Preparing talk and manuscript

What is expected from you?

You are supposed to give a presentation (in english), and to deliver a manuscript (in english) before your presentation.

The presentation should cover a comprehensive overview or a detailed discussion of some aspects of the literature which is available on the game/topic chosen. You can decide to make a selection from the material if you think it is appropriate. You can include material from other publications if you think this is good. When in doubt, discuss it with us.

The manuscript (approx. 10 pages, no strict upper limit) should present the same material as the talk.

A very good seminar talk...

...is well-structured.
...shows that you have found the relevant literature and have mastered the material.
...shows that you have a firm background knowledge on your topic.
...is (mostly) accessible to all participants.
...uses well-prepared media (slides).
...lasts exactly the allowed time.
...has a good balance between technical details, examples, and general discussions.

A very good manuscript...

...is well-structured.
...shows that you have found the relevant literature and have mastered the material.
...shows that you have a firm background knowledge on your topic.
...is self-contained (assuming some reasonable background knowledge).
...contains a short abstract, introduction, discussion, and references.
...looks nice and uses correct and good english.
...is of reasonable length.
...has a good balance between technical details, examples, and general discussions.

Improving your presentation and manuscript

Start early with your preparations: Literature search takes time (especially if you need to use interlibrary loan). Learning typesetting takes time. Understanding the literature takes time. Typesetting takes (quite a lot of) time. Making an appointment with us may take time. Unexpected things may happen.
Ask other students for their opinions. In particular, we strongly recommend that you give a test presentation for a few friends. A good and constructive feedback helps very much to improve a presentation. (We still use this ourselves sometimes before important talks.) We also think it is the only way to get the timing right unless you have much experience with presentations. We also recommend that you give your manuscript to a friend for proof-reading.
A good preparation is flexible: There may be interruptions during the talk, e.g. people may ask questions. Or you may be a bit nervous and talk much faster than you wanted. In either case, you should be prepared to change your presentation on the spot, by either skipping something, or by including more. If this is well-done, then the audience will barely notice it.
Preparing slides is a very delicate task and should not be underestimated. Ask others for their opinions. Look at sets of slides which you may find on the internet - and be aware that many of them are of poor quality.
We suggest that you contact us at least once, namely when you have read the literature, and have a detailed suggestion for the selection which you want to present; before actually preparing the talk. Also, contact us whenever you are in doubt about anything, or just want our opinion about it.

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