Making Effective Presentations

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Making Effective Presentations

• CSCI 327
• Social Implications of Computing

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LAW 1

• Know Your Audience
• don't talk over them
• don't talk beneath them
• know what they want to know
• Q Why is this important?
• A People are easily annoyed and easily bored.

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LAW 2

• Be Prepared
• If I am here to listen to you, then the least you
  could do is show up ready to talk.
  
• "prepared" ? "memorized"
• know your subject
• know your main points
• have examples ready

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LAW 3

• Tell them what you are going to tell them.
• Tell them.
• Tell them what you told them.
• Q Why is this important?
• A People are generally happier when they know
  what to expect and get what they expected.

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Create a Story that Flows

• Tell them what you are going to tell them.
• "The purpose of my presentation is to ... and
  what I want you to learn is ..."
  
• Tell them.
• Do not just throw facts at the audience, mix in
  examples and stories, use pictures, etc.
  
• Tell them what you told them.
• "And so the main point(s) of all that was ..."
• "The take-away message is ..."
• digest the material for them

You are not giving a lecture. The purpose of a pr
ofessor's lecture is to throw facts at you that
you will later go back and review in order to
digest the material. Your audience will not be th
inking about your topic later, so digest it for
them right now. Be blunt.
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Stage Presence

• Speak louder than you think you
  really need to, but don't shout.
  
• Pause briefly every now and then.
• Listening to someone talk fast without breathing
  for 15 minutes makes me tired too.
  
• Have fun, but don't trivialize the experience.
• Pay attention to the clock.
• avoid rushing through the conclusion, which
  usually contains the main point

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Overcoming Stage Fright

• Know the first four minutes really well.
• after a good start, it gets easier
• maybe memorize the first two minutes
• after a bad start, it stays difficult
• Look just over the top of their heads.
• Remember that the audience is listening to your
  words more than they are counting dirty spots on
  your shirt.

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Using PowerPoint

• Don't just read the slides.
• Pictures and short videos are very good.
• White space is your friend.
• see next slide
• Avoid small fonts and long sentences.

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Using PowerPoint

• Don't just read the slides.
• Using pictures or short videos is very good.
• White space is your friend.
• see previous slide
• Avoid small fonts and long sentences.

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The Purpose of PowerPoint

• PowerPoint is an aid to the listener.
• Your PowerPoint slides should not be your
  script.
  
• Be able to give your presentation without the
  slides.
  
• If everything is on the slides, why are you
  talking? Just hand them out and we'll read it
  for ourselves.

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Common Presentation Mistakes

• Being Boring!
• fix tell me why this is useful
• fix tell a story that illustrates the point
• Standing in Front of the Projector
• Getting Lost in the Outline
• Talking to just One Person
• Moving Around Too Much
• Being a Statue

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How to Prepare

• decide on the main points
• make an outline that leads to those points
• create the slides
• format the slides (fonts, colors, pictures, )
• practice
• reorganize the presentation reformat the
  slides
  
• practice with and without the slides
• practice, practice, practice
• wait a few days
• practice

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Rubric to Assess Oral Communication
stolen from the Winthrop GNED program
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Next Time

• Group Debate