MSE Oral Presentation Guidelines Purpose The objective is to hone - - PDF document

1 Updated: February 28, 2011

MSE Oral Presentation Guidelines Purpose The objective is to hone presentation skills while explaining a technical process or design challenge encountered in the work place. A ten minute presentation using PowerPoint, or another similar tool, to deliver technical content. Content informs and persuades the audience on one or more technical issues that occurred while on Co-op. Requirements Schedule for MSE Surrey Students 1st Work Term – Technical Report I (~1500 words) 2nd Work Term – Technical Report II (~1500 words) and Oral Presentation (10 min PowerPoint) 3rd Work Term – Technical Report III (~3000 words) Submissions and Due Dates During the last month of your first 4 month work term, you are required to sign up for a 10 minute oral presentation – scheduled in the evening during the first two weeks of the month following your work

• term. You must sign up for your oral presentation on Symplicity by the following date:

Fall Semester: December 15th Spring Semester: April 15th Summer Semester: August 15th If your presentation is not satisfactory, you will be given written feedback, and you may be required to repeat your presentation at the next available session. If you fail to present a satisfactorily revised presentation, your work term credit will be revoked. Evaluation Grades are assigned by a Co-op Coordinator and a Mechatronic Systems Engineering Faculty member in the following areas:  Introduction  Body of Presentation  Summary and Conclusions  Presentation Skills  Use of Audio/Visual Aids  Format  Style  Correctness Confidentiality Your oral presentation should not contain proprietary or highly confidential company information. Be sure to check with your supervisor as to what information can or cannot be included. If the nature of

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your Co-op employment does not present suitable material for an oral presentation, please contact your Co-op Coordinator. Suggested Format An oral presentation should be structured as any technical report. It should include an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Analysis of a problem and synthesis of knowledge should be demonstrated. An effective presentation will include:  Title Slide – a descriptive title, your name, the company or organization, and the presentation date  Outline Slide – a quick breakdown of what will be covered  Technical Slides – the heart of your presentation  Experience Slide – reflection on what you learned in the “real world”  Summary and Conclusion Slides – a recap of the key points of the presentation and appropriate acknowledgements  Question Slide – lets the audience know it is their turn to talk Keys to Creating and Delivering a Great Oral Presentation Energy and knowledge – an effective presenter will have a passion for the subject matter and clearly communicate this depth of knowledge. Be prepared to defend your decisions and methodology during the question period at the end of the presentation. Organization and preparation – the material must be logically laid out and a great presenter will practice so they know the material without reading directly from the slides or screen. Tools and formatting – know how to use PowerPoint for maximum effect. Understand what works and what doesn’t and why! Organization All presentations should have an objective or purpose. As the presenter you should know your audience. This is important because you want to give the appropriate level of background. Too much and people will get bored, too little and they will become confused. Technical details should be included to convince and persuade. How you present them visually is also very important. Visual Aids The human eye is very particular. We are highly sensitive to color and contrast and can be disturbed by the slightest inconsistency or movement. Technical presentations should avoid bright or dark colored

• backgrounds. All slides should include titles and page numbers. Images, diagrams, tables, charts and

graphs should also be included and appropriately referenced.

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Presentation Skills The best presentations exhibit two important features – knowledge and passion. It is a fine balance to maintain one’s composure while still projecting enthusiasm for the subject matter. The presenter should use the tool to present a logical procession of facts. Confidence is important and can be cultivated using various techniques but the best thing you can do is PRACTICE! General Comments  Slides should not contain too much information  Bullets are better than paragraphs  Limit the number of bullets and sub-bullets per page  Adjust the font size as necessary but do not change font size on every slide  Recommended size 24 to 32 pt  Try to limit your count to 50 – 60 words per slide  San serif fonts are best for the most text  Other fonts should be reserved for code or scientific equations  Images such as screenshot is highly encouraged  Use the appropriate resolution so that pixilation does not occur when resizing  Crop and adjust brightness levels in a separate photo editing suite for best results  Tables and charts can be used for most presentations  Selected data sets or graphical representations of the data are often more effective  Video is becoming increasingly common in presentations  Be cautious with this or other gimmicks  Avoid too much “flying text”, animations or sound effects  And always check your spelling and grammar before presenting  Stand up straight and talk to your audience, not your feet or the screen  Make eye contact  Don’t be afraid to move but try not to pace or sway as it will distract your audience  Dress up – look good any you will be more confident  Most presentations will flow better if you can use a remote to flip slides  A laser pointer might be necessary but if you find you are using it on every slide you probably need to reformat your presentation  Video record yourself to perfect your timing and catch annoying mannerisms and the dreaded “ummm’s” and “ahh’s”  Use humor if appropriate but remember to keep it clean  When answering questions be sure to check back to see if you have indeed satisfied the inquisitor The following material has been adapted with permission from SFU Engineering Science and Waterloo Engineering course material. Thanks to Steve Whitmore and Douglas Wilhelm Harder.