**CS 190 Senior Seminar** Presentation Requirements and Advice [Back to landing page](../index.html) For each presentation you must: - Read your assigned paper. - Prepare a set of draft slides for your presentation. - Schedule a pre-presentation meeting with your instructor. - Deliver your presentation. - Pair presentations are expected to last 25 minutes. - Solo presentations are expected to last 15 minutes. - All presentations should include three discussion questions at the end. - Submit your presentation reflection. # Before you present Here are some thing to consider before you present. We will discuss these items when we meet prior to your presentation. - Who is your audience? (peers, business, academics, investors, teaching, etc.). Answering this question will help you choose appropriate attire, mannerisms, formalisms, and engagements, and it will help me provide more directed feedback. - How long will you (and your partner) present? Try to stay on pace. Nobody likes it when a presenter rambles, and you'll often get cutoff if you do so! - What methods will you use to calm your nerves? Bodies are funny; you can trick them into thinking that anxiety is excitement. We often produce excess adrenaline and epinephrine prior to presenting. These chemicals make us want to move. I recommend having a brisk walk prior to your presentation, learning some calming breathing techniques, and having a quick restroom break before you start. A simple (and surprisingly effective method) is to reframe your nerves as excitement. - How will you prepare your space? You should test your setup (laptop, dongle, projector) before you present. At a conference you should do so prior to the start of your session (not just before your present). I also like having something to drink on hand (water normally). - How will you reset your brain if you stumble? Have some idea of what you'll do if you flub up a sentence. Maybe just take a longer drink of water to reset yourself. - What questions do you expect to receive? It will help you feel better prepared if you try to predict the questions you'll receive. It is also a good idea to address any such questions by editing your presentation. - How are you going to practice? The best forms of practice include some pressure and reviewing a recording of yourself (see information below). - Consider having backup slides. Don't delete slides that you decide to omit due to time. You can always use them if you have extra time or if you get a question about that material. # Presentation rubric Here are the minimal requirements for your presentations: - Presentation is clear and follows a coherent story. - Presentation media is easy to understand. - Teammates present equitably. - Presenters are poised and lively. - Presenters are prepared to answer questions. - Presentation duration is within the expected range. - Presentation includes three discussion questions. If you are looking for additional information, I recommend taking a look at these more formal/complete rubrics. - [Rubric for Formal Oral Communication](https://www.pomona.edu/administration/tlc/resources/rubric-formal-oral-communication) - [Oral Presentation Rubric](https://www.pomona.edu/administration/tlc/resources/oral-presentation-rubric) - [Multimedia Presentation Rubric](https://www.pomona.edu/administration/tlc/resources/multimedia-presentation-rubric) - [TLC Oral Communication Rubric](https://www.pomona.edu/administration/tlc/resources/tlc-oral-communication-rubric) - [Rubric to Assess Oral Communication](https://www.pomona.edu/administration/tlc/resources/rubric-assess-oral-communication) # Presentation Advice Your presentations can take on any format. Here are a couple of great descriptions of how to craft a compelling presentation: - Simon Peyton Jones' advice on [How to give a great research talk](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/academic-program/give-great-research-talk/) - [How to Make a Pecha Kucha](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32WEzM3LFhw) - [Quick Tip - Matt Abrahams](https://mattabrahams.com/resources-quick-tip-videos/) Common presentation styles: - Slides (including [Pecha Kucha](https://www.pechakucha.com/)) - Live typing (similar content to slides) ([example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTuwi--LFsM)) - Live diagramming (for example on a whiteboard) - Live demos (this one is harder to do in our setting) Some good learning resources and advice - If you are using slides, try to have a good mixture variety and mixture of text and graphics-only slides. - Think about (from Kelly M. McGonigal): - What do they need to know? - When do they need to know it? - What do they need to see? - What do they to literally visually see? - Uses phrases like: "what you're seeing is..." rather than "as you can see...". - Start your presentation in "the middle of action." - You should foreshadow and sign-post your presentations. But not necessarily by using an "outline" slide. - This is **not** a professional research talk. I would like to be informed, but it is also OK (and preferable) for you to be entertaining. - You do not need to follow the same format/flow as the article(s) you present. A presentation is just an advertisement for the article. - Don't memorize your "script," but you can memorize transitions. If you over rehearse it will be difficult to recover from a mistake and it will come across as robotic. - Think about when the paper was released. If it is old, you should provide some context on what has happened since then. - Know how are you being "evaluated." Is this a job talk (evaluated on ability to contribute to team)? Graduation keynote (people want to be inspired and enjoy the process)? For a grade (what is the rubric)? Informative (make sure you are credible)? - [The Think Fast, Talk Smart: The Podcast](https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/business-podcasts/think-fast-talk-smart-podcast) Here are some specific suggestions: - [Three Guiding Principles for Successful Communication](https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/three-guiding-principles-successful-communication) - [Mindset Matters: How to Embrace the Benefits of Stress](https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/mindset-matters-how-embrace-benefits-stress) - [Lessons from Neuroscientist Andrew Huberman to Help You Hack your Speaking Anxiety](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRzeJNFlYAc) # Presentation Structure Most presentations will follow this structure/outline (but it is not required): - Introduction - Have a solid initial prompt (question, story, bold statement, statistic, quiz, benefit) - Tell the audience why should they should care - Tell the audience what will they learn - Provide some form of preview or demo of final result - Body - Provide the research context (some topics appear in many fields, but are discussed differently) - Discuss the approach and how is it novel or of interest - Show results and the corresponding experiments to show credibility - Ending - Summarize the key contributions - Give a call to action - Acknowledge contributors - Prompt for questions and feedback # Slide Tips - Consider using a box shadow when copying and pasting images from papers - When describing a complicated figure: - Start with the entire diagram - Then zoom in on the relevant portion(s) - For figures/plots from a paper - Make the axes and legends larger by placing a textbox over the original text - Consider redrawing the figure/plot - Add callbacks to previous talks in the semester - Animate text bullets when you have a lot of them # How To Practice Here are some tips for practicing your presentations: 1. Start with a quick walk-through of your slides. This will help you understand the flow and outline of your presentation. You can then make adjustments to the order of your material. 1. Practice your presentation from start to finish without stopping to make changes. It is important to get a feel for your transitions and timing; so your practice runs should not be interrupted by making changes. Instead, you should jot down quick notes during your practice talk and address them afterwards. 1. Your practice presentations will be even better if you can do so in our classroom. 1. Even better, you should have an audience (some of your peers) around to simulate the added pressure of presenting with an audience. 1. Even better if you allow your "audience" to provide specific feedback (see the rubric above and on gradescope). 1. Even better if you record your presentation and "grade" yourselves. We often appear differently from an external viewpoint than we appear to ourselves. The recording will give you feedback on your energy, composure, expressivity, etc. # After you present We will record all presentations, and you will review your recorded presentation and submit a presentation reflection on gradescope. Sections 4 and 5 will submit their reflections while meeting with a CSWIM partner. Here is the general process: 1. Present (and get recorded) 2. Watch your recording and take notes (your CSWIM partner will do so as well if applicable) 3. Complete your reflection - Sections 4 and 5 will complete and submit their reflections while meeting with their CSWIM partner - All other sections will submit their reflections on their own The key is to make mistakes, but not the same mistake twice! Receiving feedback is an emotional process. Don't let your emotions get in the way of improving.