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Top 7 Technical Presentation Templates With Samples and Examples

Top 7 Technical Presentation Templates With Samples and Examples

Nidhi Aswal

author-user

Are you tired of struggling with technical presentations that lack impact and clarity? In today's fast-paced business world, effective communication is crucial. Did you know that presentations with visual aids are 43% more persuasive? Yet, crafting the perfect technical presentation can be time-consuming. That's where SlideTeam comes to the rescue, offering a game-changing solution.

We are introducing our Top 7 Technical Presentation Templates, which are meticulously designed for B2B audiences like yours. These templates are your secret weapon for quality assurance, technical indicators, expert team assembly, market landscape analysis, digital asset management, and course design.

In the first half of 2023, optimism about technology's potential to advance business and society has rekindled after a challenging 2022 for tech investments and talent. Envision having a reservoir of readily editable PPTs infused with real-world instances within your reach. SlideTeam empowers you to captivate your audience, make astute decisions, and conquer the competition.

Our templates are your route to technical excellence, ensuring you maintain a competitive edge. Ready to revolutionize your technical presentations for enhanced outcomes? Let’s get started.

Template 1: Role of Technical Skills in Digital Transformation

This all-encompassing PPT Preset covers a range of subjects, particularly emphasizing the significance of technical skills in driving digital transformation. It provides insights into IT professional challenges, roles and skills, pandemic impacts, and upskilling requirements for primary IT roles, including data and analytics, cybersecurity, application architecture, infrastructure operations, and cloud expertise. Download this presentation to see how IT drives growth and innovation by improving internal relationships and influencing strategy.

Role of Technical Skills in Digital Transformation

Download now!

Template 2: Technical Feasibility PowerPoint Presentation Slides

This comprehensive PPT Deck comprises 41 expertly crafted slides covering a spectrum of essential topics. It facilitates project assessment, product and service delivery planning, and business idea viability evaluation. Delve into your venture's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, considering resource requirements, tax, legal, and technical expertise. Elevate your project discussions by downloading these Technical Feasibility PowerPoint Presentation slides.

Technical Feasibility

Template 3: Technical and Nontechnical Training Proposal PowerPoint Presentation Slides

This complete PPT set spans various crucial topics, emphasizing the significance of technical and non-technical skills in workforce efficiency. This PPT infographic highlights the need for comprehensive training programs to enhance employee capabilities. Our Technical and Non-Technical Training Proposal PowerPoint Presentation is perfect for elucidating how these skills boost overall business productivity. This slide collection aids in presenting project objectives, goals, action plans, and task timelines and showcasing your company's mission, vision, core values, and client testimonials.

Technical and Non Technical Training Proposal

Template 4: Technical Maintenance Service Proposal PPT Presentation

Introducing our PPT Template for technical maintenance service proposal, expertly crafted to meet all your engineering maintenance requirements. This comprehensive PPT Deck offering covers preventive maintenance, emergency repairs, system upgrades, and consulting services to enhance the efficiency and longevity of your engineering systems. It is carefully designed by our dedicated team of experts committed to excellence. Get this PPT Template now and elevate your engineering maintenance.

Technical Maintenance Service Proposal

Template 5: Technical Analysis for Target Market PowerPoint Presentation Slides

Upgrade your business strategies with our technical analysis for target market PowerPoint Presentation slides. These slides comprehensively show market trends, segmentation, product comparisons, and more. Visualize data with pie charts and graphs, and make informed decisions. It includes 17 fully editable slides, making it a valuable asset for your business growth.

Technical Analysis for Target Market

Template 6: Technical Design PowerPoint Presentation Templates

Unlock accolades with our technical design PowerPoint Templates. This versatile PPT Deck covers quality assurance, technical indicators, visual design, product delivery, and product strategy in five engaging slides. Elevate your presentations with our fully editable PPT Preset and earn recognition for your expertise.

Technical Design PowerPoint Presentation Templates

Template 7: Technical Analysis Types Result Areas PPT Designs

With this PPT Theme, navigate through the stages, including chart patterns, technical indicators, business, management, and marketing. This fully content-ready PPT Preset is your solution to addressing adversity and making a lasting impression on your audience.

Technical Analysis Types

Template 8: Conduct Technical Assessment and Audits Strategy PPT Layouts

Our PPT Deck on how to perform technical assessments and audits will cut down on pointless chit-chat. This three-stage PPT Slides encompasses business, management, planning, strategy, and marketing. To quickly and effectively counter objections and impact your audience, download this content-ready infographic immediately.

Conduct Technical Assessment And Audits (2/2)

Tech Presentation Excellence

The technical presentation templates on SlideTeam provide a quick and easy way to convey your ideas and help your audience make educated choices. These aesthetically beautiful and adaptable decks cover many issues vital to today's businesses, from market research to technological design. Our customizable templates will help you wow your audience and stand out. Download these top 7 technical templates now and improve your technical prowess.

Ready to overcome innovation challenges? Explore our top 10 technical strategy templates designed to empower your innovation journey. Dive into the next level of success!

Looking for top-notch technical report templates? Click here to access our collection of the Top 5 templates to elevate your technical reporting game.

Are you geared up to wow audiences with your product pitches? Click here to discover our must-have product presentation templates and captivate your audience effortlessly. Your next successful pitch is just a click away!

FAQs on Technical Presentation Template

What should a technical presentation include.

A technical presentation should include several key elements for clarity and engagement. It should start with a clear introduction outlining the topic's importance. Then, present technical content logically with clear explanations, visuals, and examples. Address potential questions or concerns. Summarize the key points, and end with a concise conclusion. Visual aids, diagrams, and data should be used effectively to enhance understanding. Audience interaction, where appropriate, can also improve engagement.

What is most important in technical presentation?

In a technical presentation, effective communication and clarity are of highest significance. It is crucial that highly technical material be presented in a way that is easily understood. Also essential are eye-catching graphics, well-organized text, and an understandable progression of events. A technical presentation may be improved by interacting with the audience, fielding their questions, and using real-world examples to drive home your arguments.

How do you make a technical presentation interesting?

To add interest to a technical presentation, commence with an engaging introduction emphasizing the topic's significance. Utilize relatable examples and narratives to illustrate intricate concepts. Include visually attractive graphics and diagrams on your transparencies. Maintain a dynamic tempo and refrain from overpowering the audience with technical jargon. Engage the audience through questions, discussions, and real-world applications. Conclude with a memorable summary and encourage questions, fostering an interactive and engaging atmosphere.

Related posts:

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  • [Updated 2023] Top 20 Artificial Intelligence PowerPoint Templates and Google Slides For Technology Geeks
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Mechanical Engineering Communication Lab

Technical Presentation

Structure diagram, criteria for success.

  • The presentation starts with the motivating problem for the research and why it’s being presented.
  • Every slide shows something relevant to the motivating problem.
  • Every slide shows no more information than necessary to convey the message.
  • Slide titles stand on their own; other text supports the visuals.
  • The audience takes away the presenter’s desired message .

Identify Your Message and Purpose

Identify your message and goals as a presenter and use them to organize your presentation. Your message is what you wish to convey to the audience, and is your primary goal. Other goals could include eliciting feedback, receiving a job offer, etc. Use your goals to structure your presentation, making it easier for the audience to follow your logic and identify important points that support your goals.

For example, if your goal is to communicate a new scientific result, focus on the results and broader implications rather than your methodology. Specific methods should take a back seat (e.g. “I measured key material properties,” rather than “I found the thermal decomposition temperature and profile”). Spend more time focusing on what the result means, and how it can be used.

Alternatively, if your goal is to elicit feedback from colleagues on an experimental apparatus, focus more on the experimental methods. Compare the advantages and disadvantages to alternatives. Explain your assumptions, base models and why your proposed experimental design will give more useful results than other designs would.

In less formal settings such as lab meetings, you can explicitly tell your audience what you’re looking for (e.g., “I’d appreciate feedback on my experimental methods”).

Analyze Your Audience

Understanding your audience is of paramount importance for a successful presentation. Highlight how your goals overlap with what audience cares about, so they receive your message. A well-designed presentation will steer the audience’s attention such that you can lead them to the exact point that you want them to take away.

Different audiences have different goals for attending a presentation, and therefore pay attention to different things. For example, at the same talk, an engineer may be interested in using your result to solve their problem, a scientist in the broader scientific advance, a venture capitalist in its impact as a novel product, and clinician about how your device could improve their patients’ care. The introduction of your presentation should speak to the range of backgrounds and experiences in your audience.

That being said, often an audience consists of people with similar backgrounds and interests. Therefore, identify whether jargon is appropriate for an audience, and to what extent. Consider whether other methods, such as images or analogies, are more appropriate to convey concepts that would otherwise rely on jargon.

Plan Out the Presentation

Presentations are constrained by the fact that they progress linearly in time, unlike a written piece of communication, where the reader may jump forwards and backwards to get at the information they seek. Outline the content of the entire presentation first, then begin to design the slides, rather than jumping straight into them.

Lay out the order in which the content needs to be presented to achieve your goals, such that your message flows from point to point, topic to topic. This order may be very different from the structure of the journal paper you’ve already written.

Start by motivating your work with a problem that everyone cares about. Then develop your message step by step, from the background to the final message, so the logic flows clearly.

In many cases (depending on the audience), it might be most appropriate to reveal your conclusions up-front, so that the audience can tie everything else in the presentation back to supporting those conclusions. For instance, technology-focused program managers or engineering sponsors are likely most interested in your results, which will determine whether they are interested enough to pay attention to your process and justification. By contrast, certain scientific communities appreciate being taken through your scientific process to develop their own conclusions before you present yours.

Because the audience cannot immediately see a presentation’s structure like they can with a paper, it is often a good idea to provide a high-level roadmap of the presentation early on. At key points throughout the presentation, remind them of where they are on the roadmap.

Connect Your Work Back to the Broader Motivation

At the beginning of your talk, develop the broader context for your work and lay out the motivating questions you aim to answer. The audience should understand how your answers have an impact on the broader context, and why a solution was not immediately possible without your work.

At the next level down, when showing data and results, make sure it’s clear what they contribute to answering the motivating questions.

Anticipate Questions

If your audience is following along with your presentation, they’ll likely have questions about why you made certain decisions or didn’t make others. Sometimes, the questions could arise from what you’ve said and presented. Other times, they’ll arise from a listener’s knowledge of the field and the problem that you’re working on.

While you design your presentation, think about what kinds of questions may come up, and identify how you will address them. For less formal talks, you can anticipate interruptions to discuss these questions, whereas for more formal talks you should make sure that none of the questions are so big that they’ll preoccupy your listeners. For big questions, decide if you’ll explicitly address them in your talk. For smaller ones, consider adding back-up slides that address the issue.

Remember – while you know all of the information that is coming up in your talk, the audience probably does not. If they develop a question that doesn’t get addressed clearly, they could get distracted from the rest of the points you make.

You can use questions to create strong transitions: “seed” the listener’s thought process with the questions you’re about to answer in an upcoming slide. If a listener develops a question, and then you answer it immediately after, your message will stick much better!

Each Slide Should Convey a Single Point

Keep your message streamlined—make a single point per slide. This gives you control over the pace and logic of the talk and keeps everyone in the audience on the same page. Do not be afraid of white space—it focuses your audience’s attention.

The slide title should identify where you are on your roadmap and what topic the question the slide is answering. In other words, the audience should know exactly where in the presentation and what the slide answers just from the slide title.

Strong Titles Tell a Message

Strong titles highlight where on the roadmap you are, and hint at what question the slide is answering. Weak titles tend to be vague nouns that could be used across many slides or presentations. A rule of thumb is your title should be a clear, single-line phrase illustrating the importance of the slide.

Note that different mechanical engineering fields have different preferences for titles that are phrases versus full sentences. In general, design, system, or product-focused presentations tend to have short titles that only highlight what the speaker is saying, allowing audiences to focus more on the body of the slide, which is usually a figure. In other fields, a strong title might instead be a full sentence that states a message.

Background slide “Background” “Background—First Order Linear Stability” It tells the audience where you are and what concept you are illuminating.
Data/Result slide “New Model” “A Novel Nonlinear Model” It indicates you have moved out of background and into your work, and answers the question “how do we model X better?”
Conclusions slide “Conclusions” Whatever the main conclusion is You say “In conclusion” with your words, tone, and body language. There’s no need to repeat it.

Emphasize Visuals

When a new slide is presented, most people will shift their attention from what you’re saying to the slide. People can often interpret figures and listen, but not read text and listen simultaneously. The more words on the slide, the less control you have over your audience’s attention. If you are reading words off the slide, you’ve lost the audience’s attention completely—they’ll just read the slide too.

Use brief statements and keywords to highlight and support the slide’s individual point. Slides are a visual medium, so use them for figures, equations, and as few words as possible to convey the meaning of the slide.

If you have a block of text on your slide, ask yourself what the takeaway message is, and what is the necessary supporting material (data, analysis). Then, identify how text can be reduced to still support your point clearly. Consider…

  • Replacing text with figures, tables, or lists.
  • Eliminating all but key words and phrases, and speaking the bulk of the text instead.
  • Breaking up the slide into multiple slides with more visuals.

Replace blocks of text with easy-to-read pictures, tables or diagrams.

Left: The original slide provides specific information as text, but makes it easy for both speaker and audience to read directly off the slide, often leading to a distracted audience.

Right: The improved slide conveys the same information with a simple graphic and keywords, conveying the chronology more clearly, and allowing the reader to speak the same information without reading off the slide.

Simplify Figures

The purpose of a figure is to convey a message visually, whether it be supporting evidence or a main point. Your audience usually gives you the benefit of the doubt and assumes that whatever you show in the figure is important for them to understand. If you show too much detail, your audience will get distracted from the important point you want them to gather.

An effective presentation figure is often not one made for a paper. Unlike you scrutinizing your own data or reading an academic paper, your audience doesn’t have a long time to pore over the figure. To maximize its effectiveness, ask yourself what minimum things need to be shown for the figure to make its point. Remove anything that doesn’t illuminate the point to avoid distraction. Simplify data labels, and add emphasis to key parts using colors, arrows, or labels.

Additionally, presentations offer different opportunities than papers do for presenting data. You can use transitions on your slides to sequentially introduce new pieces of information to your slide, such as adding data to a plot, highlighting different parts of an experiment (or equation), or introducing text concepts as bullets.

Simplify data, simplify labels for emphasis.

Top: Academic referees and peers would prefer to see the complete theoretical model and experimental data (top), so they can interpret it for themselves. In addition, in papers, space is limited, while time to digest is not.

Bottom: But in a presentation, simplifying the data makes it easy to focus on the feature of interests for the presentation, or even at that moment (different regions may be highlighted from slide to slide). Slides provide plenty of space, while time is at a premium. [Adapted from Wind-Willassen et al., Phys. Fluids 25, 082002 (2013); doi:10.1063/1.4817612]

Introduce Your Data

Make sure your audience will be able to understand your data before you show it. They should know what the axes will be, what points in the plot generally represents, and what pattern or signal they’re looking for. If you’re showing a figure common to a specific audience, you may not need to explain as much. But if you show the data before the audience knows how to read it, they’ll stop listening to you, and instead scrutinize the figure, hoping that a knitted brow will help them understand.

If you are worried your audience won’t understand your data, one approach is to show sketches of what the data would should like if your hypothesis were true or false. Then show your real data.

For an audience unfamiliar with cyclic battery testing as a way to measure corrosion, first show a slide explaining how the electrical signal would appear without corrosion ( top ) before showing the slide with the actual data ( bottom ). Use parallel design across the explanation and data slides. This way, the audience is introduced to the logic of the experiments and how to draw conclusions from the data, making them more likely to follow and agree with the point made on the second slide. [Adapted from AAE2]

Be Critical of Visual and Textual Jargon

If there are discipline-accepted symbols, for example in fluid or electrical schematics, using them is an effective tool to simplify your visual for people in your field. However, if these may be unknown to a significant portion of your audience, be sure to add a descriptive keyword, label or legend.

Use simple, consistent visual design

A clean set of slides will minimize visual noise, focus the audience’s attention and improve the continuity between what you’re showing and telling. The graphical design is also important for setting the tone and professionalism of the presentation.

  • Are colors related to each other? Do some carry intrinsic meaning (e.g. blue = cold, water, red = hot)?
  • Are you using colors that are well-represented when projected?
  • Are your color choices appropriate for colorblind members of the audience? Can you textures or line/point styles to differentiate data instead?
  • Spread out elements on a slide to use space effectively—don’t be afraid of white space! By limiting the amount of information on a slide, you can control what your audience will focus on at each moment in time.
  • Use your software’s alignment and centering features.
  • When items are grouped as a list, make sure they actually belong under a helpful unifying theme.
  • Make sure all text and figures are legible to the back of the room.

Resources and Annotated Examples

Annotated example 1.

This is a technical presentation given by MechE graduate students for a system design class. 13 MB

Annotated Example 2

This presentation was given by a MechE PhD student during interviews for postdoc positions. 1 MB

Reference management. Clean and simple.

How to make a scientific presentation

How to make a scientific presentation

Scientific presentation outlines

Questions to ask yourself before you write your talk, 1. how much time do you have, 2. who will you speak to, 3. what do you want the audience to learn from your talk, step 1: outline your presentation, step 2: plan your presentation slides, step 3: make the presentation slides, slide design, text elements, animations and transitions, step 4: practice your presentation, final thoughts, frequently asked questions about preparing scientific presentations, related articles.

A good scientific presentation achieves three things: you communicate the science clearly, your research leaves a lasting impression on your audience, and you enhance your reputation as a scientist.

But, what is the best way to prepare for a scientific presentation? How do you start writing a talk? What details do you include, and what do you leave out?

It’s tempting to launch into making lots of slides. But, starting with the slides can mean you neglect the narrative of your presentation, resulting in an overly detailed, boring talk.

The key to making an engaging scientific presentation is to prepare the narrative of your talk before beginning to construct your presentation slides. Planning your talk will ensure that you tell a clear, compelling scientific story that will engage the audience.

In this guide, you’ll find everything you need to know to make a good oral scientific presentation, including:

  • The different types of oral scientific presentations and how they are delivered;
  • How to outline a scientific presentation;
  • How to make slides for a scientific presentation.

Our advice results from delving into the literature on writing scientific talks and from our own experiences as scientists in giving and listening to presentations. We provide tips and best practices for giving scientific talks in a separate post.

There are two main types of scientific talks:

  • Your talk focuses on a single study . Typically, you tell the story of a single scientific paper. This format is common for short talks at contributed sessions in conferences.
  • Your talk describes multiple studies. You tell the story of multiple scientific papers. It is crucial to have a theme that unites the studies, for example, an overarching question or problem statement, with each study representing specific but different variations of the same theme. Typically, PhD defenses, invited seminars, lectures, or talks for a prospective employer (i.e., “job talks”) fall into this category.

➡️ Learn how to prepare an excellent thesis defense

The length of time you are allotted for your talk will determine whether you will discuss a single study or multiple studies, and which details to include in your story.

The background and interests of your audience will determine the narrative direction of your talk, and what devices you will use to get their attention. Will you be speaking to people specializing in your field, or will the audience also contain people from disciplines other than your own? To reach non-specialists, you will need to discuss the broader implications of your study outside your field.

The needs of the audience will also determine what technical details you will include, and the language you will use. For example, an undergraduate audience will have different needs than an audience of seasoned academics. Students will require a more comprehensive overview of background information and explanations of jargon but will need less technical methodological details.

Your goal is to speak to the majority. But, make your talk accessible to the least knowledgeable person in the room.

This is called the thesis statement, or simply the “take-home message”. Having listened to your talk, what message do you want the audience to take away from your presentation? Describe the main idea in one or two sentences. You want this theme to be present throughout your presentation. Again, the thesis statement will depend on the audience and the type of talk you are giving.

Your thesis statement will drive the narrative for your talk. By deciding the take-home message you want to convince the audience of as a result of listening to your talk, you decide how the story of your talk will flow and how you will navigate its twists and turns. The thesis statement tells you the results you need to show, which subsequently tells you the methods or studies you need to describe, which decides the angle you take in your introduction.

➡️ Learn how to write a thesis statement

The goal of your talk is that the audience leaves afterward with a clear understanding of the key take-away message of your research. To achieve that goal, you need to tell a coherent, logical story that conveys your thesis statement throughout the presentation. You can tell your story through careful preparation of your talk.

Preparation of a scientific presentation involves three separate stages: outlining the scientific narrative, preparing slides, and practicing your delivery. Making the slides of your talk without first planning what you are going to say is inefficient.

Here, we provide a 4 step guide to writing your scientific presentation:

  • Outline your presentation
  • Plan your presentation slides
  • Make the presentation slides
  • Practice your presentation

4 steps for making a scientific presentation.

Writing an outline helps you consider the key pieces of your talk and how they fit together from the beginning, preventing you from forgetting any important details. It also means you avoid changing the order of your slides multiple times, saving you time.

Plan your talk as discrete sections. In the table below, we describe the sections for a single study talk vs. a talk discussing multiple studies:

Introduction

Introduction - main idea behind all studies

Methods

Methods of study 1

Results

Results of study 1

Summary (take-home message ) of study 1

Transition to study 2 (can be a visual of your main idea that return to)

Brief introduction for study 2

Methods of study 2

Results of study 2

Summary of study 2

Transition to study 3

Repeat format until done

Summary

Summary of all studies (return to your main idea)

Conclusion

Conclusion

The following tips apply when writing the outline of a single study talk. You can easily adapt this framework if you are writing a talk discussing multiple studies.

Introduction: Writing the introduction can be the hardest part of writing a talk. And when giving it, it’s the point where you might be at your most nervous. But preparing a good, concise introduction will settle your nerves.

The introduction tells the audience the story of why you studied your topic. A good introduction succinctly achieves four things, in the following order.

  • It gives a broad perspective on the problem or topic for people in the audience who may be outside your discipline (i.e., it explains the big-picture problem motivating your study).
  • It describes why you did the study, and why the audience should care.
  • It gives a brief indication of how your study addressed the problem and provides the necessary background information that the audience needs to understand your work.
  • It indicates what the audience will learn from the talk, and prepares them for what will come next.

A good introduction not only gives the big picture and motivations behind your study but also concisely sets the stage for what the audience will learn from the talk (e.g., the questions your work answers, and/or the hypotheses that your work tests). The end of the introduction will lead to a natural transition to the methods.

Give a broad perspective on the problem. The easiest way to start with the big picture is to think of a hook for the first slide of your presentation. A hook is an opening that gets the audience’s attention and gets them interested in your story. In science, this might take the form of a why, or a how question, or it could be a statement about a major problem or open question in your field. Other examples of hooks include quotes, short anecdotes, or interesting statistics.

Why should the audience care? Next, decide on the angle you are going to take on your hook that links to the thesis of your talk. In other words, you need to set the context, i.e., explain why the audience should care. For example, you may introduce an observation from nature, a pattern in experimental data, or a theory that you want to test. The audience must understand your motivations for the study.

Supplementary details. Once you have established the hook and angle, you need to include supplementary details to support them. For example, you might state your hypothesis. Then go into previous work and the current state of knowledge. Include citations of these studies. If you need to introduce some technical methodological details, theory, or jargon, do it here.

Conclude your introduction. The motivation for the work and background information should set the stage for the conclusion of the introduction, where you describe the goals of your study, and any hypotheses or predictions. Let the audience know what they are going to learn.

Methods: The audience will use your description of the methods to assess the approach you took in your study and to decide whether your findings are credible. Tell the story of your methods in chronological order. Use visuals to describe your methods as much as possible. If you have equations, make sure to take the time to explain them. Decide what methods to include and how you will show them. You need enough detail so that your audience will understand what you did and therefore can evaluate your approach, but avoid including superfluous details that do not support your main idea. You want to avoid the common mistake of including too much data, as the audience can read the paper(s) later.

Results: This is the evidence you present for your thesis. The audience will use the results to evaluate the support for your main idea. Choose the most important and interesting results—those that support your thesis. You don’t need to present all the results from your study (indeed, you most likely won’t have time to present them all). Break down complex results into digestible pieces, e.g., comparisons over multiple slides (more tips in the next section).

Summary: Summarize your main findings. Displaying your main findings through visuals can be effective. Emphasize the new contributions to scientific knowledge that your work makes.

Conclusion: Complete the circle by relating your conclusions to the big picture topic in your introduction—and your hook, if possible. It’s important to describe any alternative explanations for your findings. You might also speculate on future directions arising from your research. The slides that comprise your conclusion do not need to state “conclusion”. Rather, the concluding slide title should be a declarative sentence linking back to the big picture problem and your main idea.

It’s important to end well by planning a strong closure to your talk, after which you will thank the audience. Your closing statement should relate to your thesis, perhaps by stating it differently or memorably. Avoid ending awkwardly by memorizing your closing sentence.

By now, you have an outline of the story of your talk, which you can use to plan your slides. Your slides should complement and enhance what you will say. Use the following steps to prepare your slides.

  • Write the slide titles to match your talk outline. These should be clear and informative declarative sentences that succinctly give the main idea of the slide (e.g., don’t use “Methods” as a slide title). Have one major idea per slide. In a YouTube talk on designing effective slides , researcher Michael Alley shows examples of instructive slide titles.
  • Decide how you will convey the main idea of the slide (e.g., what figures, photographs, equations, statistics, references, or other elements you will need). The body of the slide should support the slide’s main idea.
  • Under each slide title, outline what you want to say, in bullet points.

In sum, for each slide, prepare a title that summarizes its major idea, a list of visual elements, and a summary of the points you will make. Ensure each slide connects to your thesis. If it doesn’t, then you don’t need the slide.

Slides for scientific presentations have three major components: text (including labels and legends), graphics, and equations. Here, we give tips on how to present each of these components.

  • Have an informative title slide. Include the names of all coauthors and their affiliations. Include an attractive image relating to your study.
  • Make the foreground content of your slides “pop” by using an appropriate background. Slides that have white backgrounds with black text work well for small rooms, whereas slides with black backgrounds and white text are suitable for large rooms.
  • The layout of your slides should be simple. Pay attention to how and where you lay the visual and text elements on each slide. It’s tempting to cram information, but you need lots of empty space. Retain space at the sides and bottom of your slides.
  • Use sans serif fonts with a font size of at least 20 for text, and up to 40 for slide titles. Citations can be in 14 font and should be included at the bottom of the slide.
  • Use bold or italics to emphasize words, not underlines or caps. Keep these effects to a minimum.
  • Use concise text . You don’t need full sentences. Convey the essence of your message in as few words as possible. Write down what you’d like to say, and then shorten it for the slide. Remove unnecessary filler words.
  • Text blocks should be limited to two lines. This will prevent you from crowding too much information on the slide.
  • Include names of technical terms in your talk slides, especially if they are not familiar to everyone in the audience.
  • Proofread your slides. Typos and grammatical errors are distracting for your audience.
  • Include citations for the hypotheses or observations of other scientists.
  • Good figures and graphics are essential to sustain audience interest. Use graphics and photographs to show the experiment or study system in action and to explain abstract concepts.
  • Don’t use figures straight from your paper as they may be too detailed for your talk, and details like axes may be too small. Make new versions if necessary. Make them large enough to be visible from the back of the room.
  • Use graphs to show your results, not tables. Tables are difficult for your audience to digest! If you must present a table, keep it simple.
  • Label the axes of graphs and indicate the units. Label important components of graphics and photographs and include captions. Include sources for graphics that are not your own.
  • Explain all the elements of a graph. This includes the axes, what the colors and markers mean, and patterns in the data.
  • Use colors in figures and text in a meaningful, not random, way. For example, contrasting colors can be effective for pointing out comparisons and/or differences. Don’t use neon colors or pastels.
  • Use thick lines in figures, and use color to create contrasts in the figures you present. Don’t use red/green or red/blue combinations, as color-blind audience members can’t distinguish between them.
  • Arrows or circles can be effective for drawing attention to key details in graphs and equations. Add some text annotations along with them.
  • Write your summary and conclusion slides using graphics, rather than showing a slide with a list of bullet points. Showing some of your results again can be helpful to remind the audience of your message.
  • If your talk has equations, take time to explain them. Include text boxes to explain variables and mathematical terms, and put them under each term in the equation.
  • Combine equations with a graphic that shows the scientific principle, or include a diagram of the mathematical model.
  • Use animations judiciously. They are helpful to reveal complex ideas gradually, for example, if you need to make a comparison or contrast or to build a complicated argument or figure. For lists, reveal one bullet point at a time. New ideas appearing sequentially will help your audience follow your logic.
  • Slide transitions should be simple. Silly ones distract from your message.
  • Decide how you will make the transition as you move from one section of your talk to the next. For example, if you spend time talking through details, provide a summary afterward, especially in a long talk. Another common tactic is to have a “home slide” that you return to multiple times during the talk that reinforces your main idea or message. In her YouTube talk on designing effective scientific presentations , Stanford biologist Susan McConnell suggests using the approach of home slides to build a cohesive narrative.

To deliver a polished presentation, it is essential to practice it. Here are some tips.

  • For your first run-through, practice alone. Pay attention to your narrative. Does your story flow naturally? Do you know how you will start and end? Are there any awkward transitions? Do animations help you tell your story? Do your slides help to convey what you are saying or are they missing components?
  • Next, practice in front of your advisor, and/or your peers (e.g., your lab group). Ask someone to time your talk. Take note of their feedback and the questions that they ask you (you might be asked similar questions during your real talk).
  • Edit your talk, taking into account the feedback you’ve received. Eliminate superfluous slides that don’t contribute to your takeaway message.
  • Practice as many times as needed to memorize the order of your slides and the key transition points of your talk. However, don’t try to learn your talk word for word. Instead, memorize opening and closing statements, and sentences at key junctures in the presentation. Your presentation should resemble a serious but spontaneous conversation with the audience.
  • Practicing multiple times also helps you hone the delivery of your talk. While rehearsing, pay attention to your vocal intonations and speed. Make sure to take pauses while you speak, and make eye contact with your imaginary audience.
  • Make sure your talk finishes within the allotted time, and remember to leave time for questions. Conferences are particularly strict on run time.
  • Anticipate questions and challenges from the audience, and clarify ambiguities within your slides and/or speech in response.
  • If you anticipate that you could be asked questions about details but you don’t have time to include them, or they detract from the main message of your talk, you can prepare slides that address these questions and place them after the final slide of your talk.

➡️ More tips for giving scientific presentations

An organized presentation with a clear narrative will help you communicate your ideas effectively, which is essential for engaging your audience and conveying the importance of your work. Taking time to plan and outline your scientific presentation before writing the slides will help you manage your nerves and feel more confident during the presentation, which will improve your overall performance.

A good scientific presentation has an engaging scientific narrative with a memorable take-home message. It has clear, informative slides that enhance what the speaker says. You need to practice your talk many times to ensure you deliver a polished presentation.

First, consider who will attend your presentation, and what you want the audience to learn about your research. Tailor your content to their level of knowledge and interests. Second, create an outline for your presentation, including the key points you want to make and the evidence you will use to support those points. Finally, practice your presentation several times to ensure that it flows smoothly and that you are comfortable with the material.

Prepare an opening that immediately gets the audience’s attention. A common device is a why or a how question, or a statement of a major open problem in your field, but you could also start with a quote, interesting statistic, or case study from your field.

Scientific presentations typically either focus on a single study (e.g., a 15-minute conference presentation) or tell the story of multiple studies (e.g., a PhD defense or 50-minute conference keynote talk). For a single study talk, the structure follows the scientific paper format: Introduction, Methods, Results, Summary, and Conclusion, whereas the format of a talk discussing multiple studies is more complex, but a theme unifies the studies.

Ensure you have one major idea per slide, and convey that idea clearly (through images, equations, statistics, citations, video, etc.). The slide should include a title that summarizes the major point of the slide, should not contain too much text or too many graphics, and color should be used meaningfully.

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A research paper presentation is often used at conferences and in other settings where you have an opportunity to share your research, and get feedback from your colleagues. Although it may seem as simple as summarizing your research and sharing your knowledge, successful research paper PowerPoint presentation examples show us that there’s a little bit more than that involved.

In this article, we’ll highlight how to make a PowerPoint presentation from a research paper, and what to include (as well as what NOT to include). We’ll also touch on how to present a research paper at a conference.

Purpose of a Research Paper Presentation

The purpose of presenting your paper at a conference or forum is different from the purpose of conducting your research and writing up your paper. In this setting, you want to highlight your work instead of including every detail of your research. Likewise, a presentation is an excellent opportunity to get direct feedback from your colleagues in the field. But, perhaps the main reason for presenting your research is to spark interest in your work, and entice the audience to read your research paper.

So, yes, your presentation should summarize your work, but it needs to do so in a way that encourages your audience to seek out your work, and share their interest in your work with others. It’s not enough just to present your research dryly, to get information out there. More important is to encourage engagement with you, your research, and your work.

Tips for Creating Your Research Paper Presentation

In addition to basic PowerPoint presentation recommendations, which we’ll cover later in this article, think about the following when you’re putting together your research paper presentation:

  • Know your audience : First and foremost, who are you presenting to? Students? Experts in your field? Potential funders? Non-experts? The truth is that your audience will probably have a bit of a mix of all of the above. So, make sure you keep that in mind as you prepare your presentation.

Know more about: Discover the Target Audience .

  • Your audience is human : In other words, they may be tired, they might be wondering why they’re there, and they will, at some point, be tuning out. So, take steps to help them stay interested in your presentation. You can do that by utilizing effective visuals, summarize your conclusions early, and keep your research easy to understand.
  • Running outline : It’s not IF your audience will drift off, or get lost…it’s WHEN. Keep a running outline, either within the presentation or via a handout. Use visual and verbal clues to highlight where you are in the presentation.
  • Where does your research fit in? You should know of work related to your research, but you don’t have to cite every example. In addition, keep references in your presentation to the end, or in the handout. Your audience is there to hear about your work.
  • Plan B : Anticipate possible questions for your presentation, and prepare slides that answer those specific questions in more detail, but have them at the END of your presentation. You can then jump to them, IF needed.

What Makes a PowerPoint Presentation Effective?

You’ve probably attended a presentation where the presenter reads off of their PowerPoint outline, word for word. Or where the presentation is busy, disorganized, or includes too much information. Here are some simple tips for creating an effective PowerPoint Presentation.

  • Less is more: You want to give enough information to make your audience want to read your paper. So include details, but not too many, and avoid too many formulas and technical jargon.
  • Clean and professional : Avoid excessive colors, distracting backgrounds, font changes, animations, and too many words. Instead of whole paragraphs, bullet points with just a few words to summarize and highlight are best.
  • Know your real-estate : Each slide has a limited amount of space. Use it wisely. Typically one, no more than two points per slide. Balance each slide visually. Utilize illustrations when needed; not extraneously.
  • Keep things visual : Remember, a PowerPoint presentation is a powerful tool to present things visually. Use visual graphs over tables and scientific illustrations over long text. Keep your visuals clean and professional, just like any text you include in your presentation.

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Another key to an effective presentation is to practice, practice, and then practice some more. When you’re done with your PowerPoint, go through it with friends and colleagues to see if you need to add (or delete excessive) information. Double and triple check for typos and errors. Know the presentation inside and out, so when you’re in front of your audience, you’ll feel confident and comfortable.

How to Present a Research Paper

If your PowerPoint presentation is solid, and you’ve practiced your presentation, that’s half the battle. Follow the basic advice to keep your audience engaged and interested by making eye contact, encouraging questions, and presenting your information with enthusiasm.

We encourage you to read our articles on how to present a scientific journal article and tips on giving good scientific presentations .

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Dive into the critical arena of engineering with this comprehensive guide on technical presentations. You'll unpack the significance of effective technical communication and explore various categories of engineering presentations. Gain insight on improving your presentation skills, mastering the art of creating well-structured talks, analysing quintessential presentation examples, and innovating on topics for engineering students. This article is a must-read if you're looking to enhance your ability to deliver impactful and understandable engineering-based technical presentations.

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What are the three broad categories of Engineering Technical Presentation?

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What is the significance of Technical Presentation for engineers?

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Understanding Technical Presentation

A Technical Presentation is primarily an explanation or demonstration of specific technical products, processes, or solutions aiming to inform, instruct, and inspire the audience about a specific topic.

What is a Technical Presentation (Technical Presentation Meaning)

In essence, a technical presentation bridges the gap between intricate technical information and its comprehension by a general or specific audience.

  • Appropriate Language: The complexity level and language used should be tailored to the audience's understanding.
  • Effective Tools: Presentations often use visual aids like graphs, diagrams, or images to enhance understanding.
  • Interactive: A good technical presentation allows for questions and interactions.

Categories of Engineering Technical Presentation

Design Presentation A presentation showcasing an engineering design, often involving blueprints, models, and specifications.
Research Presentation This type of presentation mainly outlines results from a researchstudy or experiment.
Product Presentation These presentations illustrate a particular product's specifications, uses,and benefits.

Significance of Technical Presentation for Engineers

For instance, an engineer might need to explain the workings of a newly developed algorithm to a group of marketers who have little to no background in coding.

  • Promotion of Ideas: Effectively conveying an engineering concept can attract investors, convince upper management, or inspire team members.
  • Problem Solving: Receival of various perspectives on technical issues could lead to innovative solutions.
  • Professional Development : It hones soft skills like public speaking, teaching, and leadership, hence, fostering further career progression.

In the dynamic landscape of engineering, where new technologies emerge rapidly, promoting concise, articulate exchange of knowledge becomes increasingly essential. This is where mastering technical presentations plays a significant role.

Developing Technical Presentation Skills

Enhancing your engineering technical presentation abilities.

  • Understanding your audience : For your presentation to be effective, it is essential to know who you are talking to. Understanding the audience’s level of familiarity with the topic helps shape the contents and delivery style of your presentation.
  • Clarity and Conciseness : Avoid unnecessary jargon, and present your ideas as clearly and concisely as possible. Using diagrams or models can be extremely beneficial in making your points more digestible.

To explain the function of the line of code `System.out.println("Hello, World!");`, for instance, you might say that it sends the text "Hello, World!" to be displayed on the system's standard output, which is usually the computer screen.

Key Strategies to Improve Technical Presentation Skills

  • Rehearsing : Rehearsing your presentation helps to boost your confidence and allows for better flow during the actual presentation.
  • Using visuals : Visuals serve as an effective tool for explaining complex technical issues, as they make information easier to comprehend and remember.
  • Engaging your audience : Asking questions or initiating discussions can keep your audience engaged throughout your presentation.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Technical Presentation

  • Information overload : Attempting to cover too much information can confuse your audience and detract from the presentation's main message.
  • Ignoring audience feedback : Feedback is instrumental in improving your presentation skills, but many presenters often ignore it.
  • Poor time management : More time spent on less critical parts of the presentation often means that vital topics are hurried over.

Constructing a Technical Presentation: Structure and Format

Core elements of a technical presentation structure.

  • Title: The title sets the mood for your presentation. It should be concise yet captivating enough to spark interest.
  • Introduction: The introduction serves to provide necessary background information and set the presentation's scope. It is essential to state the relevance, objectives, and predicted outcomes of your presentation here.
  • Body: This main-content block should align with your presentation's objectives. It often involves detailing the problem, exploring possible solutions, methodologies applied, and the results.
  • Conclusion: The conclusion should summarise the key points from your presentation. It is also the perfect time to remind your audience about the presentation's objectives and how you achieved them.
  • Q&A: Always reserve time for a question and answer session towards the end. This segment confirms that your points were well understood and facilitates dialogue.

Step-by-step Guide to Organising Your Technical Presentation

  • Identify your objectives: Clearly outline what you hope to achieve with your presentation. This determines your talking points.
  • Determine your audience: Knowing the understanding level of your audience guides the complexity of information you include and the language you use.
  • Brainstorm your presentation: Outline your main points and supplementary information. Remember to include examples and graphical explanations where needed.
  • Refine and edit: Review your initial brainstorm and adjust. You want to ensure that your presentation is logically organized and not too overwhelming.
  • Create your presentation: Lay out your information in the sequence identified when you refined your content. This step includes designing your slides and writing speaker notes if needed.
  • Practice: Rehearse your presentation until you are comfortable. This step helps you master the flow of your presentation and estimate presentation time better.
  • Collect feedback: Run your presentation by a few people to gain an outside perspective and make any needed adjustments.

Importance of a Well-structured Technical Presentation

  • Makes your presentation coherent: Logical structuring ensures that your presentation makes sense to your audience. It guarantees that your ideas flow logically from one point to another.
  • Keeps your audience engaged: A good presentation structure helps to guide your audience through your discussion. It makes it easier for them to follow along, thus, maintaining their engagement throughout.
  • Reinforces your message: When your presentation is well-structured, it emphasises your main message and makes it more memorable.

Examining Technical Presentation Examples

A closer look at excellent engineering technical presentation examples.

In his technical presentation on the workings of a jet engine, an engineer employed a range of strategies to present the intricacies of the mechanical system distinctly. His presentation was characterised by a detailed but distinct structure, starting with the engine's fundamental principles before delving into more complex components.

  • Clarity through structure : The presenter used a logical structure, starting with simple principles and gradually introducing more complex ideas. This approach enabled the audience to gain a foundational understanding before tackling more intricate concepts.
  • Use of visuals and props : Visuals were extensively employed to illustrate and explain each part of the engine. Physical props of engine parts were also used to enhance understanding further.

The presenter kicked off with a brief history of drones, their current use, and future potential. The heart of the presentation dived into complex technical aspects using diagrams and simulations.

  • Relevance and interest : By starting with a brief history and touching on current use cases, the presenter was able to hook the audience's interest from the onset, establishing the relevance of the topic.
  • Engagement : The presenter ensured audience engagement by posing insightful questions and encouraging discussions throughout the presentation.

Evaluating Good and Bad Technical Presentation Examples

The presenter quickly ran through complex mathematical equations associated with the algorithms without providing context or explanation. The audience's interest dwindled as the presentation progressed, with many finding the equations disconcerting.

  • Lack of clarity and context : Trudging through complex equations without adequate explanation left the audience confused and disoriented. \( \textit{Clarity} = \frac{\textit{Information Explained}}{\textit{Information Presented}} \) The lesser the fraction, the more confusing the presentation becomes.
  • Disengagement : As the presenter failed to hold the audience's interest, engagement waned as the presentation progressed.
  • Engagement : The presenter used various audience involvement techniques, such as polling and real-time brainstorms, to boost engagement.
  • Effective use of visuals : Diagrams and flowcharts were used to simplify complex ideas and make them more understandable.

Exploring Technical Presentation Topics

Choosing the right topic for your technical presentation.

  • Relevance: Choose a theme that presents relevance to your audience. Relevant topics immediately establish a connection with the audience as they perceive the usefulness of the information.
  • Interest: Select a topic that interests you. Enthusiasm for your chosen subject will naturally enhance your presentation delivery.
  • Complexity: It’s crucial to select a topic whose complexity is suitable for your audience's knowledge and understanding level. Topics that are too complex might end up confounding the audience, while overly simple subjects may bore them.
  • Scope: Your topic should have an appropriate scope - not too broad that it's impossible to cover in your presentation duration, and not too narrow that you exhaust the subject matter prematurely.
  • Innovation: Choosing a novel or upcoming topic can stir curiosity, as most people are interested in the new and unfamiliar.

Innovative Technical Presentation Topics for Engineering Students

  • Next-Generation Construction Materials
  • A.I. and Machine Learning in Engineering
  • Potential Applications of Quantum Computing
  • The Future of Renewable Energy
  • The Role of Biotechnology in Environmental Conservation

How to Research and Analyse Technical Presentation Topics

  • Review Scholarly Articles and Books: Start your research by reading scholarly articles, papers, books, and other related works. This will give you a depth of understanding and highlight important points you could cover in your presentation.
  • Dissect the Topic: Deconstruct the topic into its fundamental elements. This disassembly helps in understanding the topic's layers, making it easier to explain to your audience.
  • Use Reputable Online Sources: Leverage reputable online sources to broaden your research spectrum. Be sure to verify the information from multiple sources.
  • Experiment: If possible, run experiments or simulations that can better your understanding. For a theory-heavy topic, you can demonstrate coding examples or simulations. Effectively, this might entail writing pseudo-codes and then translating them into a programming language of your choice. Consider the below example of pseudo-code:
  • Practice: Remember the popular saying; "practice makes perfect". The more you rehearse your presentation, the more fluid and self-assured you will be in your delivery.

Technical Presentation - Key takeaways

  • Technical Presentation involves the concise and articulate exchange of knowledge in the engineering field.
  • Improving technical presentation skills involves understanding the audience, presenting clear and concise ideas, and using visuals to enhance understanding.
  • Effective technical presentations need to avoid common pitfalls such as information overload, ignoring audience feedback, and poor time management.
  • The structure of a technical presentation includes a captivating title, concise introduction, detailed body, a summarizing conclusion, and a question and answer session.
  • Successful technical presentation examples are characterized by clear structure, the use of visuals, relevant context, and audience engagement.

Flashcards in Technical Presentation 15

The three broad categories of Engineering Technical Presentation are Design Presentation, Research Presentation, and Product Presentation.

The machine learning algorithms presentation showed a lack of clarity by running through complex equations without sufficient context, and failed to maintain audience engagement.

A Technical Presentation is an explanation or demonstration of specific technical products, processes, or solutions with the goal of informing, instructing, and inspiring the audience about a topic. It bridges the gap between intricate technical information and its comprehension by a general or specific audience.

The core elements of a technical presentation structure are Title, Introduction, Body, Conclusion, and a Q&A session.

Understanding your audience's level of familiarity with the topic helps shape the content and delivery style of your presentation, making it more effective.

Examples include Next-Generation Construction Materials, A.I. and Machine Learning, Potential Applications of Quantum Computing, The Future of Renewable Energy, The Role of Biotechnology in Environmental Conservation.

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Paper Presentation Topics for Computer Science Engineering

  • by Ravi Bandakkanavar
  • April 14, 2024

We bring you the latest Paper Presentation Topics for Computer Science Engineering. Click on the topic name to read in detail. These topics give an idea of what topic to choose and what information needs to be included as part of a technical paper. Technical papers have been written in a standard format. You can contact us for more details.

  • Artificial Intelligence in Machines
  • Automatic number plate recognition
  • Autonomic Computing
  • How to develop Large language models like GPTz, BERT, Gemini
  • Blue eyes technology
  • Brain-controlled car for the disabled using artificial intelligence
  • Braingate technology
  • Brain port device
  • Brain Computer Interface (BCI)
  • 5G Wireless Technology
  • Applications of 5G Technology: How can it Revolutionize Industry?
  • 5G: Application of Future Information Era
  • Cluster computing
  • Cloud Computing and cloud services
  • Augmented Reality vs Virtual Reality
  • Blockchain Technology and its Applications
  • Cyber Crime and Security
  • Cybersecurity in the Education System
  • Cryptography and its Applications
  • Distributed and Parallel Computing
  • Detection of digital photo image forgery

Paper Presentation Topics for Computer Science Engineering

  • Detection of Reviews using sentiment analysis
  • Deploying a wireless sensor network on an active volcano
  • Digital jewelry
  • Data Mining and Predictive Analytics
  • Electronic waste (e-waste)
  • Electronic nose
  • Embedded web server for remote access
  • Innovations of Artificial Intelligence in the healthcare sector
  • Face detection and recognition technology
  • Location-based services through GPS
  • How does the Internet work?
  • Hadoop Technology
  • Internet of Things and its Impact on Society
  • Intrusion detection and avoidance system
  • Mobile ad hoc network
  • Mobile Ad Hoc Network Routing Protocols and Applications
  • Nanocomputing
  • Nano Ring Memory
  • Nanotechnology and applications
  • Night Vision Technology
  • Open Source Technology
  • Anti-satellite weapons (ASAT) Technology
10 Innovative Tech Trends Expected in 2024
  • Parasitic computing
  • Polymer Memory
  • Radio Frequency Identification Technology
  • Electronic Document Management System
  • Benefits of Continuous Testing
  • Humanoid Robots
  • Secured web portal for online shopping
  • Securing underwater wireless communication networks
  • Security requirements in wireless sensor networks
  • Security threats on the World Wide Web
  • Security aspects in mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs)
  • Semantic web
  • Sensitive skin
  • Snake robot the future of agile motion
  • Software-defined radio (SDR)
  • Super efficient motors: technical overview
  • Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display (SED)
  • Synchronous Optical Networking
  • Transient stability assessment using neural networks
  • Transient Stability Assessment using Neural Networks
  • Trusted Network Connect (TNC) Specifications
  • Ubiquitous computing
  • Uniprocessor Virtual Memory Without TLBS
  • Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser
  • Virtual Network Computing
  • Virtual Reality
  • Watermarking Digital Audio
  • Wireless integrated network sensors
  • Wearable Computers
  • Wearable Biosensors
Artificial Intelligence Topics for Presentation

I have tried to list out some of the trending topics here. I am sure there are hundreds of new technologies evolving every other day. If you come across any new technology, you are most welcome to share it with everyone here.

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123 thoughts on “Paper Presentation Topics for Computer Science Engineering”

Hi sir I’m computer Engineering 4 sem student I want to do project so suggest me the topic for ppt

plz suggest me unique topics for presentation .

Hi sir I am Rakshata cse 3rd year sit can you suggest me about project

Are you looking for web applications?

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Technical presentation and Google Slides examples

Presenting your research work or weekly progress to a large audience or your supervisor is an important skill to learn. Google slides (googleslides) have been a go-to nowadays for technical presentations. Studying real-world examples of technical presentations is a great practical way to learn!

Whether you create in Powerpoint or Google Slides (googleslides), practical tips and good technical presentation practices will help you make an awesome presentation and communicate your ideas and updates more clearly.

My technical presentations are all given in an academic setting like research teams or ML conferences.

During my stint at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur for my MS Research degree and currently Ph.D. degree in Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing, I had to give several presentations.

To date, all my presentations in PDF format can be found on my Github repository .

If you need to use the PDF slides in Google Slides, you must first convert them to PPT format (Powerpoint) using online converters or other open-source software.

Then you can upload it to Google Slides.

My previous blog article discusses practical tips while preparing for a technical or research (PowerPoint or google slides) presentation . Especially when you have very less amount of time to spare.

In this article, I will provide a list of presentation slides I have delivered to date at different venues, which you can use as a technical presentation template.

After a great deal of advice and feedback from my seniors and my supervisors, I was able to identify the points of a technical presentation I was blatantly overlooking previously.

My technical presentation examples using Google Slides (googleslides)

1. an article from the reputed science magazine.

The spread of true and false news online , published in Science (March 2018 issue). We presented the above article in this presentation prepared by me and Amrith Krishna Da(a Ph.D. scholar, CSE, IIT Kharagpur). [ PPT ]

technical paper presentation sample

2. My 1st conference paper presentation

My first conference paper was “Understanding Email Interactivity and Predicting User Response to email, ” and went to present it at Second International Conference on Computational Intelligence, Communications, and Business Analytics (CICBA) 2018, organized at Kalyani Government Engineering College, West Bengal, India.

Here, they already provided a presentation template from beforehand which also included the organization of the slides.

3. Reading Group (internal) talk at IIT Kharagpur 

technical paper presentation sample

Here, I introduce the topic of semi-supervised deep learning techniques and present a NIPS 2017 paper in this domain titled “Mean teachers are better role models: Weight-averaged consistency targets improve semi-supervised deep learning results.”

4. My compilation for a Research panel discussion

Semi-supervised Learning techniques and Active Learning I have only provided my segment, which was a part of a panel discussion covering a broader topic titled Leveraging Unlabeled Data and Environment Access for ML .

The discussion panel also covered recent literature on Transfer learning, Zero-shot learning, Reinforcement Learning(with different variants), and Imitation Learning.

Affective events slide

5. Reading Group (internal) talk at IIT Kharagpur

Bidisha Di and I presented the AAAI 2018 paper titled “ Weakly Supervised Induction of Affective Events by Optimizing Semantic Consistency ” in the Reading Group of our research group on 17th October 2019. 

6. ACM WebSci 2019 paper titled “Understanding Brand Consistency from Web Content” at the “Out-of-India” track of India HCI 2019   [ Slides ]

7. CNeRG Reading Group talk on 17th October 2019, where I presented the AAAI 2018 paper titled “Weakly Supervised Induction of Affective Events by Optimizing Semantic Consistency” [ Slides ]

Final thoughts on technical presentation examples using googleslides

We hope the above slides gave a more practical perspective on preparing academic and technical presentations. However, these learnings, in principle, should also help you to deliver technical talks in the industry or your workplace.

If you liked this article, please do not forget to comment or follow me on Medium

If you found this article to be useful, this article may also be of interest to you.

Ten ways to sharpen your Soft Skills as a Grad student How to deliver technical talks and the importance of local reading groups Internal and external collaboration, common email mistakes How to prepare for a meeting with your research supervisor/guide Work productivity and managing your mental health as a grad student

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4.6 Presentations

Presentations are an interesting genre, since they can cover a variety of genres and purposes. Presentations provide the opportunity to present information in a multimodal format, and often require you to condense information for a broad audience. Within the very broad genre of “presentation” many genres fall with more specific conventions and constraints. Some examples include:

  • Conference presentations
  • Less formal meeting or business presentations (internal)

As technology continues to develop, you might consider other genres under the umbrella of “presentations,” including:

  • Youtube videos

In this section, we talk about the specific genre of presentations, but we also focus on taking complex information (such as gathered in a formal report) and reworking, condensing, and remixing that information into a presentation, a website, a poster or infographic, or a podcast.

Glacial icebergs in Iceland

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

Just like with the other common genres that we’ve discussed so far, presentations are developed for a specific audience. So, you need to consider how your audience might best receive the information that you are working to communicate. Presentations are a great way to reach an audience, and as a communicator you get to explore various communication modes and approaches. As with anything else, what might work for one audience would not work for another audience; think back to the different ways to communicate the process of conducting a Covid-19 nasal test. Each example was effective, but only in the context of their intended audience.

Technical presentations are a specific genre that often take the complex, lengthy information included in a formal report and condenses and translates that information in a way that includes visual and audio communication modes. Consider why it is useful to present information in various ways (as a formal report and as a 5-10 minute presentation). How might presenting information in various ways or formats increase accessibility? How might developing a presentation work towards equity of information access?

When creating a presentation, the principles of universal design are important things to keep in mind. One example might be adding captions if you create a presentation that has any audio component. The captions are essential for any audience members who are hearing impaired, AND they make it easier to absorb content and understand the audio for your entire audience. Remember that universal design means that accessibility of information is an essential part of your presentation: do not think about accessibility after you’ve created your content, but work it in from the beginning and throughout your process.

Technical presentations

Technical presentations can vary quite a bit in length and content, depending on your purpose, audience, and context (remember that the rhetorical situation is always relevant!). Generally speaking, a technical presentation will:

  • Condense a longer text, such as a formal report
  • Summarize the most important, useful, or meaningful information from that text
  • Use visuals, text, and audio together in order to tell a story

Most often, presentations work to inform, to persuade, or both. All the things that we’ve discussed so far are important to consider when you create a presentation, including plain language, document design, and considering diversity, equity, and inclusion. Just as with any other genre, to create an effective presentation, you must understand your audience.

Google Slides

These are only 3 of many free tutorials available online.

When creating effective presentation slides, be sure that you balance the amount of information on each slide. Consider how your audience is interacting with these slides: they are not likely sitting down with so much time to carefully read through each one. Rather, they may only have a minute to take in all the content. So, less is often better than putting too much text on any one slide. It’s also important to use a variety of visual modes–such as graphics and images–along with text.

The text that you choose should summarize key points, and the images should reinforce or illustrate those points. Do not make your audience take in large blocks of text. Instead, summarize key questions, data points, findings, and conclusions. Show them examples that help to illustrate these important points, but do not overwhelm them. You cannot include everything in a presentation that you would include in a lengthy report. Rather, you must choose the most important pieces so that your audience has a clear idea of what you want them to take away from your project.

When planning and creating audio, be sure that you do not simply read the text from our slides. Instead, you can use the audio portion of your presentation to further explain key concepts. Give your reader a bit more detail, but do not overwhelm them. A presentation works to create a narrative or tell a story. The audio and text should complement each other, but not be exactly the same (if you’ve ever attended a presentation where the presenter read each slide out loud, you know how uninteresting that can be!).

Finally, consider accessibility when you design your presentation. Create closed captions or subtitles when recording audio, and be sure to incorporate the principles of universal design. Try to imagine how to make information accessible to your audience in regards to your text, your use of language and terminology, your use of visuals and graphics, and your use of audio.

Message titles

On way to create stronger, more memorable presentations is through the use of  message titles  rather than  subject titles  for each slide. It’s important to use strong titles, and a message title delivers a full message to your reader. A subject title is briefer and less specific. An example of the difference between a message title and subject title might be:

Subject title: 

Covid-19 prevention

Message title: 

How can I protect myself from Covid-19?

A message title is generally more effective for audiences because it provides more information. Further, delivering a full message helps audiences to retain the information presented in that slide and it frames what you cover in that section of your presentation. Remember that audiences must  listen  to your presentation and  read  your slides at the same time. Subject titles provide information, but message titles helps audiences place that information into a more specific framework. A message title delivers your message in a more complete way.

Condensing and remixing

While most formal reports use some sort of presentation software and rely on a combination of slides (which contain visuals and text) and audio (which may be spoken live as you present to an audience or may be recorded ahead of time), there are other ways to remix and present information in a condensed and useful way. As technology develops, so does the presentation genre. For example, podcasts, videos, or websites might be useful in place of a technical presentation, again depending on the audience, purpose, and context.

If you are enrolled in WRIT 3562W, you are not asked to create a podcast or website; however, you may come across such genres and want to use them as sources in your own report. And, you will likely want to (or be asked to!) create a website or podcast someday. So how can you begin to take information presented in something like a formal report and revise, translate, and remix it for a completely different medium?

First, consider the rhetorical situation and reflect on your own experiences as a website user or a podcast listener. Which websites do you like best? Which podcasts do you enjoy? Then, do some reflection and analysis and consider the following questions:

  • When interacting with a website, what features are most important to you? How are you typically interacting with content (do you want to be able to search for something specific, do you want something easy to skim, do you want to deeply read all the text, etc.)?
  • Think of the easiest to navigate website you’ve visited recently; what specific features made it easy to navigate? How did it use text, images, alignment, repetition, contrast, colors, language to help you know how to find and understand information?
  • Think of the most difficult to navigate website that you’ve ever visited; what made it difficult? What specific features can you identify or isolate that made it hard to find information?
  • Consider your favorite podcast; how does the creator(s) organize the content and present information clearly? How long does it take to listen to? What environment do you usually listen to podcasts in (your car, at home, using headphones, on a speaker while you cook dinner…). What specific features can you identify or isolate that make it enjoyable?

These types of reflection questions help you to make decisions about the texts that you create. They are useful when considering conventions or strengths of specific genres, AND they are useful when you have to create a genre that is completely new to you. Remember that analyzing the rhetorical situation and genre conventions together make it manageable as you approach any new communication task.

Throughout this text, we’ve discussed technical communication as rhetorical, as always concerned with diversity, equity, and inclusion, how we define or set the boundaries for technical communication, and the conventions of common genres. As you continue your education and practice as a technical communicator, or as you approach any new communication situation, keep doing the work of analysis and reflection. Consider how each act of communication engages a specific audience for a specific purpose. Even the most seemingly objective genres require you to make choices: what information do you include, whose voices and experiences do you elevate, how do you take in feedback and revise your texts, how do you approach research in a way that reduces bias and incorporates marginalized experiences–these are all important pieces of the communication process. As technical communication continues to develop and evolve, and as technology and genres also change, keep these considerations in mind.

Activity and Reflection: Presenting information 

Together or with a partner, find a presentation (you can search YouTube for technical presentations or Ted Talks). Reflect on the following questions to perform a  rhetorical analysis  on the presentation:

  • Who is the target audience for this presentation? How can you tell?
  • What is the main purpose or goal of the presentation? How can you tell?
  • What did you like about the presentation (be specific)? What features make it effective?
  • What would you change, and why?
  • How does the presentation use  text  and audio  together to deliver a message? How do these elements complement each other?

Introduction to Technical and Professional Communication Copyright © 2021 by Brigitte Mussack is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Preparing a Technical Session Presentation

The PowerPoint presentation template can be found in the author kit. Please create the following slides as a part of your presentation:

Slide 1 | Introductory slide

  • Include your paper number and title.
  • Include your author and company name and/or logo information. Note: This should be the only slide to contain your company name/logo.

Slide 2 | Information slide

  • Main content of your presentation in a One-Column or Two-Column Format.
  • Enter Paper #, Paper Title, and Presenter Name at the bottom of the slide.
  • Copy and insert this slide as many times as needed for your content.

Slide 3 | Acknowledgement, thank you, questions in a One-Column Format Slide 4 | Acknowledgement, thank you, questions slide in a Two-Column Format

  • This slide should be displayed during your Q&A time.

Bad Slide Example

Bad Slide example

GoodSlide Example

Good Slide example

  • To test the font, stand back six feet from the monitor and see if you can read the slide.
  • Select sans-serif fonts such as Arial or Helvetica. Avoid serif fonts such as Times New Roman or Palatino as they are sometimes more difficult to read.
  • Titles 40-48 pt
  • Subtitles 28-36 pt
  • Body Type 24-36 pt
  • Clearly label each screen and use a different color for the slide title.
  • Use a single font for most of the presentation. Use different colors, sizes, and styles (bold, underlined) for impact.
  • Avoid italicized fonts as they are difficult to read quickly.
  • No more than 6 bullet points per slide
  • No more than 6 words per bullet point
  • Every 6th slide should have a graphic
  • Use dark text on light background or light text on dark background.
  • Do not use all caps except for titles.
  • Limit the number of colors on a single screen.
  • Bright colors make small objects and thin lines stand out. However, some vibrant colors are difficult to read when projected.
  • Use no more than four colors on one chart.
  • Ensure strong color contrast between the background and text to make the presentation easy to read.
  • Check all colors on a projection screen before the actual presentation. They may project differently than what appears on the monitor.

Graphics and Design

  • Keep the background consistent and subtle.
  • Use only enough text when using charts or graphs to clearly explain and label the graphic.
  • Keep the design clean and uncluttered. Leave empty space around the text and graphics.
  • Bar charts compare data
  • Line graphs visualize trends
  • Box charts illustrate makeup of an organization
  • Pie charts emphasize the relationship of parts of the whole
  • Photographs and animation clips best depict realism
  • Try to use the same style graphics throughout the presentation (e.g. cartoon, photographs).
  • Limit the number of graphics or animations on each slide.
  • Check all graphics on a projection screen before the actual presentation.
  • Avoid flashy graphics and noisy animation effects unless they relate directly to the slide.
  • Limit the number of transitions used. It is often better to use only one so the audience knows what to expect.

General Presentation

  • Orientation should be landscape.
  • Keep in mind the time limit for your presentation. A good rule of thumb is 1-2 slides per minute.
  • Use action words to reinforce ideas rather than complete sentences.
  • Check the spelling and grammar.
  • It is often more effective to have bulleted points appear one at a time so the audience listens to the presenter rather than reading the screen.
  • No commercialism. Company/Organization-branded templates should not be used.

Speaking Tips

  • Do not read the presentation. Practice the presentation so you can speak from bullet points. The text should be a cue for the presenter rather than a message for the viewer.
  • Give a brief overview at the start, present the information and wrap up by reviewing important points.
  • Use a wireless mouse/remote or pick up the wired mouse so you can move around as you speak.
  • If sound effects are used, wait until the sound has finished before speaking.
  • Do not turn your back to the audience.
  • Do not include judgmental remarks or opinions about the technical competence, personal character, or motivations of any individual, company, or group. Any material that does not meet these standards will be returned with a request for revision before the conference.

How to write a technical paper or a research paper

By michael ernst, april, 2005 last updated: july 1, 2024, which details to include, make the organization and results clear, getting started: overcoming writer's block and procrastination, writing style, computer program source code, numbers and measurements, processing data, related work, when to submit your paper for publication, responding to conference reviews, norman ramsey's advice, other resources, introduction.

This document describes several simple, concrete ways to improve your writing, by avoiding some common mistakes. The end of this document contains more resources for improving your writing.

Some people believe that writing papers, giving talks , and similar “marketing” activities are not part of research, but an adjunct to it or even an undesirable distraction. This view is inaccurate. The purpose of research is to increase the store of human knowledge, and so even the very best work is useless if you cannot effectively communicate it to the rest of the world. If a paper is poorly written, then readers might conclude you spent as little effort on the research that it describes.

Equally importantly, writing papers and giving talks will clarify your thinking and thereby improve your research. You may be surprised how difficult it is to clearly communicate your ideas and contributions; doing so will force you to understand them more deeply and enable you to improve them.

Know your message, and stay on message

The goal of writing a paper is to change people's behavior: for instance, to change the way they think about a research problem or to convince them to use a new approach. Determine your goal (also known as your thesis), and focus the paper around that goal.

As a general rule, your paper needs to convince the audience of three key points. If any of these is missing or unclear, the paper will not be compelling.

  • The problem is important . The problem has a significant impact and consequences. You can buttress your argument by showing that others consider the problem important.
  • The problem is hard . Explain that obvious techniques and existing approaches do not suffice. Showing what others have tried can be effective here.
  • You have solved the problem. This is often demonstrated via experiments. Keep in mind how you expect the behavior of readers to change once they appreciate your contributions. You'll also need to convince readers that your contributions are novel. When expressing this, it is helpful to explain why no one else thought of your approach before (or why, if they thought of it, they would have rejected the approach) , and whether similar insights apply to other problems.

Before you write your paper, you need to understand your audience. Who will read your paper? What are their backgrounds, motivations, interests, and beliefs? What are the key points you want a reader person to take away from your paper? Once you know the thesis and audience, you can determine what points your document should make to achieve its purpose.

For each point in your paper, you need to explain both what and why . Start with what, but don't omit why. For example, it is not enough to state how an algorithm works; you should explain why it works in that way, or why another way of solving the problem would be different. Similarly, it is not sufficient to present a figure or facts. You must also ensure that reader understands the significance or implications of the figure and what parts of it are most important.

Your purpose is to communicate specific ideas, and everything about your paper should contribute to this goal. If any part of the paper does not support your main point, then delete or change that part. You must be ruthless in cutting every irrelevant detail, however true it may be. Everything in your paper that does not support your main point distracts from it.

Write for the readers, rather than writing for yourself. In particular, think about what matters to the intended audience, and focus on that. It is not necessarily what you personally find most intriguing.

A common mistake is to focus on what you spent the most time on. Do not write your paper as a chronological narrative of all the things that you tried, and do not devote space in the paper proportionately to the amount of time you spent on each task. Most work that you do will never show up in any paper; the purpose of infrastructure-building and exploration of blind alleys is to enable you to do the small amount of work that is worth writing about. Another way of stating this is that the purpose of the paper is not to describe what you have done, but to inform readers of the successful outcome or significant results, and to convince readers of the validity of those conclusions.

Likewise, do not dwell on details of the implementation or the experiments except insofar as they contribute to your main point. This is a particularly important piece of advice for software documentation, where you need to focus on the software's benefits to the user, and how to use it, rather than how you implemented it. However, it holds for technical papers as well — and remember that readers expect different things from the two types of writing!

The audience is interested in what worked, and why, so start with that. If you discuss approaches that were not successful, do so briefly, and typically only after you have discussed the successful approach. Furthermore, the discussion should focus on differences from the successful technique, and if at all possible should provide general rules or lessons learned that will yield insight and help others to avoid such blind alleys in the future.

Whenever you introduce a strawman or an inferior approach, say so upfront. A reader will (and should) assume that whatever you write in a paper is something you believe or advocate, unless very clearly marked otherwise. A paper should never first detail a technique, then (without forewarning) indicate that the technique is flawed and proceed to discuss another technique. Such surprises confuse and irritate readers. This mistake is often called “leading the reader down the garden path”.

When there are multiple possible approaches to a problem, it is preferable to give the best or successful one first. Oftentimes it is not even necessary to discuss the alternatives. If you do, they should generally come after, not before, the successful one. Your paper should give the most important details first, and the less important ones afterward. Its main line of argument should flow coherently rather than being interrupted. It can be acceptable to state an imperfect solution first (with a clear indication that it is imperfect) if it is a simpler version of the full solution, and the full solution is a direct modification of the simpler one. Less commonly, it can be acceptable to state an imperfect solution first if it is an obvious solution that every reader will assume is adequate; but use care with this rationalization, since you are usually wrong that every reader will jump to the given conclusion.

A paper should communicate the main ideas of your research (such as the techniques and results) early and clearly. Then, the body of the paper can expand on these points; a reader who understands the structure and big ideas can better appreciate the details. Another way of saying this is that you should give away the punchline. A technical paper is not a joke or a mystery novel. The reader should not encounter any surprises, only deeper explanations of ideas that have already been introduced. It's particularly irritating when an abstract or introduction states, “We evaluated the relationship between baldness and beekeeping”, with the key results buried pages later. A better abstract would say, “Male beekeepers are 25% more likely to be bald (p=.04), but there is no statistically significant correlation for female beekeepers.”

The same advice applies at the level of sections and paragraphs. It is a bad approach to start with a mass of details and only at the end tell the reader what the main point was or how the details related to one another. Instead, state the point first and then support it. The reader is more likely to appreciate which evidence is important and why, and is less likely to become confused or frustrated.

For each section of the paper, consider writing a mini-introduction that says what its organization is, what is in each subpart, and how the parts relate to one another. For the whole paper, this is probably a paragraph. For a section or sub-section, it can be as short as a sentence. This may feel redundant to you (the author), but readers haven't spent as much time with the paper's structure as you have, so they will truly appreciate these signposts that orient them within your text.

Some people like to write the abstract, and often also the introduction, last. Doing so makes them easier to write, because the rest of the paper is already complete and can just be described. However, I prefer to write these sections early in the process (and then revise them as needed), because they frame the paper. If you know the paper's organization and outlook, then writing the front matter will take little effort. If you don't, then it is an excellent use of your time to determine that information by writing the front matter. To write the body of the paper without knowing its broad outlines will take more time in the long run. Another way of putting this is that writing the paper first will make writing the abstract faster, and writing the abstract first will make writing the paper faster. There is a lot more paper than abstract, so it makes sense to start with that and to clarify the point of the paper early on.

It is a very common error to dive into the technical approach or the implementation details without first appropriately framing the problem and providing motivation and background. Readers need to understand what the task is before they are convinced that they should pay attention to what you are saying about it. You should first say what the problem or goal is, and — even when presenting an algorithm — first state what the output is and probably the key idea, before discussing steps. Avoid providing information that isn't useful to readers/users. It just distracts from the important content.

Some writers are overwhelmed by the emptiness of a blank page or editor buffer, and they have trouble getting started with their writing. Don't worry! Here are some tricks to help you get started. Once you have begun, you will find it relatively easier to revise your notes or first draft. The key idea is to write something , and you can improve it later.

Start verbally . Explain what the paper needs to say to another person. After the conversation is over, write down what you just said, focusing on the main points rather than every word you spoke. Many people find it easier to speak than to write. Furthermore, getting feedback and giving clarifications will help you discover problems with your argument, explanation, or word choice.

Outline . You may not be ready to write full English paragraphs, but you can decide which sections your paper will have and give them descriptive titles. Once you have decided on the section structure, you can write a little outline of each section, which indicates the subsection titles. Now, expand that into a topic sentence for each paragraph. At this point, since you know the exact topic of each paragraph, you will find the paragraph easy to write.

Stream-of-consciousness notes . Write down everything that you know, in no particular order and with no particular formatting. Afterward, organize what you wrote thematically, bringing related points together. Eventually, convert it into an outline and proceed as above. While writing notes, use phrases/keywords, not complete sentences. The phrases are quicker to write and less likely to derail your brainstorming; they are easier to organize; and you will feel less attached to them and more willing to delete them.

Divide and conquer . Rather than trying to write your entire document, choose some specific part, and write just that part. Then, move on to another part.

Re-use . Find other text that you have written on the topic and start from that. An excellent source is your progress reports — you are writing them, aren't you? This can remind you what was hard or interesting, or of points that you might otherwise forget to make. You will rarely want to re-use text verbatim, both because you can probably convey the point better now, and also because writing for different audiences or in different contexts requires a different argument or phrasing. For example, a technical paper and a technical talk have similar aims but rather different forms.

You must be willing to delete and/or rewrite your notes and early drafts. If you wrote something once, you can write it again (probably better!). Early on, the point is to organize your ideas, not to create finished sentences.

Be brief. Make every word count. If a word does not support your point, cut it out, because excess verbiage and fluff only make it harder for the reader to appreciate your message. Use shorter and more direct phrases wherever possible.

Make your writing crisp and to the point. Eliminate any text that does not support your point. Here is one way you might go about this; it is time-consuming but extremely effective. First, examine each section of the paper in turn and ask what role it serves and whether it contributes to the paper's main point. If not, delete it. Next, within each section, examine each paragraph. Ask whether that paragraph has a single point. If not, rewrite the paragraph. Also ask whether that point contributes to the goals of the section. If not, then delete the paragraph. Next, within each paragraph, examine each sentence. If it does not make a single, clear point that strengthens the paragraph, delete or rewrite it. Finally, within each sentence, examine each word, and delete or replace those that do not strengthen their point. You will need to repeat this entire process multiple times, keeping a fresh perspective on the paper.

Some people find it easier to follow this approach bottom-up, first cutting/rewriting words, then sentences, etc.

Passive voice has no place in technical writing. It obscures who the actor was, what caused it, and when it happened. Use active voice and simple, clear, direct phrasing.

First person is rarely appropriate in technical writing.

  • First person is appropriate when describing something that the author of the paper did manually. Recall that your paper should not be couched as a narrative.
  • Do not use “we” to mean “the author and the reader” or “the paper”. For example, do not write “In this section, we ...”.
  • Do not use “we” to describe the operation of a program or system. “We compute a graph” makes it sound like the authors did it by hand. As a related point, do not anthropomorphize computers: they hate it. Anthropomorphism, such as “the program thinks that ...”, is unclear and vague.

Avoid puffery, self-congratulation, superlatives, and subjective or value judgments: give the objective facts and let the reader judge. Avoid vague terms like “sizable” and “significant” (which are also subjective). Don't overuse the word “novel”. When I see a paper that is full of these, my rule of thumb is that the paper is trying too hard to cover up for scanty evidence.

Do not use words like “clearly”, “easily”, “obviously”, and “trivially”, as in “Obviously, this Taylor series sums to π.” If the point is really obvious, then you are just wasting words by pointing it out. And if the point is not obvious to readers who are not intimately familiar with the subject matter the way you are, then you are offending readers by insulting their intelligence, and you are demonstrating your own inability to communicate the intuition.

Prefer singular to plural number. In “sequences induce graphs”, it is not clear whether the two collections are in one-to-one correspondence, or the set of sequences collectively induces a set of graphs; “each sequence induces a graph” avoids this confusion. Likewise, in “graphs might contain paths”, it is unclear whether a given graph might contain multiple paths, or might contain at most one path.

When describing an experiment or some other event or action that occurred in the past, use past tense . For example, the methodology section might say “We ran the program”. It would be ungrammatical and confusing to use present tense, as in “We run the program”. Present tense is for ongoing events (“I write this letter to inform you...”) or regular events (“I brush my teeth each day”), but not past events (“Yesterday, I eat dinner with my family”). It is also correct to say “Our methodology was to run the program”, where you use past tense “was” and the infinitive “to run”.

When describing the paper itself, use present tense . “This paper shows that ...”. The reason for this is that the reader is experiencing the paper in real time.

Avoid gratuitous use of the future tense “will ...”, as in, “switching the red and green wires will cause the bomb to explode”. It is unclear when the action will occur. If it is an immediate effect, use the shorter and more direct “switching the red and green wires causes the bomb to explode”.

Use “previous work” instead of “existing work”. Your work exists, so “existing work” would refer to it as well.

In a list with 3 or more elements list, put a serial comma between each of the items (including the last two). As a simple example of why, consider this 3-element grocery list written without the clarifying last comma: “milk, macaroni and cheese and crackers”. It's not clear whether that means { milk, macaroni and cheese, crackers } or { milk, macaroni, cheese and crackers }. As another example, “I would like to thank my parents, Rene Descartes and Ayn Rand,” suggests rather unusual parentage, whereas “I would like to thank my parents, Rene Descartes, and Ayn Rand,” shows a debt to four people. I've seen real examples that were even more confusing than these.

In English, compound adjectives are hyphenated (except those whose first words end with “ly”, in some style guides) but compound nouns are not. Consider “the semantics provide name protection” versus “the name-protection semantics”.

Prefer unambiguous words to ambiguous ones. Do not use “as” or “since” to mean “because”. Do not use “if” to mean “whether”.

Use quotations sparingly. A clear paraphrase of the points that are relevant to your own work (along with a proper citation) is usually better than a long quotation from a previous publication.

Avoid third-person pronouns when you can. The old standard was “he”, which is masculine chauvinist. The new standard is “he or she”, which can be viewed as heteronormative and which some people find clumsy. An emerging standard is “they” as a first-person singular pronoun, which is inclusive but grammatically incorrect and confusing (see comments above about singular vs. plural number).

Some of the suggestions in this document are about good writing, and that might seem secondary to the research. But writing more clearly will help you think more clearly and often reveals flaws (or ideas!) that had previously been invisible even to you. Furthermore, if your writing is not good, then either readers will not be able to comprehend your good ideas, or readers will be (rightly) suspicious of your technical work. If you do not (or cannot) write well, why should readers believe you were any more careful in the research itself? The writing reflects on you, so make it reflect well.

Use figures! Different people learn in different ways, so you should complement a textual or mathematical presentation with a graphical one. Even for people whose primary learning modality is textual, another presentation of the ideas can clarify, fill gaps, or enable the reader to verify his or her understanding. Figures can also help to illustrate concepts, draw a skimming reader into the text (or at least communicate a key idea to that reader). Figures make the paper more visually appealing.

It is extremely helpful to give an example to clarify your ideas: this can make concrete in the reader's mind what your technique does (and why it is hard or interesting). A running example used throughout the paper is also helpful in illustrating how your algorithm works, and a single example permits you to amortize the time and space spent explaining the example (and the reader's time in appreciating it). It's harder to find or create a single example that you re-use throughout the paper, but it is worth it.

A figure should stand on its own, containing all the information that is necessary to understand it. Good captions contain multiple sentences; the caption provides context and explanation. For examples of good, informative captions, see the print editions of magazines such as Scientific American and American Scientist . The caption should state what the figure illustrates or what conclusion a reader should draw from it. Don't write an obvious description of what the figure is, such as "Code example". Never write a caption like “The Foobar technique”; the caption should also say what the Foobar technique is, what it is good for, or how it works. The caption may also need to explain the meaning of columns in a table or of symbols in a figure. However, it's even better to put that information in the figure proper; for example, use labels or a legend. When the body of your paper contains information that belongs in a caption, there are several negative effects. The reader is forced to hunt all over the paper in order to understand the figure. The flow of the writing is interrupted with details that are relevant only when one is looking at the figure. The figures become ineffective at drawing in a reader who is scanning the paper — an important constituency that you should cater to!

As with naming , use pictorial elements consistently. Only use two different types of arrows (or boxes, shading, etc.) when they denote distinct concepts; do not introduce inconsistency just because it pleases your personal aesthetic sense. Almost any diagram with multiple types of elements requires a legend (either explicitly in the diagram, or in the caption) to explain what each one means; and so do many diagrams with just one type of element, to explain what it means.

Some writers label all the types of figures differently — some as “figure”, others as “table” or “graph” or “picture”. This differentiation has no benefits, but it does have a drawback: it is very hard for a reader to find “table 3”, which might appear after “figure 7” but before “freehand drawing 1”. You should simply call them all figures and number them sequentially. The body of each figure might be a table, a graph, a diagram, a screenshot, or any other content.

Put figures at the top of the page, not in the middle or bottom. If a numbered, captioned figure appears in the middle or at the bottom of a page, it is harder for readers to find the next paragraph of text while reading, and harder to find the figure from a reference to it.

Avoid bitmaps, which are hard to read. Export figures from your drawing program in a vector graphics format. If you must use a bitmap (which is only appropriate for screenshots of a tool), then produce them at very high resolution. Use the biggest-resolution screen you can, and magnify the portion you will capture.

Don't waste text in the paper (and tax the reader's patience) regurgitating information that is expressed more precisely and concisely in a figure. For example, the text should not repeat the numbers from a table or graph. Text in the paper should add insight or explanations, or summarize the conclusions to be drawn from the data in the figure.

Your code examples should either be real code, or should be close to real code. Never use synthetic examples such as procedures or variables named foo or bar . Made-up examples are much harder for readers to understand and to build intuition regarding. Furthermore, they give the reader the impression that your technique is not applicable in practice — you couldn't find any real examples to illustrate it, so you had to make something up.

Any boldface or other highlighting should be used to indicate the most important parts of a text. In code snippets, it should never be used to highlight syntactic elements such as “public” or “int”, because that is not the part to which you want to draw the reader's eye. (Even if your IDE happens to do that, it isn't appropriate for a paper.) For example, it would be acceptable to use boldface to indicate the names of procedures (helping the reader find them), but not their return types.

Give each concept in your paper a descriptive name to make it more memorable to readers. Never use terms like “approach 1”, “approach 2”, or “our approach”, and avoid acronyms when possible. If you can't think of a good name, then quite likely you don't really understand the concept. Think harder about it to determine its most important or salient features.

It is better to name a technique (or a paper section, etc.) based on what it does rather than how it does it.

Use terms consistently and precisely. Avoid “elegant variation”, which uses different terms for the same concept to avoid boredom on the part of the reader or to emphasize different aspects of the concept. While elegant variation may be appropriate in poems, novels, and some essays, it is not acceptable in technical writing, where you should clearly define terms when they are first introduced, then use them consistently. If you switch wording gratuitously, you will confuse the reader and muddle your point. A reader of a technical paper expects that use of a different term flags a different meaning, and will wonder what subtle difference you are trying to highlight. Thus, don't confuse the reader by substituting “program”, “library”, “component”, “system”, and “artifact”, nor by conflating “technique”, “idea”, “method” and “approach”, nor by switching among “program”, “code”, and “source”. Choose the best word for the concept, and stick with it.

Do not use a single term to refer to multiple concepts. If you use the term “technique” for every last idea that you introduce in your paper, then readers will become confused. This is a place that use of synonyms to distinguish concepts that are unrelated (from the point of view of your paper) is acceptable. For instance, you might always use “phase” when describing an algorithm but “step” when describing how a user uses a tool.

When you present a list, be consistent in how you introduce each element, and either use special formatting to make them stand out or else state the size of the list. Don't use, “There are several reasons I am smart. I am intelligent. Second, I am bright. Also, I am clever. Finally, I am brilliant.” Instead, use “There are four reasons I am smart. First, I am intelligent. Second, I am bright. Third, I am clever. Fourth, I am brilliant.” Especially when the points are longer, this makes the argument much easier to follow. Some people worry that such consistency and repetition is pedantic or stilted, or it makes the writing hard to follow. There is no need for such concerns: none of these is the case. It's more important to make your argument clear than to achieve “elegant variation” at the expense of clarity.

Choose good names not only for the concepts that you present in your paper, but for the document source file. Don't name the file after the conference to which you are submitting (the paper might be rejected) or the year. Even if the paper is accepted, such a name won't tell you what the paper is about when you look over your files in later years. Instead, give the paper or its folder/directory a name that reflects its content. Another benefit is that this will also lead you to think about the paper in terms of its content and contributions.

Here is a piece of advice that is specific to computing: do not use the vague, nontechnical term “bug”. Instead, use one of the standard terms fault, error, or failure. A fault is an underlying defect in a system, introduced by a human. A failure is a user-visible manifestation of the fault or defect. In other circumstances, “bug report” may be more appropriate than “bug”.

Digits of precision:

  • Don't report more digits of precision than the measurement process reliably and reproducibly produces. The 3rd or 4th digit of precision is rarely accurate and generalizable; if you don't have confidence that it is both repeatable and generalizable to new experiments, omit it. Another way to say this is that if you are not confident that a different set of experiments would produce all the same digits, then don't report so much precision.
  • Don't report more digits of precision than needed to convey your message. If the difference between 4.13 and 4 will not make a difference in convincing readers, then don't report the extra digits. Reporting extra digits can distract readers from the larger trends and the big picture. Including an inappropriate number of digits of precision can cast suspicion on all of your results, by giving readers the impression that you are statistically naive.
  • Use a consistent number of digits of precision. If the measured data are 1.23, 45.67, and 891.23, for example, you might report them as 1.23, 45.7, and 891, or as 1.2, 46, and 890, or as 1, 50, and 900. (An exception is when data are known to sum to a particular value; I would report 93% and 7% rather than either 93% and 7.4% or 90% and 7%. Often it's appropriate to report percentages as whole numbers rather than using the same precision.)
  • If you do any computations such as ratios, your computations should internally use the full precision of your actual measurements, even though your paper reports only a limited number of digits of precision.
  • If a measurement is exact, such as a count of items, then it can be acceptable to give the entire number even if it has many digits; by contrast, timings and other inexact measurements should always be reported with a limited number of digits of precision.

Do not confuse relative and absolute measurements. For instance, suppose your medicine cures 30% of patients, and the placebo cures 25% of patients. You could report that your medicine's cure rate is .3, the placebo's cure rate is .25, and your medicine's cure rate is either .05 greater or 20% greater. (Other correct, but less good, ways to say the same thing are that it cures 20% more, 120% as many, or 1.2 times as many patients.) It would be inaccurate to state that your medicine cures 5% more patients or your medicine cures 120% more patients. Just as you need to correctly use “120% more” versus “120% as many”, you need to correctly use “3 times faster than” versus “3 times as fast as”. A related, also common, confusion is between “3 times faster than and 3 times as fast as”. And, “2 times fewer” makes absolutely no sense. I would avoid these terms entirely. “Half as many” is a much better substitute for “2 times fewer”.

Given the great ease of misunderstanding what a percentage means or what its denominator is, I try to avoid percentages and focus on fractions whenever possible, especially for base measurements. For comparisons between techniques, percentages can be acceptable. Avoid presenting two different measurements that are both percentages but have different denominators.

Your paper probably includes tables, bibliographies, or other content that is generated from external data. Your paper may also be written in a text formatting language such as LaTeX. In each of these cases, it is necessary to run some external command to create some of the content or to create the final PDF.

All of the steps to create your final paper should be clearly documented — say, in comments or in a notes file that you maintain with the paper. Preferably, they should be automated so that you only have to run one command that collects all the data, creates the tables, and generates the final PDF.

If you document and automate these steps, then you can easily regenerate the paper when needed. This is useful if you re-run experiments or analysis, or if you need to defend your results against a criticism by other researchers. If you leave some steps manual, then you or your colleagues are highly likely to make a mistake (leading to a scientific error) or to be unable to reproduce your results later.

One good way to automate these tasks is by writing a program or creating a script for a build system such as Ant, Gradle, Make, Maven, etc.

A related work section should not only explain what research others have done, but in each case should compare and contrast that to your work and also to other related work. After reading your related work section, a reader should understand the key idea and contribution of each significant piece of related work, how they fit together (what are the common themes or approaches in the research community?), and how your work differs. Don't write a related work section that is just a list of other papers, with a sentence about each one that was lifted from its abstract, and without any critical analysis nor deep comparison to other work.

Unless your approach is a small variation on another technique, it is usually best to defer the related work to the end of the paper. When it comes first, it gives readers the impression that your work is rather derivative. (If this is true, it is your responsibility to convey that clearly; if it is not true, then it's misleading to intimate it.) You need to ensure that readers understand your technique in its entirety, and also understand its relationship to other work; different orders can work in different circumstances.

Just as you should generally explain your technique first, and later show relationships with other work, it is also usually more effective to defer a detailed discussion of limitations to a later section rather than the main description of your technique. You should be straightforward and honest about the limitations, of course (do mention them early on, even if you don't detail them then), but don't destroy the coherence of your narrative or sour the reader on your technique.

Get feedback ! Finish your paper well in advance, so that you can improve the writing. Even re-reading your own text after being away from it can show you things that you didn't notice. An outside reader can tell you even more.

When readers misunderstand the paper, that is always at least partly the author's fault! Even if you think the readers have missed the point, you will learn how your work can be misinterpreted, and eliminating those ambiguities will improve the paper.

Be considerate to your reviewers, who are spending their time to help you. Here are several ways to do that.

As with submission to conferences, don't waste anyone's time if there are major flaws. Only ask someone to read (a part of) your paper when you think you will learn something new, because you are not aware of serious problems. If only parts are ready, it is best to indicate this in the paper itself (e.g., a TODO comment that the reader will see or a hand-written annotation on a hardcopy) rather than verbally or in email that can get forgotten or separated from the paper.

Sometimes you want to tell a colleague who is giving you feedback that some sections of your draft are not ready to be read, or to focus on particular aspects of the document. You should write such directions in the paper, not just in email or verbally. You will then update them as you update the paper, and all relevant information is collected together. By contrast, it's asking for trouble to make your colleague keep track of information that is in multiple places.

It is most effective to get feedback sequentially rather than in parallel. Rather than asking 3 people to read the same version of your paper, ask one person to read the paper, then make corrections before asking the next person to read it, and so on. This prevents you from getting the same comments repeatedly — subsequent readers can give you new feedback rather than repeating what you already knew, and you'll get feedback on something that is closer to the final version. If you ask multiple reviewers at once, you are de-valuing their time — you are indicating that you don't mind if they waste their time saying something you already know. You might ask multiple reviewers if you are not confident of their judgment or if you are very confident the paper already is in good shape, in which case there are unlikely to be major issues that every reviewer stumbles over.

It usually best not to email the document, but to provide a location from which reviewers can obtain the latest version of the paper, such as a version control repository or a URL you will update. That way, you won't clutter inboxes with many revisions, and readers can always get the most recent copy.

Be generous with your time when colleagues need comments on their papers: you will help them, you will learn what to emulate or avoid, and they will be more willing to review your writing.

Some of your best feedback will be from yourself, especially as you get more thoughtful and introspective about your writing. To take advantage of this, start writing early. One good way to do this is to write a periodic progress report that describes your successes and failures. The progress report will give you practice writing about your work, oftentimes trying out new explanations.

Whereas you should start writing as early as possible, you don't need to put that writing in the form of a technical paper right away. In fact, it's usually best to outline the technical paper, and get feedback on that, before you start to fill in the sections with text. (You might think that you can copy existing text into the paper, but it usually works out better to write the information anew. With your knowledge of the overall structure, goals, and audience, you will be able to do a much better job that fits with the paper's narrative.) When outlining, I like to start with one sentence about the paper; then write one sentence for each section of the paper; then write one sentence for each subsection; then write one sentence for each paragraph (think of this as the topic sentence); and at that point, it's remarkably easy just to flesh out the paragraphs.

You should not submit your paper too early, when it does not reflect well on you and a submission would waste the community's reviewing resources. You should not submit your paper too late, because then the community is deprived of your scientific insights. In general, you should err on the side of submitting too late rather than too early.

A rule of thumb is to submit only if you are proud for the world to associate your name with the work, in its current form . If you know of significant criticisms that reviewers might raise, then don't submit the paper.

Submitting your paper prematurely has many negative consequences.

  • You will waste the time of hard-working reviewers, who will give you feedback that you could have obtained in other ways.
  • You will get a reputation for shoddy work.
  • You will make the paper less likely to be accepted in the future. Oftentimes the same reviewers may serve two different venues. Reviewing a paper again puts a reviewer in a negative state of mind. I have frequently heard reviewers say, “I read an earlier version of this paper, it was a bad paper, and this version is similar.” (This is unethical because reviewers are not supposed to talk about papers they have reviewed, but nonetheless it is very common.) Now the paper will likely be rejected again, and the whole committee gets a bad impression of you. A reviewer who has read a previous version of the paper may read the resubmission less carefully or make assumptions based on a previous version. To sum up: it's harder to get a given paper accepted on its second submission, than it would have been to get the identical paper accepted on its first submission.

Here are some bad reasons to submit a paper.

It's true that the feedback from reviewers is extraordinarily valuable to you and will help you improve the paper. However, you should get feedback from other scientists (your friends and colleagues) before submitting for publication.

Those are true facts, and some people do “salami-slice” their research into as many papers as possible — such papers are called a “least publishable unit”. However, doing so leads to less impact than publishing fewer papers, each one with more content. If a paper contains few contributions, it is less likely to make a big impression, because it is less exciting. In addition, readers won't enjoy reading many pages to learn just a few facts.

Note: This point refers to taking a single research idea or theme and splitting it into multiple publications. When there are multiple distinct research contributions, it can be appropriate to describe them in different papers.

The reviewing process can be frustrating, because it contains a great deal of randomness: the same paper would be rejected by some reviewers and accepted by others. However, all great papers are accepted and all bad papers are rejected. For mediocre papers, luck plays a role. Your goal should not be to write great papers, not mediocre ones. Find a way to improve your paper. Recognize the great value of reviews: they provide a valuable perspective on your work and how to improve it, even if you feel that the reviewer should have done a better job.

If you aren't excited about the paper, it is unlikely that other people will be. Furthermore, the period after submitting the paper is not a time to take a break, but an opportunity to further improve it.

After you submit a paper, don't stop working on it! You can always improve the research. For instance, you might expand the experiments, improve the implementation, or make other changes. Even if your paper is accepted, you want the accepted version to be as impressive as possible. And if the paper is rejected, you need to have a better paper to submit to the next venue.

(This section is most relevant to fields like computer science where conferences are the premier publication venue. Responding to journal reviews is different.)

Many conferences provide an author response period: the authors are shown the reviews and are given limited space (say, 500 words) to respond to the reviews, such as by clarifying misunderstandings or answering questions. The author response is sometimes called a “rebuttal”, but I don't like that term because it sets an adversarial tone.

Your paper will only be accepted if there is a champion for the paper: someone who is excited about it and will try to convince the rest of the committee to accept the paper. Your response needs to give information to your champion to overcome objections. If there isn't a champion, then the main goal of your response is to create that champion. Your response should also give information to detractors to soften their opposition.

After reading the reviews, you may be disappointed or angry. Take a break to overcome this, so that you can think clearly.

For every point in the reviews, write a brief response. Do this in email-response style, to ensure that you did not miss any points. You will want to save this for later, so it can be better to do this in the paper's version control repository, rather than in a WYSIWYG editor such as Google Docs. (This assumes you have a version control repository for the paper, which you should!) Much of this text won't go in your response, but it is essential for formulating the response.

Summarize (in 5 or so bullet points, however many make sense) the key concerns of the reviewers. Your review needs to focus on the most important and substantive critiques. The authors of the paper should agree on this structure before you start to write the actual response.

Your response to each point will be one paragraph in your response. Start the paragraph with a brief heading or title about the point. Do not assume that the reviewers remember everything that was written by every reviewer, nor that they will re-read their reviews before reading your response. A little context will help them determine what you are talking about and will make the review stand on its own. This also lets you frame the issues in your own words, which may be clearer or address a more relevant point than the reviews did.

Organize your responses thematically. Group the paragraphs into sections, and have a small heading/title for each section. If a given section has just one paragraph, then you can use the paragraph heading as the section heading. Order the sections from most to least important.

This is better than organizing your response by reviewer, first addressing the comments of reviewer 1, then reviewer 2, and so forth. Downsides of by-reviewer organization include:

  • It can encourage you not to give sufficient context.
  • It does not encourage putting related information together nor important information first.
  • You want to encourage all reviewers to read the entire response, rather than encouraging them to just look at one part.
  • When multiple reviewers raised the same issue, then no matter where you address it, it's possible for a reviewer to overlook it and think you failed to address it.
  • You don't want to make glaringly obvious which issues in a review you had to ignore (for reasons of space or other reasons).
  • You don't want to make glaringly obvious that you spent much more time and space on one reviewer than another.

In general, it's best not to mention reviewer names/numbers in your response at all. Make the response be about the science, not about the people.

In your responses, admit your errors forthrightly. Don't ignore or avoid key issues, especially ones that multiple reviewers brought up.

Finally, be civil and thankful the reviewers. They have spent considerable time and energy to give you feedback (even if it doesn't seem to you that they have!), and you should be grateful and courteous in return.

If you submit technical papers, you will experience rejection. In some cases, rejection indicates that you should move on and begin a different line of research. In most cases, the reviews offer an opportunity to improve the work, and so you should be very grateful for a rejection! It is much better for your career if a good paper appears at a later date, rather than a poor paper earlier or a sequence of weak papers.

Even small flaws or omissions in an otherwise good paper may lead to rejection. This is particularly at the elite venues with small acceptance rates, where you should aim your work. Referees are generally people of good will, but different referees at a conference may have different standards, so the luck of the draw in referees is a factor in acceptance.

The wrong lesson to learn from rejection is discouragement or a sense of personal failure. Many papers — even papers that later win awards — are rejected at least once. The feedback you receive, and the opportunity to return to your work, will invariably improve your results.

Don't be put off by a negative tone in the reviews. The referees are trying to help you, and the bast way to do that is to point out how your work can be improved. I often write a much longer review, with more suggestions for improvement, for papers that I like; if the paper is terrible, I may not be able to make as many concrete suggestions, or my high-level comments may make detailed comments moot.

If a reviewer didn't understand something, then the main fault almost always lies with your writing. If you blame a lazy or dumb reviewer, you are missing the opportunity to improve. Reviewers are not perfect, but they work hard to give you helpful suggestions, so you should give them the benefit of the doubt. Remember that just as it is hard to convey technical ideas in your paper (and if you are getting a rejection, that is evidence that you did not succeed!), it is hard to convey them in a review, and the review is written in a few hours rather than the weeks you spent on the paper (not to mention months or years of understanding the concepts). You should closely attend to both the explicit comments, and to underlying issues that may have led to those comments — it isn't always easy to capture every possible comment in a coherent manner. Think about how to improve your research and your writing, even beyond the explicit suggestions in the review — the prime responsibility for your research and writing belongs with you.

Norman Ramsey's nice Teach Technical Writing in Two Hours per Week espouses a similar approach to mine: by focusing on clarity in your writing, you will inevitably gain clarity in your thinking.

Don't bother to read both the student and instructor manuals — the student one is a subset of the instructor one. You can get much of the benefit from just one part, his excellent “principles and practices of successful writers”:

  • Correctness. Write correct English, but know that you have more latitude than your high-school English teachers may have given you.
  • Consistent names. Refer to each significant character (algorithm, concept, language) using the same word everywhere. Give a significant new character a proper name.
  • Singular. To distinguish one-to-one relationships from n-to-m relationships, refer to each item in the singular, not the plural.
  • Subjects and verbs. Put your important characters in subjects, and join each subject to a verb that expresses a significant action.
  • Information flow. In each sentence, move your reader from familiar information to new information.
  • Emphasis. For material you want to carry weight or be remembered, use the end of a sentence.
  • Coherence. In a coherent passage, choose subjects that refer to a consistent set of related concepts.
  • Parallel structure. Order your text so your reader can easily see how related concepts are different and how they are similar.
  • Abstract. In an abstract, don't enumerate a list of topics covered; instead, convey the essential information found in your paper.
  • Write in brief daily sessions. Ignore the common myth that successful writing requires large, uninterrupted blocks of time — instead, practice writing in brief, daily sessions.
  • Focus on the process, not the product. Don't worry about the size or quality of your output; instead, reward yourself for the consistency and regularity of your input.
  • Prewrite. Don't be afraid to think before you write, or even jot down notes, diagrams, and so on.
  • Use index cards. Use them to plan a draft or to organize or reorganize a large unit like a section or chapter.
  • Write a Shitty First Draft™. Value a first draft not because it's great but because it's there.
  • Don't worry about page limits. Write the paper you want, then cut it down to size.
  • Cut. Plan a revision session in which your only goal is to cut.
  • Norman Ramsey's advice , excerpted immediately above .
  • “Hints on writing an M.Eng. thesis” , by Jeremy Nimmer
  • my notes on reviewing a technical paper , which indicate how to recognize — and thus produce — quality work
  • my notes on choosing a venue for publication
  • my notes on giving a technical talk : a talk has the same goal as a paper, namely to convey technical ideas
  • my notes on making a technical poster
  • Ronald B. Standler's advice on technical writing
  • Dave Patterson's Writing Advice
  • Advice on SIGPLAN conference submissions (at bottom of page)
  • The Elements of Style , William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, is classic book on improving your writing. It focuses at a low level, on English usage.
  • Style: Toward Clarity and Grace , by Joseph M. Williams, is another general-purpose writing guide, with a somewhat higher-level focus than that of Strunk & White.
  • The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century , by Steven Pinker, is an excellent guide to writing. It gives reasons (from psychology and other scientific fields) for its advice, making it more authoritative than someone's opinion.

Back to Advice compiled by Michael Ernst .

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7 Steps to Delivering a Technical Presentation

June 21, 2021 - Dom Barnard

So you want to share the fruits of your technical labor with a presentation? Perhaps, you’re an engineer, a maker, a coder, or a designer, and you’re looking to discuss a research study, explain a process, or demonstrate a product.

Regardless of the agenda,  speaking to a group  can be intimidating. However, there are steps you can take to deliver an effective technical presentation that gets your point across and appeals to the audience.

Whether you’re presenting in person or via  web conferencing software , the following tips and best practices will help you be prepared, feel more confident, and set up the tools you need to conduct your presentation without any issues.

Know your subject matter

A great presentation isn’t about reading a bunch of slides – your attendees are capable of reading much faster on their own.

If you are going to pack your slides with dozens of details and bullet points, you might as well ditch the slides and write an article instead. It’s difficult for the audience to listen to a presenter and read a lot of information at the same time.

Your job as a presenter is to be the expert that your attendees expect you to be. Keep your slides simple and minimal. In fact, 91% of people say that  well-designed slides  help  boost their confidence  when giving a presentation.

Remember that your slides are not the star of the show, you are. Help your audience understand and make sense of what they are reading in your slides. To do this, make sure you are using a  suitable structure  for your presentation.

You can do these things only when you’re well-versed in what you’re presenting. The slides are supposed to be your outline, or simply a table of contents to remind you what to cover during the presentation.

Know your audience

Knowing your audience  is crucial for any presentation, but it’s even more important for a technical one. If your audience is as experienced and comfortable with the topic of your presentation as you are, then you don’t want to dumb it down to the extent that it bores them.

On the other hand, you don’t want to give a complex presentation to an audience with no clue of what you’re talking about.

There may also be times when your attendees are people with different levels of technical skill, experience, and interests. Then your job is to make sure that the content of your presentation is relevant and doesn’t alienate any of those segments.

Presentation relevance

Image Source:  Digital Clarity Group

To understand how technical you need to be, consider what your audience might already know and how much is required for them to understand to meet your goal.

If your objective is to acquire funding, for instance, your audience will be more interested in financial benefits than the technical details of your product. The idea is to meet the needs of your audience, not to fuel your passion for engineering.

Configure your IDE

Since you’re delivering a technical presentation, there may be instances where you’ll want to walk your audience through your development environment, code scripts, software demos, or other technical components.

However, you may have adjusted how things look on the screen according to what’s the most convenient for your usual workflow. And what’s good for working in your day-to-day routine may not render well as you go full screen in presentation mode.

Visual studio IDE

If the attendees can’t decipher what’s on the screen, they’ll get confused and will find it hard to focus on your talk. So it’s important that you customize whatever you’re going to show in your presentation such that it’s easily readable and viewable.

There are several steps you can take to make this happen. First of all, don’t use dark backgrounds. Light-colored backgrounds are easy on the eyes. Second, adjust your font styles and sizes to make sure they’re big enough.

And finally, learn to zoom in on specific areas as required, depending on whether you’re using a  Windows PC  or a  Mac system .

Practice Presentation Skills

Improve your public speaking and presentation skills by practicing them in realistic environments, with automated feedback on performance. Learn More

Minimize distractions

Nothing is more annoying than to keep getting disruptive notifications or popups from in the middle of your presentation. These can be from your operating system (Windows or Mac), or apps such as Slack, Email, Twitter, and more.

At times, these notifications can be personal, embarrassing, or contain confidential information that you don’t want your audience to see.

Therefore, it’s best to make sure in advance that there are no unpleasant surprises. Before you get up to give your presentation, turning off your notifications can go a long way.

This will also reduce the number of processes running on your machine and free up available resources. As a result, the resource-intensive programs that are part of your presentation will run a lot smoother. Here’s how to turn off  notifications for Windows ,  Google Chrome , and  Mac .

Get the right equipment

If you want to be a master presenter, you should have the proper tools for the job. The basics include a desktop or laptop machine with good configuration, a big display screen, presentation software (usually MS Powerpoint or Keynote), and a clicker/pointer device.

A clicking device, like the  Logitech Wireless Presenter , can help you switch slides from wherever you are in the room, point to a specific part of a slide, and add an overall professional touch to your presentation.

In addition, you should have any cables (HDMI, VGA, USD, etc) and adapters required to connect the devices you are going to use for the presentation.

Conrad delock adapter

Conrad Delock USB 3.0 Network adapter

If you have no idea about what will be available at your presentation venue, then carry one piece of each of the commonly used cables and adapters. You’ll thank us later.

Rehearse in advance

Practice your slides and your demo multiple times before the presentation, even if you have presented the exact same thing in the past. Do not make any assumptions about your actual presentation environment based on your practice environment.

Technologies and situations change, and you may find things that catch you off guard. Run through everything at least once the night before just to be sure.

Practice presentations in VR

Practice your presentations with  interactive exercises .

Even better if you can record yourself during these rehearsal presentations and watch the recordings later to find areas of improvement.

Also, if you’re relying on downloading or doing something in front of the audience that may require a high-speed internet connection, don’t assume you’ll have access to such a network during your presentation. Download and install whatever you need ahead of time.

Finally, enjoy the experience

You’re giving a technical presentation, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring, or that you have to be serious all the time as you talk.

It’s okay to have fun, crack some jokes,  tell a story ,  ask a rhetorical question  or invite participation from the audience when presenting. In fact, a study showed that presentations that don’t let the audience participate see a  drop of 14%  in engagement.

Don’t worry too much about things going wrong. See every presentation as a dialogue with your attendees and an opportunity to learn and be a better presenter. If you are enjoying yourself, so will your audience.

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  • Knowledge Base
  • IEEE Paper Format | Template & Guidelines

IEEE Paper Format | Template & Guidelines

Published on August 24, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on April 6, 2023.

IEEE provides guidelines for formatting your paper. These guidelines must be followed when you’re submitting a manuscript for publication in an IEEE journal. Some of the key guidelines are:

  • Formatting the text as two columns, in Times New Roman, 10 pt.
  • Including a byline, an abstract , and a set of keywords at the start of the research paper
  • Placing any figures, tables, and equations at the top or bottom of a column, not in the middle
  • Following the appropriate heading styles for any headings you use
  • Including a full list of IEEE references at the end
  • Not including page numbers

IEEE example paper

To learn more about the specifics of IEEE paper format, check out the free template below. Note that you may not need to follow these rules if you’ve only been told to use IEEE citation format for a student paper. But you do need to follow them to submit to IEEE publications.

Table of contents

Ieee format template, ieee heading styles, frequently asked questions about ieee.

The template below can be used to make sure that your paper follows IEEE format. It’s set up with custom Word styles for all the different parts of the text, with the right fonts and formatting and with further explanation of key points.

Make sure to remove all the explanatory text in the template when you insert your own.

Download IEEE paper format template

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

IEEE recommends specific heading styles to distinguish the title and different levels of heading in your paper from each other. Styles for each of these are built into the template.

The paper title is written in 24 pt. Times New Roman, centered at the top of the first page. Other headings are all written in 10 pt. Times New Roman:

  • Level 1 text headings begin with a roman numeral followed by a period. They are written in small caps, in title case, and centered.
  • Level 2 text headings begin with a capital letter followed by a period. They are italicized, left-aligned, and written in title case.
  • Level 3 text headings begin with a number followed by a closing parenthesis . They are italicized, written in sentence case, and indented like a regular paragraph. The text of the section follows the heading immediately, after a colon .
  • Level 4 text headings begin with a lowercase letter followed by a closing parenthesis. They are italicized, written in sentence case, and indented slightly further than a normal paragraph. The text of the section follows the heading immediately, after a colon.
  • Component headings are used for the different components of your paper outside of the main text, such as the acknowledgments and references. They are written in small caps, in title case, centered, and without any numbering.

IEEE heading styles

You should use 10 pt. Times New Roman font in your IEEE format paper .

For the paper title, 26 pt. Times New Roman is used. For some other paper elements like table footnotes, the font can be slightly smaller. All the correct stylings are available in our free IEEE format template .

No, page numbers are not included in an IEEE format paper . If you’re submitting to an IEEE publication, page numbers will be added in the final publication but aren’t needed in the manuscript.

IEEE paper format requires you to include an abstract summarizing the content of your paper. It appears at the start of the paper, right after you list your name and affiliation.

The abstract begins with the word “Abstract,” italicized and followed by an em dash. The abstract itself follows immediately on the same line. The entire section is written in bold font. For example: “ Abstract —This paper discusses … ”

You can find the correct format for your IEEE abstract and other parts of the paper in our free IEEE paper format template .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Caulfield, J. (2023, April 06). IEEE Paper Format | Template & Guidelines. Scribbr. Retrieved September 11, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/ieee/ieee-paper-format/

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Writing a technical paper for submission to a Symposium can be a daunting task, especially if you are not accustomed to doing this sort of writing. Furthermore, after writing the paper, you naturally want to have it accepted! There are two important things to understand when submitting a paper for acceptance at a conference, (1) technical content, and (2) how well the author expresses his/her ideas in a clear manner.
     Bonnie Brench has written an excellent article that gives some do’s and don’ts when writing a technical paper for submission to a conference. As the EMC Society Technical

Advisory Committee Chair, and after performing many peer reviews for conferences, I can tell you how important it is to follow her guidelines! Every year, many papers are not accepted, even when the technical content was probably quite good. I use the word ‘probably’ because the authors were not clear enough about what they did, and why it was an important technical contribution. As we head towards the time to begin paper submissions for EMC 2011 in Long Beach, please take the time to read her article and follow her advice to give yourself the best possible chance to have your paper accepted!

Writing a Technical Paper By Bronwyn Brench, N.C.E.

Introduction Whether experienced at writing papers or just beginning, it is always useful to have your memory refreshed on what constitutes a successful technical paper. Clearly, a successful paper is one that is accepted into a technical publication and then is read and referenced by others. To achieve this end, it must first be determined that a particular body of work is unique and valuable to others. Second, the paper must be well written and follow the style guide of the chosen publication. This article covers the basics of paper acceptance, and reviews many of the writing pitfalls made by both veteran and beginner authors alike.

I. Paper Acceptance It is vital to know the criteria for the type of publication, and to understand the audience for which the paper is intended. Two typical venues for technical papers in the EMC field are the IEEE EMC Transactions and the IEEE EMC Symposium. A third option is the Practical Papers section in the IEEE EMC Society Newsletter. Here, papers are generally shorter and cover topics of wider interest to readers. The focus of this article is on papers submitted to the IEEE Transactions on EMC and the IEEE International Symposium on EMC Proceedings publications.

IEEE EMC Transactions The IEEE Transactions on EMC has very clear instructions, located on the inside back cover of the journal, on the requirements for a paper submitted for publication. Basically, work of archival (long lasting) value is sought, including advances in the state of the art, both theoretical and experimental. There are two paper length options; a full length, eight page Paper, and a Short Paper. Full length papers are peer reviewed in detail and edited, and multiple review periods are possible. Short Papers are generally four pages in length and typically narrower in scope. These are either accepted as submitted without any substantial changes, or rejected.

IEEE EMC Symposium Paper submittals to the annual IEEE International Symposium on EMC may be directed toward the Regular or Special Sessions, and all papers have the same requirements: they must be significant to EMC, have technical depth, be readable in clear English, and contain new, unpublished work. These papers are peer reviewed, although not as heavily as for the IEEE Transactions on EMC papers. Manuscripts will be either: accepted, accepted with required changes (requiring a second peer review), accepted with suggested changes, or rejected.      If the paper is directed toward one of the Special Sessions at the Symposium, do not make the mistake of thinking it will be automatically accepted because it was “invited”. These sessions are typically organized by an individual or EMC Society Technical Committee (TC) on a topic that is of particular interest. Therefore, think of it as an invitation to submit a paper on a special topic; a topic that will not necessarily be repeated the following year. All Special Sessions papers are peer reviewed, and are held to the same required high standards as Regular Session papers.      Regular Session papers may be presented orally or in a Poster Session (Open Forum). Both types receive equal peer reviews; it is merely the presentation that differs. One common misconception is that papers in the Poster Session are of lesser value or have more relaxed standards. This is far from the truth as it is always a goal of the Symposium review committee to ensure that a good variety of topics are presented in the Poster Sessions. The major benefit of a Poster Session to the author is the ability to directly interact with interested attendees, which can be a great source of information to those doing similar work.

II. Key Parts of a Technical Paper

The Writing Overview Once the requirements for the paper have been reviewed and the work has been completed and researched for technical value, the writing may begin. Writing a technical paper, especially for an international audience, can be a daunting task. Not only can the English language be a problem, but many scientists and engineers never learned how to write a formal technical paper. There are a few good instruction guides on line, [1] and [2], if a tutorial is needed; however, the highlights of technical paper writing and a few notes on many of the common errors are given in this article.      A technical paper is not an English paper. It is also not a science lab report. The layout of a formal technical paper typically consists of the following key elements: Abstract, Introduction, Work Done, Results & Discussion, Conclusion, and References. The Abstract and Introduction are standard with their titles and content. The meat of the paper is contained in the middle sections, Work Done, Results, and Discussion, and the labeling or titles for these sections vary depending on the topic. The final two sections, Conclusion and References, are also relatively standard with their titling and content. Sometimes an Acknowledgements section is inserted between the Conclusions and References.      Working drafts often begin with the Work Done, Results, and Discussion sections. The Introduction and Conclusion sections can be started a bit later, to aid in binding the flow of the paper together. Make certain that any goals and objectives stated in the Introduction are addressed in the Conclusions. Oddly enough, the Abstract should be written last. It is only after the introduction and conclusions have been written that there will be clarity in how to phrase this special, brief summary of the paper.

Abstract The Abstract is the most important part of a technical paper, and perhaps one of the most misunderstood parts. Everyone reads them, and they are essentially the “selling point” for the paper. Even experienced authors lose sight of the purpose of an abstract and how it should be written. The key thing to remember about an abstract is that it should be a stand-alone mini-summary of the paper. Abstracts are typically extracted from each paper and published separately in an abstract listing, for readers to browse when deciding which papers they want to read in full or attend for the actual presentation of the paper. For this reason, it is especially important to spend detailed writing time on the abstract to get it precise.      The Abstract should be clear and concise, a single paragraph, typically 200 words maximum. It should include the purpose, a brief description of the work, and the pertinent results or conclusions. The English should be impeccable, especially if an international audience is expected. A special effort had to be made at the 2007 IEEE International Symposium on EMC, for example, where the EMC Society celebrated its 50 year anniversary, to grammatically edit a large majority of the extracted abstracts so that they could be clearly understood by the wide set of international attendees.      The most common mistake made is to treat the abstract as a brief introduction to the paper. The author mistakenly believes that this is where the reader’s attention must be caught with eye grabbing phrases, and then leaves them with a cliff hanger to hope they will read on. The reality is that the abstract loses its conciseness and the crucial results/conclusions synopsis is left out. Other points to note include:

  • Using too many words can cause readers to skim and possibly miss important points.
  • Leaving out the summary results or conclusions can cause readers to lose interest.
  • Using acronyms should only be done if used again within the abstract.
  • Making a reference with a footnote is never allowed.
  • Making a reference with a citation at the end of the paper is never allowed.
  • Make certain the English is perfect.
  • Avoid background information; that is for the Introduction.

     If these guidelines are followed, then your abstract will become a perfect selling point for your paper.

Introduction The Introduction is the true start of the paper. Do not make the mistake of thinking that the Abstract is a sort of first paragraph; it is totally separate. The Introduction does just that – it introduces the reader to the work.      A typical Introduction includes four paragraphs. The first paragraph is the place for those wordy, eye catching phrases giving the reasons for and importance of the work, and why someone would want to read the paper. The second and third paragraphs contain a brief description of the background to the problem and the connection of the present work to the background. The final paragraph includes a clear statement of the purpose or goal of the work; it is an expansion from the Abstract. This will lead the readers smoothly into the start of the actual work of paper.      One error that is frequently found in paper submittals is that little, if any, research was done by the authors to determine that the work is indeed new and original. No matter how well written the paper is, it will be rejected if it is not original. ­Researching the subject matter is a good fundamental engineering practice. Why would you want to spend time doing the work and writing it up if the answer is already known? This vital step can save a great deal of wasted effort.

The Main Body This is the main part, or “meat” of the paper, and includes the work done, results, analysis, and discussion sections. The exact layout and section titles will vary depending on the topic.      A description of the work and methods used, i.e. how the work was performed, should be given in the first section. A mistake sometimes made is to list the equipment used, as if it were a lab report. If a description of any of the equipment used is necessary in understanding the work, then it is acceptable to describe that key equipment.      Next, the results should be given and analyzed. The results section is sometimes separated from the discussion section, but usually they are combined. Tables, graphs, and diagrams should be used to help visualize and explain the results and analysis. Each table and figure needs a written explanation; do not assume the reader can understand it on their own. What may be obvious to the authors may not always be obvious to others.      Frequent problems are found with tables and figures when they are shrunk down to fit in a two column format. Please, use the sizes and formatting as defined in [3] or [4]. Using anything different makes the paper harder to read and follow, and causes it to look unprofessional. If the details of the figure cannot be seen when shrunk down, then consider breaking it into multiple figures. Pay attention to any labels or wording in figures that get reduced; these must be 8 to 12 point type after reduction. Also, it is important to make sure the curves in multiple curve plots are distinguishable. Even though the use of color is now acceptable, solid fill colors are preferred as they contrast well both on screen and on a black-and-white hardcopy.      Discussing the results is also important, but leave the conclusions for the Conclusion section. The objective here is to provide an interpretation of your results and a description of any significant findings. This will logically lead readers into the Conclusion section.

This is a place many authors get stuck. They have written up their work and described, analyzed, and discussed their results. What more can be said without repeating everything in the summing up? This is the time for the author to sit back and think about how their work relates to the big picture.      The author should review their original stated purpose, the results, and discussions. Perhaps there is more that can be done to further the work. With these thoughts fresh on the mind, the conclusion can then be written such that it is not simply a “we did this, this, and that”, but rather a concise summing up, or review, followed by a brief discussion on how your findings relate to the big picture. A discussion of any recommendations for further work is also a fine addition, if relevant.

Acknowledgements & References Sometimes an Acknowledgement section is inserted just before the Reference section. This is especially important if funding has been received from a special source for the work and research that was performed. Co-workers who assisted in the work but were not involved in the final writing may also be listed here.      There are many categories of references or works cited, so use the style guide in [3] or [4] for details on how to list each type. It is essential to supply a comprehensive and relevant set of references. This is necessary because it gives credit to those who have done similar work and it indicates to the reviewers that you have done your homework. Papers that only reference the author’s previous work or a few recent papers attract the reviewer’s attention as being incomplete.      A word about authors and co-authors: the IEEE has a policy [5] concerning who should be included as co-authors on a paper; an extraction of this policy is quoted below:      “The IEEE affirms that authorship credit must be reserved for individuals who have met each of the following conditions:

  • Made a significant intellectual contribution to the theoretical development, system or experimental design, prototype development, and/or the analysis and interpretation of data associated with the work contained in the manuscript,
  • Contributed to drafting the article or reviewing and/or revising it for intellectual content, and
  • Approved the final version of the manuscript, including references.”

     Anyone not meeting each of the three conditions should therefore be included in the Acknowledgement section.

III. And Finally … Proofread! Once the final draft of the paper is finished, do not forget to leave time for the review, both technical and grammatical. Incomplete sentences, redundant phrases, misspellings, and grammatical errors are unprofessional. Waiting a day or two before reviewing helps to provide a fresh approach, and more mistakes can be found. Another good way to catch errors is to give the paper to somebody else to read. The more people who review it, the more comments will be received, creating opportunities to improve the paper. If English is not your native language, it would help if one of the reviewers is a native English speaker, or have a trained technical editor proofread your paper. It may be that your heavily accented English is passable to a native English speaker, but can other non-native English speakers also understand? I heard a story about how one native English speaker had to act as an interpreter between two others speaking their own accented versions of the English language! It will increase your chances for success if the grammar is correct.      Writing an effective paper is time consuming, but is worth the effort when it is finally published and others can read and reference your work in their own research. Know and follow the criteria for the particular publication to which you are submitting, and make sure that all the components of a good technical paper are included in the next one you write.

IV. Acknowledgement I would like to thank Colin Brench, who has reviewed technical papers for many years for the IEEE International Symposium on EMC, for his input on what reviewers look for in Symposium and Transactions papers.

References [1] D. R. Caprette (updated Aug. 2010) Rice University class notes on Writing Research Papers. Available:       https://www.ruf.rice.edu/~bioslabs/tools/report/reportform.html [2] H. Schulzrinne (updated Oct. 2009) Columbia University class notes on Writing Technical Articles. Available:       https://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~hgs/etc/writing-style.html [3] IEEE sample paper template for IEEE Transactions, Preparation of Papers for IEEE TRANSACTIONS and JOURNALS (May 2007).      Available: https://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/authors/authors_­journals.html#sect2      Click on: Updated-Template and Instructions on How to Create Your Paper (DOC, 92KB) [4] IEEE sample paper templates for IEEE conference proceedings, Sample IEEE Paper for US Letter Page Size , Version 3, original version      of this template was provided by courtesy of Causal Productions ( www.causalproductions.com ).      Available: https://www.emcs.org/technical-committees.html [5] IEEE Publication Services and Products Board Operations Manual, Piscataway, NJ: IEEE Publications, amended Feb. 2010,      Section 8.2.1.A. Available: https://www.ieee.org/portal/cms_docs_iportals/iportals/publications/PSPB/opsmanual.pdf

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COMMENTS

  1. Top 7 Technical Presentation Templates With Samples and Examples

    Template 2: Technical Feasibility PowerPoint Presentation Slides. This comprehensive PPT Deck comprises 41 expertly crafted slides covering a spectrum of essential topics. It facilitates project assessment, product and service delivery planning, and business idea viability evaluation. Delve into your venture's strengths, weaknesses ...

  2. Technical Presentation : Mechanical Engineering Communication Lab

    Criteria for Success. The presentation starts with the motivating problem for the research and why it's being presented. Every slide shows something relevant to the motivating problem. Every slide shows no more information than necessary to convey the message. Slide titles stand on their own; other text supports the visuals.

  3. How to give a technical presentation (how to give a scientific talk)

    Use a sans-serif font for your slides. (Serifed fonts are best for reading on paper, but sans-serif fonts are easier to read on a screen.) PowerPoint's "Courier New" font is very light (its strokes are very thin). If you use it, always make it bold, then use color or underlining for emphasis where necessary. Figures.

  4. Latest Technical Paper Presentation Topics

    The latest Technical Paper Presentation Topics include trending topics from emerging Technology like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, 5G Technology, Cybersecurity, and Cloud Computing. It also includes topics from different Engineering streams like Computer Science and Engineering, Electronics Communications and Engineering ...

  5. How to make a scientific presentation

    Related Articles. This guide provides a 4-step process for making a good scientific presentation: outlining the scientific narrative, preparing slide outlines, constructing slides, and practicing the talk. We give advice on how to make effective slides, including tips for text, graphics, and equations, and how to use rehearsals of your talk to ...

  6. How to Make a PowerPoint Presentation of Your Research Paper

    Here are some simple tips for creating an effective PowerPoint Presentation. Less is more: You want to give enough information to make your audience want to read your paper. So include details, but not too many, and avoid too many formulas and technical jargon. Clean and professional: Avoid excessive colors, distracting backgrounds, font ...

  7. Chapter 16: Technical Presentations

    PowerPoint Tips. Figure 16.1: It can be scary looking at a large audience, even for us who do it a lot. One important, but often overlooked, skill in engineering is presenting. From talking with students, I have noticed that a lot of engineering students are intimidated by public speaking.

  8. Hints and Tips on Presenting Technical Papers

    The main point of both technical papers and presentations is to present quantitative data that support your conclusions. It is normally the presentation of these data that actually causes the most problems, and the majority of the online presentation is dedicated to how and how not to present data. ... and I am sure you can think of examples of ...

  9. Technical Presentation: Engineering, Meaning, Examples

    A. A Technical Presentation is an explanation or demonstration of specific technical products, processes, or solutions with the goal of informing, instructing, and inspiring the audience about a topic. It bridges the gap between intricate technical information and its comprehension by a general or specific audience. B.

  10. Paper Presentation Topics for Computer Science Engineering

    April 14, 2024. We bring you the latest Paper Presentation Topics for Computer Science Engineering. Click on the topic name to read in detail. These topics give an idea of what topic to choose and what information needs to be included as part of a technical paper. Technical papers have been written in a standard format.

  11. Technical presentation and Google Slides examples

    My technical presentation examples using Google Slides (googleslides) 1. An article from the reputed Science magazine. The spread of true and false news online, published in Science (March 2018 issue). We presented the above article in this presentation prepared by me and Amrith Krishna Da (a Ph.D. scholar, CSE, IIT Kharagpur).

  12. PDF Technical Writing and Presentation

    Know your stuff; do not read slides; time yourself and be ready to skip slides if time is short. Dress for success; speak clearly, loud enough and not too quickly; maintain eye contact with audience. Ask questions and stimulate thinking. Presentation is a story telling; be positive and keep it simple.

  13. PDF Technical Paper Presentation Poster

    Work: The proposed work (idea) must be presented in detail with detailed explanations of how it is different from, and superior to, existing solutions. techniques. All results must be properly explained and discussed. of papers referred to in the paper. Use a reference which is easily available, e.g., a journal or conference proceedings paper.

  14. 4.6 Presentations

    4.6 Presentations. Presentations are an interesting genre, since they can cover a variety of genres and purposes. Presentations provide the opportunity to present information in a multimodal format, and often require you to condense information for a broad audience. Within the very broad genre of "presentation" many genres fall with more ...

  15. Preparing a Technical Session Presentation

    Include your paper number and title. Include your author and company name and/or logo information. Note: This should be the only slide to contain your company name/logo. Slide 2 | Information slide. Main content of your presentation in a One-Column or Two-Column Format. Enter Paper #, Paper Title, and Presenter Name at the bottom of the slide.

  16. How to write a technical paper or a research paper

    Naming. Give each concept in your paper a descriptive name to make it more memorable to readers. Never use terms like "approach 1", "approach 2", or "our approach", and avoid acronyms when possible. If you can't think of a good name, then quite likely you don't really understand the concept.

  17. 7 Steps to Delivering a Technical Presentation

    First of all, don't use dark backgrounds. Light-colored backgrounds are easy on the eyes. Second, adjust your font styles and sizes to make sure they're big enough. And finally, learn to zoom in on specific areas as required, depending on whether you're using a Windows PC or a Mac system.

  18. IEEE Paper Format

    IEEE provides guidelines for formatting your paper. These guidelines must be followed when you're submitting a manuscript for publication in an IEEE journal. Some of the key guidelines are: Formatting the text as two columns, in Times New Roman, 10 pt. Including a byline, an abstract, and a set of keywords at the start of the research paper.

  19. 8 Tips for presenting a paper at an academic conference

    Use language that is simple and clear. Explain any technical terms that you have used and provide a quick recap of the main points wherever needed. 2. Adhere to time limits: Generally, paper presentation sessions at conferences are 20-30 minutes long, so prepare your material accordingly. Also, be prepared for any last-minute changes in session ...

  20. PDF How to write a technical paper or report

    Be sure to comment on the paper's novelty, technical correctness, clarity and experimental evaluation. Notice that different papers may need different levels of evaluation: a theoretical paper may need no experiments, while a paper presenting a new approach to a known problem may require thorough comparisons to existing methods.

  21. PDF How to Write a Technical Paper: Structure and Style of the Epitome of

    cal papers, format guides1 IntroductionThe introduction serves a twofold purpose. Firstly, it gi. es the background on and motivation for your research, establishing its importance. Secondly, it gives a sum-ma. y and outline of your paper, telling readers what they should expect to find in it.When you write the background review, you should ...

  22. Technical Paper Writing

    A technical paper is not an English paper. It is also not a science lab report. The layout of a formal technical paper typically consists of the following key elements: Abstract, Introduction, Work Done, Results & Discussion, Conclusion, and References. The Abstract and Introduction are standard with their titles and content.

  23. Technical Paper Presentation

    Technical Paper Presentation - Free download as Powerpoint Presentation (.ppt), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or view presentation slides online. The document provides guidelines for presenting a technical paper at the RECYCLE 2016 International Conference on Waste Management from April 1-2, 2016 at IIT Guwahati. Presentations must be done using PowerPoint, last no more than 8 minutes with ...