Technical presentations - Prof Mohandas

Technical presentations - Prof Mohandas

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  GOOD QUALITY TECHNICAL PRESENTATIONS ProfK P Mohandas Dean Academic, MES College of Engg, Kuttippuram (email: kpmdas@ieee.org) 1
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  Different types of presentations Seminar presentations in a class  Paper presentations in conferences  Project presentations as part of class work  Project presentations for research grants  Research updates or reviews  Thesis presentations (oral examinations) 2
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  Why presentations ? Effectivenessof visual presentations It is estimated that we can retain or remember Hardly 20% of what you HEAR Nearly 40 to 50% of what you SEE Almost 70-80% of what you DO  It is not always possible to make others DO, so next choice is to SHOW or use VISUALs 3
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  Remember !!! TELLME , I WILL FORGET ! SHOW ME, I WILL REMEMBER !! INVOLVE ME , I WILL LEARN !!! 4
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  A presentation has Content : information that listeners need to hear.  Structure : It has a logical beginning, body and end. It contains only information that can be understood within the time.  Packaging : It must be well prepared  Human Element: A good presentation will be remembered because it has a person attached to it 5
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  The voice has Volume : loud enough to be heard, voice modulation helps in better attention and avoids monotony  Tone: The Characteristics of a sound, a voice that contains fear can frighten the audience, one that carries laughter can make them smile  Pitch : High or low voice , medium preferred  Pace: How fast the sound lasts, not too fast, not too slow either  Colour: If you overact and mix emotions in presentation, sometimes it works wonders; 6
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  If you wantto improve your voice  Listen to it: practice listening to your voice while walking, working etc  To really listen: Cup your right hand around your right year and gently pull the ear forward. Next cup your left hand near your mouth and speak. This will make you hear your voice like others hear it 7
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  HOW TO PRESENTTHINGS?  Printed or typed text  Tables of data  Charts  Graphs , Pie charts, line graphs  Pictures  Video clips etc 8
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  Why use tools? Easy to use different types of features  Automatic size of letters and formats  Titles and subtitles choice of proper sizes  Easily Incorporate figures and graphs  Include Animations and special effects  Links and moving forward and backward in slides  Colour choice – artistic effects or esthetics 9
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  Body Language  Eyecontact: Helps communication and so never loose eye contact with listeners  Facial expressions: Smiling transmits happiness, friendliness and warmth  Gestures: Some gestures can avoid boredom  Posture and orientation: Moving while talking helps, bending (leaning) forward shows you are more approachable, receptive and friendly  Proximity: Not too close or too far  Voice : Modulation helps avoid boredom 10
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  How to prepare Remember  If you fail to prepare  You are preparing to fail 11
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  Steps in preparation 1. Choose a topic or area of interest  2. Search for relevant material in text books, encyclopedias ,journals, internet etc 3. Prepare a write up on the topic in your own language after understanding the contents 4.Logically arrange the sequence of presentation 5. Rehearse thoroughly monitoring time 12
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  How many slides?  Time available for presentation  Content and depth of the topic  Nature of materials to be presented like mostly text material or text and numerical data and tables text, tables and graphs pictures and videos Maximum 2 minutes for each slide 13
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  Good quality slides Good visuals can strengthen your presentation significantly , but they are rare.  The keys to good visuals are:  1. FEW just enough to illustrate the points  2. BIG so that they are easy to see and read  3. SIMPLE , so that they are easily understood 14
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  Contents of eachslide  Not too many lines of text ( 7-8 lines)  Size of letters big enough to see for all  Not too many equations (?)  Use plenty of graphs rather than tables  Use pictures with proper titles and legends  Animations and special effects should not be too distracting 15
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  Language in presentation Simple and precise  Not pompous or flowery language  The audience wants to understand the technical contents, not the beauty of the language  Liberal use of figures, pictures or even videos to illustrate the points 16
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  Things not tobe done  Never read from the slides or depend totally on the slides. The displayed slides are for the audience to follow your seminar not for you  Never use light colours for text and figures since this will not be visible for those who sit in the back  Choose proper font size (at least 18 point) so that it can be read easily.  Do not give complete derivations, only highlight the significance of terms and equations 17
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  Not to bedone (contd)  Do not overcrowd the page with lot of text or figures  Do not make slides by photocopying directly from printed books or journals as letters will be too small  Choose different types of letters, bold, italics, capitals etc to emphasize points.  Letter size not less than 18 point or more 18
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  Preparation for presentation Rehearse as many times as possible  Keep the timings strictly  Allow some time for discussion  Respond to questions after hearing it fully  Repeat the question loudly for others to hear  Answer clearly if you know the answer  If not use your ingenuity in coming out of the situation  Accept mistakes pointed out by audience  Never get into an argument with the questioner 19
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  Inter personal communication tips Never loose EYE CONTACT with audience  Talk loudly and clearly  Never turn your back to the audience  When responding to questions wait for the questions to be completed  Repeat the question for the audience  Answer clearly, if necessary using board .  If you don’t know the answer, you can request any one else to answer or get out of it using your ingenuity 20
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  Always remember  Youare speaking to an audience  The presentation is for them  It is absolutely essential to:  Keep them interested in your talk  Make them understand what you speak  Get them involved in the process  Get their response and react to them 21
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  Start and beginning Give an overview of the presentation in the beginning ( one slide)  Give a summary in the end (one slide) Some references for better communication: 1.www.allaboutcommunication.com 2.Today’s Engineer IEEE, USA 22