Tips and Tricks for making a Presentation

On 27-May-2020, our respected teacher Mr. Brihat gave us a short session on how to make a formal presentation and shared some mistakes he made as a beginner in his initial days. So today I'd like to discuss and share his session so that it could slightly help you while preparing a presentation. 

At first, lets discuss the common mistakes we do while preparing and presenting our presentation.

1. The Casual Attitude: The common mistakes students do while delivering their presentation is that they take it very casually. You should make your presentation formal so that even audience and jury would respect you and your work.
2. Last minute presentation: This is one of the mistake people commonly have been doing and which should be ignored as much as we can. Last minute presentation means lack of practice and rehearsal which might cause some trouble. 
3.  Improper handling of technologies: Students usually don't know how to handle mic and how to use it so that the sound is perfect for the listeners. 
4. Lack of team work: Most of the time even if a project is a group project, some people don't discuss with their teammates and do it on their own which can be properly visible during the presentation.
5. Lacking the art of slide presentation: While preparing slides, too much usage of text, improper color combination, too much animation etc can be seen which can make the slides look boring and unattractive.
6. Not understanding the norms of preparation: Reading slides, dwelling around irrelevant topics, long pauses in middle, weak opening/closing are some of the mistaken we can commonly see.

Now after we've gone through the common mistakes, lets focus on the things we can do while preparing slides.

1. Do a Good Research: Before giving presentation on any topic, make sure you have completed a good research so that even if the jury ask some cross questions you can tackle them easily.
2. Prepare your own slides by yourselves.
3. Include those content you're Confident of.
4. Practice and rehearse.
5. Have a good sleep before the night prior.
6. Make sure you log out from your social media so that irrelevant messages don't popup.
7. Be in frequent communication with your team: Even if you've made a slight change, make sure that your teammate is informed about it.
8. While we are preparing your slides you can use following tips to make your slides attractive:

• Don't use too much text.
• Use proper color combination and background.
• Use appropriate and visible font size. The best option would be 28 for size.
• Have only around 6-8 points in a single slide.
• Have a precise number of slides. Try to make it less than 10 slides.
• Add slide numbers below your slides. It will be easier for the jury to refer to a certain page.
• Use the needed images and videos. 
• Use animation but don't over use it.
• While displaying the points, use animation so that the points display simultaneously rather than all at the same time.
• Include facts/data in a good amount.
• Include short, sweet and effective demonstration of your work.
• Have some extra slides regarding the possible questions the jury might come up with.

So now that we have prepared our slides, the other thing we should think about it is how we deliver the slides we've made.

1. Keep yourself hydrated, full and calm.
2. Make sure to keep your phone and other devices silent.
3. Have a proper attire, speech and body language.
4. Make your hands a important part of the presentation and use it to communicate. 
5. Smile more often. 
6. Check your audio and visuals before you begin your presentation.
7. Don't just read the text you've written in your presentation.
8. Choose a single language and make sure you are able to communicate using it the whole time.
9. Interact with the audience: Have question and answer sections during presentation. 
10. Use your sense of humor and make jokes related to the topic.
11. Use your time properly to present the important bits.
12. Use spaces you have properly. Move around and interact.
13. Read your audience and get a good grip of them.
14. Be always prepared to be penalized from your jury.
15. Take the comments and feedback's pleasantly.
16. Accept your mistakes.

So this were the things explained by our beloved teacher during the session. Hope that this was helpful to you and thank you for taking your time to read this.

Reality Check: IT Graduates

Date: 17May2020

Review of Mr. Shishir Thapa's Guest Lecture:

Before I start this blog I'd like to make it clear that this blog is an experience shared by Mr. Shishir Thapa who shared us fellow students of ACHS College when he appeared as a guest lecturer. So, I'd like to thank him on behalf of our college.

In the lecture he shared us following this that I'd like to share with you people.

1) For Internship:

a) Learn Basic Knowledge: Before joining any company for an Internship, just make sure that you have the information of the field you are going to work in. For example: if you're going to do on Database Management, make sure that you know the basic information of database management.

b) Be ready to learn something new: You can't always stay in your comfort zone. If you have a pretty good knowledge in a certain programming language, then don't just stick with that language. Be flexible enough to learn other languages. During your internship or even during your job time, there will definitely be a time when your company will expect some other things from you so don't disappoint that. You should be able to deliver according to their expectations.

c) Have basic knowledge on every field: As the title says, try to have a basic knowledge in every field. For eg: You're a very good programmer, then don't just stop yourself there and instead try to gain knowledge in other fields too. Make yourself available for everyone else.

d) Salary: Don't ever work as an Intern if you don't get paid any money. From every big to small company, they should be able to pay for your internship. The amount might be less than what you expected but never work for free.

e) Don't hesitate to ask for help from your seniors: When you're an intern, You aren't someone from whom everyone expects everything to know, so if you're stuck in any place, never hesitate to ask help from from your seniors. But saying that, doesn't mean you can ask them for everything. You should instead first complete your research and then ask for others help.

f) If  you are giving your best expect the best: At the end of the day you're working for a company, you and your work is important to them as the job is for you. So don't settle yourself for less. Don't underestimate your value and if you think that you deserve better (If you really work for it and know you've done good job) then go for it. 

The second part he talked us about was the mistakes he and many of his friends made.

2) Mistakes:

a) Ignoring Vision Control: There are platforms like GitHub which you should try to know about and use as much as possible.

b) Communication: One of the biggest misconception that people have regarding someone from IT field is that he or she is a socially awkward and someone who spends all their time in front of their computer and by being with themselves. But actually this isn't the case. You need to able to make connections in this fields too. So, try your best to main good communication with everyone.

c) Don't stick to just one technology: Try new technologies as much as possible. Do as much as you can to make your CV look better.

d) Scope of IT in Nepal: This is one of the most common question every IT student in Nepal asks. But you need to remember that you shouldn't focus much upon the scope because today the scope is gaining much attention but in near future that might not even be available.

e) Don't underestimate your college degree: You might give example of Mark Zuckerberg or Bill Gates, you might say that they are dropouts but still are billionaire, so why should I study or complete my degree. I agree that they're dropouts but still are rich but you need to remember that you aren't them. In an example what I would like to say is that, while hiring a recruit if a company gets to choose between two equally talented individuals then at that time the degree you have might have very huge influence in your hiring.

f) Make your work systematic: One of the most common mistake an individual makes specially programmers are the format of their work i.e their source code. People tend to ignore the format of their source code but you should ignore this mistake as much as you can. Your source code is as important to you as your work. And also while naming your variables, don't just name them 'a', 'b' try to name the variables in such a way that makes the code understandable. 

g) Don't ignore your projects: One of the most common thing students do is ignoring the project they get and just copy pasting stuffs from Google. You need to realize that by doing that you aren't cheating your teacher but you're cheating yourself. Projects are important aspects of your course. It helps you a lot so take it as an opportunity and make the full use of it. 

3) Tips that might save your day:

a)  Make a strong LinkedIn Profile: LinkedIn is like an online CV. Many of the top company check your LinkedIn profile before hiring you. So, make your LinkedIn profile as formal as possible.

b) Make a habit of reading blogs and other documentation: I know reading might be boring for many people but you need to understand it is very essential for you in this field. There are many times when you are stuck somewhere and you search for the video tutorial but there isn't any. At that time you should be able to read from those long blogs and documentations.

c) Always have a side project: Even if you're working well in your current company but don't stop there. Try to have a side hobby type project so that you can expand your knowledge.

d) Read and learn from others work: No matter what there is always someone who might have  already done the work you are about to do, so look at their work. Don't directly copy them but do look their source code and learn from it.

e) Participate in many events: During your college time, there will always be a lot of events going on, so try to have a participation in most of it. It will not only help you expand your knowledge but also will help you to make better connections.

f) Learn how to Google: This is a slow practice which you'll eventually learn after a lot of practice. Try to google stuffs and get better results as quickly and efficiently.

g) Be passionate and constant: No matter what work your doing, be passionate about it and don't loose concentration just after some time.

h) Wherever you go, look for a mentor: This can be valid in every sector of this field. Always search for a mentor with whom you can gain knowledge and understand your subject better. Because life is all about learning and sharing.

i) Begin with small things: So what your friend is already better than you in everything. Don't worry, this isn't a race where the fastest one wins. It's a journey. Someone might reach to top very quickly, some might take time. Remember that and never lose your hope and don't feel ashamed to start from the bottom.

j) While questioning someone: Imagine you're stuck in a certain point and you need help. Don't just go to your senior or colleague and say,"Help me with this!" but instead say something like,"I've visited this website/tutorials...I understood this bit but am confused here". This shows that you've done your work and aren't lazy to work on your own.

{This was it. Thank you for reading this.}