Hany H. Ammar, Professor,

Hany H. Ammar, Professor,LANE Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering

West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, USA, andVisiting Professor

Faculty of Computers and Information, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

Research Writing and Presentation A Two Hours, 1st International Conference on Information and

Communication Technology for Education and Training, Hammamet, Tunis, May 7-10, 2012

الرحيم الرحمن الله بسمالله رسول على والسالم والصالة ، لله الحمد

سهال شئت إذا الَحْزَن تجعل وأنت جعلته، ما إال سهل ال أللهم

A Two Hour Lecture, 1st Intern. Conf. on Information and Communication Technology for Education and Training, Hammamet, Tunis, May 7-10, 2012 1

Research Writing and PresentationSome Tips

Part I: How to write research thesis and research papers? Some Tips

Part II Making Research Presentations



OUTLINE of Part I: How to write theses and papers?

• Introduction – Motivation of this talk

• Structure of The Paper/thesis– The Title of your work– The Abstract– The Introduction– Related Work, Existing solutions– Describing your work– Conclusions and Future Work

• Conclusions of Part I


Introduction

• Motivation of this talk

– Good research can be presented in such a way that research results are obscured by poor presentation.

– It is not possible to understand quickly, either the essence of the contribution, or the most important research details.


Introduction• The main key to the successful presentation is to

repeat your ‘story’ four times: in the title, abstract, introduction (or chapter 1) and in the text.

• That is, make readable and as complete as possible versions of your work using the order of 10, 100, 1000 and 10.000 words

• Why? Because you have four different types of readers.


Introduction• Among those who will ever notice your work, expect

that 80% will see only the title, 15% will read the abstract and, 4% will read also the introduction and conclusions, and the surviving 1% will read the whole paper.

• If you do not believe this, just make your own statistics on things you read, and time you have (or time you want to spend) for reading other people’s work.


Structure of The Paper• Title• Abstract• Introduction,

– Problem statement, Research Objectives, Contributions

• Related Work, Existing solutions and their criticism,• Proposed Methodology or Solution and why it is

expected to be better • Comparison between the proposed methodology and

the existing solutions (e.g. performance, complexity) • Conclusions and Future Work• References


The Title of your work

• Choose a title that enables the expert to figure out the essence of the basic idea (s) and the main contribution (s) even without reading the paper.

• If you are solving problem X using method Y, you have probably searched Internet for both X and Y. Others do the same, so let your work be observed easily.

• Poor titles are vague (e.g. Some Issues in …)• Look at good papers and learn how titles are written


The Paper AbstractFive Main Points

• State clearly what problem has been studied and/or what is the goal of the thesis/paper.

• Give a brief statement on existing solutions and their drawbacks.

• The essence of the proposed solution,• List major contributions and state briefly

assumptions and limitations. • State what type of analysis was done to show that the

proposed solution is really better (e.g. performance, complexity) and result of analysis done. the major numerical highlights of the analysis


The Paper Abstract

• If a 50-word abstract is required, then each part above should be about one sentence long;

• If a 500-word abstract is required, then each part above should be about 10 sentences long,

• The language should be simple and concise, with declarative sentence structure, written primarily in the present tense.(e.g., We present, investigate, analyze, show, ..)


The Paper Introduction

• This section should give a summary of the article and how it is organized. It should contain the following items:i) Introduction (basic facts needed to tune the reader to the thesis or

paper);ii) Problem statement (precise definition and importance); avoid very

technical definitions and statements (present them in later text) and instead give good intuition for your involved definitions or facts.

iii) Existing solutions and their criticism (limit only to those directly relevant to the contribution of the thesis; give a motivation for doing research on the topic);


The Paper Introduction

iv) Contributions (proposed solutions; why they are expected to be better; essence of the idea (s) used in proposed solutions);

v) Conditions, assumptions and limitations of the research done;

vi) Analysis (theoretical, experimental, simulations, implementations,…) done in thesis; under what conditions and scenarios is your solution best?

vii) Organization of the paper: describe briefly the following sections


Related Work, Existing solutions

• Most of the Research we do is evolutionary and not revolutionary

• Should give a full literature review. • This section should collect all known results relevant to the

problem stated, whether or not they are used in your proposed contributions.

• Missing important recent work can be a major setback• Discuss advantages and drawbacks of known solutions

that are relevant to your problem,• Discuss the relevance of each reviewed item to your topic

and your solutions.


Related Work, Existing solutions

• For every discussed reference, it is very important to relate them to your problem and contribution in one of several ways:– it does not exactly solve the same problem, – it solves the same problem but makes different

assumptions about the system,– it has some limitations that you do not have,– it makes the same assumptions but does not work well

under certain conditions and scenarios for which you have better solutions,

– if none of these is true, you are considering it as a valid competitor, and will compare it with your work in the analytical or experimental comparisons (in terms performance, complexity, etc.).


Describing your work

• Present your contributions (including conditions, assumptions, and limitations, where appropriate), and their analysis.

• Draw a figure if appropriate, clearly state what is the input and what is the expected output

• Then go into details of your solution, step by step. • A figure is worth thousands words.


Describing your work• One of the most frequent mistakes made by

authors is to ignore the limitations, assumptions made (compared to assumptions made in other relevant papers), and scenarios for which their solution is clear winner or loser.

• You shall not be overly optimistic about your solution (s) and make unfounded claims.

• It is much better that you criticize yourself than to leave such ‘pleasure’ to others


Paper Conclusions and Future Work

• What did you achieve with this research?• What are the drawbacks of your solution(s)?• Do you have some ideas that you intend to study

further?• Finish on a positive note, with a clear winner

statement about the value of your contribution.





• Conclusions of Part I


Conclusions of Part I: How to write theses and

papers? Some Tips

• Make Sure you have a good title: Most People read it• The Abstract is extremely important: It could turn away

readers and give a bad impression on your work• The Introduction is also important, it sets the structure or

organization of your paper for • The related work is a key part of your paper. It is the part

where reviewers can have major attacks based on missing important work or work that need to be compared to your work.

• Illustrate your work using simple examples• Conclusions and future work also form a key part of your

paper. Finish on a positive note and discuss the opened problems and your future research

Research Writing and Presentation

Part I: How to write theses and papers?

Part II Making Research Presentations



OUTLINE of Part II: Making presentations

• Introduction– Making presentations, Put your audience first!– Speaking style, Time keeping– Using notes, Composure– Practical issues, pitfalls to avoid

• Preparing the content– Tell èm, Tell èm, and Tell èm– Visual aids

• What makes a good presentation? - Some guidelines• Conclusions• References

A Two Hour Lecture, 1st Intern. Conf. on Information and Communication Technology for Education and Training, Hammamet, Tunis, May 7-10, 2012

27

Introduction: Making presentations

• The aim is good, clear communication.

• Most people are afraid of public speaking.

• There is no substitute for preparation.

• Collect and order relevant material.


Introduction: Put your audience first!

• Prepare the opening sentences carefully.• Use a non-technical opening……but only if it’s

relevant.• Avoid openings like “Thank you Mr Chairman for

those kind words. It is a great pleasure to be here again in this great ……”

• Throw your audience straight into the story “Is it possible to improve on the reliability of Airbus software?”


Introduction: Speaking style.

• An informal, conversational style is best.• Avoid long, complicated sentences.• Vary tone of voice to give expression.• Vary the speed of delivery to provide emphasis.• But don’t speak too quickly: fast deliveries are

difficult to understand.


Introduction: Time keeping.

• Don’t speak for too long.• People remember up to 40% of a 15 minute talk, but

only 20% after 45 minutes.• Assume a presentation rate of 100 words per minute.• Keep to time!


Introduction: Using notes.

• NEVER read a script.• Write out the text.• List the key words to form your notes.• Produce notes on cards rather than paper.• Keep notes in order with a treasury tag.• Practice… in front of a mirror!

“Practice means perfect”


Introduction: Composure.

• Hold your notes in one hand; let the other hang by your side.

• Look at the audience - but not at one person!• Start slowly, having learned the first sentence.• Be aware of mannerisms and repeated gestures.


Introduction: Practical issues

• Explore the layout of the lecture room BEFOREHAND.

• Understand how to control the projectors, microphones, lights, video…..

• Do not speak while turning away from the microphone to look at a slide.

• Overhead projectors should project upwards• Do not obscure the slide projection.


Introduction: pitfalls to avoid

• NEVER apologize for being an inexperienced speaker.

• Never say “You will have seen all this before” “You will know more about this than I do”• Audiences will be embarrassed - they are on your

side.• Nervousness leads to uncertainty about your

material.


Introduction: pitfalls to avoid.

• Never try to be a stand up comic.• Be humorous, but humour is often at someone’s

expense - make it your own.• It is easy to offend people - and lose their sympathy.• Humour depends on timing.• A joke that falls flat is embarrassing.


OUTLINE• Introduction

– Making presentations, Put your audience first!– Speaking style, Time keeping– Using notes, Composure– Practical issues, pitfalls to avoid




Preparing the content: Tell èm, Tell èm, and Tell èm

• The old salesman’s adage contains a good deal of truth: Tell ‘em what you’re going to tell ‘em; Tell ‘em; Tell ‘em what you’ve just told ‘em.

• Don’t pack too much information into a talk.• Start with a brain map - and then order the material

into a sequence.


Preparing the content: Visual aids

• Slides should not be cluttered with information.• Use colour to emphasise a point and not for its

own sake.• The minimum size font on an OHP should be 18

point.• Laser pointers need practice and can be

dangerous.


What makes a good presentation? Some guidelines

Tell ’em 1

• Guideline 1 - Consider whom the presentation is designed for.

• Guideline 2 - Keep the charts simple and uncluttered.

• Guideline 3- Make sure that the charts are legible even from the back of the room


41Research Writing and Presentation Seminar July 5, 2009, Cairo U 41

What makes a good presentation? Some guidelinesTell ’em 1(Cont.)

•Guideline 4 - Highlight key information

•Guideline 5 - Focus attention on one concept at a time

•Guideline 6 - Reinforce your conclusion



Tell ’em 2

• Guideline 1 - Consider whom the presentation is designed for– The audience

• Do they know much about the subject?– Terminology, Jargon or symbols

• Are you using jargon or symbols that they are unfamiliar with?– Number of people

• If you are talking to a small number of people, then they should be able to see the computer screen without any problems. If there are a large number of people, then you will need to use a projector of some sort.



Tell ’em 2 • Guideline 2 - Keep the charts simple and uncluttered.

– Don’t put in any more or any less than is required

This Chart isDifficult to see

Candidate List Size




Tell ’em 2

• Guideline 3 - Make sure that the charts are legible, even from the back of the room –If you are making a presentation using a projector, then the characters need to be a minimum of 0.5 cm high for members of the audience who are 100 metres away. For more mature people, the minimum height needs to be 1 cm.



Tell ’em 2

• Guideline 4 - Highlight key information

– Make it easy for the audience to pick out the most important details



Tell ’em 2

• Guideline 5 - Focus attention on one concept at a time – Make sure that you are not giving the audience too much to think

about at any one time




Tell ’em 2

• Guideline 6 - Reinforce your conclusion –Finish the presentation with a summary of the main points that you want to make sure that the audience has understood



Tell ’em 3

In summary, we presented Six Guidelines – Who the presentation is designed for– Keep charts simple– Charts must be legible– Highlight key information– One concept at a time– Reinforce your conclusion


Conclusions

• The aim is good, clear communication, there is no substitute for preparation.

• In Preparing the content remember to– Tell èm, Tell èm, and Tell èm– Use good Visual aids



Conclusions

• Follow good presentation guidelines– Who the presentation is designed for– Keep charts simple– Charts must be legible– Highlight key information– One concept at a time– Reinforce your conclusion


References

• Campbell, J., (1990), Speak for yourself, BBC Books, London, ISBN 0563215119

• Boothe, V., (1984), Communicating in science: writing and speaking, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 052127771 X

• Tufte, E., (1983), The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, Graphics Press

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Better still, prepare thoroughly! And Practice

وجزاكُم ً خيرا اللُه

Hany H. Ammar, Professor,

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