You are expected to prepare a 20-minute presentation using PowerPoint, Keynote, Beamer, or other presentation software. You should convert it to a single PDF file and email it to the appropriate staff by noon on your presentation day.

The following points are meant as a guide to help you prepare an effective talk. A good talk is one which conveys the essentials in the minimum time with the greatest clarity for the audience – your classmates! Before the talk, practice your presentation several times using a stopwatch so that you feel comfortable and natural with your speaking pace.

Slide preparation:

• Outline the essential points you will want to convey.
• Prepare about one slide per minute of talk.
• Don't put too much information on any slide.
• Include only the information you will talk about on your slides.
• Use photos, drawings and graphics, rather than text, whenever possible.
• Use large fonts and graphics to fill the space on the slide.
• You may use figures from the course wiki and from Python output, but add arrows or boxes with large fonts to emphasize the important points.
• Avoid colored backgrounds and flashy slide transitions.

Contents of the talk

• Start with a simple overview of the physics you were investigating.
• Show a photo or graphic of relevant apparatus you used.
• Referring to the apparatus graphic, give an example of how you took data.
• Show an example of your raw data in graphical (not tabular) form whenever possible.
• Show how you used the raw data to extract what you wanted. Explain your reasoning!
• Identify and describe important sources of uncertainty in your measurements. Explain whether uncertainties were systematic or statistical.
• When appropriate, show fits to your data and compare to literature values or theoretical predictions.
• If relevant, explain how the measurements or analysis might be improved.

Also, see the Tips for Giving a Presentation slides (originally given in Autumn Quarter of PHYS 211).