Presentations
From SCChallenge
Along with the final report, the presentation is the second critical component of a Supercomputing Challenge project.
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Expo Presentations
Presentations will be presented at the Expo to a panel of judges. There is no standard format for a presentation, but it should not exceed 30 minutes in length. Your presentation should pull from your written report in order to provide a full overview of your project, and include your research goals or problem that you have chosen to analyze, a summary of your methodology, and the significance of your study.
There is no standard format for presentations, as long as it is within a 30-minute time limit. As a consequence, you may be as creative as you like with your presentation as long as the core message remains your research. Still, there's no way around it: this is public speaking. While most people are uncomfortable with public speaking, the only way to get better is to gain confidence.
Confidence in public speaking stems from two things: Preparation and Practice.
• Preparation is perhaps the most important component of an effective presentation. The speaker(s) must have an understanding of the subject in order to communicate clearly. If you understand your material backwards and forwards, explaining it to others is considerably easier than if you are still trying to understand yourself what you are explaining. You should be as comfortable explaining your material as you would be announcing your name at the beginning of the presentation.
• Practice is equally important when it comes to making a presentation. Practice presenting in front of virtually anyone who will take the time to listen and provide feedback. This is the only way you will know areas that you are still uncomfortable with, or areas that may need to be shortened or expanded. Actors on a stage rehearse until they know their lines--what they will say--backwards and forwards. Consider yourself on stage when you are presenting.
Preparation
The best way to begin preparing for your final evaluation is to find a presentation that you enjoy and mimic the style. Look in the Archives for examples from previous years,
Most effective presentations are given in a stand-and-deliver fashion with the aid of notecards or slides. Simply reading a report is generally discouraged, although it may be done if you feel it is necessary to make your presentation clearer to the audience. In either case, you shouldn't be dependent on any sort of aid to deliver your presentation--because you've prepared and rehearsed already. A talk will never convey as much information as a written paper, so it should be up to the speaker to decide what information from the report is important to the audience.
The audience should be taken into account as well. Like the report, you should assume that the members of the audience have the same general understanding of your subject as you had before you started your research project. Your presentation should detail the background research you did in order to prepare for your research, and then explain the research and significance of your project.
Presentation Aids
Aids to presentations, including PowerPoint and posters, should be considered secondary to YOU, the presenter. YOU and your research are the focus of the presentation, not the screen in front of the audience. Use slides or visual aids to draw your audience in and make them interested in what you have to say.
Power Point
Of special concern is PowerPoint:
Edward Tufte, an expert in informational graphics and visual communication, calls PowerPoint and other similar point-based presentation software a "projector operating system ". This is an accurate description of how you should view the software you will display your presentation with--as an aid to display a key ideas, photos, and video. An effective PowerPoint display will allow your audience to easily follow along with your presentation, but should not be able to stand alone without you.
Again, there is no standard format and presenters are encouraged to be as creative as they wish. There are a few simple and intuitive rules to keep in mind when using PowerPoint, however:
• Don't use canned cartoon sounds to "spice up" your presentation. They will only hurt your presentation.
• Keep pre-packaged text animation to a minimum. This includes "zoom in" or "pop up" text effects.
• The standard "7-8 words per line/no more than 6 bullets/slide" rule is a good starting point. Do not put a full paragraph of text on a side and expect the audience to read it.
• Don't load slides excessive and irrelevant pictures.
• Make sure that the text you choose is large enough to be read from the back row of an average-sized classroom.
When it comes to PowerPoint presentations, the minimalist approach is generally the best approach.
Tips To Help You
Because a presentation is very much an individual endeavour, there is no easy roadmap for creating an effective presentation. Instead, there are a few simple tips to follow:
1). First and foremost, know your material as well as you possibly can. This not only includes the background research, but what your own research and project adds to the understanding of the field you have chosen to study. There is no substitute for preparation.
2). Speak normally. Only use technical jargon if it absolutely required, and then let the audience know what it means. It is easy to spot presenters who purposely "inflate" their language.
3). Make sure that all the equipment you are using is prepared and tested before you present. Make sure that all papers, programs, cables and everything required to make your presentation is with you and ready to go.
4). Practice. Practice, practice, practice. There is a learning curve before proficiency is attained. Practice in front of an audience before you give your final judged presentation in order to see how your presentation will flow, and identify any areas you may need to work on.
5). #4 being said, don't memorize or "can" the talk. Your presentation should be nothing more than you explaining what you did in your own words (unless you feel it will help your presentation to have memorized sections).
6). Be an expert, even if you feel you aren't. You are the only one who knows what you did, and do not assume that anyone in the audience knows better than you do. Speak with authority and confidence.
7). Research effective presentations and techniques online. A simple search for "Tips For Giving a Scientific Presentation " will present you with 265,000 possible examples of effective methods to use in a presentation. The Internet is a very powerful tool: learn how to use it efficiently and effectively.
8). During your presentation, don't simply run through your points and be done in less than five minutes. At the same time, don't stretch your presentation out any longer than it absolutely has to be in order to convey your subject material. Time at the end for questions is a premium, because it will allow the audience to further understand your material.
9). Don't hold yourself to any "rules" you might find on how to present. These should only be treated as suggestions (Especially the "Two minutes per slide" rule). Be as comfortable with your material as you can be. Again: you should be as comfortable explaining your material as you are explaining who you are at the beginning of your talk.
10). Clarity is essential, especially in large rooms. A common method taught in speech classes is to "SPEAK OVER THERE!"(With "over there" being the back of the room). Questions you are asked should be answered to the whole audience.
There are innumerable tips to putting together an effective presentation, ranging from how to dress to where to stand to what sorts of mantras you should repeat to yourself. All in all, however, it boils down to: BE YOURSELF. Ultimately, this is the single most important thing you can do to convey what you know to others.
