MASTER RESEARCH

PRESENTATION GUIDELINE
How to make an effective presentation

Dr. Song - Construction Management, UH

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AGENDA
 Program requirements
 Objectives of presentation

 Effective presentation
 From an audience perspective
 What it is, what it is not …

 Do the homework
 Basic principles

 Structure your presentation

 A step-by-step guide

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PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS
 Program requirements (6396 and 6399)
 Progress presentation during a semester
 An oral final research presentation

 Format
 Time: ~ 20 min talk
 Q&A time: vary depends on your research
 Audience: CM faculty & students, 5 ~10 total
 Technology: PowerPoint & data projector
 Dressing code: Business causal or business
 Importance
 Receive feedback from CM faculty
 Share your research with peers
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 Improve your presentation skill…
OBJECTIVES OF PRESENTATION
 Objective
 A concise oral report of your research in a highly logic,
complete, and easy-to-understand format
 Sub-objectives
 Show your expertise in the research area/problem
 Show your methodology and quality implementation
 Show the findings and impact you have made
 Show your presentation skill in explaining complex issues

Strongly Strongly
Criteria Disagree Disagree Neutral Agree Agree
0-2 3-4 5-6 7-8 9-10
Presentation Skill
The speakers spoke clearly and
effectively
The presentation was well organized
and logically presented 5
The speakers efficiently utilize the time
available
EFFECTIVE PRESENTATION
Effective Presentation
From an Audience Perspective
Understandable You fail when we don’t understand, regardless how
brilliant your idea is …
A logic flow of ideas We easily get lost if your talk goes on a
unpredictable path with slides disconnected
Right to the point In such a short time to present loads of info, we
expect you to be concise, don't beat around the bush
Self-contained Don’t assume we know everything, prepare us with
background info, explain thoroughly and concisely
Complex concepts in We like you explain even the most complex issue
simple languages using common sense, layman terms, and graphics (a
challenge to you)
Attractive design Don’t overcrowd your slides with info that can be
boring, visuals & animation can be more expressive
Knowledge presenter We love to listen to an expert who knows the
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content, passionate, and prepared
…
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WHAT IT IS & WHAT IT IS NOT …
The Challenge: present complex technical information
in a very short period of time (i.e. 20-30min)

What it is not … What it is …

I did my research and know the
staff, so I can just talk
I will present following my
report/thesis structure, page by
page
My research presentation will
just like one of my prof.’s lecture
talks
You spent months on the topic, NOT your
audience; don’t underestimate the amount
of information
Simply put, you won’t be able to present 40-
60 pages report in merely 20min; you need
a total re-thinking of the logic flow
Research presentation is different from a
class lecture; the former focus on research
process & results; the later focus on a set of
established concepts

The Solution: view presentation as a NEW task, rethink the

structure, prioritize the content, focus on YOUR work, visualize 8
the information, tell a complete story, and be fully prepared
DO THE HOMEWORK
 Quality research work
 A clearly defined research problem & objective
 Objectives MUST match to problems
 A well-thought research plan
 Research plan MUST reflect objectives
 Rigorous research implementation
 Thorough analysis of results
 Must show all objectives are achieved, problems solved

 Effective presentation design

 Some basic principles
 A simple and logic organization
 A step-by-step guide 9
SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES
 50+50 principle
 Record 50% information in a slide and keep the other
50% to yourself for you talk
 Keep the audience’s attention to both slides AND you
 Don’t squeeze too much information in a slide
 Human attention is very limited!

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SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES – CONT’D
 Number of slides
 Each slide roughly takes 1-2 min to present, so for a 20min
talk, you only need approx. 15 - 20 slides
 You can have some backup slides for Q&A
 Use visual aids!!
 Graphics carry more info, easier to understand than texts
 E.g. line/pie chart, flow chart, diagram, photo/video …
 Animation can help to improve understanding

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SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES – CONT’D
 Pay attention to important details
 If the info is logically important, keep it in slide, and explain it
 Don’t jump/skip through slides, if not important, delete them

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SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES – CONT’D
 Use short titles and phrases
 Avoid full and lengthy sentence
 Be logic and predictable
 Present a clear agenda
 Tell them where you are and where you will go
 Explain not only “how” but “Why” .. because of this.. So …

 Less is more
 Do your homework to sharpen your idea/logic
 Present important logic/results only (hide trivial details)
 Don’t try to pack too much info just to “impress” people

 Formatting/template
 Use a design template with light background color
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 Use larger font size
SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES – CONT’D
 Use common-sense and layman terms whenever
possible

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SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES – CONT’D
 Precise control of content & timing
 Write exactly what you will say on each slide in a note, refine it
until logic, clear, and concise
 Practice and time it, revised as needed
 Present to your friends and ask for feedback

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Note
SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES – CONT’D
 Don’t just READ your slide, PRESENT

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STRUCTURE YOUR PRESENTATION
 A common structure
 Title page ~1 min
 Agenda ~1 min
 Background (optional) ~1 min
 Problem statement ~2 min
Sample
 Objective & scope ~1 min allocation
 Methodology ~2-3 min
 [Research Implementation] ~6-8 min
 Results & analysis ~6-8 min
 Conclusion ~1 min
 Future research (optional) ~0.5 min
 Final slide – Q&A N/A
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Total: ~20 min
TITLE PAGE
 You can't make a first impression twice
 Title page elements
 A concise and meaningful title
 Your name and affiliation
 Presentation date

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AGENDA
 Use agenda to clarify the structure of your presentation
 Make the presentation appears more organized
 Audience feel comfortable when they know where you will go
 Use short phrases
 Briefly explain the agenda, don’t just skip it
 I’ll first … then …
 “House rules”
 Due to the time limit, ask the audience to keep their questions to the
end, tell them you have a Q&A session

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 BACKGROUND (OPTIONAL)
 Justify why your research area is important
 Consider using numbers/charts/facts quoted from credible
sources to support your argument
 Prepare your audience
 Assumption: audience with basic CM knowledge, but not in-
depth knowledge in your particular research area
 Explain use simple language the significance of the research
area and necessary background info.

Note: Background
slide may be
ignored, if the
research area is
well-known, you
can skip it and go
to “Problem
Statement” 20
PROBLEM STATEMENT
 Describe the exact research problem
 Focus on the specific problem addressed by YOU only
 Avoid statements that may be confusing/offensive
unless you have adequate supporting data
 E.g. “the construction industry fails totally to ….”
 Construction managers do not understand …”
 Briefly state literature review results (I’m not reinventing
the wheel …)

Visual aids
(diagram,
photos…) may
help to highlight
problem areas

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OBJECTIVE & SCOPE
 List your objectives and sub-objectives
 Your objectives must match to your problem
 Try to visualize the objective using visual aids, if possible

 A brief statement of scope, if necessary

Visual aids may

help to highlight
both problem and
improvement
(objective) side by
side for better
understanding

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METHODOLOGY
 A global view of research steps and logic
 Use visual aids as much as your can
 Explain each major research step briefly, don’t miss any

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Flow chart is usually better than Photos, diagram, animation can help
texts in explaining research steps to explain complex research ideas
RESEARCH IMPLEMENTATION
 Center piece of your work
 Allocate adequate time to present
 Explain “how” you do it, but also “why” you do it – rationale

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RESULTS & ANALYSIS
 A description of results/deliverables
 Allocate adequate time to present
 Don’t sell yourself short!
 Visualize your results using visual aids or live demo!
 Deliverables must match to your objectives

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CONCLUSIONS
 A concluding remarks …
 A quick reflection of your research problem
 A quick summary what you have done
 Highlight your achievements
 Reassure the audience your academic & practical value of your
research
 State lesson learned, if any

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FUTURE RESEARCH & Q&A
 Future Research (optional)
 A statement of your research vision …
 Q&A
 Anticipate questions and prepare for it
 Prepare some backup slides to assist your discussion

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FINAL REMARK

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