Transcript How to Give a Tutorial - Washington University in St. Louis

How to Give a Tutorial
Kenneth J. Goldman
Washington University in St. Louis
Based on a similar talk by Patrick Winston of M.I.T.
Always Start with a Promise
(motivating the audience to listen)
In this tutorial, you will learn how to
• Plan a tutorial
• Prepare a tutorial
• Practice a tutorial
• Present a tutorial
Make the Promise Catchy
(so you can refer back to it easily)
The Goal of this Tutorial:
Learn the “Four P’s” of giving tutorials
• Plan
• Prepare
• Practice
• Present
Use Diagrams Wherever Possible
(they’re more informative and memorable)
The Goal of this Tutorial:
Learn the “Four P’s” of giving tutorials
PLAN
PREPARE
PRACTICE
PRESENT
Plan the Tutorial
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Research the topic
PLAN
Become an expert
Know your audience
Make a list of key ideas
Sequence them to “tell a story”
Allocate the Slides
• Allow 2 minutes per slide
For example, 30min = 15 slides
PREPARE
Title slide (1)
“Promise” and Outline (1)
Background (2)
The Model/Abstraction (1)
The API (2)
Examples (5)
Discussion of Problems/Issues (2)
Conclusion (1)
Prepare the Slides
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Begin with your “promise”
Show an outline
Play with an “open hand”
Explain necessary background
Tell a story
Know the point of each slide
Communicate the point of each slide
Include only what you’ll talk about
Review your promise at the end
Use Short Bullet Items
• It is not necessary to write everything
you’re going to say on the slide. In
fact, it’s distracting because the
audience reads the slide instead of
listening to you. The visuals become
cluttered, and people miss the main
point. You also want to keep the font large enough so people can
read it, and avoid spurious formatting
changes and distracting effects.
Text is Dull
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There is a client and a server.
The server has a ServerSocket.
The client connects to the server.
Then the server gets a new socket with
which to communicate to the client.
• The ServerSocket remains for other
clients to connect to.
Are you drawing pictures in the air?
Draw on the Slide! (speak the text)
ServerSocket
connect
server
client
Draw on the Slide! (speak the text)
ServerSocket
Sockets
server
client
Avoid lots of code
boolean isAudienceLost() {
if ((linesOfCode <= 5) ||
(text.font == courier))
return !point.isClear();
else if (numDiagrams >
linesOfCode/3)
return false;
return true;
}
Practice the Talk
• Find friends to critique you.
• Videotape yourself.
• Time the talk!
PRACTICE
Present the Tutorial: Beginning
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Be nervous!
See the room in advance.
Memorize the first sentence.
Speak slowly.
Make your promise clear.
Don’t start with a joke.
PRESENT
Arrange to be in a bright right-sized room.
People sleep in dark rooms.
Present the Tutorial: The Middle
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Keep your main points in mind.
Move around.
Point to things.
Wave your hands a lot.
Talk about everything on the slide.
Don’t read the slides to the audience.
Go to the chalkboard occasionally.
Present the Tutorial: Taking Questions
• Do you want interruptions? Questions
at the end? Make your plans clear.
• Ask for questions at critical junctures.
• Draw diagrams on the chalkboard.
• “I don’t know” is a reasonable answer.
• Defer long or tangential discussions.
• Thank obstructionists for “interesting
points to think about” and continue.
Present the Tutorial: Ending
• End on time!
• Review your promise.
PLAN
PREPARE
PRACTICE
• Ask for questions.
• Don’t thank the audience.
PRESENT