Ho w to Presen t a P ap er in Theoretical Computer Science: A Sp eak er's Guide for Studen ts � y Ian P arb erry Departmen t of Computer Sciences Univ ersit y of North T exas July 29, 1993 There are man y p oin ts in y our career at whic h y ou will b e called up on to presen t a pap er in Theoretical Computer Science, p erhaps a pap er written b y someb o dy else in a graduate seminar, or y our o wn researc h at a conference, departmen tal collo quium, or job in terview. This skill is particularly imp ortan t if y ou in tend to pursue a career in academia. While researc h excellence is the main criterion for success as a theoretical computer scien tist, y our career will b e assisted if y ou gain a reputation as a comp eten t sp eak er. A comp eten t sp eak er will more lik ely b e in vited to giv e collo quia at leading univ ersities and in vited talks at imp ortan t conferences than a medio cre one, pro vided their researc h is of similar qualit y . The exp ected qualit y of the presen tation can b e the deciding factor in the selection or rejection of a con tro v ersial conference pap er in cases where there is no clear consensus from the program committee . The author do es not claim to b e an exp ert in oral presen tation, but has attended (and giv en) enough bad talks to b e able to dra w up a few rules of th um b. This note is written primarily for studen ts in Theoretical Computer Science, but most of it is relev an t to other sub-disciplines of Computer Science, and some to an y scien ti�c discipline. Di�eren t st yles of presen tation w ork for di�eren t p eople. These guidelines are in tended to assist y ou in dev eloping a w ork able st yle of y our o wn. The remainder of this note is divided in to four sections. The �rst, \What to Sa y and Ho w to Sa y It", concen trates on c ho osing and organizing the material to b e presen ted. The second, \Getting Through to the Audience", fo cusses on presen tation. The third, \Visual and Aural Aids", discusses the prop er use of o v erhead pro jector transparencies and the microphone. The fourth, \Question Time", is dev oted to the p erio d after the talk during whic h the audience asks questions of the sp eak er. An earlier v ersion of this note has app eared in [2, 3]. � Cop yrigh t � c Ian P arb erry . This guide ma y b e repro duced without fee pro vided the copies are not made for pro�t. y Author's mailing address: Departmen t of Computer Sciences, Univ ersit y of North T exas, P .O. Bo x 13886, Den ton, TX 76203{3886, U.S.A. Electronic mail should b e directed to du . ian@ponder.csci.u nt.e 1
1 What to Sa y and Ho w to Sa y It The selection of material to include in a talk, and ho w it is arranged and presen ted is crucial to success. Communic ate the Key Ide as Most new results are obtained b y using a few k ey ideas or tric ks, plus the application of standard to ols and tec hniques. Mak e sure that y our talk emphasizes the k ey ideas and skips o v er what is standard, ob vious, or merely complicated. Don 't get Bo gge d Down in Details This rule cannot b e o v er-emphasized. Man y sp eak ers launc h righ t in to the tec hnical details from the start, confusing and alienating most, if not all of the audience. Remem b er that y ou will ha v e b een thinking deeply ab out the material for mon ths or ev en y ears, whereas most of the audience will either hear ab out the sub ject matter for the �rst time during y our talk, or at b est will b e v ery rust y . Things that y ou tak e for gran ted will ha v e to b e explained carefully . Details are out of place in an oral presen tation. After all, an yb o dy with mo dest tec hnical skills can �ll in the details b y studying the pap er at leisure, and an yb o dy lac king tec hnical skills will w an t to hear ab out the details ev en less. The audience w ould appreciate an o v erview of the pap er so that they can determine whether the pap er is w orth reading. A go o d talk motiv ates the listener in to reading the pap er and mak es the task of reading it easier. Structur e Y our T alk Y our presen tation should b e brok en in to sev eral distinct parts, eac h with its o wn ob jectiv es and st yle. Eac h part should b e clearly delineated. The audience should b e steered gen tly from one part to the next. A w ell-structured talk is easier to understand than a ram bling, unstructured one, and it also mak es more e�cien t use of time. Use a T op-down Appr o ach The follo wing is a template for pro ducing a talk. It consists of four parts; the In tro duc- tion, the Bo dy , T ec hnicalities and the Conclusion. The In tro duction is a general, informal description of the pap er. The Bo dy giv es a more formal, but abstract description, and the T ec hnicalities section tak es a detailed lo ok at a critical part of the pap er. The audience is th us in tro duced to the material in a top-do wn fashion. The Conclusion concisely summarizes the k ey results, and wraps up the talk. Naturally , v ery few talks will �t this template exactly , since the structure of a talk v aries greatly with sub ject matter, length of presen tation, author, presen ter, and audience. The In- tro duction and the Conclusion are fairly standard, but there is ample ro om for customization in the other t w o parts. F or example, some complicated sub jects ma y need sev eral passes, 2
eac h of successiv ely greater detail, instead of the t w o-pass b o dy-tec hnicalities sc heme de- scrib ed b elo w. Y ou should use this template as a starting p oin t only . Don't b e afraid to b e inno v ativ e. The In tro duction This is p ossibly the most imp ortan t part of y our presen tation. It sets the tone for the en tire talk. It determines whether the audience will pric k up their ears, or remain slump ed in their c hairs. A lot of snap decisions ab out y our comp etency are made b efore the In tro duction is o v er. First impressions are v ery imp ortan t. De�ne the Pr oblem � An amazing n um b er of sp eak ers forget this simple p oin t. No matter ho w di�cult and tec hnical the problem, it can usually b e describ ed succinctly and accurately in under �v e min utes. This time is w ell in v ested. If the audience do esn't understand the problem b eing attac k ed, then they w on't understand the rest of y our talk. Motivate the A udienc e � Explain wh y the problem is so imp ortan t. Thro w in a little philosoph y if necessary . Ho w do es the problem �t in to the larger picture? If it in v olv es a mo del of a real-w orld phenomenon, then ho w go o d is the mo del? What are its applications? What mak es the problem non trivial? Y ou can return to these issues in the Conclusion, when y ou can re-address them with the b ene�t of hindsigh t. Intr o duc e T erminolo gy � The use of terminology and jargon should b e k ept to a minim um , but is imp ossible to a v oid en tirely . All terms b e in tro duced early . It is also useful to remind the must audience of the de�nitions at critical p oin ts later in the talk. Discuss Earlier Work � Researc h is not usually carried out in a v acuum. There will almost alw a ys b e other relev an t or related w ork, whic h y ou should describ e. Presen t an orderly synopsis of these previously-obtained results. A table is often used for this purp ose. Be sure to men tion the author of eac h pap er and its date of publication. Compare and con trast them with eac h other and with y our pap er. Emphasize the Contributions of your Pap er � Mak e sure that y ou explicitly and succinctly state the con tributions made b y y our pap er. The audience w an ts to kno w this. Often it is the only thing that they carry a w a y from the talk. Don't mak e the audience searc h for the information in a morass of details | they ma y get it wrong. Pr ovide a R o ad-map � Giv e the audience a brief guide to the rest of the talk, along the lines of the last paragraph of the in tro duction to this note. But don't mak e it a dry litan y of dull 3
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