--- Specifics For Individual Presentations For This Class ---

 - Due 24 hours before class submitted to Canvas.

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  Grading Rubric
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  Materials   (6 pt) - Someone else could give a great talk
  Performance (2 pt) - Know material, finish on time
  Questions   (2 pt) - Show knowledge depth beyond presentation

The presentation is very much like the 1 page papers but in 
graphical format. It should answer a question for your audience, 
convince them the answer, the conclusion, is correct. Each slide 
title should make a supporting statement of your argument with 
the contents showing supporting data, graphical is best.

- A good rule of thumb to measure presentation material quality is to ask
  if can this be presented by someone else given only the material. Your
  speaker notes play a large part in this.

- Plan on having 10 minutes of class time, 
  2 of which should be reserved for discussion.

- You should assume the class has completed the assigned reading.
  There is no reason to cover this material in your presentation.
  If you do include such material I can only assume you did not do the reading.
  
- Name file "FirstnameLastname-Topic.pptx"

- Slides should be in Microsoft PowerPoint pptx format.
  Using alternatives generally ruins the formatting.
  WPI provides free copies of MS Office to students and remote Windows
  machines.

- Use the presentation template available in the Assignments section of this
  site.

- Put your name on each slide as indicated on the template.

- Do not change headers or footers.

- Do not use title slide layout.

- Provide enough detail in the speaker notes section of each slide to:
-- Allow me to give you meaningful feedback
-- Allow me to place your slides relative to other presentations
-- Prepare you well to give the talk
-- Serve as a reminder while you are speaking
-- Serve as a reference for those looking at the slides offline
-- Allow someone else to give the talk without doing all the same reading

- Slides should be used to provide illustrations, diagrams, charts and/or 
  as a memory queue for the points you want to cover. 

- Given the short time available for individual presentations it is advisable 
  to forego outline, agenda, and "Questions?" slides.

- Regardless of your presentation materials and the form they take you need
  to provide references to support your statements.

- At least 5 high quality sources is recommended.

--- Presentation Rules Of Thumb ---

- Number your slides

- Organize according to Overview-Body-Summary
   - Overview to tell them what you are going to tell them
   - Body to tell them
   - Summary to tell them what you told them
   - Not recommended for our short 10 minute presentations
   - Good for our Group presentations

- Keep presentation in scope
   - 2 minutes per slide
   - Packing too much in hurts comprehension
   - Having too little content conveys you have nothing to say

- Organize slides hierarchically
   - Key statement as title
   - Logical statements that support title as big bullets
   - Supporting facts as sub bullets
   - Stick with 2x3 or 3x2 (big bullets x sub bullets)
   - 3x3 OK with no figure, avoid sub-sub bullets

- Figures should support title statement
   - Avoid figures that don't make a point
   - Figures should support the big bullets
   - Caption should state the point of the figure, not what the figure is

- Quantify everything you can
   - Avoid words like many, a lot, great, big, tiny, small, huge, less, more

- If your audience can't read it it should not be there
   - Title	    : 26 point font size
   - Big bullets    : 20 point font size
   - Sub bullets : 18 point font size
   - Nothing smaller than 16 point, even in figures
   - Block fonts are easiest to read: e.g. Arial, Helvetica
   - Light colors are difficult to read

- Keep things concise
   - Single line is best
   - Two lines is OK but not easy to read, better have good reason for it
   - Three lines or more you are writing a paragraph, stop

- Use color to make points, not make it pretty
   - Example: Green good, Yellow OK, Red bad
   - Use color to group items together
   - Always provide legend

- Figures are not useful if no one can understand them
   - Don't pack too much in
   - Label axes with names and units
   - Keep lines bold so they can be seen when projected

- The presentation is not complete without you
   - Do not read slides to your audience, they can do that themselves
   - Keep your audience's attention by augmenting the material in slides
   - Slides are a visual aid to your presentation

- Use speaker notes
   - Writing them will help you organize what you will say
   - Presentation will be understandable by reader without cramming 
     the slides
   - Provide reference materials here or on slides for completeness

- Your in person audience matters
   - Look at them, not your slides or just the instructor
   - Adjust speed if they looked bored or confused
   - Point at the projected image (not the computer screen) to draw 
     attention where you want it

- Presenting remotely presents different challenges
   - Look at your camera
   - Avoid speaking quickly
   - Use the cursor to draw attention where you want it
   - Refer to images, numbered items, captions by name, color, shape
   - Expect your audience to require more time to comprehend
   - State if questions taken before each slide transition or at end
   - Pause after slide transitions to give time for image to show remotely

- Your voice matters
   - Speak clearly and loudly enough for people in the back to hear you
   - Modulate tone and cadence to emphasize importance
   - Avoid filler words like "um", "OK", "aah", silence is better
   - Pause before and/or after stating important points

- Practice makes better
   - Become familiar with the presentation
   - Improve delivery by cutting out tangents
   - Experienced speakers perform dry runs before presentation

- Do not go over planned time
   - Shows poor planning or not being able to control your audience
   - Not respectful of others in line to present
   - If running out of time do not talk faster
   - If running out of time skip details, i.e. sub bullets, to make sure 
     your major points are still covered