KJC001 (talk.ppt – September 22, 2003) How to Give Engineering Presentations for Foundations of Engineering K. J. Christensen Department of Computer Science and Engineering University of South Florida Tampa, Florida Here acknowledge any funding sources if this work was completed under a grant.

Introduction Key parts of a talk Preparing slides Summary References KJC002 Agenda

This talk is about how to give an engineering talk Being able to give good presentations is very important A good talk is based on, − A message – you have an idea or a finding − A good organization − Well prepared slides Many engineering firms practice “Engineering by PowerPoint” - This may not be ideal, but it is reality KJC003 Introduction

The key parts of a talk are: 1) Cover slide 2) Acknowledgements (if needed) 3) Agenda 4) Introduction 5) Problem statement 6) Solution 7) Evaluation of solution 8) Summary and future work 9) List of references KJC004 Key parts of a talk This is for an “idea talk”

Introduction Describes the landscape Motivates the problems Defines terms KJC005 Key parts of a talk continued

Problem statement Clearly describe the problem − What is it that you are solving? How will you know when you have solved the problem State constraints, assumptions, etc. KJC006 Key parts of a talk continued

Solution Describe the solution − How did you solve the problem? Use the language and style of the discipline and audience Use figures!!! KJC007 Key parts of a talk continued

Evaluation of the solution Describe the evaluation and/or analysis of the solution − How do you know that the solution is “good”? Describe trade-offs KJC008 Key parts of a talk continued

Summary and future work Summarize what you have said Identify any holes or bugs (future work they will be) KJC009 Key parts of a talk continued

KJC010 Preparing slides Some rules-of-thumb… 1) No art - this ain’t art class (use company style) 2) One slide per minute 3) A bullet never exceeds one line - slides are not to be read 3) Use hierarchies of bullets 4) A picture is worth 10K words (50% of slides should be visual) 5) Minimum font size is about 18 point 6) Using color sparingly and meaningfully (see also (1) above) 7) Each slide should contain a slide number and logo

KJC010 Summary Giving talks is key to your success as an engineer “Engineering by PowerPoint” is real Organization is key to a good talk “Clean” slides are important – Follow the given rules of thumb

KJC012 References Some of the ideas in this presentation come from R. Anholt, Dazzle ‘Em with Style: The Art of Oral Scientific Presentation, W. H. Freeman & Co., This book is summarized at: