I really didn‘t had time to prepare my presentation!” • Try not to get anxious • Best antidotes: practice + experience • Make sure to prepare beforehand and practice the talk • A 10-15 minute contemplation period before the talk may help • If you find yourself panicking during a talk, take a few deep breaths, calm yourself, and then continue • It is normal that in the beginning you will deliver some talks which could be improved, it is not the end of your career

14. Visual and Aural Aids • Overhead projection slides • to support your presentation • should be more than reading the slides • Many theoretical computer scientists like hand-written slides • Many mathematicians prefer blackboard • Computer LCD Display Projectors • Powerpoint + other SW packages • Same remarks apply as for slides • Can add life and excitement • Hints for good design etc.: www.powerpointers.com • Biggest advantage: animations, dynamics, tool presentations, ... (renaissance of possibilities of the blackboard?) • Technology is stable today, but ... (take care of setup, slides as fall-back for important talks) • Regardless of technology, the goal is to interact with the audience, to get them involved

15. Visual and Aural Aids • Make slides readable • Don‘t overload slides • This is 18 points (minimum), this is 24 points • Test: readable when put on floor and you stand • No full sentences • Just key points • People may grasp 5-7 topics • Don‘t use too many slides • Normal ones take 2-3 minutes to present • Use coloring effectively • Not to many • good contrast: e.g., not yellow • Use pictures and tables, but explain them

16. Preparing Graphic Charts • From R. Jain: The Art of Computer Systems Performance Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, 1991 • Guidelines for good graphic charts • Require minimum effort from the reader • Level of effort required to understand the chart • E.g., direct labeling instead of legends

17. Preparing Graphic Charts • Guidelines for good graphic charts (cont.) • Maximize information • Sufficient information to make it self-sufficient • E.g., labeling with key words instead of symbols • E.g., “CPU time in seconds” • Minimize ink • Maximize information-to-ink ratio • Avoid unnecessary information • E.g., avoid grid lines

18. Preparing Graphic Charts • Guidelines for good graphic charts (cont.) • Use commonly accepted practices • Present what people expect • Origin at (0,0) • Independent variable on x-axis, dependent on y-axis • Scales increase from left to right, bottom to top • Scales are linear by default • Scales are logarithmic if several orders of magnitudes must be covered • Departures are permitted but must be indicated • Avoid ambiguity • Show coordinate axes, scale divisions, and origin • Identify individual curves and bars

19. Preparing Graphic Charts • Checklist for good graphics • Are both coordinate axes shown and labeled? • Are the axes labels self-explanatory and concise? • Are the scales and divisions shown on both axes? • Is the number of curves reasonably small? • Are there no multiple scales on the same chart? • Is there no curve that can be removed without reducing the information? • Are the curves on a line chart individually labeled? • Are all symbols on the graph accompanied by appropriate explanations? • If the curves cross, are the line patterns different to avoid confusion? • Are the units of measurement indicated?

20. Preparing Graphic Charts • Checklist for good graphics (cont.) • Is the horizontal scale increasing from left to right? • Is the vertical scale increasing from bottom to top? • Are the grid lines aiding in reading the curves? • Does the whole chart add to information? • Are the scales contiguous? • Is the order of bars in a bar chart systematic? • If the vertical axis represents a random quantity, are confidence intervals shown? • Are there no curves, symbols, or texts on the graph that can be removed without affecting the information? • Is there a title for the whole chart? • Is the chart title self-explanatory and concise?

21. Preparing Graphic Charts • Common mistakes in preparing charts • Presenting too many alternatives on a single chart • Column chart limited to 10 bars • Line chart limited to 6 curves • Presenting many y-variables on a single chart

22. Preparing Graphic Charts • Common mistakes in preparing charts (cont.) • Using symbols in place of text: • Placing extraneous information on the chart • Selecting scale ranges improperly: must override automatic choices • Using a line chart instead of a column chart:

23. Preparing Graphic Charts • Pictorial games • Using nonzero origins to emphasize the difference • Emphasize or conceal the difference: • Three-quarters-high rule: the highest point is at least three quarter of the horizontal offset of the rightmost point

24. Preparing Graphic Charts • Pictorial games (cont.) • Using double-whammy graph for dramatization: • Plotting random quantities without showing confidenceintervals: • Using broken scales in column charts:

25. Question Time • There are three types of questions: • The genuine request for more knowledge • The selfish question (the questioner wishes to draw attention to her or his ability to pose such an intelligent question) • The malicious question or remark • The questioner attempts to expose the speaker as a charlatan or tries to test the reaction under pressure • Expect to have your ego bruised occasionally • Be prepared, be polite, avoid lengthy public discussions • Offer to discuss off-line • “I don‘t know” is a correct answer • Get in touch with those having asked questions, you might learn something

26. How to Give a Bad Talk • From David A. Patterson, Computer Science DivisionUniversity of California-Berkeley, Circa 1983 (with annotations gleaned from Patterson's talk by Mark D. Hill) • You should not be neatWhy waste research time preparing slides? Ignore spelling, grammar and legibility. Who cares what 50 people think? • You should not waste spaceTransparencies are expensive. If you can save five slides in each of four talks per year, you save $7.00/year! • You should not covet brevityDo 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. • You should cover thy naked slidesYou need the suspense! Overlays are too flashy. • You should not write largeBe humble -- use a small font. Important people sit in front. Who cares about the riff-raff?

27. How to Give a Bad Talk • You should not use colorFlagrant use of color indicates uncareful research. It's also unfair to emphasize some words over others. • You should not illustrateConfucius says „A picture = 10K words,“ but Dijkstra says „Pictures are for weak minds.“ Who are you going to believe? Wisdom from the ages or the person who first counted goto's? • You should not make eye contactYou should avert eyes to show respect. Blocking screen can also add mystery. • You should not skip slides in a long talkYou prepared the slides; people came for your whole talk; so just talk faster. Skip your summary and conclusions if necessary. • You should not practiceWhy waste research time practicing a talk? It could take several hours out of your two years of research. How can you appear spontaneous if you practice? If you do practice, argue with any suggestions you get and make sure your talk is longer than the time you have to present it. • The last commandment is most important. Even if you break the other nine, this one can save you.