How to Give a GoodTechnical

PresentationDean F. Hougen

REAL Lab(Robotics, Evolution, Adaptation, and Learning Laboratory)

School of Computer ScienceUniversity of Oklahoma

Outline• Introduction

• Purpose of technical presentations• Main Message – Have One• Other Considerations• Quiz• Conclusions

• Have a point• Keep things simple

Intro: Purpose• Fifteen minutes is short

Intro: Purpose• Fifteen minutes is short• Technical material is technical

Intro: Purpose• Fifteen minutes is short• Technical material is technical• Therefore, purpose cannot be to

explain everything

Intro: Purpose• Fifteen minutes is short• Technical material is technical• Therefore, purpose cannot be to

explain everything• Purpose is to explain why your work

is worth knowing about

Main Message• Have a main message

Main Message• Have a main message

• “Take home message”

Main Message• Have a main message

• “Take home message”• Know your audience

Other Considerations• 15 minutes → 15 slides

Other Considerations• 15 minutes → 15 slides• Include

• Title• Outline• Main Body• Conclusions

Other Considerations• 15 minutes → 15 slides• Include

• Title• Outline• Main Body• Conclusions

} Tell them whatyou will tell them

– Tell them– Tell them what you told them

Other Considerations• 15 minutes → 15 slides• Include

• Title• Outline• Main Body• Conclusions• References• Acknowledgements (e.g., NSF)• Questions

} Tell them whatyou will tell them

– Tell them– Tell them what you told them

Quiz

True? False?

Quiz• Microsoft PowerPoint has this “really cool feature” that automatically

reduces the font size of the text that you are typing in order to fit all of your text within the boundaries of the text box you are currently using so that you don’t have to worry about running out of room, as you would if it kept the font size “fixed” (unchanging) when you enter more text. (Note that this feature may be available in other presentation software in addition to Microsoft PowerPoint but I am most familiar with Microsoft PowerPoint and it was used in the creation of the presentation you are viewing at this time.) You should always make use of this outstanding feature.

True? False?

Quiz• You should always use complete

sentences in your presentations, rather than phrases, sentence fragments, or bulleted lists.

True? False?

Quiz• You should never use figures.

• To describe a process or object:• use text to describe the parts and the

connections between them, or• wave your hands around.

True? False?

Quiz• You should use every available inch of the

slide because you’ll never run into projector imperfections.

True? False?

•You should use as many “cool” features of your presentation software as you can.

True? False?False?

Conclusions• Have a Main “Take Home” Message• Keep Things Simple

• Introduce, Explain, Emphasize• Fewer Words/Larger Fonts/Nothing

Fancy• Use Figures

Acknowledgements• Thanks: National Science

Foundation • Research Experiences for

Undergraduates Site: Integrated Machine Learning Systems

• This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. IIS/REU/0755462

Questions?