This section highlights some ideas as you prepare for your demonstrations.
You have a set amount of time where you will talk about your work. That time will go quickly. Think about what will fit in that time. Make a list of what you want to say in that time and what you can show in terms of technology and results.
Prepare a list of things that you definitely want to discuss and a few items that would be nice to talk about if you have time.
Your demonstration is about showing your work. It is not intended to be a slide presentation. However, a small number of slides may help to introduce your work, particularly if you are not a confident presenter.
If you choose to use slides, 1 or 2 slides is probably enough. You might use more, but remember that we want you to show and discuss your technical work.
Make it clear what project is about is at the start of your demonstration. Assume that anyone marking your work is knowledgeable in Computer Science, but not necessarily knowledgeable of the topic you are working on.
For the Mid-Project Demonstration, remember that you are demonstrating to your Second Marker. This will be the first time that the person finds out about your work.
For the Final Demonstration, you are demonstrating to your Supervisor and Second Marker. Assume that your second marker has forgotten most of what you discuss in the Mid-Project Demonstration.
Demonstrations take time to prepare and often go wrong. Practice. Practice on the hardware you’ll be using. Make sure you’re logged in. Make sure you can connect to any servers you need. Make sure that your test sets are in the right place on the right machine.
Have a plan B, which might well be some slides or a video of the work.
You could practice with a friend, someone who doesn’t know and hasn’t seen your work.
Ideally, we want to see a demo of the code running. At the Mid-Project Demonstration, the work will be incomplete and might be a few different elements that aren’t linked together yet. At the Final Demonstration, there may still be parts of the system that aren’t complete. For both demonstrations, show as much as you can in the time available.
If you cannot have a live demonstration of some of the work, talk to your supervisor about effective ways that you can discuss the work.
For the Mid-Project Demonstration, make it clear that you know what the remaining challenges are, and what you’d like to do in the remaining time.
For the Final Demonstration, consider if there are any larger challenges that you’d like to tackle but there wasn’t time during the project timescale. Is it something you’d like to do as a job or a hobby project?
In your demonstration, show the markers the most interesting item at that point in the work. Be prepared to be asked about your technical understanding of the work and the technologies you are using.
