1. Presenting Your
Research
Dilum Bandara, PhD
Computer Sc ience & Engineer ing ,
Univers i ty of Moratuwa
di lumb@c se.mr t .ac . lk
ht tp: / /Di lum.Bandara. lk

2. Presentation Process
Plan
Present
Practice Prepare
2

3. Plan
• Context
• Objectives
• Audience
• Depth
• Time
• Location
3
Outline
Source: www.govloop.com

4. Context & Objectives
4
Context Objective
Problem statement, Preliminary
exam
Demonstrate that you have skills
to do research
Progress review, Qualifying
exam
Demonstrate your research
progress
Defense, Viva Defend your thesis/dissertation
Conference, Workshop Sell your paper
Seminars, Invited talks Knowledge dissemination

5. Audience
5
• Who?
• Background?
• Why they want to listen?
• What they need to remember?
Source:
www.audienceavenue.com

6. Depth
• Deep vs. Shallow
• Pick based on objectives &
audience
◦ Depth - Conference & defense
◦ Shallow – Seminar, invited talk
6
Source: www.prprescriptions.com

7. Time & Location
• There’s no good time to present!
◦ Early morning – not fully awake
◦ Mid morning – want tea, coffee
◦ After lunch – sleepy
◦ Afternoon – want tea, coffee, tired
◦ Night – want to go home, tired
• Fit content & mode of delivery to
time & location
Source: www.corexcellence.com
7

8. Your Plan Should Address
• Address following 3 questions in a suitable order
◦What you did or planning to do?
◦Why is it important?
◦How you did it or planning to do it?
8

9. Typical Outline
• (Planned) Contribution
◦ What?, Why?, & How? in simple words
• Outline
• Motivation
• Problem Statement
• Solution
• Experimental/Simulation setup
• Results
• Conclusions/Summary
• Future Work
• References
9

10. Prepare
10
Source: www.electrolux.com

11. Before You Begin
• Research / literature survey need to be solid
• There are things you
◦ must know
◦ should know
◦ better to know
• Good flow
◦ General  specific
◦ Known  unknown
◦ Accepted  controversial
◦ Cause  effect
◦ Problem  solution
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12. Slide Template
• Simple
• Fit to audience
• Big enough
• Be consistent
• Use space appropriately
• Be careful with custom
templates
Source: www.m62.net
12
Source: www.m62.net

13. Content
• Less is More
• Balance & connected
◦ 1 idea per slide
• Figures, illustrations, & graphs whenever possible
• No more than
◦ 6 bullets per slide
◦ 6 words per bullet
• Use your word knife
◦ Cut words that aren’t essential for correct meaning
• Number slides
13

14. Figures, Graphs, & Tables
• A picture worth more than
1000 words
• Big enough
• Clear & simple
• Clear labels & axis
• Align to left
• Animate only when
essential/useful
14

15. Prepare –More Tips
• Proper grammar unessential, if it makes sense
• Proper spellings essential
◦ Spell check, proof read – even print & check
• Backup slides
• Test on multiple systems
◦ Different versions of power point, pdf
◦ Keep a copy in pen drive
• 1 slide for ~2 minutes
◦ 15 min – 10 core slides max
15

16. Practice
Source: www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk
16

17. Practice, Practice, Practice
• Self practice
• Write a script
◦ Specially first few slides
• Practice with audience
◦ Colleagues in lab, spouse, parents, friends, supervisor
◦ Ask for feedback
◦ Ready to face hash criticism
• Time presentation
• Twice a day
◦ But don’t over practice
17

18. Present
Source: http://alwaysinfo.co.uk
18

19. Prepare for Battle
• Light exercises
◦ Prepare your body for battle
◦ Stretch your arms, rotate neck, take stairs, breathing excercises
◦ Prepare your mouth/voice
◦ Repeat “brrrrrr….”, “Unique New York”, “Tapeka Topeka”
• Arrive early
• Observe how it worked so far
• Test your slides, mike, laser pointer
19

20. Delivery
• Greet audience
• Start in a friendly way
• Don’t apologies
• Tell about
◦ Who you are, why are you here
◦ Title
◦ What’s in it
◦ Approximate time
◦ Which topic is being covered
• If you had to start late, fit content to remaining time
◦ Don’t over run
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21. Delivery (Cont.)
• Vary voice
• Suitable speed
◦ 120 words per min – for 2-5 min presentation
◦ Less for longer presentations
• Read audience
◦ Observe body language
• Focus, not scan
◦ Eye contact
◦ Don't turn your back to them
◦ Don’t talk to laptop
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22. Delivery (Cont.)
• If something is there, make sure to explain it
• May skip depending on available time
◦ Tell them you are skipping
◦ But don’t design slides with a plan to skip
• Use gestures to explain & emphasize
• Use laser pointers when suitable
◦ But don’t shake like a …
• Get audience to talk
◦ When appropriate encourage questions
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23. Questions
• Understand question
◦ If not clear, ask again
◦ Answer based on what you already told
◦ Then introduce new content
◦ If you don’t know the answer, tell that
• Ready to answer questions beyond presentation
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24. Summary
• Tell them again what you told them briefly
◦ Based on what you want them to remember
• Learn from good presenters
◦ Observe & learn
• Practice, practice, & practice
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http://Dilum.Bandara.lk