Holding a presentation

"A presentation is the process of presenting a topic to an audience. It is typically a demonstration, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, or to build good will or to present a new idea or product." Oxford Dictionaries

General advice

  • Show that you are an expert in your topic.
  • Explain and highlight why your solution/topic is cool.
  • Emphasise your contributions.

Structure

Rough outline of your presentation:

  • 1/3 Context and Motivation
    • First slide understandable by your grandparents.
    • Second slide still understandable by your parents.
    • Explain the problem. Let the audience crave after your solution.
  • 1/3 Technical content
    • Description of what you did.
    • Why it is cool, complicated, novel, and/or unintuitive?
  • 1/3 Analysis
    • Why it is good?
    • Why it is better than other approaches?

Layout

Most of the slides should be centered around a figure. Often, there is little need for text afterward. Remember,

  • a presentation is only for support your talk, it is not your talk;
  • use slide numbers to give a reference for others for questions; and
  • use as many graphics as possible.