CSCD03: Presentations

Research Presentations

During the course, each student will give three presentations.

Information presentations: 12-13 minutes (You will be cut off at the 15min mark).
Solo presentations are focused around informing the class on a technical topic, and should be presented in an unbiased and non-partisan manner.
Debates: 30 minutes (10min pro, 10min con, 10min group discussion).
Debate presentations are meant to be persuasive and have an active bias towards one side of a topic. However, they are still primarily research based presentations and should be based on solid, well cited facts.
News presentations 2 minutes/presenter (maximum one slide per persenter).
News presentations briefly provide the class with an update on a topic of interest and the latest developments in the story.

The job is equal parts researcher and instructor. Two-thirds of the grade for a presentation will come from the content and research that went into the preparation, and one-third will come from how well you present it. The former component will be the same for all team members; the latter might not be.

Schedule and assignment of topics

Your topics and your partners for the debates presentation will be assigned to you at least one week in advance of the date of your presentation. If for any reason you miss out on getting an assignment, contact the instructor without delay. A full schedule can be found in the lecture schedule section of the course website

How to prepare a research presentation

Read as much (quality) material as you can on your topic. Keep good notes on what you've read.
Review what you've found, and create an outline for your presentation.

Think about 5-10 main points that you want the audience to remember after you're done.
You should have point-by-point notes, but should not be reading anything from a script.
You will want to create slides, but they should be aids to your talk, not the main source of content. The audience should be listening to you talk, not reading your slides.
Think about how to make your presentation interesting and engaging. Just standing up and listing facts won't keep the audience's attention for long.

Until the time that you present, you should be prepared to incorporate any changes that the instructor may suggest to your outline or slides.
Rehearse your presentation out loud, preferably in front of a live audience.