e147 Preparing a presentation

How to be a good presenter.

Basically, there are three important criteria:

·         Slide

·         Presentation organization

·         Giving a talk-a skill

Criteria : Slide

Minimize words and maximize pictures. (not more than 12 words)

Bullet points make your audience feel your talk is in bullet time

Use 38 point text and 42–50 point titles

Use only sans-serif fonts

Don't put accretions like project logos, the talk title, and the conference name on every page.

For slides with formulae, add arrows and labels pointing to the variables in a formula, reminding the audience what each one means

A talk of 30 minutes or more needs to be broken into sections, with a title slide or an outline slide demarcating each new section

Criteria : Presentation organization

Focus on the big picture issues.

• Why is the problem you are solving worth solving?
• What is the core difference between your method and all those that came before?
• What does your method accomplish that no previous method accomplishes?
• What algorithmic or methodological idea enables your method to accomplish more?
• What is the evidence that your method is better in some circumstances? (And what are those circumstances?)
• What is the one big idea that you want people to leave your talk with? If you try to get across five ideas, you will usually impart none. If you choose one main idea and focus on advertising it, you will usually succeed.

The job of each title is to set the context and tell listeners what your words are trying to accomplish. When audience members wake up mid-talk and try to pay attention again, the first thing they'll do is look at your current slide's title. Make sure it tells them why you're babbling on about grommets right now.

Criteria : Giving a talk- a skill

Practice. Make it three times.

Pointers.Hold the pointer steady

Laptops. Before the session, remember to turn off your laptop's screen saver. Try to place your laptop screen where you can't see it. Do not look to the laptop screen. The audience will distracted.

Opening. Begin a talk by introducing yourself by name, even if you've just been introduced

Nonverbal communication. A faint, transient facial expression or a brief unconscious twitch of the arm are enough to rob a speaker's words of their force, and even break an audience's attention.

Mental focus. Academics, especially mathematicians, are not known for being in their bodies. Let it be something you practice not just when you give a formal talk, but during your day-to-day socializing. Learning to habitually place your attention outside your ego and on your body sensations and the people around you will not only make you a better speaker; it will improve your relationships with everyone.

Speaking. Good speaking has rhythm. Choose key points in your talk where you wish to bestow extra emphasis. Leave a long pause right after making a key point. Trust yourself. Think patiently. The right words come faster if you don't force them. Demand your right to remain silent.

Closing. Always end your talk by saying “Thank you.” Do not ask for questions until you complete it.

http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~jrs/speaking.html