Your title goes here Your name(s) Your institution(s) an MAA activity funded by NSA (grant H ) and NSF (grant DMS ). Your advisor(s) Your advisor’s institution(s)

Basic Principles Purpose: lead the audience to understand and appreciate your work Common misperceptions –Purpose: impress –Must be as “high-tech” as possible –Must begin with outline –Little time needed to prepare Focus on key result or key point

Some tips First draft: basic is best. Use animation wisely! –Focus audience’s attention –Indicate process (rather than outcome of process) Limit the amount of text on each slide. (Avoid sentences.)

Some (more) tips A (good) picture is worth 1000 words. Your audience will understand complicated definitions and ideas more easily if you illustrate them through well- chosen examples.

G H

Formatting Tips Dark background; light-colored text and pictures Be consistent –same color for titles of slides throughout presentation –Similar colors for similar objects (e.g. graphs) –Same text type (e.g. Arial, Times New Roman) Mathematical expressions: text should be italizicized, all items presented “nicely” Mentors will help! Peers will help, too.

Graham’s Conjecture (Proof)

Graham’s Conjecture (Proof) continued…

Elements to consider including Title slide Words or slide providing overview (outline) of presentation Relevant definitions (may be scattered throughout) – with examples Body of presentation (Open Questions – when applicable) References Acknowledgements

Powerpoint-Specific Tips Formatting background and color scheme Using the “notes” feature Printing options (conserve!) Drawing tools Animation Inserting mathematical equations We’ll work through these by example.