Writing user guides Documenting software
9.2.2 Preparation
The first stage of any oral presentation is preparation. During this stage you clarify your presentation’s objectives, taking into account the audience who will be attending and the time you have available including time for questions. If you don’t know these things, it is important to clarify them as soon as possible as they will have a significant bearing on how you create your presentation. Objectives Begin by clarifying the objectives of your presentation – what do you hope to achieve and what should your focus be? Will you be discussing the project itself rather than its outcomes for example, its problems, solutions, how you performed the project and so on? Alternatively, you may be presenting the technical outcomes of your project to a more scientific audience a conference presentation, for example. In this case, you might address such points as how the work was performed, the supporting research and its context, what you discovered and what your results were. You should also consider the assessment criteria being applied to your presentation this is not relevant for con- ference presentations but is important if the presentation forms part of your project’s assessment. In this case, are the examiners interested in the presentation itself rather than the content? Are they interested in how you form your arguments or state your case? This will clearly influence the way in which you put your talk together. Cryer 2006: 178 identifies some additional possibilities that might represent the main purpose of your presentation: n to explain what you have achieved and, if applicable, what you intend to do next; n to obtain advice and feedback; n a forum for learning and mutual support; or n as part of your assessment or as a monitoring process. Time You will probably find that your presentation needs to last anywhere from ten minutes to one hour. Quite clearly, with only ten minutes for a presentation, you will have to get straight to the point; with an hour to play with, you will be able to cover more back- ground and build up to the main point of your talk. It’s important to first clarify how much time is available for your presentation and for questions. Will you be able to decide on the proportion of time allocated for the presentation and the questions or is this specified? How flexible is this time – is it fixed to within one or two minutes or can you over- or under-run to a much greater extent? Audience The number and type of people who will be attending your presentation will have a significant bearing on its style and content. Ask yourself these questions: Will your audience be assessing you? Are they your peers? Are you hoping to inspire them with 224 Chapter 9 n Presentation skills your work and persuade them to become involved with it? What do they already know? What do you want to teach them? What do you want to show them? Now that you have an idea of the objectives, time and audience of your presentation you can move on to preparing the presentation itself. If you are struggling with ideas on what to include, begin by brainstorming ideas and writing them down on a piece of paper. Annotate each of these ideas onto a single piece of paper or peel-off sticker. You can then go about arranging your material into a logical structure – don’t just expect to write a few notes down at random and expect to ad-lib your way through them on the day. Remember that your presentation should have a beginning, middle and an end, and the points you are trying to get across may need some build-up or explanation first. For example, if you wanted to discuss the application of artificial intelligence techniques to air traffic control scheduling, you would do well to provide some background on these two subjects sepa- rately first, before focusing on the main point of your talk – the overlap of these two topics. The next stage of your preparation will be to develop visual aids. Rogerson 1989: 94 states that people retain only 10 of what they hear but 50 of what they see. Thus, visual aids are important for getting your message across and help your audience remember what you have presented. Visual aids can include over-head trans- parencies, slides, white boards and blackboards, computer-based presentation packages and physical objects that you wish to show or pass around the audience. Preparation of these visual aids is discussed in more detail in Sections 9.2.4 and 9.2.5. With your talk physically prepared, the last stage of preparation is to compose yourself mentally by rehearsing your talk again and again sometimes in front of a mirror. You may well find that you have developed too much material or are trying to cover too much detail, so you should prune your presentation to the time available. You must also familiarise yourself with the room and equipment you will be using. Make sure you can answer the following questions: n If you are using an overhead projector, do you know how to operate it and can you access the spare bulb? n For PowerPoint ® -type presentations, do you know how to operate the hardware the laptop and the projector for projecting computer images? n Do you know how the slide projector works if you are using one? Can you focus it and go forward and back through the slides? n Do you know which way to insert slides into the slide projector or which way trans- parencies should be placed on the overhead projector? You can begin initial rehearsals in the privacy of your own room or in front of a mirror to monitor issues like timing, structure and flow. If possible, rehearse your presentation in front of one or more people as well as on a stage. Other listeners will be able to spot silly mistakes or places where they feel you aren’t explaining yourself clearly. Finally, try to rehearse your presentation in the room you will actually be using for the presentation – you might be able to do this the evening before for a conference presentation or book the room in your depart- ment if it is an internal presentation. Make sure you can use all the equipment there. One cautionary note: oral presentations can suffer from over preparation. Presentations can appear stilted; the off-the-cuff remarks sound too well rehearsed, the talk doesn’t flow naturally or the speaker appears to be reading from a script rather than having a conversation with the audience. Try not to fall into this trap by learning your presentation word for word. The audience expect to be spoken to as people, not read to from a script. Remember they are all individuals and expect to be spoken to as such rather than an amorphous group.Parts
» Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» Introduction What are computing projects?
» Computing project types What are computing projects?
» Programming in computing projects
» Degree structures Degree requirements
» Degree requirements for projects
» Overview Your supervisor Stakeholders
» Clients and users Stakeholders
» Evaluators and testers Stakeholders
» Overview How this book is arranged
» Taught degree projects versus research degrees
» Summary Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» A definition What is research?
» Originality What is research?
» Gaincontribution What is research?
» Knowledge and understanding What is research?
» Identify the broad area of study.
» Plan how you will perform the research.
» Gather data and information.
» Analyse and interpret these data.
» Present the results and findings.
» Review the field – i.e., perform a literature survey.
» Build a theory – based on your understanding and interpretations of the field.
» Test the theory – does it work?
» Reflect and integrate – i.e., update your ideas based on your ‘tests’ and contribute
» Intellectual discovery The research process
» Research methods Research methods
» List or multiple choice. Provides the respondent with a number of options to
» Scale. Used to rate the respondent’s feelings towards something.
» Ranking. Used to order a series of options. You should not provide too many
» Complex grid or table. Used to gather similar responses on a range of questions.
» Open-ended. Used to obtain extended, qualitative answers.
» Summary Further reading Action points
» Techniques and Information Sources
» Additional considerations Choosing a project
» Follow any guidelines precisely. Most institutions require specific information; for
» Proofread thoroughly and get someone else to check it. Any errors or omissions
» Introduction to the subject area. This will provide the reader with an under-
» Current research in the field. This will emphasise that your project is not based in
» Identify a gap. You should be able to identify some aspect of the field that requires
» Identify how your work fills the gap. Having identified a gap in the field, your
» Identify risks and solutions. It is also useful in a project proposal to highlight any
» Explicit sections Preparing a project proposal
» Reviewing your proposal Preparing a project proposal
» Exercise Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» The project process Introduction
» Definition The project’s stages
» Planning The project’s stages
» Initiation The project’s stages
» Control The project’s stages
» Closure. The project’s stages
» Complete a literature search and literature review of existing stock market prediction
» Develop a suitable artificial neural network model.
» Identify and collect suitable data for analyses and evaluation.
» Evaluate the model using appropriate statistical techniques.
» Complete final report. Setting objectives
» Step 1 – Work Breakdown Project planning
» Step 2 – Time estimates Project planning
» Step 3 – Identify milestones Project planning
» Step 4 – Activity sequencing Project planning
» Step 5 – Scheduling Project planning
» Step 6 – Re-planning Project planning
» Rolling wave planning Project planning
» Risks. Include a list of critical risk factors and means of dealing with these risks
» Organisation. If you are undertaking a group project it would be worthwhile
» Alleviate critical risks Introduction
» Identify risks Risk management
» Alleviate critical risks Risk management
» Controlling risks Risk management
» Research degrees versus taught degree projects
» A starting point Introduction
» The literature survey process
» Format of information Literature searching
» Tracing the information Literature searching
» Inter-library loans Literature searching
» Some tips for performing a literature search
» Critical evaluation Writing literature reviews
» Overview The past Introduction
» Introduction The software development life cycle SDLC
» Requirements definition Requirements capture
» Requirements specification Requirements capture
» Functional specification Requirements capture
» Design The software development life cycle SDLC
» Build The software development life cycle SDLC
» Test The software development life cycle SDLC
» Implementation The software development life cycle SDLC
» The earliest ’model’: build-and-fix
» The stage-wise and classical waterfall models conventional models
» explore the requirements of the system with the user – requirements capture, andor
» explore the technical feasibility of a system – experimental prototyping.
» Which development approach should I use?
» Which programming language should I use?
» Introduction Top-down and bottom-up development
» Top-down development Top-down and bottom-up development
» Bottom-up development Top-down and bottom-up development
» Verification Verification, validation and testing
» Validation Verification, validation and testing
» Testing Verification, validation and testing
» Who is involved with testing and evaluation?
» Test plans Miscellaneous testing types
» Quality assurance and quality control
» Exercises Projects in Computing and Information Systems A Student's Guide 0273721313 Pearson 2009
» Getting started – project initiation
» Managing the five project elements
» Introduction Dealing with problems
» Weakening Dealing with problems
» Personal problems Dealing with problems
» Hardware failure Dealing with problems
» Data availability Dealing with problems
» Discovering your workresearch has been done before
» Analyse what you are currently doing.
» Change what you are doing to achieve your aims.
» eliminate activities you don’t need to do; and
» be more efficient doing the things you have to do.
» Time management tips Procrastination
» Using your supervisor effectively
» Introduction Working in teams
» Team development Working in teams
» Managing the team Working in teams
» Teamwork tips Working in teams
» Considerations Writing and structuring reports
» Approaches to writing Writing and structuring reports
» When should I start writing?
» Identify structure. This relates to the content of your report, using a report break-
» Identify presentational style. You should also try to set standards at this stage on
» Draft the introduction. The introduction gives the reader an idea of the
» Develop the main body. The main body of your report is the next part you
» Articulate conclusions and make recommendations. Quite clearly, your conclu-
» Complete the introduction. As part of the evolutionary approach to writing,
» Write the abstract. You cannot really write a clear abstract for your report until
» Add references and appendices. Although you will be collating references and
» Arrange contents list, index. Leave the completion of an index if one is required
» Proofread, check and correct. It is vitally important to proofread your report after
» Introductionliterature review – the first chapter of your report should always be
» Main body – the content of which depends on the type of project you are un-
» Conclusionsrecommendations – summarises the contribution of the work and
» Style Writing and structuring reports
» Word processing Writing and structuring reports
» Tips Writing and structuring reports
» Presenting charts and graphs
» Common mistakes Data presentation
» Miscellaneous charts Data presentation
» Other data presentation Data presentation
» Introduction Referencing material and avoiding plagiarism
» Citing references Referencing material and avoiding plagiarism
» Listing references Referencing material and avoiding plagiarism
» Commenting program code Documenting software
» Writing user guides Documenting software
» The presentation content Visual aids
» Introduction. One or two slides that introduce you and your talk.
» Main body. The slides that constitute the bulk of your presentation and cover the
» Summaryconclusion. A few slides that summarise your presentation and perhaps
» Dealing with questions Oral presentations
» Poster preparation tips Poster presentations
» Introduction Preparation Demonstrating software
» Demonstration tips Demonstrating software
» Introduction Viva voce examinations
» Introduction Examiners and the marking of your project
» General. Examiners will look at the relevance and appropriateness of the topic
» Report. Examiners will look for clarity, consistency, an appropriate use of
» Defence. Examiners will assess the types of arguments you have made to support
» Other. Examiners will review the administrative issues of your project. For example,
» What was the research question?
» Is it a ‘good’ question? This involves a comprehensive literature review to ensure
» Has the student answered the question adequately?
» Has the student made an adequate contribution to knowledge?
» The project approach from a technical perspective i.e., not a project management
» General project considerations subject independent
» Literature reviewproject foundation Assessment criteria
» Project approachmethods Assessment criteria
» Results and contributions Assessment criteria
» Introduction Taking your project further
» Seeking funding Developing commercial software packages
» Copyright and patents Taking your project further
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