CMSC 634, fall 2009, Qualitative Research Talks

Talk Feedback

Talk Organization

• In the beginning, motivate the talk itself. Why should I care about listening to you?
• The talk needs a structure (the structure of a paper is a good start) and it needs to be clear to the audience what that structure is.
• Don't wait too long to get to the punchline. You can always discuss the work at a high-level and then get into lower level details in another sweep.
• Your goal is not to present the paper, but to present the work so well that audience members are motivated to go read the paper and learn more. Don't bore us with details that are best read in the paper.
• There is a difference between background slides and related work slides.
• Related work cannot be shoved into the verbage for another slide. It needs its own slide(s).

• The title of the slide should contain the take-away message of the slide.
• Avoid too much text on your slide. They make people's eyes gloss over and zone out. I was happiest with the amount of text on Kristin and Megan's slides (if the slides had been centered).
• Concrete examples (in images or diagrams) work much better than an abstract textual description of something.
• Don't talk about something before you define it; don't talk about a tool before you introduce what it is.
• There should be a reason that a sentence appears at the top of the slide or towards the bottom of the slide. In other words, your verbage, text, and images on the slide should be organized in a way that makes sense.
• Bullets may be easy, but they are not always the best way to break up text.

• EVERY talk needs diagrams and images. They are especially expected in HCI talks. If you cannot explain something in a small amount of text, then use an image or diagram to get your point across.
• Diagrams need to be READABLE.
• Visual things like storyboards and schematics should always be presented with an image or sketch.

• Talk with inflection. Stress important words with your speech. Keep the audience's attention with the way you speak. Yes, you can do this if you are a non-native English speaker.
• Don't let the end of sentences trail off.
• If you don't sound like you care about what you are presenting, no one else will care. Pretend you care if necessary; otherwise you are wasting my time and everyone else's time.
• If a slide is long, or your speech when the slide is shown is long, remind people verbally about the big picture of the slide and why you are talking about this.
• Smoothly transition from slide to slide, reminding people of the message of the last slide and how it naturally leads to the next slide.

• When presenting numbers, always try out different ways to present the material -- at least try charts, graphs, and tables. Select the one that makes the most sense to your practice audience.
• If any mathematical variables are on your slide, explain what they mean, except for statistical results that are very common (for example: p < 0.01).

• PRACTICE your talk ahead of time with a practice audience who is unfamiliar with your project.
• Project your slides in the room where the talk will be given before you do the real talk! Make sure the slides look nice, the colors are as you want them, and the images can be understood.