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How to Present a Paper

Instructor: Mr. Ali Bseibsu

ali.bsebsu@gmail.com

Tips to Be Covered
 Outline
 Slide Structure
 Fonts
 Color
 Background
 Graphs
 Spelling and Grammar
 Conclusions
 Questions
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Outline
 Make your 1st or 2nd slide an outline of
your presentation
 Ex: previous slide
 Follow the order of your outline for the
rest of the presentation
 Only place main points on the outline
slide
 Ex: Use the titles of each slide as main
points
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Slide Structure – Good

 Use 1-2 slides per minute of your

presentation
 Write in point form, not complete
sentences
 Include 4-5 points per slide
 Avoid wordiness: use key words and
phrases only
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Slide Structure - Bad

 This page contains too many words for
a presentation slide. It is not written in
point form, making it difficult both for
your audience to read and for you to
present each point. Although there are
exactly the same number of points on
this slide as the previous slide, it looks
much more complicated. In short, your
audience will spend too much time
trying to read this paragraph instead of
listening to you. 5

Slide Structure – Good

 Show one point at a time:

 Will help audience concentrate on what
you are saying
 Will prevent audience from reading
ahead
 Will help you keep your presentation
focused

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Slide Structure - Bad

 Do not use distracting animation

 Do not go overboard with the

animation

 Be consistent with the animation that

you use
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Fonts - Good

 Use at least an 18-point font

 Use different size fonts for main points
and secondary points
 this font is 24-point, the main point font is
28-point, and the title font is 36-point
 Use a standard font like Times New
Roman or Arial

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Fonts - Bad
 If you use a small font, your audience won’t be able to read what you have written

 CAPITALIZE ONLY WHEN

NECESSARY. IT IS DIFFICULT TO
READ

 Don’t use a complicated font

Colour - Good
 Use a colour of font that contrasts
sharply with the background
 Ex: blue font on white background
 Use colour to reinforce the logic of
your structure
 Ex: light blue title and dark blue text
 Use colour to emphasize a point
 But only use this occasionally
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Colour - Bad
 Using a font colour that does not
contrast with the background colour is
hard to read
 Using colour for decoration is distracting
and annoying.
 Using a different colour for each point is
unnecessary
 Using a different colour for secondary
points is also unnecessary
 Trying to be creative can also be bad
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Background - Good

 Use backgrounds such as this one that

are attractive but simple

 Use backgrounds which are light

 Use the same background consistently

throughout your presentation
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Background – Bad
 Avoid backgrounds that are distracting
or difficult to read from
 Always be consistent with the
background that you use

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Graphs - Good

 Use graphs rather than just charts and

words
 Data in graphs is easier to comprehend &
retain than is raw data

 Always title your graphs

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Graphs - Bad

January February March April

Blue Balls 20.4 27.4 90 20.4
Red Balls 30.6 38.6 34.6 31.6

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Graphs - Good
Items Sold in First Quarter of 2002

100
90
80
70
60
Blue Balls
50
Red Balls
40
30
20
10
0
January February March April

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Graphs - Bad
100

90
90

80

70

60

Blue Balls
50
Red Balls

38.6
40
34.6
30.6 31.6
30 27.4

20.4 20.4
20

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0
January February March April

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Graphs - Bad

 Minor gridlines are unnecessary

 Font is too small
 Colours are illogical
 Title is missing
 Shading is distracting

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Spelling and Grammar

 Proof your slides for:

 speling mistakes
 the use of of repeated words
 grammatical errors you might have make

 If English is not your first language,

please have someone else check your
presentation!
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Conclusion

 Use an effective and strong closing

 Your audience is likely to remember your
last words

 Use a conclusion slide to:

 Summarize the main points of your
presentation
 Suggest future avenues of research
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Questions??

 End your presentation with a simple

question slide to:
 Invite your audience to ask questions
 Provide a visual aid during question
period
 Avoid ending a presentation abruptly

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A SAMPLE

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1. Title Slide (1 slide)

{ Introduce yourself and the title of your paper. }

{ Use an attractive picture (related to your topic) as background). }

PAPER TITLE
Authors
Institution and/or Address

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2. Introduction (1 slide)

 Introduce your topic & paper title.

 Be as brief as possible.

 Use only relevant data.

 Use short but meaningful points.

 Explain every point briefly.

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3-4. Problem & Theories (1-3 slides)

 State the problem you’re addressing & the

scientific theories associated with it briefly on
one or two slides.
 Use examples.
 A picture (on another slide, if necessary) will
be handy.
 Again, be as brief as possible, use only
relevant data.
 Use short but meaningful points.
 Explain every point briefly. 25

5. Methods {OPTIONAL} (1 slide)

Briefly summarize your method of literature

(or content) analysis on one slide.

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6-12. Results & Discussion (5-7 slides)

 The rest of the slides are for Results (hypotheses),

Discussion & Conclusions.
 Start with a brief recap of descriptive statistics, if
available.
 Give your hypotheses with scientific proof to
support them.
 Discuss the practicality of each hypothesis if
possible.
 Be sure to tell the significance of your research and
what should be done next regarding it.
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13. References (1 slide)

 Mention the top five or six references for

your paper preference-wise in points.
 Do not explain anything, just mention the
references.
 Include books & research papers, if any.
 Avoid commonly referred websites (like
Google or Wikipedia).
 Do not linger for more than 10 seconds on
this slide.
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TIPS

Consider Your Audience

 Make presentation relevant to

audience
 i.e. don’t present all math
 Think about following questions
 Who am I addressing?
 What do I have to say?
 What do I want my audience to know?
 What would my audience want to know?
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Practice, Practice, Practice

 Practice on your own (get timing right)

 Practice giving it to each other.
 Write out the full text you want to say.
 Forces you to think of every aspect
 Helps you commit parts of you
presentation to memory
 Make notes of key points and use those
during presentation. BUT don’t read a
script, or always look at the screen.
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Communicate with Audience

 Look at the audience
 Try to look at everyone, not just one
corner of the room.
 If you are nervous pick some spots at the
back of the room above people’s heads.
 Be enthusiastic
 Vary the tone of your voice.
 Use humor if it suits you, but don’t force it
or over do it. Content is what matters.
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How To Speak
 Speak slowly and clearly.
 Take a breath before you move to next slide.
 Take a deep breath (unobtrusively) before
you start.
 Try not to say so, ummm or other time fillers
too much.
 We all do it, it takes practice.
 Try standing squarely on both feet and keep
hands someone still.
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What not to do
 Stand on one leg.
 Hit yourself or a table
 Tab your pen
 Turn your back on the audience
 Put your thumbs in your pockets
 Cross your arms and take a football pose
 Try to smile at the audience if you are not
too nervous.
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Questions

 Be prepared to answer questions from

audience.
 Try to get discussion going by having
some leading questions.

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THANK YOU!
Q/A

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