Course Title: Seminar on Emerging Technologies

Course Code: MSIT5217

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Objective of the Course

• The main focus of this course is on topics of current interest

in Computer Science/Information Technology.
• It also enables a student to be familiar with communication
skills.

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 Chapter 1: How to make a presentation

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1. INTRODUCTION
Definition:
• Seminar can be seen as an instructional technique for presenting
 a project proposal,
 thesis,
 technological ideas,
 awareness programs,
 new inventions,
 passing academic knowledge,
 feasibility report,
 design reports,
 tender report,
 operation and maintenance manual,
 environmental impact assessment reports etc.

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1.1. Purpose of a Seminar
A seminar may have several purposes:
• Purpose of education
 To engage participants in the discussion of an academic subject
for the aim of gaining a better insight into the subject or to
impart some skills or knowledge to the participants.

• Seminar can be motivational

 Purpose is usually to inspire the attendees to become better
people.

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• Networking Opportunity
 Attending seminars provides an excellent way for business people to
network.
 You can get new business or meet people who could help you in the
future.

• However, if you stay at the office, only concentrating on

daily tasks, you miss meeting some potentially valuable
contacts.

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2. Preparing and Presenting a Technical Talk

Steps
1. Preparing a Talk
2. Presenting your Talk
3. Supporting your Talk with Visuals

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2.1. Preparing a Talk:
• Don’t prepare your talk in the last minute.
Like many other things, quality requires sufficient time for
preparation.

• Important considerations are:

A. Audience Analysis
B. Organization
C. „Time & Focus
D. Practice

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A. Audience Analysis

• What is your purpose?

 ‹What change in the audience do you want to effect?
• „What do they know?
• What some of them do not know?
• What do they want?
• What will interest them?

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B. Organize Your Presentation

• Oral presentations should have the following structure:

 Introduction/Opening
• Tell them what you are going to tell them
 Body
• Tell them
 Conclusion
• Tell them what you told them

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Structure- Introduction/Opening
• Start your talk by greeting the audience and introducing
yourself.
• State your topic clearly. For example:
 I’m going to talk about...
 Today I’d like to discuss…’
• Provide an outline of the main points.
• Provide any necessary background or definition of terms.

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Structure- Body
• The body of your presentation is where you develop the main
points and present examples and evidence.
• The information needs to be well-structured.
• Make sure you provide clear links between main points,
explanations and examples.
• Use visual aids to engage the interest of your audience and
‘show’ instead of just ‘tell’.
• Tell your audience when information is particularly important
or interesting. Tell them why.

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• Move from one point to the next by using phrases (such as
‘Firstly ...secondly’ ... ‘finally’).
• Introduce supporting evidence
 ‘For example ...’
 ‘[Author name] states that ...’

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Structure – closing
• The conclusion is usually a summary of the main points made
in the body of the talk.
 Restate the main points.
 Re-answer the question.

• Don’t introduce any new information in the conclusion.

• Take the opportunity to show that you have covered all the
points you made in your introduction.
 say that you have achieved your aim: ‘I think it’s now clear that ...’

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C. Timing
• Oral presentations usually have a time limit.
 The amount of time you have will determine how much information
you are able to cover.

• Find out what the time limit is and ask yourself:

 How much of the topic area can I cover?
 How much detail can I include? What can I leave out?
 What is the most effective way to present information? Would using
visuals ( slides, videos, whiteboard etc.) help me cover more ground in
less time?

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D. Practice
• Rehearse your presentation at home alone, in front a mirror,
then to your family or flat mates.
• Practice projecting your voice clearly and varying your pitch
and tone. Don’t mumble or speak in a monotone.
• Be aware of body language and posture.
• Rehearse with your visual aids to make sure they work.
• Time yourself to make sure you stay within the allotted time
limit.

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2.2. Presenting Your Talk
Starting well
• Stand in a balanced position, facing the audience, feet apart - this
helps you to appear confident.
• Don’t slouch, shuffle about or lean against the furniture.
• Take a deep breath and wait for the group to focus their attention
on you before you start to speak.
• Greet the audience and introduce yourself, even if they already
know you.
• Smile! Your audience will react warmly and if you can’t feel relaxed
you can at least appear that way.

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Delivery: Verbal
• Don’t read your presentation word-for-word from a script or
from PowerPoint slides
 listening to someone read aloud is boring for an audience.

• Written and spoken language are different.

 Use appropriate language; generally a formal but conversational
tone is best (avoid slang or colloquial language).

• Speak clearly and at a moderate pace.

 Don’t rush; nervous speakers tend to speed up, so try to pace yourself.

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• Slow down to emphasize key points.
• Don’t be afraid to pause.
 Short pauses can add emphasis to important points and give you a
chance to collect your thoughts.

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Delivery: Attitude and Body Language
• Look your audience in the eyes –don’t look at your material (you
shouldn’t need to).
• Smile –it relaxes the audience. A bit of humor is always
appreciated.
• Don’t be a statue. But,
 don’t wave your arms aimlessly.
 Don’t make the laser pointer dance on the screen.
• Some people like to ask questions during the talk, and sometimes
that’s expected –but make sure these questions don’t
compromise your ability to finish your talk in due time.

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Delivery: LCD based Power Point
• Include graphics! And not the cheap graphics –spend some
time looking for good ones.
• Make the text as big as possible (18 pt or greater). Choose a
font that looks good on slides.
• Use a plain background to avoid distracting the audience and
allow more room for content. Avoid cheesy templates.
• Avoid distracting your audience with needless animation
schemes.

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• Consider showing a short movie if your topic warrants it –
everyone likes movies.
 A bit of whiteboard work in the middle can also be an effective break.

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2.3. Supporting your Talk with Visuals
• Using visual aids can add support and impact to your
presentation. Visual aids can :
 illustrate something that is difficult or time consuming to describe
 show reality in ways that words alone cannot (photographs, plans,
maps, charts)
 summarize information
 add color and interest to a ‘dry’ topic

• Visuals can include PowerPoint slides, OHTs, whiteboards or

videos.

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