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HOW TO IMPROVE MY TECHNICAL PRESENTATION IN ENGLISH

C. K. TohVisiting International Chair ProfessorNational Cheng Kung University, TAINAN

22 April 2010

INTERNATIONALF O R U M NCKU College of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

OUTLINE Introduction to Technical Presentations Characteristics & Requirements

Preparation Before PresentationMaterials & Organization

Actual Presentation Effective Communications

After Presentation Feedback

Conclusion

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INTERNATIONAL FORUMHow to improve my technical presentation in English?

Introduction

Why present?

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Why Presentation? Many Reasons!

Professor asks me to do it! I just like to talk! Ha ha I do it for my upcoming conference! I am doing it for my thesis defense I am preparing for an invited talk Others!!

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Presentation Requirements what? Oral English Using Slides often POWERPOINT Proper Heading (title, outline, etc) Proper Content (say it concisely) Proper Conclusion (reinforce) Feedback (Q&A) Within Time Limits

INTRODUCTIONCharacteristics of A Good Presentation

Clear Easily Understood Concise Interesting Interactive Well Prepared

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Preparation

NOTE: A well-prepared presentation is half the battle won!

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What Preparation? Materials / Content Organization Rehearsal

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Preparation: Materials

Materials What to say and what not to say Use words ( key words ) Use colors Use contrast Use pictures ( a picture is worth a thousand words! ) Use multimedia or animations?

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Materials

What to say and what not? Talk about your research Talk a bit about related work Talk a bit about future work Dont talk bad about others, make accusations, finger

pointing, etc. Be professional, behave yourself.

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Materials

Use Words? Words convey your ideas Words convey important points Use words that catch the eye Use words that resonates the ears!

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Materials

Use Colors? Our Eyes see and detect colors Colors can attract attention But dont over do it!

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Materials

Use Contrast? Can you see this? YES?

Can you still see the words? Use the right colors for foreground

and background!

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Materials

Use Pictures? A Picture is worth aThousand words!

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Materials

Use Multimedia?

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Materials

Use Animations?

Airflow in a jet plane

Com

pute

r gra

phic

s

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Preparation: Organization Organization: Your slides & Time

What to say first? What to say next? What to say last?

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Organization & Time Head, Body, Tail Introduction / Motivation (1 slide) Problem (1 slide) Related Work (1 slide) Your Approach (2-3 slides) Your Simulation/Experimental Details (1-2 slides) Your Results & Deductions (2-4 slides) Comparisons (1-2 slide) Conclusion (1 slide)

15 Slides

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Organization & Time Slides & Time Management CONFERENCE: Speaker

15-20mins presentation 5 mins Q&A

15 slides imply 1 minute per slide 20 slides imply you need to hurry 30 slides imply you are rushing!! 5 slides mean you have no content!

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Preparation: Rehearse Practice your speech alone Practice your speech with audience Check your pronunciation Check your flow Check your timing Record it and playback (listen to yourself) Try to improve until your professor is satisfied

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Rehearsal Cannot Speak? HELP!! Cant pronounce! Use tools!

Example Use:www.m-w.com

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Rehearsal Pronunciation Text-to-Speech Tools

American Accent

British Accent

Robotic Voice!

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She Sells Sea Shells By

The Sea Shore

Say This Loud:

Can you say it without problems?

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Rehearsal Your Voice Volume Tone Small audience Large audience Use Microphone Dull / Excited?

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Actual Presentation

NOTE: Say you, say me!

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Attire: Male Speaker

And yes tidy hair- comb your hair!Wear your watch!

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Attire: Female Speaker

Skirt is fine.Watch your shoes!

And yes tidy hair- comb your hair!

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Actual Presentation Introduce yourself & title Mention the outline of your talk Start talking! Maintain eye contact & flow Body language Conclude well Finish on time

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Introduce yourself & title

Hello everyone. Good afternoon I am so and so from It is my pleasure to be here to give a

presentation. The title of my talk today is .

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Introduce outline of talk

The outline of my talk today is as follows.

First, I will present an introduction Then, I will . Finally, I will provide a conclusion

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Start Talking!!

Intro /Motivation / Problem Your proposed approach Your simulation / experiments /

analysis Your results and claims Conclusion / Future work

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What you should not do!!Cheating Reading from a notebook.

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Power of Body Language Presenter body language

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Power of Body Language

Audience body language

Bored Anxiety Helpless Sleepy Confused Thinking

Give upLook

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Audience Body Language (You..)

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Audience Body Language (More You..)

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Power of Facial Expression

Audience Watch them Understand React to it

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Power of Eye-to-eye Contact

A form of non-verbal communication When you communicate with someone You look at his eyes and talk You may blink once or two

When you look at his/her eyes,,,,,,,,,,,he/she will pay attention!!

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The Fear Factors!

YourInitial State

Your frightened

mental state

Lack ofPreparation

Poor Health VIPsaround

Large Audience

No supporters

Regenerativeloop

Sweating

Body shaking

Legsfeel weak

CrippledSpeech

Startcrying

MindBlank

Loss ofwords

Nervous

Breakdown

How to Overcome Nervousness?

ANSWERSWear a sunglasses (see no one, fear no one) Speak really fast and end quickly Talk as if there is no tomorrow! Ask your professor to stand beside you.. Look at the ceiling, not the audience Have a cup of hot tea or coffee before.. See a doctor?!

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How to Overcome Nervousness?

REAL ANSWERS Practice until you can present all of it even by

closing your eyes (not memorizing it!) Positive thinking: Be brave; Be fun; enjoy your talkAccept audience as your friends/supporters Behave like Peter Pan One Happy Thought!

Talk like an Engineer!

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Real-time Speech Processing!

LoudnessPace of Speech

Vision / Scan / Observation

BodyPosture

HandMovements

Clock

Walk or stay.Stage Position

Heart beat

Screen

Audience

LegMuscle

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Students say to Prof. Toh:

Give me a break!

! Prof. Toh reply: Come on, dont give up easily!

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After Presentation

Feedback & Beyond

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Did I present well?

Where to get the answers? ANSWER 1:

The Louder the Applause, the better!

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Did I present well?

ANSWER 2:

You received words of praise, such as excellent talk, interesting talk, wonderful!, well done!

Oh man! OR Oh dear!

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Did I present well?

ANSWER 3:

You saw people stand up, applause and whistle

You receive an after-talk invitation.

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Did I present well? ANSWER 4: Did everyone stay until end of

presentation? Anyone left early?

Has anyone fallen asleep? It may not be your talkAir con, after lunch, weather, etc.

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Q&A: Can I answer every question?

ANSWERS: Be Honest! If you dont have the answer, say so! Dont LieWorse dont give wrong answer.

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Q&A: Did I answer well?

ANSWERS: YES: A nod on his head (the person asking

the question) or he replied saying thank you ! NO: After your answer, he/she kept quiet!

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Q&A: What if I receive no questions?

ANSWERS: You are lucky! You dont face any difficult questionsYou are not so lucky! Audience may not have understood your

presentation

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Concluding Remarks

INTERNATIONALF O R U MHOW TO IMPROVE?

Know your weakness! Pronunciation? Materials/Content? Organization?

Improve through using tools Improve through practices (rehearsal) Follow my advice

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INTERNATIONALF O R U MCONCLUSION

To present well, you: Prepare well Rehearse well Sleep well Fear no one Talk like an Engineer! Finally, enjoy it & be yourself!

Eat Well

Questions?

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