Presentations 101 Lets Talk about Talking

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Presentations 101 Lets Talk about Talking

• Engineers Without FrontiersCEE 402

Based on a talk by Daisy Fan and Jery Stedinger
for Environmental Water Resource Systems seminar
series.
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Elements of a Presentation

• Preparation
• Organize the presentation
• Create visual aids
• Practice
• Two challenges
• Delivery
• Interact with audience

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Organization of Presentation

• Introduction, motivation
• Objective
• Outline
• Main ideas
• Conclusion, summary

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How to plan the content?

• Think about your audience
• Introduction/motivation as important as technical
  content
• Use mathematical equations sparingly
• Fit talk to allotted time
• (1-2 minutes per slide)

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How to plan the content?

• K.I.S.S. (keep it simple stupid)
• 1 to 3 key points
• 1. Tell them what you're going to tell them
• 2. Tell them
• 3. Tell them what you told them

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Its a capital crime to exceed your allotted
time!
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Visual Aids

• Be bold and clear
• Be consistent (format, font, capitalization)
• Pictures and diagrams enhance message
• Minimize the animation
• Slides do not stand alone
• talk through the details!

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Talk through the Details
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Build Complicated Figures
Use custom animation to build. Use sparingly.
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As Dilbert says
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A Bad Example

• This is an example of a bad, bad slide. It has
  far too much text on it which makes it very
  difficult to read. The audience is straining to
  read everything on the slide instead of listening
  to me. Is the drum roll and fly in really
  necessary? And why is there a bullet on the
  slide?

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A Better Slide

• Full sentences not necessary
• Bullets are convenient
• But avoid meaningless lists of words
• and abbreviations

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Eye halve a spelling chequer It came with my pea
sea It plainly marques four my revue Miss steaks
eye kin knot sea. Eye strike a key and type a
word And weight four it two say Weather eye am
wrong oar write It shows me strait a weigh. As
soon as a mist ache is maid It nose bee fore two
long And eye can put the error rite Its rare lea
ever wrong. Eye have run this poem threw it I am
shore your pleased two no Its letter perfect awl
the weigh My chequer tolled me sew.
Another Bad Slide
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Practice!

• Rehearse in front of friends
• Practice, practice, practice
• Use actual room if possible
• (and find out how equipment works)

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Two Challenges

• What can you say in your allotted time
• that audience will appreciate learning?
• A good picture is worth 1000 words.
• Can you create a picture or diagram that makes
  key concepts immediately clear?

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Elements of a Presentation

• Preparation
• Organizing the content
• Creating visual aids
• Practicing
• Delivery
• Interacting with audience

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Delivering Your Talk

• Speak up!
• Talk to the audience (not to the slide)
• Show enthusiasm
• Appropriate body language
• Its natural to be nervous,
• but beware of nervous mannerisms
• Dont apologize

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On answering questions. . .

• Let questioner finish the question
• Be prepared to rephrase question

• Control your feelings Dont be defensive

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Things to Remember

• Make sure your main message comes through
• Be sensible about visual aids
• Practice!
• It is natural to be nervous (Deal with it!)
• Interact with audience
• Stay in your allotted time
• Deliver your message