Presentation on Presentations

Kaustav Mitra

Presidency University, Kolkata
25th January 2018
 Why Am I Presenting This?

Because we need to present a lot of talks. So

it's good to have a discussion such as this.
 Getting Started
● I'm not cut out to give a good talk.
● People will judge me, I will perform poorly.
● What if I forget what to say next?
● Will I be able to answer the questions?
● I don't know enough to give a talk.
 Plan Your Talk
● The talk is for the
audience. Not for yourself.
● Your talk should be at the
right level, rather a bit
lower so as to reach almost
everyone in the room.
● You are telling a story. One
single story.
● Why should your story be
interesting to everyone.
 Organise
● It is good to chalk out the plot in your head before
you write the story. It should be a simple linear short
story, not a complex novel.
● “It is better to uncover a bit than to cover a lot.” -RC.
● Tell the story through images, graphs and videos.
Not through words (unlike this talk).
● Verbal comprehension is limited, so
Tell them what you'll tell them
Then tell them
Then tell them what you told them.
(doesn't imply boring repetition)
 Your Slides: The Basics.
● Short title, brief outline, why should your audience
care about your story ... (first 3 to 4 slides)
● Less words, more figures (unlike this one).
● Present one main idea per slide.
● Slides are the visual aid to help you explain
something. A slide is not the script for you to
follow.
● Say only what is extremely essential for a
coherent story. This is not a research paper.
 Your Slides: Beyond the Basics.
● Don't over-fill. Don't under-fill.
● Your slides should be clearly visible from the
very last row. Please don't use small fonts.
● Don't use fonts which are not that
professional. Also avoid those that are hard to read 
on a slide. 
● Don't use colours of poor contrast,
like yellow on white, ● or blue on black
 Your Slides: Beyond the Basics.
● Your audience doesn't know much, so avoid:
● “I don't need to tell you about this ...” or
“It is obvious that ...”
You are not J. D. Jackson, and your audience is not:
 Your Slides: Beyond the Basics.
● Use key words, short statements.
● One simple idea per line.
● Don't use distracting backgrounds.
● Graphs and figures are the true story-tellers,
so they should be large, the axes, labels and
legends should be clearly visible.
● Please don't forget to give captions and credits.
● If possible provide analogous diagrams to help
the audience visualise something abstract.
 Your Slides: Beyond the Basics.
● Show key equations, you are not here to derive.
● Be careful to describe your equation physically. Same
applies for the graphs. The story should flow like a
story. Avoid jargons.
● Use pointer.
● Don't rush. But do finish in time. That's the most
important and most difficult part of a talk.
● Take enough time to prepare the slides and to
practice.
● Question Answers: Don't hesitate to say “I don't know”