2. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Presentation / Powerpoint Workshop Haruna Tada Tufts University July 18, 2001

3. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Overview Goals of this workshop –understand how a technical presentation is organized –use PowerPoint to make a presentation Things you need to know before you start What goes into a presentation Common mistakes Conclusion

4. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Before you start… What is the main focus of your presentation? How long is the presentation going to be? –is there time for questions later? Who are the target audience? –how much does the audience know about your project before coming into the presentation? –how much background knowledge does the audience have?

5. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Components of a Presentation Title slide Overview / Outline Introduction Body Conclusion

6. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION The Title Slide The Title –must be informative Name(s) of the presenter(s) Affiliation Date

7. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Overview Slide Brief outline of the talk –1 slide, 1 minute max Lets the audience know what to expect

8. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Introduction Motivation for the project –why is this work valuable? Background information –theory, past research –any info the audience needs in order to understand your talk –review of previous presentation (if any)

9. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Main Body Procedures and processes –how was the work accomplished? Results and discussion –what was completed? –what do the results mean?

10. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Conclusion Brief summary of the talk –it's okay to repeat what was already said Future work –next steps

11. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Timing Your Presentation Plan for 1 minute per slide Time allocation: –main body should take up at least 50% of the time –introduction is the next time-consuming Always end with "any questions?"

12. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION What goes on a slide? Title Text –use outline format –avoid sentences or paragraphs Pictures –make sure they are relevant Additional information –footer - date, name, slide number, etc.

13. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Preparing for your presentation Check for equipment! –is there a computer in the room? –what type of a comptuer is it? –is the correct software available? –how can you transfer the presentation onto the computer? (disk, zip disk, internet, etc) –is there a speaker in the room? –does the room have a working internet connection? Practice! –DO NOT memorize the entire presentation –prepare notes if necessary

14. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Common Mistakes Common mistakes in presentation style –talking too fast or too softly –moving too much or not moving at all –no eye contact or staring at one person for too long –facing your presentation, not the audience –trying to squeeze in too much detail –addressing the wrong audience –assuming that the audience knows more than they do –zipping through slides –giving discouraging comments at the beginning

15. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Common Mistakes Common mistakes in slide preparation –font is too small or hard to read –too many words –too much animation or sound effects –no pictures or irrelevant pictures –conflicting colors or busy background –typos - ALWAYS SPELLCHECK!!!

16. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Some poorly designed slide elements too much animation, sound, & colors distracts the audience some colors are blinding and hard to read Too many words, sentences, and paragraphs tend to put the audience to sleep, especially if the font is too small to read. Use outilne formats in slides with short, consice phrases. Keeping paragraphs off the slide also helps you to avoid reading directly from slides. some fonts are more difficult to read than others some fonts are easier to raed than others busy background makes it nearly impossible to read the text keep contents relevant!

17. S UMMER 2001  T HE D ISCOVERY M USEUMS  T UFTS S CHOOL OF E NGINEERING  L UCENT T ECHNOLOGIES F OUNDATION Conclusion For a good technical presentation… –organize the contents –be prepared –know your equipment / room –know your audience –watch out for common mistakes Now… make your own presentation!