professional communication in computer...

Scientific talkUsing slides

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Professional Communication in Computer Science

Giving a scientific talk

Jiri Srba

Jiri Srba, 1.2.32, [email protected] a scientific talk Professional Communication in Computer Science


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Today’s Plan

Motivation.

Organizing your ideas, structure of a talk.

Preparation and handling of slides.

The show, what can go wrong, answering questions.

Credits and Many Thanks To

Luca Aceto, Olivier Danvy, Emmanuel Fleury and Albrecht Schmidt

Giving a scientific talk Professional Communication in Computer Science


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Before you startPossible talk structureA few hints

The Point

You have to give a talk:

scientific (seminar, conference, internal meeting),

interview (e.g. to get a job),

other (teaching, report defense, oral exam, lunch/dinner talk).

Question

How to do it right?



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Why Should I Give a Good Talk?

In general, if it is worth doing, it is worth doing it well.

And also:

Disseminate your results, become well-known.

Get a good job, get promoted.

Get a good grade.

Fact

Your work is partially judged on the quality of its presentation.



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Remember

“What is understood clearly is expressed simply.”

– Boileau

Corollary

What is expressed poorly is poorly understood.



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Things to Know Before You Start

Know your topic.Do I really well understand the things I want to talk about?Should not I read some more literature?

Know your audience.Will I be talking to experts, general audience, students, mysupervisor, censor, mixed audience?

Know your goals.What does the audience expect from me? What is thepurpose of my talk? Is the information already known to theaudience or is it new?

Know your limits.How much time do I have? How many projectors? Can I use ablackboard? Will there be a pointer?



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Preparation Phase: Organize Your Ideas

Identify the key ideas.What do I want to talk about? What things I want tomention? What contribution do I want to emphasize? Whatis one single point I want my audience to remember?

Avoid unnecessary details.Are these details necessary to understand the message? Canthis be explained by an example? Can I show it on a picture?

Structure your talk.How do I motivate my work/problem? How do I clearlyexplain the setting/problem? What results I want to mention?Do I want to sketch some experiments/proofs in more detail?

Use top-down approach.What will be the overall structure of the talk in a few points?



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A Possible Structure of the Talk — Part 1

Introduction

Give a short general introduction.What is the area and problem I study? Why do I study thisquestion? How is the problem motivated?

Briefly review related work.What is known about my problem? What has been done andwhat is still open? What related work should I mention?

Emphasize your contribution.What do I contribute with? What is my main achievement?

Provide a roadmap.What is the structure of my talk?



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Preliminaries

Introduce terminology and notation.Is this really necessary to mention for the purpose of my talk?How can I keep it to the necessary minimum?

Redefine the problem more technically.Is this really necessary? How much detail do I need in the restof the talk? Can I simplify it or make it more intuitive? Can Iuse a picture?



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Main contribution

List your major results.

Explain the meaning of the results.Can I explain the results intuitively? What did I achieve bythese results? Why are my results interesting?

Give examples.Can I demonstrate my results on an example?



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Technicalities

Sketch an important proof or present an experiential result.Why did I choose to speak about this particular result? Whatis my point? New technique? Interesting application of aknow result? Will the audience understand my explanation?



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Conclusion

Remind very briefly the problem and main results.What problem did I study? What was the main contribution?

Express your own opinion.What is new in my contribution? Why is it interesting? Whatare possible conclusions? Is there anything left open? Whatwould be worth looking into?

Indicate that the talk is over.



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Hints on Talk Preparation

Planning your talk in the same chronological order as youcarried out your research is seldom a good strategy. Choose apedagogical plan for your presentation!

Your audience will remember at most one or two main points.Make sure that they take home the right thing!

Use repetition:

“Tell them what you’re going to tell them. Tell them. Then tellthem what you told them.”

Introduction — what you are going to tell.Body — you tell them.Conclusion — tell them what you just told them.

If possible, tell it always in different words!



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IntroductionSlides preparationHandling slides

Different Ways to Deliver a Talk

Without any supportive mechanisms.(Leave it to actors and opera singers.)

Reading from a script.(Only at very formal occasions.)

Using a black/white-board.(Common in mathematics. Good for teaching, informalseminars.)

Using slides.(The most common way in computer science.)

The message is more important than the medium or the messenger!



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What Is the Point of a Slide?

Slides support and guide your talk.

You should be a friend with your slides!

Types of slides:

Handwritten (if your handwriting is readable).

Printed.

Active slides (with a laptop).



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Tips on Slide Preparation

Have simple and informative slides. The simpler, the better!

Use roadmap (in particular for longer talks).

Don’t write too much on each slide.

One slide, one point. Each slide should have a title.

One good drawing is worth 1000 words.

Use colors for optical separation. Do not overdo it, and do notattach meaning to colors (color blindness; black and whitecopies).

Rule of thumb: 1 slide = 1 minute (though it is individual).

Last Tip

Always spell-check your slides!



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Standard Mistakes

Small fonts. (Theorem: The fonts are always too small.)

Invisible colours. (Avoid pale colours like yellow; always testthe slides on a projector.)

Long and complete sentences. (Use itemized lists.)

Overcrowded slides.

Slides written at the last moment.



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Handling Slides: Basic Techniques

Do not rush.Slides should not contain more information than you want totalk about (but there are exceptions).

Do not talk while putting a new slide.

Do not stay in front of the projector.Minimize the number of crossings in front of the projector.

While talking, look at the projection screen (not at yourlaptop screen).

Use several “plan” slides (to keep your audience and you ontrack).



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Handling Slides: Advanced Techniques

Skipping slides.Allows you to adjust talk duration on the fly.Think in advance what can be skipped (skipping technicalitiesis always better than skipping conclusion).With a laptop, it is better to have e.g. a proof shown only ona mouse click (and use it only if time allows).

Annotating slides on the fly.Gives an interactive touch but it should be practiced andrequires some experience.

Backup slides. Anticipate possible questions.

Slide strip-tease.Uncover different parts of a slide one by one. Keep it toabsolute minimum, it can be distracting and sometimes veryfrustrating if overdone!



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Before the showDuring the showAfter the show

The Show Begins

1 Before the show.

2 Right before the show.

3 During the show.

4 Right after the show.

5 After the show.



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Before the Show

Find out in advance the available equipment (number ofprojectors, blackboard, pointers, ...).

Practice your talk in similar conditions.

Visualize your talk (works good before falling asleep). Bepositive and constructive in your thoughts!

Bad: I should not run over time again.Good: My talk runs smoothly and the timing is perfect.



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Right Before the Show

Be comfortably dressed.

Breathe deeply.

Mentally go through your talk.

Prepare the first few sentences (good start = good show).

Do not drink carbonated beverages!



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During the Show

Straighten up.Keep your head up and breathe.

Face your audience.Keep an eye contact with the whole audience.

Smile.Express that you are happy to be here.

Speak slowly and loudly.Speak for others, not for yourself. Avoid monotonic voice butkeep it balanced (your tone should not fall down, or jump up).



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During the Show: Opening

First: show the front slide.

Second: get installed (microphone, arrange things on the table, get apointer).

Third: try your voice (“Good morning, I would like to present a jointwork ...”; do not start with “Can everybody hear me?”).At a seminar: (i) thank to the host and (ii) if you are happyto be here, say so.

Fourth: start the talk with introduction/motivation slide.



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During the Show: Ending

Announce the ending (e.g. with a slide entitled Conclusion).

Summarize the background (and thus significance of yourwork).

Summarize your achievements (especially at your reportdefense!).

Open perspectives (future work).

Thank your audience.



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During the Show: Things to Avoid

Correcting slides on the fly.“Let me correct this typo on the slide.” (and 2 min of silence)

Making self-comments.“I am running out of time again!” or “As always, I messed upthe proof again.” or “It looks bad ...”

Corrupting voice/picture transfer.Do not put your hand on your mouth while speaking. Do notshow your back. Do not cover the slides by your body.

Long visual pauses.Especially a blank screen.

Displaying slides too quickly.The audience should have time to read what is on the slide.



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During the Show: What Can Go Wrong

Interruptions, unexpected questions. Do not panic!

Answer quickly on the spot.Say: “Good point, just wait two slides.”Say: “Good point, I will get back to it at the end of my talk.”Say: “Good point, I would prefer to discuss it off-line.”(During an exam, always answer on the spot!)

Running out of slides. No disaster, short talks are appreciated!Conclude and summarize the main point of the talk.Do not repeat the talk one more time.

Running out of time.Avoid at all costs!If it happens, finish your sentence and go straight to theconclusion slide (you should always present the conclusion).

Do not assume that you can carry on as if nothing had happened!!!



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Right After the Show: Questions

Golden Rule: Always Repeat the Question

for you (to give you time to think),

for the questioner (to make sure you understand thequestion), and

for the rest of the audience (who did not hear the question).

And if there are no questions:

Be patient but do not wait forever.

If you have a computer demo or e.g. a project web-site, now itis a good time to remind the audience of it.

Say “Thank you.” again and pack up your slides.



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Right After the Show: Example Questions

Question

“Would not it be simpler to do this instead of that?”

Answer 1: “The question is: ‘Would not it be simpler to do thisinstead of that?’ That is a very good point. No, I tried and it isactually simpler to do that.”

Answer 2: “The question is whether it is not simpler to do thisinstead of that?’ That is a very good point. Perhaps. It is worth alook.”



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Question

“Was not this already known?”

Answer: “The question is whether this result was already known.To the best of my knowledge, no, it was not known before.”



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Question

“There was a similar paper at CONCUR’05, I think by Vardi. Howmuch is your work different?”

Answer 1: “The question is how does my approach differ from thework of Moshe Vardi presented at CONCUR’05. Well, we carefullystudied this related paper and the main difference is that ...”

Answer 2: “The question is how does my approach differ from thework of Moshe Vardi presented at CONCUR’05. I do not knowwhat paper do you refer to but I will take a closer look into it.Thank you.”



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Question

“Is not your main theorem a corollary of Erdos’s theorem?”

Answer: “The question is whether my main result is a corollary ofPaul Erdos’s theorem. Good question. Which theorem do you havein mind?”



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Question

“I want to make a comment. Bla, bla, bla ...”

Answer: “Thank you very much.”



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Question

“I do not like your approach at all. Bla, bla, bla ...”

Answer: “I am sorry, what was your question?”



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After the Show

Make sure you are available if someone wants to talk to you.Do not be the first one to leave the room. Stay for a coffeebreak.

Learn from your mistakes.Ask your friends to comment on your talk. Think about whatyou can improve next time.

Correct any typos you discovered during your talk.



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Conclusion: Why Giving a Good Talk?

Your reputation does not only depend on your work, but also on

what you say,

how you say it, and

whom you say it to.



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Conclusion

These are just general guidelines. Suit them to your needs, do notbe afraid to break the “rules” if there is a good reason.

Plan your talk in a top-down style.

Relate to your audience.

Make only one main point and simplify.

Practice your talks carefully.

Made a mistake? The show must go on!

Never run overtime.

Give them something to take home.



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Deliverable 3 (individual)

Read the paper How to Present a Paper in TheoreticalComputer Science: A Speaker’s Guide for Students by IanParberry.

Write a summary of the content of the paper (one paragraph).

List five points mentioned in the paper where you think areyour major weaknesses when giving a (slide) presentation andwhere you would like to improve in the future.


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