Presentation Guidelines for CS Students Philip W. L. Fong - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Presentation Guidelines for CS Students Philip W. L. Fong pwlfong@cs.uregina.ca Department of Computer Science University of Regina Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada

Presenting Research Results Understanding a research paper is challenging . . . . . . but presenting the paper in a comprehensible way could be as challenging Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.1/19

Tell a Good Story 1. Setting 2. Progress 3. Resolution 4. Conclusion ▽ Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.2/19

Tell a Good Story 1. Setting Problem, crisis, challenge 2. Progress 3. Resolution 4. Conclusion ▽ Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.2/19

Tell a Good Story 1. Setting Problem, crisis, challenge 2. Progress Previous work, new opportunities 3. Resolution 4. Conclusion ▽ Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.2/19

Tell a Good Story 1. Setting Problem, crisis, challenge 2. Progress Previous work, new opportunities 3. Resolution Solution, contribution 4. Conclusion ▽ Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.2/19

Tell a Good Story 1. Setting Problem, crisis, challenge 2. Progress Previous work, new opportunities 3. Resolution Solution, contribution 4. Conclusion Open problems, future work, perspectives ▽ Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.2/19

Tell a Good Story 1. Setting Problem, crisis, challenge 2. Progress Previous work, new opportunities 3. Resolution Solution, contribution 4. Conclusion Open problems, future work, perspectives Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.2/19

3 Classical Guides S. L. Peyton Jones, J. Hughes, and J. Launchbury. How to give a good research talk. ACM SIGPLAN Notices , 28(11):9–12, November 1993. I. Parberry. How to present a paper in theoretical computer science: a speaker’s guide for students. ACM SIGACT News , 31(1):77–86, March 2000. C. C. McGeoch and B. M. E. Moret. How to present a paper on experimental work with algorithms. ACM SIGACT News , 30(4):85–90, December 1999. Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.3/19

How to Give a Good Research Talk Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.4/19

A Non-Uniform Approach Your talk is primarily a “taster” for your work, rather than as an in-depth treatment. 1. Who is my primary audience? 2. If someone remembers only one thing from my talk, what would I like it to be? Treat some aspects in more detail than other parts. Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.5/19

Using Examples A talk is the wrong place to show off your mathematical skills. “ Have I illustrated this idea / theorem / definition / technique / algorithm with an example? ” When possible, use a running example. Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.6/19

How to Present a Paper in Theoretical Computer Science Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.7/19

What to Say Communicate the key ideas Don’t get bogged down in details Structure your talk Use a top-down approach Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.8/19

A Top-Down Approach Going through the materials in multiple passes: 1. Introduction 2. Body 3. Technicalities 4. Conclusion Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.9/19

Introduction Define the problem Motivate the audience Introduce terminologies Discuss earlier work Emphasize the contributions of your paper Provide a road-map Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.10/19

Body Abstract the major results Explain the significance of the results Sketch a proof of the crucial results Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.11/19

Technicalities Present a key lemma Present it carefully Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.12/19

Conclusion Hindsight is clearer than foresight Give open problems Indicate that your talk is over Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.13/19

Know Your Audience 1. Scientists 2. Computer Scientists 3. Theoretical Computer Scientists 4. Experts ▽ Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.14/19

Know Your Audience 1. Scientists Emphasize the Introduction and the Body. Omit the Technicalities. 2. Computer Scientists 3. Theoretical Computer Scientists 4. Experts ▽ Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.14/19

Know Your Audience 1. Scientists Emphasize the Introduction and the Body. Omit the Technicalities. 2. Computer Scientists Emphasis on the Introduction and the Body. A small Technicalities section. 3. Theoretical Computer Scientists 4. Experts ▽ Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.14/19

Know Your Audience 1. Scientists Emphasize the Introduction and the Body. Omit the Technicalities. 2. Computer Scientists Emphasis on the Introduction and the Body. A small Technicalities section. 3. Theoretical Computer Scientists Emphasis on the Body. 4. Experts ▽ Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.14/19

Know Your Audience 1. Scientists Emphasize the Introduction and the Body. Omit the Technicalities. 2. Computer Scientists Emphasis on the Introduction and the Body. A small Technicalities section. 3. Theoretical Computer Scientists Emphasis on the Body. 4. Experts Emphasis on the Body and the Technicalities. Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.14/19

Getting Through to the Audience Use repetition 1. Tell them what you’re going to tell them. 2. Tell them. 3. Then tell them what you told them. Remind, don’t assume Maintain eye contact Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.15/19

How to Present a Paper on Experimental Work with Algorithms Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.16/19

Template Overview Introduction The setup The experiment Conclusions Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.17/19

Final Advices Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.18/19

L A T EX Users ... Prosper: L A T EX macros for slides presentation ( http://prosper.sourceforge.net ) Generates PDF slide show This set of slides is produced with Prosper. Presentation Guidelines for CS Students – p.19/19