Advanced Topics in Distributed SystemsPresentations
Guillaume Pierre
Vrije Universiteit
Fall 2010http://www.cs.vu.nl/~gpierre/courses/atds/
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 1 / 41
Table of Contents
1 Presentations should focus on what’s important
2 Presentation structure
3 Visual Stuff
4 Delivering the presentation
5 A few tips for the ATDS presentations
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 2 / 41
The killer slide
Columbia Shuttle Disaster (2003) was partly due to one bad slideI 7 people died
What happened:I When taking off, some debris was seen to hit one of the wingsI Question: did it damage the wing? Is it safe to re-enter atmosphere?I Study was conducted through mathematical analysis only, based on
test data completely out of range (the actual debris was 640 timesbigger than in the test data)
I Results looked reassuring but Boeing’s engineers were concerned bythe limits of their evaluations
I NASA management only understood the “reassuring” part. . .I The shuttle was allowed to re-enter atmosphere without repairing the
wing
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 3 / 41
The killer slide
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 4 / 41
11 sentences, 6 levels of hierarchy
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 5 / 41
Overly reassuring title
“Review of test data” does not refer to the predicted tile damage butto the choice of test models used to predict the damageRemember: this is a mathematical analysis based on very limiteddata
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 6 / 41
Jargon
SOFI = “Spray On Foam Insulation”
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 7 / 41
Incomprehensible sentence
You’d better pay attention to the presenter’s speech. . .
But the presentation was also circulated by email
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 8 / 41
Unclear reference: what is “it”?
Here: “it” = “damage to the protective tiles”
If you miss this, the meaning changes completely
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 9 / 41
What does “significant” mean?
Here: it means bad
One can interpret this as “statistically significant” (i.e., good)
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 10 / 41
Weird, inconsistent unit notations
“3cu. In” vs “1920cu in” vs “3 cu in”
Clear version: 1920 in3
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 11 / 41
The important message is hidden at the end of the slide
And it contradicts the title. . .
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 12 / 41
An alternative design of the same slide
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 13 / 41
Another design of the same slide
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations 14 / 41
Table of Contents
1 Presentations should focus on what’s important
2 Presentation structure
3 Visual Stuff
4 Delivering the presentation
5 A few tips for the ATDS presentations
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Presentations should focus on what’s important 15 / 41
What makes a good presentation?
You fully understand the content you are presenting
You present this content is a synthetic way
You avoid a number of classical pitfalls
Most difficult part: being synthetic!
The three keywords are: structure, structure, structure.
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Presentations should focus on what’s important 16 / 41
Observation
A presentation at a conference is usually limited to 20 minutes
The paper you come to present is about 10-15 pages of textI You already had to fight to make everything fit within these limits
Axiom
It is impossible to explain everything within these 20 minutes!
Even if you speak very fast. . .
You will have to select only what is important and skip all the rest
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Presentations should focus on what’s important 17 / 41
Two minutes per slide
In general, plan to spend about 2 minutes per slideI Some slides take a bit less, but not that much
A conference-style presentation will contain roughly 10–12 slides
Each slide will contain 10–12 lines at mostI Some authors make stricter recommendations: 6 lines, 6 words/lineI But beware of messages that are so compressed that they become
incomprehensible
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Presentations should focus on what’s important 18 / 41
Focus only on what’s important
What is important in a technical presentation?I Most important: what is the problem you are trying to solve?I And also: a glimpse at your solutionI All the rest does not matter! (almost. . . )
People can always read the paper afterwardsI You can skip entire aspects of your workI Just mention them: “you will find more information in the paper”
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Presentations should focus on what’s important 19 / 41
Avoid complicated abstractions
In a paper you present your work in the most general caseI You end up writing text at a high level of abstraction
In a presentation, make things concreteI No need to present the full generality and all the 512 special cases
discussed in the paperI Do not copy-paste this impressive 5-lines-long math formula from the
paper!I Present only the normal/interesting caseI Maybe: present just one running example that illustrates your message
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Presentations should focus on what’s important 20 / 41
Table of Contents
1 Presentations should focus on what’s important
2 Presentation structure
3 Visual Stuff
4 Delivering the presentation
5 A few tips for the ATDS presentations
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Presentation structure 21 / 41
General presentation structure
1 Title
2 Problem
3 First glance at the solution
4 Structure of the talk
5 . . .
6 . . .
7 . . .
8 Conclusion
9 Take-home message
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Presentation structure 22 / 41
The right content of slide 2
The first slide is easy: title, author name, logo of the organization,etc.
What about the second slide?I Most people present the structure of their talk. WRONG!I The audience has barely read your title, and has no idea what the talk
is aboutF “I will first introduce the problem, then show my solution, then there
will be some performance evaluation, and then I will conclude.” Thesame applies to every presentation!
F “I will introduce isomorphic para-spaces. Then I will show that thetheorem of XXX proves the non-linar nature of that space, thanks tothe use of results from YYY.” Nobody understands anything!
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Presentation structure 23 / 41
The right content of the first slides
Better start with the problem (slide 2)I What is the problem you are trying to solve?I Why should the audience pay attention to your presentation
instead of cheking their email?I Make the problem extremely concrete (e.g., Columbia shuttle disaster)
Then give a hint of what the solution looks like (slide 3)I Just enough so that the audience can start guessing what your talk is
going to contain
Then the structure of the talk (slide 4)I They will now understand why you want to apply XXX’s theorem, and
what it was about in the first place
Isn’t this a familiar structure?
This is a stripped-down version of the structure of a paper introduction
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Presentation structure 24 / 41
The last slide
After your presentation the audience will ask questionsI The last slide of your presentation will remain displayed for several
minutesI How useful is it to display Any question? during 10 minutes?
Use the last slide to repeat the take-home messageI If I remember only one idea from your presentation, what should this
idea be?
Example: what is the take-home message of this presentation?
When preparing a presentation,focus on the essential message
and skip all the rest
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Presentation structure 25 / 41
Backup slides
You can often anticipate the questions that the audience may askI Elements that you decided to skip in your presentationI Questions asked by the reviewers of your paperI Questions asked by audiences in a previous presentation
Prepare 1 slide to answer each such question!I Performance graphsI State of the artI Tricky/controversial aspects of your work
Show your backup slides only if the audience asks the questions youprepared
I And take a note of the questions you receive so that you can preparebackup slides for the next time. . .
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Presentation structure 26 / 41
Table of Contents
1 Presentations should focus on what’s important
2 Presentation structure
3 Visual Stuff
4 Delivering the presentation
5 A few tips for the ATDS presentations
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Visual Stuff 27 / 41
Font size
Use large enough fonts! No more than 12 lines of text per slideI Print one slide in A4 format (the one with the smallest fonts)I Put the slide on the floor, stand on a chair above itI You should be able to read everything easily!
Note: the same holds for figure legends etc.I What’s the point including them if the audience cannot read?
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Visual Stuff 28 / 41
Short sentences only!
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Visual Stuff 29 / 41
Beamers have real bad contrast
A typical LCD screen has a contrast of 2000/1, while a typicalbeamer has a contrast of 500/1 (in perfect conditions)
I With background light you get maybe a contrast of 100/1 or 50/1I Your figure with 5 different shades of purple looks nice on screen but
nobody will see anything using a beamer!
Use only strong high-contrast colors (black, blue, red, brown)I Avoid lighter colors: yellow, pink, greenI Do not mix red with green: 7-10% of male population is colorblind!I Beware of background colors: white works best
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Visual Stuff 30 / 41
Contrast
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Visual Stuff 31 / 41
Avoid jokes and funny cartoons
Your only goal is to convey as much information as possible during ashort period of time
I Remember? You had to strip your presentation to the strictly essentialmessage
I Every written/spoken word counts
Do not distract the audience with funny cartoons and jokes!I All the time that people read the cartoon they don’t listen to you, and
lose track of the presentationI It also conveys a negative message: “I know that this presentation is
totally boring. I hate it myself as well. Instead, let me try to entertainyou during this painful moment.”
Similarly: sophisticated slide transitions distract the audience,especially if you use different ones each time
I “What will the next transition be?”I Reserve these effects to emphasize one important message per
presentation
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Visual Stuff 32 / 41
Table of Contents
1 Presentations should focus on what’s important
2 Presentation structure
3 Visual Stuff
4 Delivering the presentation
5 A few tips for the ATDS presentations
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Delivering the presentation 33 / 41
Delivering the presentation
Watch the audienceI Do not watch the screen nor your laptop
Speak loudly enough so the audience can hear youI Trick: select somebody at the last row and talk to that person
Give the audience enough time to think before you change topicsI Just stay silent for 5 seconds before moving on to something else
Do not read your slides aloudI What’s the point? The audience can read your slidesI Make new sentences during the presentation
Emphasize what’s importantI Do not use monotonic voice!
Do not play strip-tease with your slides. . .I “You can’t be trusted to listen to me if I show you the next line too”
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Delivering the presentation 34 / 41
Know your presentation by heart!
You should know by heart which slide contains what informationI . . . and in which orderI You should never get lost!I What was already discussed, what will come next
But do not learn the text of your speech by heart!I ⇒ Mechanical deliveryI Better to make new sentences on the spot
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Delivering the presentation 35 / 41
Practice your talk
Practice your talk beforehand!I If possible with a couple of friends to listen to youI Did they understand what the take-home message is?I Did you emphasize what is important?I Is your talk well structured?
Beware of time limitsI If your talk is too long, speaking faster will not help
F You will have to cut on the content
I If you run overtime during the real presentation:F Skip slides, focus on the most important stuffF In extreme cases: skip everything, move directly to conclusion
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations Delivering the presentation 36 / 41
Table of Contents
1 Presentations should focus on what’s important
2 Presentation structure
3 Visual Stuff
4 Delivering the presentation
5 A few tips for the ATDS presentations
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations A few tips for the ATDS presentations 37 / 41
Special tips for ATDS presentations
ATDS presentations must discuss three papers, not one!
You have 25 minutes for the presentation (excluding questions)
You must give one presentation, not three!
Tip #1: Spend enough time in Introduction
The introduction is extremely importantI What is the presentation about? What is the problem we are going to
address?I Why is this an interesting topic?I Understand the problem better (without telling about solutions)I Which structure does your presentation follow?
Plan to spend 25-30% of your time in introduction
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations A few tips for the ATDS presentations 38 / 41
Special tips for ATDS presentations
Tip #2: Select your secondary papers carefully
Your presentation must tell a single storyI Oppose and contrast three different approaches to the same problemI Present complementary techniques that address different aspects of
the same problemI Show techniques which improve on each otherI Etc.
If you don’t find the right secondary papers, search for better onesI For example papers that cite or are cited by your primary paper (check
http://scholar.google.com)I Feel free to propose other choices of secondary papers. . .
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations A few tips for the ATDS presentations 39 / 41
Special tips for ATDS presentations
Tip #3: Think carefully about the structure of your presentation
Structure, structure, structure
Let the audience know how your three papers fit together
Remember: 1/3 of the audience has not read the primary paper!
Possible structures:I Simple: Intro, paper 1, paper 2, paper 3, conclusion.
F Explain how these three papers relate to each otherF In which order will you present the three papers?
I More sophisticated: synthetic presentationF Structure like a lecture: cover different aspects of the problem in a
logical orderF Use information from each paper where it fits
I If you oppose three approaches to the same problem: present/opposeall three papers simultaneously
Be creative!
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations A few tips for the ATDS presentations 40 / 41
References
“Any recommendations for an oral presentation that must beprepared in a hurry?” Jean-Luc Doumont, IEEE PCS Newsletter 51:9(Oct 2007). http://www.principiae.be/papers.html
Advanced Topics in Distributed Systems Presentations A few tips for the ATDS presentations 41 / 41