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I will present our paper at a CCS workshop next Friday. Then I will present my thesis proposal in the comprehensive exam next next Friday. Facing these two important occasions, I decide to summarize my current understanding on presentation. This is NOT a collection of advises, because I am far from a good academic speaker. I simply hope this article may raise some discussions and help you think about what will lead to a good academic presentation.
Here I have several points to share:
(1) A clear story flow in the presentation is of top priority. The flow can grasp the attention of the audience. As others have said [1], the flow is much more important in slides than in paper, because the audio channel is more brittle. In addition, a good flow will also help the presenter to remember what to say.
I think there are at least two types of flows:
- The logic flow of research. The audiences should know the natural transition between research steps. Thus they will appreciate the work.
- The knowledge flow. We need to introduce enough background before going into details. Also, make sure that terms etc. are understandable.
(2) Presentation is a process of convincing others. The listeners will be convinced if the study is rigorous and the language is accurate. Do not over claim.
(3) Make the presentation tight. Try to connect things together. Try to refer back to previous important points. This actually improves the complexity of the presentation structure, and people enjoys complexity. Similar strategies have often being used in movies. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is a perfect example.
(4) Presentation is also a form of teaching. Try to think what the audience will learn from it.
(5) We have our own styles in presentation. I feel it is in general hard to copy other's style. For example, native-English-speakers can talk about jokes and funny pictures (e.g. the one used in this blog), which are sometime hard to understand, not to mention to speak, by non-native speakers. Nonetheless, even without these funny elements one can still make a good talk. I sometime think too much "fun" will actually have negative effects, i.e., "amuse to death".
Here are general steps I take for preparing a presentation. Please feel free to comment on them and provide your own opinions:
(1). Have a rough story line first.
(2). Turn the story line into slides. Focus more on the completeness of the information.
(3). Practice lightly and then update the slides. At this stage don't expect them to be perfect. Also take a look at similar talks to "steal" good presentation ideas.
(4). Write the scripts for all slides. At least write outlines for each slide. You don't need to read them, but you need them to remind you about the story line. Also, written text is easy to be studied and improved.
(5). Practice seriously.
(6). Present to others. Your adviser or research collaborators are the best choices. They know your research, but they are not trapped by myriad of details like you. So they can give very good suggestions on improving the story line! People with enough knowledge background (e.g. your lab mates) are also good. They can tell you which part is unclear or confusing. Also, try to collect creative ideas of presentation from others.
(7). Improve slides, practice, improve slides, ....
In general, you will feel unconfident and uncomfortable in the beginning, because the quality of your taste is always ahead of the quality of your work [2]. However, as long as you keep improving it, the final version will be very good. Furthermore after a well preparation, you will not only have a great talk, but also find new research ideas!
References:
[1] 博士五年总结（三）, http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_946b64360101dych.html
[2] Ira Glass on Storytelling, http://vimeo.com/24715531
[3] The picture. http://assets.diylol.com/hfs/ae1/38e/525/resized/business-cat-meme-generator-boss-wished-me-luck-on-the-presentation-like-i-need-it-52c717.jpg
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