1. CS 664 Sample Presentation
G. S. Young
Computer Science Department
Winter 2017

2. Outline Purpose Presentation Guidelines Conclusion References
For Speakers
For Audience
Question/Discussion Session
Evaluation
Conclusion
References

3. Purpose Give some guidelines to speakers as well as audience
Explain some do’s and don’ts in making a presentation or listening to a presentation

4. Guidelines for the Speakers
Preparation
Know your audience
Know your equipment and environment
Power point file
Use a large font
Do not clutter your slides
Do not use too many colors
Rehearsal
Pace yourself
Everything on the slide should be explained
Do not read your slides
Talk to the audience, maintain eye contact

5. The Format of a Session 30-35 minutes talk
5 minutes question/discussion

6. Organization of Your Talk
Brief introduction
What is the current state of the art
Why you are interested in this topic
High-level description of the main results
Background and Definitions
Technical Depth
Describe the methods/techniques to solve the problem
Suitable to the level of audience
Conclusion
Contributions, applications, future trends
References

7. Presentation Content
When change topics, summarize what have discussed thus far and how that relates to what you are about to discuss next.
For complicated algorithms,
Introduce concrete examples before formal algorithms
For complex software system,
Do a demo before discussing a software system in depth, such as implementation decisions

8. More Do’s and Don’ts Do not put too much mathematics on the slides.
Just enough mathematics to bring the key points across
Use figures and intuitive examples
All symbols and acronyms must be defined and explained before you use them.
Avoid cluttered graphics with lots of text and complex legends
If there is difficulty with a particular question, do not be overly defensive.
Sometimes difficult questions can be turned into an idea for future work

9. Guidelines for Audience
Active listening
Write down comments during talk
Asking questions
You may interrupt the talk if you just don’t get it or would like to correct some mistake
Follow-up questions or questions expect to have a long answer or discussion should wait until the end

10. Guidelines for Question/Discussion Section
Everyone is required to participate
Formulate your questions or comments
Raise your hand and wait your turn
Please don’t be shy to participate
No question is a silly question
If you don’t quite understand the talk, ask the speaker to give a brief summary
If you are not quite sure about some details, ask the speaker to explain more on some particular slides

11. Discussions For any question raised
Let the speaker answers the question first
Audience may add more or bring up other related discussions
Speaker may ask audience some questions too
To warm-up the discussion session
To test if audience really understand the talk

12. Guidelines for Evaluations
Give a score in each required section
Be objective
Comments
Be specific and constructive
Don’t write same comments again and again
Will be sent back to the speaker anonymously
Your evaluation will be scored towards your final grade

13. Conclusion Attendance is mandatory
Please come on time and attend every session
No make-up presentations is allowed except for emergency
If needed, the class will meet on the final exam week

14. References Every talk must include a reference list
Li, Victor, “Hints on Writing Technical Papers and Making Presentations”, IEEE Transactions on Education, vol. 42, no. 2, May 1999.
Zanden, Brad, “Preparing an Effective Presentation”, (accessed December 23, 2010).
Special thanks to Dr. Srinivas, Dr. Yang and Dr. Sang for sharing their CS664 teaching material with me