This is a set of slides for a talk on 'Technical Presentations'. Hopefully it will be useful for students on Engineering at different levels.

1. GOOD QUALITY TECHNICAL
PRESENTATIONS
Prof K P Mohandas
Dean Academic, MES College of Engg, Kuttippuram
(email: kpmdas@ieee.org)
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2. Different types of
presentations
 Seminar presentations in a class
 Paper presentations in conferences
 Project presentations as part of class work
 Project presentations for research grants
 Research updates or reviews
 Thesis presentations (oral examinations)
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3. Why presentations ?
Effectiveness of visual presentations
It is estimated that we can retain or
remember
Hardly 20% of what you HEAR
Nearly 40 to 50% of what you SEE
Almost 70-80% of what you DO
 It is not always possible to make others DO,
so next choice is to SHOW or use VISUALs
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4. Remember !!!
TELL ME , I WILL FORGET !
SHOW ME, I WILL REMEMBER !!
INVOLVE ME , I WILL LEARN !!!
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5. A presentation has
 Content : information that listeners need to
hear.
 Structure : It has a logical beginning, body
and end. It contains only information that can
be understood within the time.
 Packaging : It must be well prepared
 Human Element: A good presentation will be
remembered because it has a person
attached to it
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6. The voice has
 Volume : loud enough to be heard, voice
modulation helps in better attention and avoids
monotony
 Tone: The Characteristics of a sound, a voice that
contains fear can frighten the audience, one that
carries laughter can make them smile
 Pitch : High or low voice , medium preferred
 Pace: How fast the sound lasts, not too fast, not
too slow either
 Colour: If you overact and mix emotions in
presentation, sometimes it works wonders;
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7. If you want to improve your
voice
 Listen to it: practice listening to your voice
while walking, working etc
 To really listen: Cup your right hand around
your right year and gently pull the ear
forward. Next cup your left hand near your
mouth and speak. This will make you hear
your voice like others hear it
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8. HOW TO PRESENT THINGS?
 Printed or typed text
 Tables of data
 Charts
 Graphs , Pie charts, line graphs
 Pictures
 Video clips etc
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9. Why use tools?
 Easy to use different types of features
 Automatic size of letters and formats
 Titles and subtitles choice of proper sizes
 Easily Incorporate figures and graphs
 Include Animations and special effects
 Links and moving forward and backward in
slides
 Colour choice – artistic effects or esthetics
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10. Body Language
 Eye contact: Helps communication and so never
loose eye contact with listeners
 Facial expressions: Smiling transmits happiness,
friendliness and warmth
 Gestures: Some gestures can avoid boredom
 Posture and orientation: Moving while talking
helps, bending (leaning) forward shows you are
more approachable, receptive and friendly
 Proximity: Not too close or too far
 Voice : Modulation helps avoid boredom
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11. How to prepare
 Remember
 If you fail to prepare
 You are preparing to fail
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12. Steps in preparation
 1. Choose a topic or area of interest
 2. Search for relevant material in text
books, encyclopedias ,journals, internet etc
3. Prepare a write up on the topic in your
own language after understanding the
contents
4.Logically arrange the sequence of
presentation
5. Rehearse thoroughly monitoring time
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13. How many slides ?
 Time available for presentation
 Content and depth of the topic
 Nature of materials to be presented like
mostly text material or
text and numerical data and tables
text, tables and graphs
pictures and videos
Maximum 2 minutes for each slide
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14. Good quality slides
 Good visuals can strengthen your
presentation significantly , but they are rare.
 The keys to good visuals are:
 1. FEW just enough to illustrate the points
 2. BIG so that they are easy to see and read
 3. SIMPLE , so that they are easily
understood
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15. Contents of each slide
 Not too many lines of text ( 7-8 lines)
 Size of letters big enough to see for all
 Not too many equations (?)
 Use plenty of graphs rather than tables
 Use pictures with proper titles and legends
 Animations and special effects should not be
too distracting
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16. Language in presentation
 Simple and precise
 Not pompous or flowery language
 The audience wants to understand the
technical contents, not the beauty of the
language
 Liberal use of figures, pictures or even videos
to illustrate the points
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17. Things not to be done
 Never read from the slides or depend totally on
the slides. The displayed slides are for the
audience to follow your seminar not for you
 Never use light colours for text and figures
since this will not be visible for those who sit in
the back
 Choose proper font size (at least 18 point) so that
it can be read easily.
 Do not give complete derivations, only highlight
the significance of terms and equations
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18. Not to be done (contd)
 Do not overcrowd the page with lot of text or
figures
 Do not make slides by photocopying directly
from printed books or journals as letters will
be too small
 Choose different types of letters, bold, italics,
capitals etc to emphasize points.
 Letter size not less than 18 point or more
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19. Preparation for presentation
 Rehearse as many times as possible
 Keep the timings strictly
 Allow some time for discussion
 Respond to questions after hearing it fully
 Repeat the question loudly for others to hear
 Answer clearly if you know the answer
 If not use your ingenuity in coming out of the
situation
 Accept mistakes pointed out by audience
 Never get into an argument with the questioner
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20. Inter personal communication
tips
 Never loose EYE CONTACT with audience
 Talk loudly and clearly
 Never turn your back to the audience
 When responding to questions wait for the
questions to be completed
 Repeat the question for the audience
 Answer clearly, if necessary using board .
 If you don’t know the answer, you can request
any one else to answer or get out of it using your
ingenuity
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21. Always remember
 You are speaking to an audience
 The presentation is for them
 It is absolutely essential to:
 Keep them interested in your talk
 Make them understand what you speak
 Get them involved in the process
 Get their response and react to them
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22. Start and beginning
 Give an overview of the presentation in the
beginning ( one slide)
 Give a summary in the end (one slide)
Some references for better communication:
1.www.allaboutcommunication.com
2.Today’s Engineer IEEE, USA
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