Kenneth J Goldman-How to Give a Tutorial

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)
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
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)
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.
Practice the Talk
• Find ቤተ መጻሕፍቲ ባይዱriends to critique you. • Videotape yourself. • Time the talk!
PRACTICE
Present the Tutorial: Beginning
• • • • • • Be nervous! See the room in advance. Memorize the first sentence. Speak slowly. Make your promise clear. Don’t start with a joke.
Prepare the Slides
• • • • • • • • • 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
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; }
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)
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)
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.
PRESENT
Arrange to be in a bright right-sized room. People sleep in dark rooms.
Present the Tutorial: The Middle
• • • • • • • 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: Ending
• End on time! • Review your promise.
PLAN
PREPARE
PRACTICE
PRESENT
• Ask for questions. • Don’t thank the audience.
The Goal of this Tutorial: Learn the “Four P’s” of giving tutorials
PLAN
PREPARE
PRACTICE
PRESENT
Plan the Tutorial
• • • • • Research the topic PLAN Become an expert Know your audience Make a list of key ideas Sequence them to “tell a story”
Text is Dull
• • • • 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.