CS3282 Schedule

The purpose of this activity is to encourage you to read SE books.

Steps:

1. Have a quick look at the default recommended book Software Engineering at Google (PDF available for free). You may also pick a different SE book that you have read before or want to read this semester. Pick a chapter that you want to read/use for this activity.
2. Post an issue in nus-cs3281/2023 indicating which book and which chapter you plan to read. Assign the issue to yourself.
   Doing this early will help you avoid clashing with chapters chosen by others. We prefer not to have multiple book reports on the same chapter.
3. Read the book chapter.
4. Post a short summary of the chapter in the same issue. Just a few bullet points is enough. Optionally, you can also comment on the relevance of the chapter to your NUS-OSS project.

Try to finish the above by the end of the recess week.

You are welcome to do more than one book/chapter too.

• Make slides more visual:

  • Instead of bullet points, use other suitable visual structures e.g., a flow chart

  • Instead of text, use graphical forms

  • But avoid visual clutter such as background graphics that do not add value

  • Given below is a video containing some slide design tips:

• Make the point clear:

  • Ask yourself "what is the point I want to make in this slide?" Once you have determined the point, ask yourself "can I improve the slide to make the point clearer?"
  • Use assertion-evidence type slides rather that topic-content type where applicable.
  • Ensure every technical term used is either known to the audience or you define it explicitly. If you are not sure if the audience know the definition, slip in the definition casually to your explanations.
  • Demo/describe your solution early to avoid setting expectations too high. If you spend a lot of time explaning the problem or criticising competing solutions, audience expectations of your own solution might climb too high.

• Animate meaningfully: Use animations/transitions to enhance the meaning of your slide content.

• Use the Click-Look-Recall technique instead of using cue cards:

  • Ensure that you know the sequence of your talking points in advance.
  • Map each point to a click on your slide, which should add a visual cue onto the slide that reminds you of the point you are supposed to talk about.
  • During delivery, look at the screen as you click, and use the visual cue to recall the point.

In this round you are expected to hit almost all targets(🎯) given below. You are recommended to follow tips (💡) given under each target closely.

Talk structure

1. 🎯 The talk is well-structured and aims for high impact.
   1. 💡 Document all the important elements of PUMA given below (listed in the order one would define each when planning the talk structure) as an extra/hidden slide in the slide deck (for verification/grading purposes)
      • Intended impact:
        • Know
        • Believe
        • Do
      • WIIFY
      • Key points
      • Call-to-action
      • Roadmap
      • PUNCH

Slide design

1. 🎯 No visual clutter
   1. 💡 Remove any conspicuous background graphics that do not add value
   2. 💡 Avoid using images that don't really add value
2. 🎯 Visual slides
   1. 💡 Wherever you have bullet points (or paragraph text), look for another suitable structure such as a table, flow chart, map, graph, etc.
   2. 💡 Use graphics instead of (or in addition to) text
3. 🎯 Important elements of the talk are captured prominently in slides
   1. 💡 Ensure WIIFY, Roadmap, start/end of sections of the Roadmap, and each keypoint are captured as separate slides or as noticeable visual elements
   2. 💡 Use words Key point in text so that they are hard to miss
      e.g., KEY POINT: Java is verbose!
   3. 💡 use a different (and more prominent) design for important slides and key elements
      e.g., use a brighter background, bigger font size
4. 🎯 Last slide is used to good effect
   1. 💡 at least it should contain key points and the call-to-action
   2. 💡 as the last slide should contain the essence of the talk, it is ok to be 'crowded'
   3. 💡 you may want to include your contact details in the last slide too
5. 🎯 Slides optimized to convey the point, and help your delivery
   1. 💡 Write down in slide notes the point(s) a slide is supposed to convey. Each slide should have at least a main point, and possibly some sub points. e.g.,

      Java is still the most popular language today.
      * Java positions lead job vacancies.
      * Highest percentage of devices support JVM.
      * All fortune 500 companies use Java for their enterprise systems.
      

   2. 💡 If possible, use the assertion-evidence format to bring out the main point. i.e., show the main point as the slide title.
      e.g., the slide title can be Java is still the most popular language today. (i.e., the main point) instead of Java popularity (i.e., a phrase/topic)
   3. 💡 For each sub point, ensure there is a corresponding click.
      e.g., the slide should have at least three clicks so that you can use the click-look-recall technique as a prompt to talk about each of the three sub points.
6. 🎯 Minimum use of jargon
   1. 💡 Format jargon in a different way e.g., use a different font so that you remember to define them. Alternatively, put the definition on the slide.
7. 🎯 Meaningful animations
   1. 💡 Use meaningful slide transitions e.g., use a more drastic transition when moving from one major section to another.
   2. 💡 When possible, gradually remove/introduce elements into a slide so that the audience can maintain context i.e., minimize drastic change of scenery.

Delivery

1. 🎯 Start with a PUNCH (instead of traditional self-intro)
   1. 💡 Open with a brief greeting, and jump starlight into your PUNCH
2. 🎯 WIIFY and Roadmap clearly communicated.
   1. 💡 Use clear 'marker' phrases to draw attention to these important elements of the talk. e.g., "I think this is a very important topic to you because ..." "In the next few minutes, I'm going to talk about (a)... (b)... and (c)"
3. 🎯 Each key point is clearly made
   1. 💡 When the key slide comes up, use the marker phrase "So, the key point here is ..." to draw attention to it.
4. 🎯 Finish by reiterating key points, and call-to-action.
   1. 💡 Follow the call-to-action with a clear "Thank you!" and if applicable, "I'm ready for your questions" to indicate the end of your talk.