Talk

DRAFT: January 23, 2007

DUE DATE: See Yahoo Calendar of aescomp07 Group

• Team composition:
  • This is a team project, with a team being pre-determined randomly and specified on the news group calendar. Each team has two students in it so look at the calendar to see your talk date. Depending on the updated class roll throughout the semester, a very small number of groups may contain 3 people.
  • Since there are only 2 people in the team for the talk, find your team member (we'll talk some time during one of the classes to announce students to assist in this process), and decide how you will break down responsibilities.
  • You can choose to both present, or one can do research with the other presenting--it is up to you.
• Talk purpose: To cover a chapter (except for Chapter 1) from the book Aesthetic Computing. Please choose the chapter that you and your teammate would like to present as early as possible and email either of the two TAs ASAP. Please check the calendar first before emailing your chapter selection. First come, first serve -- as chapters are selected, your choices become fewer.
• Talk contents:
  • Use powerpoint or a program such as Flash to deliver your talk to students.
  • Begin with a title slide containing the chapter title, authors, and your names.
  • Describe what the author(s) are trying to convey
  • Include your own understanding of their topic and points
  • Close the talk with a critique of the chapter and a list of external references for further inquiry.
• Slide content:
  • Prepare a talk to last 40 minutes in length, and use a formal presentation technique based on a slide-making tool. A good guide is 2 to 3 minutes per slide.
  • 1st Slide: Introductory slide with the talk title, and names of people in your group
  • 2nd Slide with a brief outline of the remainder of your talk -- what you will talk about, using one bullet per section
  • Cover what the topic is about - explain what the chapter discusses within the broader context of the topic. This is the main part of your talk -- introducing the audience to the topic as presented by the chapter author(s) and by the references cited. This part is the bulk of your talk.
  • Criticism and Analysis: state what your group personally agrees with or disagrees with in the paper. Are there group members who disagree with each other? That is fine - list all the issues and discuss them.
  • Conclusions slide - the last slide of the talk that summarizes what you presented/learned.
  • Have one or two slides with web links to extra information about the topic, from the research done on it.
• Speaking Guidelines:
  • Be professional in your presentation - as if you are speaking at a workshop or conference. Start on time and have a set of slides that are well-designed.
  • Don't talk to the slides or the ceiling - talk to the audience, and use the slides only for reference as you go over each slide section.
  • Don't speak too quickly. Articulate your sentences and sound as if you are trying to convince the audience of the points you are making (i.e., rhetoric).
  • Try to stick to the 40 minute average for the talk.
• Grading: There will be grading for the speakers and the audience. A talk that is well-delivered will receive an A and one that seems to have been put together at the last minute, or with poor organization, will receive a B or C. A student in the audience will get a check-mark demerit if they miss class during another student's talk. Each class missed will be 0.5% taken off from the total class grade. Attendance will be checked on every day where a student team is talking. If you have a valid excuse for not being in class, send an email to one of the two TAs documenting the reason for the absence.