Preparing an Oral Presentation for a Prelim or Thesis: Drafting and Designing Slides, Lecture notes of Physics

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The Oral Presentation for the Prelim or Thesis

How Do You Start Drafting Your Presentation?

First, draft an outline for

your presentation!!

Example organization of ~30-minute prelim talk

Proposed Research

(10–12 minutes)

5–6 slides

~1-2 slides per proposed project

Summary and Acknowledgments

(1-2 minutes)

2 slides

1 Summary slide -

Review the main points

1 Acknowledgment slide –

Acknowledge collaborators, fundingagencies, helpful colleagues/staff, etc.

Questions

3–N back-up slides –

Anticipate questions that might arise

Tips for preparing your talk

Adjust the presentation to your audience!

Your

committee are not all experts…make sure you havesufficient background to orient all members You don’t have to tell the committee everything

about your research:

Identify the 2-3 main points

you can reasonably convey in a 30-minute talk Create an outline of your talk, i.e., have a logical

organization:

You can use the same outline as

used for your prelim paper Make sure each slide has one key idea and that

idea is important to your message^ Write the key point to make for each slide (often

the heading) If the slide doesn’t have a point, eliminate it!!!

Use well-labeled graphs

and figures to illustrateyour key points…thismakes the slide morereal and interesting tothe audience Have only 1 idea per slide

Tips for preparing your talk (cont.) ….or too many distracting

images Use the header to state

the main idea of theslide, and use the bodyof the slide to supportthat idea

8

Label all elements in a figure ^

Point out important features ^

Label both axes of graphs and show units ^

Provide a brief caption ^

Give credit to sourceThe Nike laser systemuses discharge pre-amplifiers.(C ourtesy US Navy

)

Sample normalizedsignals from the two-beam optical drive.( Courtesy C. Michael

)

10

Explain and don’t overemphasizeequations

If you use equations

Define parametersProvide physical explanations

of different terms in equation Provide an intuitive

explanation of what theequation means Combine the equation with a

picture that illustrates thephysical principle involved

11

Don’t overuse PowerPoint animations and sounds!Make sure there is good contrast between text and

background

Use simple (or no) backgrounds on slides

Remember, your goal is to conveyyour ideas, so avoid distracting textand effects!

13

Tips for presenting you prelim/final talk

14

Pointers for giving the best possible talk:

Maintain eye contact with audience

Don’t stare at screen or monitor

Do not read your talk!Avoid nervous mannerisms

Pacing, bobbing, waving arms, jingling coins

Use laser pointer or stick directed at screen

Don’t point directly at overhead on projectorDon’t block the screen

Train yourself to speak slowly and distinctly—practice!Avoid “fillers”: “uh”, “like”, “um”, “okay”Be enthusiastic!

If you don’t act excited by your results,

don’t expect the audience to be!

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The best way to prepare for a talk is toKnow Your Material

Practice, practice, practice

Practice in front of friends and/or groupmembers, encourage them to ask questionsso you can get used to being interrupted Focus on communicating,

not performing^ Humor is good, but don’t overdo it Keep explanations simple

Emphasize the physics and intuitiveexplanations Prepare key phrases and words

If you notice you have trouble saying a

physics phrase or term, practice saying itso you don’t stumble over the termduring your presentation

It takes threeweeks to preparea good ad-libspeech

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Check

everything

just before your talk

Check the projector

Make sure you know how to turn it onSee that it is plugged inCheck which way to position your slidesAdjust the focus

Check microphones, pointer, other toolsArrange your slides, notes, and other materials

Be able to reach everything without movingBe able to go through your slides without fumbling

Have a “clock” handy to check the time