1 How to Give a Good Presentation? Cliff C. Zou CAP /2010

2 Outline How to Read a Research Paper Prepare Presentation Slides Give a Presentation Follow up Online Resource

3 Find Good Research Paper Find papers in high-quality conferences  There are too many conferences/workshops!!  Security research conferences:  Top ranking conferences: IEEE Security & Privacy, ACM CCS, Usenix Security  Other good conferences: NDSS, RAID, ACSAC, SecureCom, AsiaCCS, DSN, ESORICS….  Conference papers are grouped into sections according to topics The section title will tell you the research topic Help you quickly find papers you are interested

Find Good Research Paper Good security research journals:  ACM Transactions on Information and System Security  IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing  IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security Problem for journals:  They are slow in publishing, usually will be two years later than conference papers Good resource to find security conferences:  4

5 How to Read a Research Paper Glance through abstracts to find interesting ones Read introduction and one more section to get the big picture  Understand the novel idea(s) provided by a paper  Read “related work” and glance over several related papers if not familiar with the topic Read the whole paper if the paper is worth it

6 How to Read a Research Paper Ask questions actively when reading:  What is the novel idea(s)?  Can I do this research, too?  Some research are not doable by yourself E.g., require specific hardware, software, data Then they are not much helpful for your own research  What can I learn from this paper on my own research?  What are the weaknesses of the paper?  Which point(s) can I do further research on?  Important to conduct your own research

How to Read a Research Paper Write a brief notes on each paper you just finished reading  Refresh your memory (important!)  Will not forget the paper’s idea half year later  Have a better/clearer understanding of the paper after you write down your thoughts 7

How to Read a Research Paper  Keep a record for you to quickly find the paper later  Better put notes into computer files  Each file contains: papers of a conference, of a year Papers of a specific research topic  Use clear file name to show the content 8

9 Outline How to Read a Research Paper Prepare Presentation Slides Give a Presentation Follow up Online Resource

10 Prepare Presentation Slides Create examples/figures/animations to explain  May not in paper, create by yourself  Animations or step-by-step figures are best in explaining a system, architecture, algorithm  Not in paper, must be done by yourself Do not only put words in slides  Boring, too abstract

11 Prepare Presentation Slides Be focused  Success if you pass ONE single central idea of a paper  Audience cannot understand everything in 30 minutes!  If you cannot explain a point clearly, skip it  Some ideas/algorithms are complicated to explain Only use a sentence to say the name, and results  In most case, a complicated idea is not the novel point of a paper Not too colorful Powerpoint template  Readable text: big font, clear color  e.g., no green/yellow text on white background  Readable figures  A project usually has fewer color, smaller resolution than a computer screen!

12 Prepare Presentation Slides Concise, self-explanation text  Not too abstract, contain concrete information  No need for complete sentences  Some people prefer to read slides than listen! Good acknowledgement  For others’ papers, put author names, publication place, time in the first page  Then, “presented by: your name”  Copying others’ slides must have acknowledgement

13 Outline How to Read a Research Paper Prepare Presentation Slides Give a Presentation Follow up Online Resource

14 Give a Presentation Dry run before presentation  Test timing  Get familiar (bad impression if you do not know what you talk!!)  Remember important words to say, be concise  But do not recite every word in speech! Monotone, no personal attachment to what you say  Especially important to non-English speaker Less grammar error, fluent, clear and concise  Intense dry run for important presentation  Write down talk notes for each page and remember them  Video tape yourself: body language, wasted words (tag)  Ask friends to listen your dry run, get feedback

15 Give a Presentation Speak loud  Force you to speak slow, looks confident  Force you to remove murmur, be clear & concise  Most murmur are wasted words, not confident words  Audience cannot hear your murmur Emphasize  Pause after an important point  Even slower, louder on important point Do not read slides  Slides are for audience to read

16 Give a Presentation Figures  Need to explain X/Y-axis; Don’t rush Timing  Pay attention to time (put a clear clock in front)  Prepare to jump slides for timing Don’t be frustrated for questions or your mistakes  Be friendly to audience, show confidence  Your mood affects audience’s mood!

17 Outline How to Read a Research Paper Prepare Presentation Slides Give a Presentation Follow up Online Resource

18 Follow Up In job interview, always send “thank-you” notes to interviewers  A brief is good  Online tutorial: google “thank-you notes”  Thank, acknowledgement  Explain unanswered questions  Provide paper, reference information promised by you

Follow Up For this class, send your ppt file to me! I will collect comment on presentation from online students and publish the collected comments on course webpage  Everyone should read the comments  You will benefit even if you are not the presenter Remember, giving a good, clear talk is important to your career! 19

20 Online Resource How To Give A Great Presentation  Presentation Skills  Advice on Research and Writing  Western New England Editorial Freelancers' Network   For copyediting your thesis, paper Best writing guideline book:  The Elements of Style by William Strunk The Elements of Style Google: “resume”, “job hunting”, “give presentation”, …  You can find tutorials, samples for any topics through web search