1. AAE 440 Oral Presentation Guidelines (& some written report guidelines)
Eric Loth

2. Oral Presentation Style: HCR
Happy – If you are not interested your subject matter, no one will, so be enthusiastic and audible
Confident – Know your material well but willing to admit incomplete knowledge
Relaxed – No need to rush. Pause for Emphasis.
QUALITY not QUANTITY!

3. PPT Slide Style: Make it Look Easy
Organize and Reinforce your slides:
Introduction: tell what you are going to say
Body: tell what you have to say
Conclusion: summarize important points/rationale
Use titles, sub-titles and bullets
Use reasonable lengths – concise and powerful
Use overview slide to organize your material
Be consistent
In style, in figures, tables, Upper vs. lower-case, etc.
In format and fonts
Links between slides/points help carry a presentation. A story is more interesting than a collection of facts.

4. Making/Showing a Graph
Making a plot:
a) All numbers & symbols readable from afar!
b) Include units
c) Not too busy
d) Use symbols on axes
e) Slide title or text box for meaning
Talking/writing about a plot:
a) Note figure intent & conditions
b) Point out trends or important values
c) Explain significance/conclusions of results
L/D
spot
limit AR

5. Sample Figure (Good)
Watch sig figs

6. Sample Figure (Bad)
Avoid grey background and grid lines ? ?

7. Sample Figure (Bad) Don’t use yellow! Make font large & clear!
Avoid lines

8. Sample Table (Good) but use consistent accuracy and significant figures
White space – add “driver” column

9. Written Report Details
Avoid useless words and excessive subjective statements
“… actually would need to be typically light in most circumstances” should be “… should be light”
Avoid word contractions (“It is” instead of “it’s”)
Avoid informality: “the loads got way out of control”.
Always define acronyms and minimize to a few per section
If possible, avoid repeating same word, e.g. call it engine, then jet, then propulsion system, then F-35 engine, then….