Presenting Your Presentation
William Martin
(Based on Presentation by
Harishwaran ‘Hari’ Hariharan)
August 24th, 2012
Electrical & Computer Engineering Department
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
334 Ferris Hall, Knoxville, TN, 37996-2100, USA
Why Are We Here?
• Engineers are not known for their
ability to communicate ideas
• Communication skills are essential for
getting a research position in
academics and industry
Why Are We Here?
“…You also have taught me how to create and give a
bad ass presentation.
Last semester I took a Philosophy class where we
gave presentations and summaries on articles we
read. After one of my presentations the professor told
me that it was close to the worst presentation that he
had ever heard while teaching that class. (I had
honestly spent almost 15-20 hours on that
presentation/summary/delivery) So coming into this
class I was pretty bad at all of that. Because of you, I
have been able to earn a job by giving them an
awesome presentation when I went onsite for an
interview…”
- A prior ECE 400 student
Overview
Suggestions for a
Successful Oral
Presentation
(Public speaking skills)
Building Your Technical
Presentation
(Presentation mechanics)
Suggestions for a Successful
Oral Presentation
• Define goals
- What is the purpose of the presentation?
• Planning ahead
• Make the presentation count
- Useful presentation skills for getting your
point across
• “Dress for the job you want, not the
job you have”
Goals of a Presentation
What are you trying to accomplish?
- Update coworkers on the status of your
project?
- Communicate technical material?
- Convey a new idea to a group of your
peers?
- Get people to read your paper?
- Get a job?
Plan Ahead
• Know your information
• Know your audience
- What do they expect?
- What is their background?
• If someone has presented before you:
- Use their work to provide context for your
work
• Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse!
Rehearsal
THE most critical, and often ignored,
part of preparing for a presentation
• Create the presentation in advance
- Don’t wait until the day before
- Don’t worry if things change
• Practice your presentation
- To yourself and to a live audience
» Clarity of material
» Timing
Making the Presentation Count
• Maintain control of the presentation
• Put yourself in the audience’s position
• Relate your work to others’
• Allocate your time appropriately
• Use the high-interest times wisely
- Audience interest is highest at the
beginning and end of your presentation
Delivery
Focus on how you present your
material…is it interesting?
• Attitude/Style
• Voice
• Body language
• Eliminate verbal filler (‘uh’, ‘um’, ‘like’)
Attitude/Style
• Dress appropriately
• Be enthusiastic!
• Relax
- Avoid nervous habits
• Give an excuse free presentation
-
Pixelization
Text too small to read
Videos/link broken
Eliminate technical errors BEFOREHAND!
Voice
• Speak loudly enough
- If using a microphone, adjust voice accordingly
- Don’t mumble, enunciate
• Avoid monotony
- Vary pitch, tone, rhythm
- Repeat or pause for emphasis
• Don’t read slides or notes word for word
• Ask questions of the audience to maintain
connectivity (Dr. Qi does this very well)
Body Language
• Maintain eye contact
- Don’t turn your back to the audience
- Look at more than one person
• Use appropriate hand gestures
• Move around?
If you are nervous, find a friend in the
audience and focus on them!
Deferring Questions
“What if someone asks a question during the
presentation?”
• If there is time, answer them directly and
move on
• Deferring questions
- Are you going to address the issue later?
- Is answering going to cause your presentation to
go over time limits?
- Do you have the information available?
- If you defer a question, be sure to follow through
Answering Questions
• Don’t let the audience down
- Keep the intensity up
- This is where you can go into details
• Repeat the question
• “What if I don’t know the answer?”
-
Address the issue directly
Don’t bluff
Answer in part, if possible
Use lack of available data as networking
opportunity
Presentation Skills Summary
• Define your goals for this presentation
• Prepare your presentation in advance
• Rehearse your presentation
• Be enthusiastic
• Use slides as reminders, not scripts
• Maintain eye contact
• Stay on schedule
• Answer questions to the best of your
ability
Overview
Suggestions for a
Successful Oral
Presentation
(Public speaking skills)
Building Your Technical
Presentation
(Presentation mechanics)
Building Your Technical
Presentation
• General suggestions for constructing a
technical presentation
• Defining the structure of your
presentation
• Specifics on slide construction
General Suggestions
• Your presentation is a summary of what you have
done
• KISS
• Use high-interest times to communicate important
points
• Use repetition to enforce key points
• Use visual aids to support what you are saying
• Allocate time intelligently
• Reporter concept
- A non-technical reporter with no knowledge of your
subject should come away from your presentation and be
able to correctly report your key concepts
Presentation Structure
• Informative, descriptive title
• The Introduction
- “Tell ‘em what you are going to tell ‘em”
• The Body
- “Tell ‘em”
• The Conclusion
- “Tell ‘em what you told ‘em”
The Introduction
• Tell ‘em what you are going to tell ‘em
• Define the problem
- Minimize terminology
- Use images/examples if possible
- Spell out all acronyms
• Pique the audience’s interest
- Why is the problem important?
- What are the applications?
• Discuss related work
• State the contributions of your work!
• Provide an outline of the rest of the presentation
The Introduction
• Tell ‘em what you are going to tell ‘em
• Define the problem
- Minimize terminology
- Use images/examples if possible
- Spell out all acronyms
• Pique the audience’s interest
- Why is the problem important?
- What are the applications?
• Discuss related work
• State the contributions of your work!
• Provide an outline of the rest of the presentation
The Outline
• Multiple Options
-
No Outline (Not recommended)
Loose outline (Like this presentation)
Outline page with completion markers (i.e. ‘slide 4 of 14’)
Outline callbacks - Example
Outline tracker built-in to presentation (preferred)
• Purpose
- Prevents audience from forgetting what you’re talking about
- Regains attention of bored audience members
- Gives a rough answer to ‘how much longer is this thing?’
Will Martin: Image Processing
ECE 400 – Senior Design Project
•Task 1: Analysis/Selection of Hardware and
Software
•Task 2: Data Collection and Single Victim
Distance/Angle Algorithm Development
• Task 3: Write Image Processing Algorithms for
Multiple Victims and Obstacles
•Task 4: Implementation of Algorithms onto
Mobile Robot (Fine Tuning)
Task 2: Data Collection and Single Victim Distance/Angle Algorithm Development
Outline For Today’s Presentation:
A.Test Image Database Creation
B.Creation of Victim Recognition Algorithm
C.Statistical Analysis
D.Results
E.Future Work/Conclusions
Task 2: Data Collection and Single Victim Distance/Angle Algorithm Development
A. Test Image Database Creation
Task 2: Data Collection and Single Victim Distance/Angle Algorithm Development
C. Statistical Analysis
Horizontal Center (% Across) Vs. Actual Angle
(Overlapping Victims Excluded)
Horizontal Center Percent Across
100
90
80
70
60
50
Horizontal Center Column
40
Power (Horizontal Center Column)
30
Linear (Horizontal Center Column)
y = 1.8189x + 48.885
R² = 0.99929
20
10
0
-30
-20
-10
0
10
Actual Angle (degrees)
20
30
Task 2: Data Collection and Single Victim Distance/Angle Algorithm Development
Outline For Today’s Presentation:
A.Test Image Database Creation
B.Creation of Victim Recognition Algorithm
C.Statistical Analysis
D.Results
E.Future Work/Conclusions
Task 2: Data Collection and Single Victim Distance/Angle Algorithm Development
D. Results
• Using the equations derived from the graphs in the
previous slides, predictions were made regarding the
position of the victim in the frame
.
• It should be noted that the victims that overlapped the
frame and the closest victim that suffered from a shadow
were not expected to be correctly identified, yet they
were.
The Outline
• Multiple Options
-
No Outline (Not recommended)
Loose outline (Like this presentation)
Outline page with completion markers (i.e. ‘slide 4 of 14’)
Outline callbacks
Outline tracker built-in to presentation (preferred) Example
• Purpose
- Prevents audience from forgetting what you’re talking about
- Regains attention of bored audience members
- Gives a rough answer to ‘how much longer is this thing?’
Outline For Today’s Presentation:
1)Overview
A. Flowcharts
B. Previous Work
C. Future Work slide from last time
D. Algorithm Walkthrough
2)Pose Estimation Algorithm Specifics
3)Hardware Upgrade
4)(I,J) to (x,y) Mapping
A. Determining the Camera’s Distortion Model (Nice Graphs)
B. Determining the Camera’s dimensions (Nice Graphs)
C. (I,J) to (x,y) Mapping Equations
5)Demo/Results
6)Timing Calculations
7)Conclusions
8)Future Work
1. Overview A) B)
C) D)
2. Pose
Estimation
3. Hardware
Upgrade
4. Mapping A)
B) C)
5. Demo/Results
6. Timing
Calculations
7. Conclusions
8. Future Work
SENIOR DESIGN PROJECTS IN
WIRELESS CONTROL SYSTEMS
Featuring the work of Taylor Morris and Levi Linwood
Nicole Pennington
Taylor’s Pan/Tilt System

Goal:
 Android-controlled

pan tilt camera system
Steps:
 Become
familiar with Android application
programming, Java, and C#
 Revise the work of previous senior design students to fit
her goal
 Design a GUI
Taylor
Intro
Prev Work
Results
Levi
Intro
Prev Work
Results
Previous Work
Bryan Bodkin
Taylor
Intro
Trevor Sutch, Shane West
Prev Work
Results
Levi
Intro
Prev Work
Results
Taylor’s Results



Android displays
camera view and
sends controls
Uses WiFi/router
between the netbook
and Android
Netbook controls
camera via USB
Taylor
Intro
Prev Work
Results
Levi
Intro
Prev Work
Results
Levi’s Game Controller Adapter

Goal:
 General-purpose

adapter for low-cost game controller
Steps/Challenges:
 Revise
the work of a previous senior design student
 Learn about USB address assignment and device
configuration
 Map the controller inputs and write a driver for the
gamepad
Taylor
Intro
Prev Work
Results
Levi
Intro
Prev Work
Results
Previous Work
Adam Smith
Taylor
Intro
Prev Work
Results
Levi
Intro
Prev Work
Results
Levi’s Results

USB host shield added
to Arduino
 Removed
PC
intermediary
Taylor
Intro
Prev Work
Results
Levi
Intro
Prev Work
Results
The Body
• Tell ‘em
• Further explanation on the significance of your
work
• Overview of your methodology
- High-level, using images and diagrams where possible
- Gloss over the technical details here
• Specific problems encountered
-
Here you can go into more detail
Talk about how you solved the problems
Show examples
This is the portion of your presentation that grows/shrinks
due to time considerations
The Conclusion
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Tell ‘em what you told ‘em
Provide a synopsis
Re-emphasize key points
Lessons learned
Discuss open problems and future work
Thank your audience
Open the floor for questions
- More technical details can be discussed here
- Have extra slides?
Some Comments on
Presentation Structure
• Emphasize concepts, approaches, methods,
and conclusions
- Save nitty-gritty technical details for questions or
offline discussion
• Present material in a logical sequence
• Follow one central theme
- Limit sidetracks
• Use repetition to emphasize key points
• Provide appropriate applications for your
audience
- Tailor your presented results to reflect audience
interest
More Comments on Presentation
Structure
• Reveal startling or surprising moments in your
research to draw your audience into your
presentation
• Don’t startle yourself with unexpected content!
• During explanation of techniques, use a single data
set for demonstration purposes
- Once the explanation is complete, show robustness
through application to a variety of datasets
Slide Design Criteria
• Parsimony
- Conciseness, simplicity
- Say only what is important
• Legibility
- No excuse for unreadable slides!
- Proper color selection
- Use charts, diagrams, and images in place of data tables, or large
amounts of text
- UNITS UNITS UNITS!
• Consistency
- Use common format for all text, graphics, labels, etc.
More on Parsimony
• Make sure there is a good reason for
every slide
• Keep the number of items on a slide
small
• Don’t waste visual bandwidth
- Keep equations and text to a minimum
- Avoid intricate and large tables
Some Slide Do’s
• Use images and diagrams whenever
possible
• Avoid sequences of equations
• Avoid tabulated data
• Use repetition
Some Slide Do’s
• Duplicate slides when necessary
• Keep a good balance of slides with text
and slides with images
• Spell check and proofread
• Use formatting and/or color to
emphasize key points
• Know your audience
QUESTIONS?
Electrical & Computer Engineering Department
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
334 Ferris Hall, Knoxville, TN, 37996-2100, USA
Spell Check vs. Proofread
Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect awl the weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.
Some Slide Don’ts
• Overload slides
• Intend to use too many slides
• Put information on slides that you do
not intend to discuss
• Show complex equations
Some Slide Don’ts
• Show code
• Forget to attribute items borrowed
from others (Courtesy: Brad Grinstead)
• Use unnecessary animations or
backgrounds – Examples
6. Detailed Approaches, Results, and Analysis –
Outside Sensor
Inside Sensor
Outside Sensor Procedure
Security Sensor
• Start one-shot timer to initiate sequence
• When timer fires, initiate temperature reading
• Get temperature data, convert to Fahrenheit, and initiate humidity
reading
Base Station
• Get humidity data, convert to relative humidity, and initiate light
& Code
sensor reading
• Get light sensor data, convert to lux, and begin data transmission
Graphic User
Arduino
• Transmit in 3 separate messages containing source, type, and data
Interface
• After all three messages have been sent, start one-shot timer for 2
seconds
6. Detailed Approaches, Results, and Analysis –
Outside
Sensor
Inside Sensor
Inside Sensor
Procedure
Security Sensor
• Start One-shot timer to initiate sequence
• When timer fires, initiate temperature reading
• Get temperature data, convert to Fahrenheit, and initiate light sensor
Base Station
reading
& Code
• Get light sensor data, convert to lux, and begin data transmission
• Transmit
in 2 separate
messages containing source, type,
and data
Graphic
User
Arduino
Interface
• After both messages have been sent, start one-shot timer for 2
seconds
1) Overview of Work Before Midterm Presentation
C.
Task 3: MATLAB vs. C++ Comparisons
Comparison of Results – Doll Head
MATLAB – Built-in functions
Benefit
Cost
Custom-made C++ Algorithm
Cost
Benefit
(Elapsed time: 3.923841 seconds)
(Elapsed time: 3.63422 seconds)
(0.78476 seconds per image)
(0.726844 seconds per image)
1) Overview of Work Before Midterm Presentation
C.
Task 3: MATLAB vs. C++ Comparisons
Comparison of Results – Apartment
MATLAB – Built-in functions
Cost
Benefit
Custom-made C++ Algorithm
Benefit
Cost
(Elapsed time: 6.861875 seconds)
(Elapsed time: 12.2407 seconds)
(0.285911 seconds per image)
(0.510029 seconds per image)
Presentation Mechanics
Summary
• Tell ‘em rule
• Visuals support what you are saying, not
repeat it
• Be clear and concise
• Repeat key points and slides as necessary to
enforce audience understanding
Wrap-up
• Example of the type of presentation
that Dr. Abidi expects
Presentation Mechanics
Summary
• Many points emphasized by the following
comedic video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpvgfmEU2
Ck
For a bunch of great presentation examples,
find something that sparks your interest at
http://www.ted.com/
Wrap-up
• Covered the basics of good public
speaking
• Ran through some ideas on creating a
good technical presentation
• Had an extreme case of PowerPoint
poisoning
• HW – Write a paper <1 page about
how to give good presentations. Due
8/31/2012 @ 5pm (50% off if late)
Thank You
Questions?