2 December 2005 Advanced Topics in Information Systems Tips for the Presentation Prof. Beat Signer Department of Computer Science Vrije Universiteit Brussel beatsigner.com

Beat Signer - Department of Computer Science - bsigner@vub.ac.be 2 February 16, 2021 Engage With Your Audience ▪ Talk to the audience and not to your laptop screen ▪ do not read your talk from paper ▪ Always know what is on the next slide ▪ enables more vivid transitions between slides ▪ A quick demo, movie or application screenshot can often help to clarify an approach ▪ contact authors for additional material

Beat Signer - Department of Computer Science - bsigner@vub.ac.be 3 February 16, 2021 Use Available Resources and Tools ▪ Resources and tools that might be used in addition to slideware ▪ overhead projector ▪ blackboard ▪ paper handouts ▪ laser pointer/highlighter ▪ ...

Beat Signer - Department of Computer Science - bsigner@vub.ac.be 4 February 16, 2021 Presentation of Your Topic ▪ Put the presented research paper in the right context (topic) ▪ Do not just summarise the paper ▪ selection and focuss on important parts might be necessary due to time constraints ▪ Investigate additional resources ▪ possibly use additional information (not from the paper) in the introduction ▪ check the content that is referenced in the paper ▪ are the authors still working on the topic and are there some follow-up publications?

Beat Signer - Department of Computer Science - bsigner@vub.ac.be 5 February 16, 2021 Presentation Content ▪ Use distinctive titles ▪ e.g. project name in title rather than five slides with the title 'Related Work' ▪ Do no overload your slides with long sentences ▪ audience cannot read overloaded slides and at the same time listen to you ▪ Use graphical features carefully ▪ a fancy slide background might reduce the readability ▪ too many colours and different fonts can be distractive ▪ no "misuse" of animations or sounds ▪ Slides should support your talk rather than being a script that you read from the screen

Beat Signer - Department of Computer Science - bsigner@vub.ac.be 6 February 16, 2021 Presentation Content ... ▪ Make sure that you do not have too much content ▪ rehearsal ▪ be ready to dynamically shorten your talk (e.g. optional slides) ▪ If you copy content from the paper (e.g. figures) make sure that they are readable–otherwise redo them ▪ Avoid "empty" slides like the classical "Questions?" slide at the end of a presentation! ▪ the last slide is likely to be shown during the entire Q&A session and should be used for your give away message (conclusions) ▪ Prepare some backup slides which might support you during the Q&A session or can be added if you finish too early

Beat Signer - Department of Computer Science - bsigner@vub.ac.be 7 February 16, 2021 Delivering the Presentation ▪ Presentation style ▪ the audience will be more attentive if they see that you are motivated to give the presentation ▪ be enthusiastic! ▪ think about your body language - eye contact with the audience ▪ Preparation ▪ a good preparation gives you more confidence and freedom during your presentation ▪ practice, practice, practice, ... ▪ check the equipment the week before you give your presentation - does your laptop connect with the projector (resolution)

Beat Signer - Department of Computer Science - bsigner@vub.ac.be 8 February 16, 2021 How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint

Beat Signer - Department of Computer Science - bsigner@vub.ac.be 9 February 16, 2021 Some Tips for the Audience ▪ Of course the first and most important thing is that you listen to the interesting talks and learn some new things ▪ Other things you might observe during the presentation ▪ is the structure of the talk clear? ▪ what about the presenter's presentation style ▪ even if you should not comment about these things, you might always ask yourself how you might have done things differently or learn new things from good presentations ▪ Ask questions and give comments after the presentation

Beat Signer - Department of Computer Science - bsigner@vub.ac.be 10 February 16, 2021 Homework ▪ Watch the presentation "Creating Effective Slides: Design, Construction and Use in Science" by Jean-luc Doumont for some more tips ▪ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meBXuTIPJQk Jean-luc Doumont

Beat Signer - Department of Computer Science - bsigner@vub.ac.be 11 February 16, 2021 References ▪ G. Reynolds, Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery, New Riders, 3rd Edition, December 2019, ISBN 978-0135800911 ▪ C. Anderson, TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking: Tips and Tricks for Giving Unforget- table Speeches and Presentations, 1st Edition, January 2018, ISBN 978-1472228062 ▪ E.R. Tufte, The Cognitive Style of Power Point, 2003, ISBN 978-0961392154

Beat Signer - Department of Computer Science - bsigner@vub.ac.be 12 February 16, 2021 References ... ▪ J.-l. Doumont, The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint: Slides are Not All Evil, Technical Communication 52(1), February 2005 ▪ http://web.mit.edu/5.95/readings/doumont-responds-to-tufte.pdf ▪ D. JP Phillips, How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint ▪ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwpi1Lm6dFo ▪ J.-l Doumont, Creating Effective Slides: Design, Construction and Use in Science ▪ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meBXuTIPJQk