How to Give a Tutorial

Kenneth J. GoldmanWashington 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

• Research the topic• Become an expert• Know your audience• Make a list of key ideas• Sequence them to “tell a story”

PLAN

Allocate the Slides

• Allow 2 minutes per slideFor example, 30min = 15 slides

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

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

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 changes and and

distracting effects.

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.Are you drawing pictures in the air?

Draw on the Slide! (speak the text)

clientserver

connect

ServerSocket

Draw on the Slide! (speak the text)

clientserver

ServerSocket

Sockets

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

• Be nervous!• See the room in advance.• Memorize the first sentence.• Speak slowly.• Make your promise clear.• Don’t start with a joke.Arrange to be in a bright right-sized room.

People sleep in dark rooms.

PRESENT

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: 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.

• Ask for questions.• Don’t thank the audience.

PLAN PREPARE PRACTICE PRESENT