Effective Technical Presentations

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Effective Technical Presentations

• Mark Tew
• Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering
• University of Mississippi
• eemdt_at_olemiss.edu
• 662 915 5384

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Why focus on presentations?

• ? First impressions are important
• ? Effective presentations are an edge in hiring
  and promotion decisions
• ? Lack of effective presentations limits job
  assignments
• ? The satisfaction of a job well done

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A process that yields an effective presentation

• Step 1 Plan
• Step 2 Organize
• Step 3 Prepare the Content
• Step 4 Practice
• Step 5 Get there
• Step 6 Speak to the audience

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Step 1 Plan

• Who is the audience?
• Make the level of the material appropriate to the
  audience
• What is the message?
• Have a clear point that you want to convey

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Step 2 Organize

• How long is the presentation?
• Present enough material to convey the message
• Leave time for questions
• Follow the golden rule

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The Golden Rule

• 1) Tell the audience what youre going to tell
  them
• 2) Convey the information
• 3) Tell the the audience what youve told them

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An Introduction vs. an Outline

• An outline presents a list of topics that the
  presentation will cover
• An outline does not give the audience a reason to
  listen to you

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An INTRODUCTION

• ? Who has done this work?
• ? What work has preceded this? What is the
  context?
• ? When was the work done?
• But most importantly,
• ? Why is this work important?
• Give the audience a reason to listen!

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Step 3 Prepare the Content

• Where will the presentation be given?
• How large is the room?
• Determines minimum font size
• What presentation equipment is available?
• Use generally available technology
• Take your own equipment

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Content A presentation is NOT

• ? a technical journal paper
• ? a final report
• ? a book chapter
• ? a medium for conveying fine details

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Content

• A presentation is effective when it uses the
  visual impact to
• Convey the message
• Keep the audiences attention

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Content Keep it simple

• A presentation is not effective when slides are
  verbose and filled with lots and lots of text for
  the viewer to read. This type of presentation is
  better suited for publishing a paper or journal
  article and is not desirable for an oral
  presentation. Remember what a presentation is
  and what it is not. This type of slide is a real
  attention-killer and very difficult for the
  audience to follow.

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Content Only 2-3 Points per slide

• Avoid clutter
• Emphasize the points you want to make

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Content Present ideas, not details

• Applies to
• Text
• Equations
• Graphs, not tables

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How many times have you seen this?
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Content Make it readable

• 12 point 18 point 24 point
• 32 point 44 point

Match the font size to the presentation room
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Content Appropriate to the medium

• Light letters on a dark background are best for
  projected images

Dark letters on a light background are best for
opaque images
Dark letters on a light background are best for
opaque images
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Technology Color

• Avoid low contrast or dark-on-dark combinations

Dark letters on a light background are best for
opaque images
Light letters on a dark background are best for
projected images
Avoid the UM red and blue
Avoid the UM red and blue
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Ideas, not detailsEquations
Natural Response of an Unforced Parallel RLC
Circuit
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Busy Equations
Natural Response of an Unforced Parallel RLC
Circuit
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Equations that convey ideas
Natural Response of an Unforced Parallel RLC
Circuit
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Conveying resultsGraphs, not tables
V(0)5v, i(0)-6 mA
Critical Damping R 10, L0.4 mH, C 1 mF
Underdamping R 20, L0.4 mH, C 1
mF Overdamping R 5, L0.4 mH, C 1 mF
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te-4 critical under over 0
5.0000 5.0000 5.0000 0.0000
2.9008 3.7579 1.7268 0.0000 1.4955
2.5801 0.4826 0.0000 0.5774
1.5198 0.0167 0.0000 -0.0018 0.6116
-0.1510 0.0000 -0.3486 -0.1264 -0.2050
0.0000 -0.5384 -0.6902 -0.2160
0.0000 -0.6245 -1.0866 -0.2111 0.0000
-0.6442 -1.3308 -0.2007 0.0000 -0.6230
-1.4429 -0.1888 0.0001 -0.5784 -1.4465
-0.1768 0.0001 -0.5221 -1.3658
-0.1652 0.0001 -0.4617 -1.2246 -0.1543
0.0001 -0.4019 -1.0447 -0.1441
0.0001 -0.3456 -0.8453 -0.1346 0.0001
-0.2941 -0.6422 -0.1256 0.0001 -0.2483
-0.4480 -0.1173 0.0001 -0.2081 -0.2718
-0.1095 0.0001 -0.1734 -0.1199
-0.1022 0.0001 -0.1438 0.0046 -0.0954
t e-4 critical under over
0.0001 -0.1187 0.1007 -0.0891 0.0001
-0.0976 0.1692 -0.0832 0.0001 -0.0800
0.2125 -0.0777 0.0001 -0.0653 0.2338
-0.0725 0.0001 -0.0532 0.2367
-0.0677 0.0001 -0.0432 0.2253 -0.0632
0.0001 -0.0350 0.2035 -0.0590
0.0001 -0.0283 0.1749 -0.0551 0.0001
-0.0229 0.1427 -0.0514 0.0001 -0.0185
0.1095 -0.0480 0.0002 -0.0148 0.0776
-0.0448 0.0002 -0.0119 0.0483
-0.0419 0.0002 -0.0096 0.0229 -0.0391
0.0002 -0.0077 0.0020 -0.0365
0.0002 -0.0061 -0.0144 -0.0341 0.0002
-0.0049 -0.0262 -0.0318 0.0002 -0.0039
-0.0338 -0.0297 0.0002 -0.0031 -0.0378
-0.0277 0.0002 -0.0025 -0.0387
-0.0259 0.0002 -0.0020 -0.0371 -0.0242
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(No Transcript)
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Graphs

• Label Axes, including units
• Use color and symbol to differentiate plots
• Include a legend

Each graph should be as complete and
self-explanatory as possible
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Natural Response of a Parallel RLC Circuit
Node Voltage (Volts)
Time (0.1 msec)
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Step 4 PRACTICE!

• Practice so that you are comfortable with the
  equipment
• Practice so that the timing is correct
• The first time you try something is never your
  best performance
• Sports
• Music
• Speaking

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PRACTICE!

• Practice as if the result is important

• Aloud
• Standing
• With the equipment
• Before a friend or colleague
• In the presentation room

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Step 5 Get There

• What computer is available?
• What projection device?
• From here to there
• Direct cable connection
• Network (HTML?)
• Parallel port Zip drive
• CD ROM
• Notebook computer

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Delivery Computer-based

• Use current technology
• Just-in-time presentations

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Step 6 Speak to the Audience

• Three rules
• Speak to the audience
• Speak Audibly
• Speak Intelligibly

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Summary

• Follow the Golden Rule
• Think visually--its a presentation
• 2-3 points per slide
• Concepts, not details
• Speak audibly, intelligibly, to the audience
• Slides are readable
• PRACTICE!

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Web-consciousness

• This presentation is also available
  atwww.olemiss.edu/courses/EE/ENGR695/Oralpres200
  0/