This page contains guidelines for giving an oral presentation at the Chair of Algorithms and Data Structures, in particular for a Bachelor's or Master's Thesis. Please note that these guidelines are work in progress and not yet complete. Whatever is already written there is important, however.
Contents
Structure of a presentation
Almost every good presentation has the following three parts, in this order. If you want to deviate from this order, better ask us first.
- Problem: explanation and definition
- Solution: main approach and techniques
- Evaluation: setup and main results
The following subsections give important advice on each of these three parts.
For oral presentation of a Bachelor's or Master's Thesis: We will make a short break after each part and give the audience the opportunity to ask questions. The reason is that it doesn't make sense to proceed to the next part if something from a previous part is still unclear. The total presentation time for the three parts should be 20 minutes (excluding the time for the breaks and the questions). It is up to you how you divide those 20 minutes between the three parts. As a rule of thumb: 5 minutes for Part 1, 10 minutes for Part 2, 5 minutes for Part 3.
Overview slide: Many presentations have an overview slide in the beginning. It is OK but not necessary to have such a slide. If you have it, the amount of time spent on it should be VERY SHORT. It's a real turn-off to start a presentation with two minutes of vague talk about what is going to come. Better delve right in.
Problem: explanation and definition
It should become 100% clear in the talk, which problem you are trying to solve. Don't assume that the audience already knows the problem. Maybe they know something about the topic, maybe they don't. But almost noone in your audience will know the exact variant of the problem you considered.
It is best to explain a problem BY EXAMPLE. Examples should be chosen carefully. They should not be too simple (excluding important aspects of the problem) and they should not be too complex (they should be easy to understand and present in a short time). Sometimes, one well-chose example is enough, sometimes it can be good to have one simple example and one more complex example.
If you have a demo, don't show it at the end of your presentation but in the beginning. A well-done demo is almost always the best way to explain a problem. Sometimes, it makes sense to first show one or two examples on the slides and then the demo. Sometimes, it can make sense to start right with the demo.
The formal problem definition should be the LAST thing you show in Part 1, not the first. With one or two examples and a demo, 90% of the problem will usually be clear. A formal definition can clear up the remaining 10%. Sometimes, the examples and the demo make the problem so clear that no formal definition at all is required. Anyway, it's always good to have a dedicated slide with a statement of the problem, however formal or informal.
Solution: main approach and techniques
You have worked on your project or thesis for three months or six months or even longer. You have covered a lot of ground. Don't expect to be able to present everything you have done. You have to make a SELECTION. Select the most important ideas and those which gave the biggest improvement. Also make sure that you explain everything that is needed to understand the evaluation in Part 3.
Like for Part 1, the most important advice for Part 2 is also to explain BY EXAMPLE. Again, the example should be well-chosen: not too simple and not too complex. Sometimes it make sense to take the example(s), which you chose for Part 1 to explain what the problem ist. Sometimes it make sense to take a new example or a slight variation of your example(s) from Part 1.
Visualization is important. Nobody understands an algorithm or data structure from an itemized list of (usually vague) text. Neither does anybody understand an algorithm or data structure from throwing code on a slide, unless it is very short and very simple.
Animation can be of great help, especially for complex animations. With or without animation: always make sure that you show (with your finger or with a laser pointer or with the mouse) where you currently are on the slide. Otherwise you audience will get lost quickly and you will be talking to yourself.
==