technical description presentation

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7. COMMON DOCUMENT TYPES

Descriptive technical writing uses a combination of visuals and text to both “show” and “tell” the reader about the information being conveyed. Like more creative descriptions, technical descriptions sometimes draw on the “five senses” and metaphorical comparisons (analogies) to allow the reader to fully conceptualize what is being described. More often, however, they rely on concrete, measurable descriptors. Technical descriptions can take many forms, depending on purpose and audience. Descriptions can range from a brief sentence, to a paragraph, a whole section of a report, or an entire manual. Poorly written technical descriptions can cause confusion, waste time, and even result in catastrophe! Technical product descriptions are often legally required to ensure safety and compliance. Attention to detail is critical.

Product specifications require detailed descriptions of design features; instructions often require specific descriptive detail to “show” the reader what to do. Some general categories of technical descriptions include the following:

Mechanism Descriptions: provide a detailed overview the physical aspects of a tool, machine or other mechanical device that has moving parts and is designed to perform a specific function. These could be product descriptions for sales or manufacturing, documentation of design specifications, info-graphics, etc . This chapter focuses in detail on this kind of description.
Process Descriptions: detail a series of events ( natural/biological/ecological, mechanical, social, or psychological phenomenon ) that happen in particular sequence in order to achieve a specific outcome. These can be categorized into non-instructional processes (such as a process analyses of how an internal combustion engine works, or natural processes like photosynthesis) and instructional process (such as recommended/required procedures and explicit step-by-step instructions to be followed). (See Section 7.7 for detailed information on Writing Instructions ).
Definitions: clarify the specific meaning, often related to a specific context, or express the essential nature of the terms being defined. These can range in length from a simple clarifying phrase to an extended document of several pages. Definitions will often include detailed descriptions and visuals to illustrate ideas. Click on the link below to view a student PowerPoint presentation on how to write effective definitions for technical purposes. This presentation is included with express permission of the student.

Definitions in Technical Writing – Sample student presentation (.pdf)

Technical Description of a Mechanism

Mechanism descriptions should provide a clear understanding of the object being described, including

General appearance and physical properties
Overall function/purpose
Component parts
How the parts interact to create a functioning whole.

The reader should be able to clearly picture, and therefore understand, the nature of the object being described, what it does, and how it works.

In order to achieve this clarity for the reader, the writer must choose significant details and organize information logically. Select details that can be described precisely and measurably, such as

Depending on the reader’s need, the description may range from a general overview requiring only a few sentences to a multi-chapter manual detailing every aspect of the mechanism’s parts and functions in order to troubleshoot technical problems and complete repairs. For a fun example of the latter, see the Star Trek: The Next Generation: Technical Manual (cover depicted in Figure 7.4.1 ), which provides detailed descriptions of all equipment and technology used aboard the fictional U.S.S. Enterprise-D.

Before you begin to draft your description, you must consider your purpose and audience : Why does your audience need this description? What will they use it for? Are you describing different types of solar panels for the average consumers to help them choose the one that best fits their needs? Are you providing schematics to technicians and installers?

Once you have your purpose and audience clearly in focus, draft a description that includes the following elements:

Definition : What is it, and what is its main purpose?
Overview : Describe the mechanism’s overall appearance (“big picture” description of its overall size, shape, general appearance).
Components : Describe the main component parts in labelled sections; consider the order of information carefully here. Create a logical connection between each component described.
Explanation: how do the parts work together to fulfill its function? What key principles govern its functioning? Consider how much detail is necessary here for your intended audience.
Visuals: include graphics that clearly illustrate the mechanism and/or its parts. Show the device as a whole; consider showing specific details in expanded views, cut-aways, or labelled diagrams. You may even embed or link to videos showing the device in action.
Conclusion : depending on the purpose, you might review product’s history, availability, manufacturing, costs, warnings, etc .)
References : Sources you have used in your description, or additional sources of information available (if relevant).

You might consider using a template, like the Technical Description Template below, keeping in mind that while templates can be helpful guides, they do not provide much flexibility and may not work for all situations.

Sample Descriptions

Examine the description of the “Up Goer Five” in Figure 7.4.2 (click on image for larger version). Who might the intended audience be?

Compare the description in Figure 7.4.2 to the information given on the NASA website about the Mars Curiosity Rover .

Note the differences in the level of detail, vocabulary, and overall purpose of the descriptions. If you used the information on the NASA site to fill in the Technical Description Template , you might end up with something like the following chart.

You may find that some of these elements are not necessary; again, consider what your target audience already knows. Strike a balance between unnecessarily stating the obvious and incorrectly assuming your readers have knowledge that they may lack.

In refining the details of your description and its component parts, consider the following:

Steps in a process it completes
Top to bottom (or foundation upward)
Left to right (or right to left)
Inside to outside (or outside to inside)
Most important to least important features
Central component to peripherals
Material properties, etc .
Use correct terminology – define terms as necessary for your audience
Use analogy to describe an unfamiliar thing in terms of a familiar thing
Use objective language – no “ad speak” or subjective terms
Use present tense, active verbs to describe how the device appears and what it does
Use words that create vivid and specific pictures in the reader’s mind.

EXERCISE 7.2 Practice technical description

Choose a common, everyday object (such as one of the objects in Figure 7.4.3 ) and draft a technical description for an audience unfamiliar with the object. Start by imagining a target audience and purpose, and then try filling in the Technical Description Template with detailed information. Using the information in your template, draft a short description of 1-2 paragraphs, and add properly-captioned visuals.

R. Sturnback and M. Okuna, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Technical Manual . New York: Pocket Books, 1991. ↵
R. Munroe, "Up Goer Five" [Online]. Available: https://xkcd.com/1133/ Also see "1133 Up Goer Five - explained," Explain xkcd wiki [Online]. Available: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1133:_Up_Goer_Five . CC-BY-NC 2.5 . ↵
[Corkscrew and bicycle images]. [Online]. Available: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dogbomb/527733767 and https://www.flickr.com/photos/8205548@N08/4607907389. CC BY 2.0 . ↵

Technical Writing Essentials Copyright © by Suzan Last and UNH College of Professional Studies Online is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Technical Description: What is it & How to Write it? (Steps Included)

Are you someone who frowns whenever someone mentions the word “technical”?

Don’t worry, you are not the only one!

As soon as we hear the word technical, our mind immediately starts thinking of complex steps and procedures, complicated software code, command-line programs, and more.

However, that’s not the case.

Documents like technical descriptions are formulated essentially for those who have limited or no technical know-how. For people who want to understand the ins and outs of a process or for those who simply want to use a product – technical descriptions act as a guide to get them up to speed and help them troubleshoot on their own.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet.

Let us first understand what we mean by technical descriptions, why writing such documents are important, and in the end, discuss an awesome documentation tool that will make writing these tedious documents, tolerable! Read on…

What are Technical Descriptions?

A technical description is a document created for the end-user to understand how a product, process, or concept works. A technical description typically includes the names of the product or process, gives a brief overview regarding its functions, and dives deep into its size, frames, and other components. A technical description describes a process in terms of its purpose, design, parts, and other key details.

A technical description is the building block of technical documentation as it forms the core of the entire documentation. Technical descriptions are often used as part of a larger document (for example, a project proposal ), but can be written as a standalone document as well.

A technical description typically includes the names of the product or process, gives a brief overview regarding its functions, and dives deep into its size, frames, and other components.

A technical description can be as short as a few lines or as long as many pages, describing the ins and outs of a process or product in great detail. A mixture of both text and images is used in such documents to help the reader fully understand the concept. Modern-day technical descriptions even contain videos and other rich media to make the explanation as simple and straightforward as possible.

Types of Technical Descriptions

Technical descriptions are broadly categorized into 2 categories: Product Description and Process Description

1. Product Description

A product description illustrates what the product is like, going into details about its features. A product can be anything- from a computer software program to a blow-dryer.

An employee creating a list for technical description

2. Process Description

A process description describes how a process works or an event is produced. These descriptions are written for people who want to learn the underlying mechanism of how something works. From photosynthesis to carbon emissions, process descriptions can be written for anything that needs explanation.

Read more: Technical Manual: What, Types & How to Create One?

What is the Benefit Of Writing Technical Descriptions?

Well-written technical descriptions help your audience understand a particular product or process and empower them to use it without any difficulty.

No matter if your audience is your own employees, your target customer, external partners or clients, or someone else, the advantages of creating a technical description remain the same.

One thing to note is that these descriptions should be easy to read, comprehend, and most importantly, helpful. If the reader doesn’t understand your product or process after reading your technical description, the document failed to do its job.

Therefore, it’s important to write these descriptions in a simple, clear, and concise manner, getting rid of any jargon or buzzwords.

How to Write Technical Descriptions? (Step by Step)

Now that you know the importance of creating technical descriptions for both your employees and consumers, it’s time to get into the details of actually writing a technical description.

While most technical descriptions can be dull to read, making them engaging, interactive, and enjoyable can make a good impression on your readers. Follow these simple steps to create an astounding technical description:

Step 1. Define your audience

The first and most critical step to writing a technical description is to define your audience. The more you know about the end-user of your technical description, the better you will be able to explain and predict their challenges. In turn, you will be able to write a technical description that is effective and in-line with what the reader presumes.

Step 2. Describe the result

Illustrate how the reader will benefit from understanding the technical description you have written and what will they accomplish after doing so.

A man achieving results after creating technical description

Step 3. Gather Information

Next, you need to gather information for your technical description. Gathering answers to questions like:

What are the frequently asked questions by your consumers?

Where do most clients face issues?

Spend time learning all you can about the product or process you are writing the description for, even if you are already familiar with it. You need to have a clear-cut understanding of the product/process before you begin writing a technical description for it.

Read more: Technical Report: Definition, Importance, and How to Write it?

Step 4. Build an outline

As we have discussed before, technical descriptions can be as short as a couple of lines and as long as few pages. If your technical description falls in the latter category, it’s a good idea to create a structured outline and follow it religiously.

List down every key detail (size, shape, components, software, steps, etc) you are going to cover in the description doc and classify them into various headings, sub-headings, or topics. This way, it would be way easier for you to write down technical descriptions clearly, especially if you are working in a team environment.

Step 5. Make it interactive

Most technical descriptions are text-heavy, filled to the brim with technical jargon no one wants to read. This leads to dissatisfied readers. Make your technical descriptions easy to understand and engaging by making them more interactive. Add images, infographics, videos, and more wherever it makes sense.

Since we all are visual creatures, we understand better when there’s some visual context around the content we are reading. This is extremely useful if you are describing something in steps as you can add screenshots to guide the reader to the end-point swiftly.

Step 6. Proofread & Edit

Before you “publish” your technical description, make sure you have proofread the entire thing. It helps to get an extra pair of eyes to go through the document and ensure you haven’t missed out on anything important. Stay away from grammatical errors and as it really hampers the reading experience or worse, confuses the reader.

Step 7. Keep updating

In case you have added a new feature to your product or changes the way you carried out a certain process, your technical description becomes obsolete. This is why it’s important to regularly re-visit your technical descriptions and update it wherever required.

Read more: Test Plan for Software: What, Why, and How to Write It?

Bit.ai : Best Tool for Writing Technical Descriptions and Other Documents

Now that you know how to write the perfect technical description, it’s time to invest in a robust documentation tool that is going to make the process of creating such documents a breeze.

Unlike your conventional doc editors like MS Word, Google Docs, or your Windows Notepad, Bit documents are interactive . This means that the technical descriptions you create with Bit are nothing like those dull text-heavy documents you create with old-school editors.

Bit can help you create beautiful technical descriptions, embedded with YouTube videos, PDFs, Slideshare, cloud-files are more. No matter if you are creating technical Slideshare, manuals, how-to guides, business plans, pitch decks, product catalogues, etc.- you can add any rich media directly inside a document and add context to the content you are sharing. These docs are fully responsive and can even be embedded on your site.

Bit provides a safe space for employees to join a workspace or a document, edit a document together, and give suggestions and feedback via the chat window, without ever leaving the document! Cool, right?

Once you are satisfied with your document, you can simply export it as a PDF, Word file, Markdown, and much more. Bit’s minimal and distraction-free editor makes it the perfect tool for technical documentation.

Few technical documents templates you might be interested in:

Status Report Template
API Documentation
Product Requirements Document Template
Software Design Document Template
Software Requirements Document Template
UX Research Template
Issue Tracker Template
Release Notes Template
Statement of Work
Scope of Work Template

Final Words

Technical descriptions are a great way of displaying your product in a good light or helping the reader understand a concept clearly. These descriptions must provide tremendous value to the person reading it, which is why they should be written carefully.

Make sure you have the end-user in mind while writing such descriptions, and make them easy to read and understand!

So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for a free account on Bit, gather your team around, and start creating impressive technical descriptions today!

Further reads:

Product Planning: What, Why, and How!

Software Development Process: Steps To Follow

Product Development: A Comprehensive Guide

13 Programming Blogs and Websites to Improve Your Coding Skills

How to Write Awesome Release Notes? (Template Included)

13 Programming Blogs and Websites to Improve Your Coding Skills!

Business Letters: Definition, Types, Format and Tips!

Diversity training in the workplace: the 6 types of training, top 10 key performance indicators you need to measure in 2023, coding vs programming: what’s the difference, top 21 sales enablement tools that will empower your team, business verticals: definition, benefits & examples.

About Bit.ai

Bit.ai is the essential next-gen workplace and document collaboration platform. that helps teams share knowledge by connecting any type of digital content. With this intuitive, cloud-based solution, anyone can work visually and collaborate in real-time while creating internal notes, team projects, knowledge bases, client-facing content, and more.

The smartest online Google Docs and Word alternative, Bit.ai is used in over 100 countries by professionals everywhere, from IT teams creating internal documentation and knowledge bases, to sales and marketing teams sharing client materials and client portals.

👉👉Click Here to Check out Bit.ai.

Technical Description: Definition, Benefits & How to Write an Effective One

Introduction.

Creating a technical description is a delicate balancing act.

Whether you are describing a product or explaining a process, you need to understand the simplest way possible to communicate its value to your target audience without wasting their time.

But how? Keep reading.

For most people, the word “Technical” immediately translates to challenging, complex, or needing an intense level of brainwork to figure out; however that is not always the case.

Contrary to popular opinion, technical descriptions are not as complex as they sound. A straightforward way to put it is simply describing the technical part of a product or showing how to use a product or process for people with no technical background in that field or specialty to comprehend better.

In this blog post, we will explore what technical description is and how to write them well. We will also look at some examples of technical description to see how it is used in different contexts.

What are technical descriptions?

Imagine you were looking to change your phone and someone randomly suggests, “ Hey ! The iPhone 14 has such a great camera. You should get one”

While their claim might be debatable, your following line of questions would most likely be “ Why? How is the camera so good? What about it is so different? Plus do I need to get one?”

It's in scenarios like these that Technical descriptions come in to prove very useful and a technically descriptive answer would go something along the lines of ;

“ The iPhone 14 Pro has three rear cameras: a main wide-angle camera, an ultra-wide and a telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom and a 48-megapixel camera plus Action Mode, which makes video movements look better when you record them….”

This immediately paints a picture in your mind of why the iPhone 14 is probably a good buy. You piece each feature with the value you will get from it as you try to understand the components that went into the product and what makes it different from previous editions.

And you could read all of these specs and decide to stick to your current phone afterward, perhaps you end up not being convinced enough or you decide to try a different phone brand.

The technical description is the most simple way to talk about something technical, plus guide and educate a user on a product or a process.

It is a genre of technical writing that provides a detailed description on how a product or system works. Technical descriptions can be found in product manuals, online documentation, and other technical resources.

A Technical Description may be a stand-alone document or be a part of a larger document, or it may contain several pages of separate documents. It all depends on the goal of your technical documentation.

Technical description can be either one of the following:

A clear and concise explanation of a product or process purpose
A step-by-step guide to using a product or a completing a process
A description of a product's or process components and how they work together
Troubleshooting information for common user problems with a product or process.

Types of technical descriptions with examples

When writing a technical description, you need to remember that you're not just describing what something looks like or how it works—you're also communicating its functions and features.

So that takes things up a notch from how you’d typically approach normal writing.

There are three main types of technical description, and either type of your technical description would fall into one of these:

1. Process Description

‍ This is where you describe how a product works or how a process is carried out.

An excellent example of a Technical Process description would be showing a new iPhone user how to upload a picture to their Cloud or even Creating technical descriptions on how to use workplace tools and equipment better, like in this Scribe offering tips for Windows users who switch to a Mac

2. Product Description

This focuses on the product's physical attributes and covers shape, size, dimensions, weight, materials, and performance specs. It is a much more specific type of document that includes detailed information about the product.

So let's take a look at some examples of Product technical descriptions. Here we have a product that's designed to keep your room floors clean.

"Electric Spin Scrubber with 4 replaceable brush heads and an adjustable extension."

And another look at the Apple iPhone 6

"The iPhone 6 has a 4.7-inch Retina HD display and is powered by an A8 processor. It has 16GB of storage capacity and supports LTE connectivity."

A technical description for a Digital Camera.

" The Canon EOS Rebel T6i is a digital SLR camera with a 24.2 megapixel CMOS sensor. It has a 3-inch LCD screen and an ISO range of 100-12800. It can shoot full HD video at 30 fps and has built-in WiFi for easy sharing."

3. concept definition .

This is defining words or concepts that help a reader understand a technical process or product better. In these scenarios, explaining certain words or concepts is essential for your audience to understand the point you are trying to make, as it ties back to your central message.

Benefits of writing technical descriptions

Whether you are writing for employees or customers, technical descriptions provide a framework to break down complex processes into easy-to-digest bits

Everything is easier with contexts and answers to why things are the way they are, what they can do and how to use them.

The primary benefit of technical description is that you simplify things, and you can help more people have a clear understanding of what a particular process or product is about and how to interact with it.

Because you need to know your audience to write for them, writing technical descriptions helps you understand your audience's behavior patterns better and the unforeseen challenges they may be facing with your product. It helps you uncover information gaps they need a little more help understanding to eventually be able to carry out the desired action on their own. This would make a positive difference for your business or employees.

How to write an effective technical description

Depending on what you are about to write or who you are writing for, It can be a bit difficult to know how to start when writing a technical description.

But it is essential to remember that the purpose of writing a Technical description is to help your target audience better understand a particular product or process.

To do this, you need a strategy, so here are a few steps to get started:

Know your audience: If you are writing a technical description for your employees, you will use a different tone of voice or approach than when you are writing for consumers and trying to get them to buy a product or service you offer. Knowing your audience allows you to write to answer the questions they might have hence creating a very effective technical documentation .
Be upfront on Results: A person is likelier to continue reading your technical description if they are confident it can help them solve a problem, learn a process or use a product, so it's important to prepare your reader’s mind from the start on what to expect.
Be knowledgeable on the topic you're writing on: It’s harder to convince someone on a process or product you don’t know enough on. Because, in most case scenarios, technical descriptions are written to be helpful guides, it's crucial to learn and get familiar with the process of the product you are writing for. This would allow you to cover the same challenges a reader might encounter with the product or process. The more you know the better you’ll write.

‍ Need a simpler way to Capture and Create Technical Descriptions? Check out Scribe's auto-generated step-by-step guides.

4. Create an Outline : Outlines are good for dealing with writer's block or not knowing how to start. With outlines, you can immediately visualize where you are going with the technical description you intend to write and follow through.

Technical description outline

Here is a simple, easy to use outline for writing a Technical Description.

So it’s easy for you to write one whenever there’s a need to; keep this in mind:

Description : Start by introducing the product or service; write the product's full name, and describe what it looks like (size, shape, color, etc.); what does it consist of? Describe its components, Parts and necessary details. ‍
Explain the Product: Here, cover how the product works and fulfill its functions. Explain what it is and what it does, if possible how each component works together to enhance the product or process. Highlight any unique features or benefits. ‍
Conclude with a summary of both product features and processes. Close out with references or additional materials and background information where possible.
‍ Don’t be Boring— The word technical already paints a picture of “ Oh this is going to be full of terminologies and technical jargon” but it doesn’t have to be. Just because the writing is technical doesn’t mean you can’t add a different twist to things. Your technical descriptions should be engaging.

Don't just list facts about the product—make your reader want to learn more. Write in an interactive, clear, concise, and engaging manner to hook your reader. You can even engage in the use of animated images to explain specific processes, use interactive fonts, infographics, or even videos. You will achieve the same goal but also entertain and thrill your readers.

Today, technical descriptions are done more creatively and some companies now use videos to make the information as clear as possible.

For example, iPhone manufacturing Giant, Apple, hosts a live event yearly to unveil its latest gadgets. A perfect example of Technical description done in the most engaging and entertaining manner.

This event pulls millions of viewers yearly to Apple’s Youtube page where the Unveiling happens. By doing this, they are able to bridge the gap between those with the technical know-how of their products and those without. This report from 2021 shares that the phone manufacturing company is worth over 2.08 trillion dollars.

‍ Proofread and edit your work: Don't use jargon or technical terms your reader won't understand. Use clear and familiar language, and be sure to define unfamiliar terms. It always helps to get a second eye to look at your work as the last thing you want is a mumbled up technical description. It ruins the experience and increases the chance of your readers not going through all you’ve written. ‍
Don’t stop updating: Don’t keep stale information in your descriptions. Your technical descriptions should be accurate at all times . Make sure that you're accurate in your portrayal of the product and that you're not leaving out any critical details. Update your descriptions as innovations or changes happen to make them remain ever relevant

While there are so many technical documentation tools that offer a wide range of features, at different price points, and with various levels of technical complexity.

You want a solution that can help you with so much freedom to save, store, edit and share your technical descriptions with zero friction for even the most technical and non technical members of your team or user base to figure out.

If that's what you are looking for, then try Scribe.

Scribe is a process documentation tool that allows you capture your screen to auto-generate a step-by-step guide. You can process Docs, Training Manuals, with Scribes, text, videos and more.

See what some of our users have to say about Scribe .

In conclusion, the technical description is an important way for all technical professionals to communicate their ideas, products, and processes better. Still, it is also a medium for non-technical professionals to understand the technicalities of everyday life, from the most simple to the most complex problems they will love to understand and know how to solve on their own.

In this article, we have covered in detail how to write an excellent technical description, so if you need to write a technical description; you can start now with Scribe

Ready to try Scribe?

Chapter 16: Technical Presentations

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One important, but often overlooked, skill in engineering is presenting. From talking with students, I have noticed that a lot of engineering students are intimidated by public speaking. In fact, I have almost a decade of experience lecturing, but I still am a little scared standing in front of a large classroom! It is OK to be a little nervous. I tell students being a little nervous means that you care, and caring is part of successful presentations. This chapter aims to reduce your presentation anxiety by teaching you the skills you need. The main key is to practice, know the format, and be prepared.

Learning Goals

In this chapter we will learn:

Why it is important to practice and get comfortable presenting technical information.
What your presentation should entail for the main type of engineering presentations.
How to present technical information professionally and engagingly.
What “audience” means and how to use what you know about your audience to your advantage.
The art of PowerPoint and how to use the features in a non-distracting way.
What should (and should not) be included in a technical presentation.

Why Learning How to Present Is Important

It is one thing to have a good idea, invent something cool, or develop new technology, but it is a whole other thing to successfully disseminate that information. A lot of people don’t realize that presenting is a skill and like all skills requires practice and study to perfect. It seems like it is easy to slap together a PowerPoint and talk about your project, but if you do not put the time and effort into the presentation to ensure that it impacts your audience, your work will be wasted.

Key Concept: You have to learn how to present in a compelling manner in order to get people to pay attention to your product/idea/report/etc.

For example, I have been an instructor and advisor for several senior design teams. I have seen team projects range from truly impressive to mediocre. I have also seen the impressive teams be dismissed at competitions and the mediocre teams win awards at competitions because of presentation skills alone. What I am trying to convey to you is that presenting can be the “make or break” for a project. No matter how good your project is if you can’t describe to people how good your idea is, no one will care. That being said, the moral of this story is not to do a mediocre project and coast on your presentation skills. Combining a good project with a good presentation should be your goal.

Finally, it should be noted, that engineers have to present a lot . In fact, engineers have to do presentations a lot more than you might think. You might have to present your design idea to your research and development team. You might have to present to the entire company describing how you optimized a system process for efficiency. You might have to present to shareholders the newest technologies your team is working on. You might have to present to future customers on how your technology can improve their productivity. The point is, that engineers are expected to be good presenters and historically, University education in engineering does not explicitly address this skill. Hopefully, this chapter and your subsequent education reverses this.

Presentation Anxiety

Before we jump into some examples and tips, I wanted to take a quick note on presentation anxiety. As I mentioned before, there is no getting around it, you will probably be a little nervous when you present. That is ok! Almost everyone feels a little nervous. However, there are tactics that you can use to reduce your anxiety when stepping up in front of an audience.

One of the biggest keys to reducing your anxiety is preparation . In fact, there is no such thing as “over preparing”. The more you prepare for your presentation the better you will feel because you will be more confident about what you are speaking on.

Here are three tips that should help when it comes to preparation and alleviating anxiety:

Anxiety Reduction Mechanism 1) Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse…

Although it might seem self-explanatory or obvious, rehearsing is the most important step in reducing presentation anxiety. In my experience, this is the step that most students spend the least amount of time on even though it is the most important.

Out of all of the time you budget to create your presentation, the majority of time needs to be spent rehearsing.

The more you rehearse, the smoother your delivery will become and the more confident you will feel. Rehearse in front of your roommates. Rehearse in front of your classmates. Rehearse in front of a mirror. Rehearse to your parents (this is a great idea as it will probably impress them about how far you have come in your education and maybe get a few more bucks thrown on your campus cash card!). Rehearse in front of your grandparents (I am sure grandma would love to hear from you anyway). I think you get the idea. Rehearsing is key and the more that you practice your presentation, the more comfortable you will feel. Rehearsing in front of people that aren’t familiar with the course is even better. It will generate questions and make sure that you are explaining things in an optimal manner.

What I suggest to students is, that they time each of the rehearsals of their presentation. The key is to continue to practice rehearsing and practicing until the group can finish the presentation without making any mistakes and when they can finish within +/- 5 seconds of the same time (if it is a 10-minute limit presentation, the team can finish each practice session in 9:50 seconds to 9:55 seconds every time). As you can imagine, this takes a ton of practice but does reflect the level of polish necessary to feel confident about your presentation.

Anxiety Reduction Mechanism 2) Anticipate questions.

The next key to preparation for your presentation is to anticipate the questions you think the audience will ask, and be prepared with answers to those questions. You can’t anticipate every single question that you may get asked, but you can probably think of a few avenues that your audience members’ minds might wander.

For example, let’s imagine that you are giving a presentation on the efficacy of a vaccine. Depending on your audience, you should be prepared to answer the following questions:

What is a vaccine?
Specifically, how do vaccines work?
Do vaccines cause autism? (Spoiler: NO )
What types of adverse reactions might there be to the vaccine?
How long will it take to produce 100 million doses of the vaccine?
Are there specific storage requirements for this vaccine?

Preparing detailed answers to these questions will strengthen your knowledge of your presentation topic and alleviate your anxiety. Since you anticipated the questions your audience will ask, you don’t have to worry as much about looking like a fool on stage. This is also where rehearsing in front of someone who is not familiar with the course or topic can be very beneficial since it will generate a lot of these types of questions that you may have not considered.

Anxiety Reduction Mechanism 3) No one in the audience cares about you.

Sometimes students interpret this incorrectly. I am not saying that no one cares about you. Lots of people do. Your professor does, you have friends in the class, etc. What I mean by this is that it is important to remember that when you give class presentations, often, your classmates and peers have to give presentations as well.

Think back to the last class you were in where you had to present. Think about sitting in your chair, while another team is presenting, waiting for your turn. Be honest. Were you even listening to them? Or were you anxiously awaiting your turn at the presentation? Well, the reality is, everyone else is only thinking about themselves and their presentation while you are presenting . When you make a tiny mistake, no one notices. The only thing they will notice is if you totally bomb the presentation (which you won’t because you rehearsed so much).

So as part of your preparation, relax . The selfish and narcissistic tendencies of your classmates ensure that they won’t be paying as much attention to you as you think they might. Hopefully, that relieves a little bit of the pressure.

Discussion 16.1: How do you feel about presentation anxiety?

What Your Presentation Should Entail

As an engineer, you will typically be presenting on projects you are proposing or presenting data from projects that you have already completed. All of the advice from this chapter (no such thing as over-preparing, etc) will be helpful in reducing stage anxiety but to make sure that your presentation is well received, you need to make sure that the presentation contains the appropriate material.

You will be expected to have the following sections: title, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. The following example presentation will highlight the most important and standard slides that your presentation should (probably) entail.

To describe each of the required sections (keep in mind that I am showing only one slide for each section but it is likely that you will need multiple slides) I included example slides from a presentation I gave at an American Society for Engineering Education conference in 2019 in which I won the “Best Presentation” award. Note, that the slides shown below are only a subset of the slides that I presented at the conference. For the full slide deck, you can click here.

Title Slide

The title slide is just a place to include the names of all the people that worked on the project and their affiliations. And the title. Duh.

Keep it simple.

Introduction / Background Slide(s)

The purpose of the introduction slide is to outline your current understanding of the subject. You need to include specific examples of previous work/research.

Clearly explain the importance of the current project and what the significance of the project will be.
Justify the merit of your project by presenting significant information.
End with a specific, clear, and explicit purpose for the project. Some of the projects that you complete during your undergraduate career will be chosen for you. It does not mean that the purpose of the project is “because the professor told me to do it”. Spend some time thinking about the project and what learning outcomes you are expected to gain from it.

Materials and Methods

The purpose of the materials and methods slide is to list the necessary steps for your audience to interpret the results.

You should include: sample sizes, how the data will be processed, everything that was used in the project, and what statistical tests if any will be used.
It should be clear how the materials and methods relate to the purpose of the project.
The audience should feel that presenters fully understand the scope and details of the work (especially if it is a proposal).

The results slide is the place where you describe what you found from your project.

Present the data from the project. What did you do? What did you find?
Do not interpret your results yet! Just show what you gathered.
Visual descriptions of your data are important. Be sure to include figures and tables as appropriate.

Although it might seem like your results are the most important slide, I would argue that it is actually your discussion slide. Whereas in your results section you simply tell your audience what you found, in your discussion section, you need to interpret the results for your audience.

Interpret the data from the results section.
Answer the “why” of the data.
Draw conclusions about the project.
List any limitations of the project.
Discuss future work.

Conclusion / Significance

Finally, we get to the conclusion slide. This is another very important slide as it can be an opportunity to reinforce the takeaway message that you want to give your audience.

Should be a “natural” conclusion. Your presentation should not end abruptly. The audience should feel it coming.
Summarize the major points from your presentation. Be sure to provide your audience with a take-home message.
Summarize the weaknesses of the project. It shows that you can critically think about your own work and makes your audience more sympathetic to your position. Admitting what you would change actually strengthens your position.

How To Give a Dynamic Engineering Presentation

There are two main things to worry about when presenting engineering information in a dynamic and interesting way; the content and yourself.

In my opinion, one of the best ways to convey what makes for a dynamic and engaging presentation is to have you look at one of the worst. What follows is one of the worst presentations I could find on the internet. To set the stage for you, it is from a British show in which people pitch their ideas to a group of investors (it is similar to the American show Shark Tank). I chose this particular clip for a few reasons:

It is supposed to be entrepreneurs getting the opportunity of a lifetime to get their dream invested. They should be excited and passionate by default! The following pitch is atrocious but the product is actually kind of an interesting idea. It seems to me that if she had given a more dynamic and engaging pitch, the investors may have been more interested. In fact, one of the investors says as much. With that out of the way, watch the following pitch from Gayle Blanchflower (I couldn’t find out if this spelling was correct). Note: the video should automatically start at 30:12 for you. If it doesn’t you can skip there. Also, be prepared to answer some questions on what you think went wrong with her pitch.

Discussion 16.2: An atrocious presentation

I am truly sorry for putting you through that. However, I hope you agree that it gives you some ideas of what NOT to do when trying to give a dynamic and interesting presentation. Here are some more tips about both the content of your presentations and tips for you.

Know your audience Your audience will dictate what you are presenting. If you are presenting on the efficacy of vaccines to a group of doctors, you can assume that they know what vaccines are and how they work, therefore, you can leave that information out of the presentation. However, if you are giving the same presentation to a group of middle schoolers, it might be a good idea to include that background information. The key is to know your audience and tailor the presentation to their knowledge.

Convey your excitement If you aren’t excited about your project, your audience surely will not be. Get excited and make your presentation exciting the best that you can.

Tell a story This chapter gives you the basic framework (you can think about it like the beginning, middle, climax, end, or a story) but you need to tell it. The more you can make your presentation flow like a story, the better.

Keep it simple (communicate, don’t obfuscate) Every field has jargon and acronyms that make people feel smart for knowing. Don’t lose your audience in the lingo! This is where knowing your audience is critical but in reality, even scientists and engineers appreciate brief definitions of scientific terminologies and processes.

Set the stage. Clear the podium of distractions. Have whatever tools you need for your presentation ready to go ahead of time.
Get ready to perform Presentations are performances. Know your subject and know your main talking points. Do not memorize a script! Your rehearsing should have been so extensive you don’t need one anyway.
Stride up to podium / stage / front of room. Be proud! Don’t sulk.
Stand tall, keep your chest lifted, and smile. If you aren’t confident by nature, learn to fake it. It goes a long way.
Pay attention to your teammates when it is their turn to talk. Remember, if you look bored, your audience will interpret that as if they should be bored.
Speak loudly and project your voice clearly. For some, this is not natural and will take practice. Good thing you rehearsed so much!
Take your time. A moment or two of silence is a powerful tool.
Talk to the audience, not the screen.
Stay on time.
Rehearse a lot. Remember, there is no such thing as being over-prepared.

PowerPoint Tips

As I stated before for dynamic presentations , I think it is a good idea to look at bad PowerPoint decks to understand what makes the good ones, good. Before moving on, take a look at the slides here: https://www.slideshare.net/Kshivets/...cancer-surgery –4936542. When you have finished looking at those slides, participate in the following discussion prompt before moving on.

Discussion 16.3: A really terrible slide deck

Well after reviewing that horrible slide deck, you should actually probably have a good idea of what makes for a good slide deck. Here are my tips:

Less is more. Less slides, less text. Trim off the fat and concentrate on the coolest most relevant things.
Create sections. Title slides to start new sections can help break the presentation into a logical flow. Specifically, you should use the sections that we discussed earlier in the chapter.
Avoid clutter. 3–5 bullet points per slide at most! Bullets should be keywords, not sentences.
Make it readable for old people. Sans serif fonts. 28–40 point for headline text, 18–28 point for normal text, and 12–14 point font for references is a good place to start.
Ensure that there is a clear contrast between the background and all text.
Use visuals. Steer clear of videos unless completely necessary or exceptionally cool. In my experience, they NEVER work and they take lots of time away from your presentation. Figures are your best bet.
Triple-check your spelling. A sure-fire way to lose credibility is to have typos in your presentation

Improve your practice.

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7 Steps to Delivering a Technical Presentation

June 21, 2021 - Dom Barnard

So you want to share the fruits of your technical labor with a presentation? Perhaps, you’re an engineer, a maker, a coder, or a designer, and you’re looking to discuss a research study, explain a process, or demonstrate a product.

Regardless of the agenda, speaking to a group can be intimidating. However, there are steps you can take to deliver an effective technical presentation that gets your point across and appeals to the audience.

Whether you’re presenting in person or via web conferencing software , the following tips and best practices will help you be prepared, feel more confident, and set up the tools you need to conduct your presentation without any issues.

Know your subject matter

A great presentation isn’t about reading a bunch of slides – your attendees are capable of reading much faster on their own.

If you are going to pack your slides with dozens of details and bullet points, you might as well ditch the slides and write an article instead. It’s difficult for the audience to listen to a presenter and read a lot of information at the same time.

Your job as a presenter is to be the expert that your attendees expect you to be. Keep your slides simple and minimal. In fact, 91% of people say that well-designed slides help boost their confidence when giving a presentation.

Remember that your slides are not the star of the show, you are. Help your audience understand and make sense of what they are reading in your slides. To do this, make sure you are using a suitable structure for your presentation.

You can do these things only when you’re well-versed in what you’re presenting. The slides are supposed to be your outline, or simply a table of contents to remind you what to cover during the presentation.

Know your audience

Knowing your audience is crucial for any presentation, but it’s even more important for a technical one. If your audience is as experienced and comfortable with the topic of your presentation as you are, then you don’t want to dumb it down to the extent that it bores them.

On the other hand, you don’t want to give a complex presentation to an audience with no clue of what you’re talking about.

There may also be times when your attendees are people with different levels of technical skill, experience, and interests. Then your job is to make sure that the content of your presentation is relevant and doesn’t alienate any of those segments.

Image Source: Digital Clarity Group

To understand how technical you need to be, consider what your audience might already know and how much is required for them to understand to meet your goal.

If your objective is to acquire funding, for instance, your audience will be more interested in financial benefits than the technical details of your product. The idea is to meet the needs of your audience, not to fuel your passion for engineering.

Configure your IDE

Since you’re delivering a technical presentation, there may be instances where you’ll want to walk your audience through your development environment, code scripts, software demos, or other technical components.

However, you may have adjusted how things look on the screen according to what’s the most convenient for your usual workflow. And what’s good for working in your day-to-day routine may not render well as you go full screen in presentation mode.

If the attendees can’t decipher what’s on the screen, they’ll get confused and will find it hard to focus on your talk. So it’s important that you customize whatever you’re going to show in your presentation such that it’s easily readable and viewable.

There are several steps you can take to make this happen. First of all, don’t use dark backgrounds. Light-colored backgrounds are easy on the eyes. Second, adjust your font styles and sizes to make sure they’re big enough.

And finally, learn to zoom in on specific areas as required, depending on whether you’re using a Windows PC or a Mac system .

Practice Presentation Skills

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Minimize distractions

Nothing is more annoying than to keep getting disruptive notifications or popups from in the middle of your presentation. These can be from your operating system (Windows or Mac), or apps such as Slack, Email, Twitter, and more.

At times, these notifications can be personal, embarrassing, or contain confidential information that you don’t want your audience to see.

Therefore, it’s best to make sure in advance that there are no unpleasant surprises. Before you get up to give your presentation, turning off your notifications can go a long way.

This will also reduce the number of processes running on your machine and free up available resources. As a result, the resource-intensive programs that are part of your presentation will run a lot smoother. Here’s how to turn off notifications for Windows , Google Chrome , and Mac .

Get the right equipment

If you want to be a master presenter, you should have the proper tools for the job. The basics include a desktop or laptop machine with good configuration, a big display screen, presentation software (usually MS Powerpoint or Keynote), and a clicker/pointer device.

A clicking device, like the Logitech Wireless Presenter , can help you switch slides from wherever you are in the room, point to a specific part of a slide, and add an overall professional touch to your presentation.

In addition, you should have any cables (HDMI, VGA, USD, etc) and adapters required to connect the devices you are going to use for the presentation.

Conrad Delock USB 3.0 Network adapter

If you have no idea about what will be available at your presentation venue, then carry one piece of each of the commonly used cables and adapters. You’ll thank us later.

Rehearse in advance

Practice your slides and your demo multiple times before the presentation, even if you have presented the exact same thing in the past. Do not make any assumptions about your actual presentation environment based on your practice environment.

Technologies and situations change, and you may find things that catch you off guard. Run through everything at least once the night before just to be sure.

Practice your presentations with interactive exercises .

Even better if you can record yourself during these rehearsal presentations and watch the recordings later to find areas of improvement.

Also, if you’re relying on downloading or doing something in front of the audience that may require a high-speed internet connection, don’t assume you’ll have access to such a network during your presentation. Download and install whatever you need ahead of time.

Finally, enjoy the experience

You’re giving a technical presentation, but that doesn’t mean it has to be boring, or that you have to be serious all the time as you talk.

It’s okay to have fun, crack some jokes, tell a story , ask a rhetorical question or invite participation from the audience when presenting. In fact, a study showed that presentations that don’t let the audience participate see a drop of 14% in engagement.

Don’t worry too much about things going wrong. See every presentation as a dialogue with your attendees and an opportunity to learn and be a better presenter. If you are enjoying yourself, so will your audience.

October 26, 2023

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How to Deliver a Memorable Technical Presentation

Master the art of technical presentations, whether it's in your project meeting or an industry conference. Unleash your potential with these invaluable tips to ensure your presentation success.

What's Inside?

Tips to Ace Your Technical Presentation

Let’s say your company launched a SaaS application a few days ago. As head of the team, the onus is on you to spearhead the sales process. And the first step started with drafting a technical presentation explaining the product. Yes, you are a pro who knows all about the technical aspect, and you might be confident too.

But there are several questions you should ponder over

Who will you be presenting to?
How well is everyone aware of SaaS products?
What should be your approach to drive sales and convince people of the product?

The answers to these questions will change the course of your presentation each time because the content will have to be modified accordingly.

Technical presentations are lengthy, specific, and involve complex information/ideas (often dreary and detailed), making them difficult to deliver over non-technical ones. And that’s why they require a different approach, which we have covered in this article.

How to Deliver a Winning Technical Presentation?

Here are some pro tips for creating impeccable slides and leaving your mark.

1. What is the core message and purpose of your presentation?

Structure your presentation around the key goal, which could be anything from sharing information and eliciting feedback to getting funding or a job offer, etc.

Organizing your presentation around a core theme will help your audience identify and follow the central points that support your content.

For instance, if your goal is to present a scientific result, include more information about what the result means and how it can be used rather than focusing on your methodology.

Or if your goal is to elicit response/feedback on some experiment, focus more on the methods, i.e., advantages, disadvantages of different models, your assumptions, how your model is more useful, etc.

Tell your audience what you want them to do. Why should they do it, and how?

2. Who is your audience?

Knowing your people (audience analysis) will help you stick to the right chord.

It will also help you know how much technical jargon you can rely on and whether images and analogies would suit the audience better.

Your audience might be diverse (investors, clients, customers, etc.) with different interests, knowledge bases, goals, and concerns. And, mind you, they are as central to your presentation as you are. So, know as much as you can about them and structure your presentation accordingly. Highlight how your message overlaps with what these people care about, and remember to include the diverse backgrounds and experiences in the introductory part. And you will have everyone’s attention right from the start.

3. Define a clear outline

You can divide the content into three sections for clear structure and easy comprehension. The first section gives an outline/summary of the main topic and illustrates why it was important enough to become the subject.

The second part can elaborate on the main subject with its minute technical details and everything that the audience needs to know.

The third section can highlight the resolution, solution, CTA, and course of action to the problem presented.

An effective presentation is not one where you detail every possible information about the topic or include as many issues as possible. It is when you can get people to build understanding and support for your central message.

4. Take help of everything that can explain the concept

For any presentation, words/text are not enough. And it becomes all the more imperative in a technical presentation slide.

According to a survey, people prefer 1/4th of the slide composed of text at most.

Since you will have to use jargon here and there, you can’t rely just on your speech. Use pre-designed PowerPoint templates comprising graphs, diagrams, animations, videos, infographics, etc., to help people understand technical concepts and information clearly. You can also use other experiential methods like prototypes, handmade models, or real-time experiments.

For a better understanding, go through this video showcasing paper prototyping of a mobile application :

5. Remember to be consistent

When your presentation slides differ in size, display, structure, etc., it can distract or confuse people and make them lose attention. Creating a consistent theme is important to help people focus and keep your presentation aligned.

Take the help of these tips to incorporate consistency in your work-

Go for colors that complement each other, following the preferred color scheme.
Choose fonts that are easy to read in a presentation or digital content like Serif or Sans-serif.
Go for the same layout for a similar kind of content. Use one kind of layout for cover slides, one kind for section introduction, and one for content slides. It will help your audience categorize the content and know where to look for what information.

And, of course, don’t forget how immensely it will help you as a presenter.

And yes, keep your presentation short – not more than 10 slides. You can go for the 10/20/30 rule, i.e., 10 slides, 20 minutes, and 30 font size.

6. Leave space for questions and queries

Since your presentation is technical and the audience might be diverse, be prepared to answer questions. The major cause of anxiety before a presentation is a lack of preparation. Being thorough with the subject matter will also aid you in answering any questions being asked, apart from avoiding presentation jitters.

Allocate a well-designated time to interact with the audience. You can also do that during the course of the presentation if it doesn’t interfere with your speech. It will keep people engaged and alert as they get small windows to pose queries throughout.

7. Practice sessions

You might be confident about your content, but when you speak/deliver, your words and ideas might come out in a different way and not as you intend.

It could so happen that you are not too good with voice modulation or at specifying relevant points. That’s why it is imperative that you have multiple practice talks before delivering the presentation.

Keep your practice audience small and diverse so that you get relevant opinions and everyone has something to share.

You can share hard copies and remember to number your slides as well. It will help people annotate them and return them at the end. You can videotape yourself as well to see how you come across and improve accordingly.

8. A few quick tips

Keep in mind where you want to take your audience through the presentation. What perspective shift do you seek?

Do you want them to invest in the product? Or is it just an internal meeting highlighting the attributes of the product?

WIIFY is an acronym for What’s in It for You. Make sure you present it to your audience. For example, in the case of the SAAS application, your WIIFY to your potential investors would be - Investing in our product will get you an excellent ROI.

Let them know the USP of your proposition and the concept you are presenting. For example, you could highlight your USP as the one place for everything from website development to QA testing.

Use a short statement to capture everyone’s attention. It may be anecdotes, statistics, analogies, aphorisms, a question, etc.

For example, you could start with a statement like - Keep track of how many times I shall say ‘if’ when I explain the success of this product.

Or an analogy like - SAAS is like traveling by train where you have assigned routes and co-ride with other passengers.

Do’s and Dont's

The presentation should start with the motivation, i.e., why this particular thing needs to be presented.
Every presentation slide should contain only relevant information and not more than that.
Titles should be enough on their own (self-explanatory); the rest of the text should be there to support the visuals, comprising relevant graphs, charts, histograms, etc.
And most importantly, the audience properly understands the message the presenter desires to convey. Also, be mindful of overusing jargon.

In a Nutshell

Be thorough about the topic, learn about your audience, take the help of props and visual aids, and structure your presentation well. Don’t forget to interact with your audience as and when you get the chance. Also, make sure your audience knows what to do with the information you shared, i.e., give them a proper course of action.

Keeping these points in mind will help you create a coherent technical presentation that can serve its purpose.

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Technical Presentation

Structure diagram, criteria for success.

The presentation starts with the motivating problem for the research and why it’s being presented.
Every slide shows something relevant to the motivating problem.
Every slide shows no more information than necessary to convey the message.
Slide titles stand on their own; other text supports the visuals.
The audience takes away the presenter’s desired message .

Identify Your Message and Purpose

Identify your message and goals as a presenter and use them to organize your presentation. Your message is what you wish to convey to the audience, and is your primary goal. Other goals could include eliciting feedback, receiving a job offer, etc. Use your goals to structure your presentation, making it easier for the audience to follow your logic and identify important points that support your goals.

For example, if your goal is to communicate a new scientific result, focus on the results and broader implications rather than your methodology. Specific methods should take a back seat (e.g. “I measured key material properties,” rather than “I found the thermal decomposition temperature and profile”). Spend more time focusing on what the result means, and how it can be used.

Alternatively, if your goal is to elicit feedback from colleagues on an experimental apparatus, focus more on the experimental methods. Compare the advantages and disadvantages to alternatives. Explain your assumptions, base models and why your proposed experimental design will give more useful results than other designs would.

In less formal settings such as lab meetings, you can explicitly tell your audience what you’re looking for (e.g., “I’d appreciate feedback on my experimental methods”).

Analyze Your Audience

Understanding your audience is of paramount importance for a successful presentation. Highlight how your goals overlap with what audience cares about, so they receive your message. A well-designed presentation will steer the audience’s attention such that you can lead them to the exact point that you want them to take away.

Different audiences have different goals for attending a presentation, and therefore pay attention to different things. For example, at the same talk, an engineer may be interested in using your result to solve their problem, a scientist in the broader scientific advance, a venture capitalist in its impact as a novel product, and clinician about how your device could improve their patients’ care. The introduction of your presentation should speak to the range of backgrounds and experiences in your audience.

That being said, often an audience consists of people with similar backgrounds and interests. Therefore, identify whether jargon is appropriate for an audience, and to what extent. Consider whether other methods, such as images or analogies, are more appropriate to convey concepts that would otherwise rely on jargon.

Plan Out the Presentation

Presentations are constrained by the fact that they progress linearly in time, unlike a written piece of communication, where the reader may jump forwards and backwards to get at the information they seek. Outline the content of the entire presentation first, then begin to design the slides, rather than jumping straight into them.

Lay out the order in which the content needs to be presented to achieve your goals, such that your message flows from point to point, topic to topic. This order may be very different from the structure of the journal paper you’ve already written.

Start by motivating your work with a problem that everyone cares about. Then develop your message step by step, from the background to the final message, so the logic flows clearly.

In many cases (depending on the audience), it might be most appropriate to reveal your conclusions up-front, so that the audience can tie everything else in the presentation back to supporting those conclusions. For instance, technology-focused program managers or engineering sponsors are likely most interested in your results, which will determine whether they are interested enough to pay attention to your process and justification. By contrast, certain scientific communities appreciate being taken through your scientific process to develop their own conclusions before you present yours.

Because the audience cannot immediately see a presentation’s structure like they can with a paper, it is often a good idea to provide a high-level roadmap of the presentation early on. At key points throughout the presentation, remind them of where they are on the roadmap.

Connect Your Work Back to the Broader Motivation

At the beginning of your talk, develop the broader context for your work and lay out the motivating questions you aim to answer. The audience should understand how your answers have an impact on the broader context, and why a solution was not immediately possible without your work.

At the next level down, when showing data and results, make sure it’s clear what they contribute to answering the motivating questions.

Anticipate Questions

If your audience is following along with your presentation, they’ll likely have questions about why you made certain decisions or didn’t make others. Sometimes, the questions could arise from what you’ve said and presented. Other times, they’ll arise from a listener’s knowledge of the field and the problem that you’re working on.

While you design your presentation, think about what kinds of questions may come up, and identify how you will address them. For less formal talks, you can anticipate interruptions to discuss these questions, whereas for more formal talks you should make sure that none of the questions are so big that they’ll preoccupy your listeners. For big questions, decide if you’ll explicitly address them in your talk. For smaller ones, consider adding back-up slides that address the issue.

Remember – while you know all of the information that is coming up in your talk, the audience probably does not. If they develop a question that doesn’t get addressed clearly, they could get distracted from the rest of the points you make.

You can use questions to create strong transitions: “seed” the listener’s thought process with the questions you’re about to answer in an upcoming slide. If a listener develops a question, and then you answer it immediately after, your message will stick much better!

Each Slide Should Convey a Single Point

Keep your message streamlined—make a single point per slide. This gives you control over the pace and logic of the talk and keeps everyone in the audience on the same page. Do not be afraid of white space—it focuses your audience’s attention.

The slide title should identify where you are on your roadmap and what topic the question the slide is answering. In other words, the audience should know exactly where in the presentation and what the slide answers just from the slide title.

Strong Titles Tell a Message

Strong titles highlight where on the roadmap you are, and hint at what question the slide is answering. Weak titles tend to be vague nouns that could be used across many slides or presentations. A rule of thumb is your title should be a clear, single-line phrase illustrating the importance of the slide.

Note that different mechanical engineering fields have different preferences for titles that are phrases versus full sentences. In general, design, system, or product-focused presentations tend to have short titles that only highlight what the speaker is saying, allowing audiences to focus more on the body of the slide, which is usually a figure. In other fields, a strong title might instead be a full sentence that states a message.

Emphasize Visuals

When a new slide is presented, most people will shift their attention from what you’re saying to the slide. People can often interpret figures and listen, but not read text and listen simultaneously. The more words on the slide, the less control you have over your audience’s attention. If you are reading words off the slide, you’ve lost the audience’s attention completely—they’ll just read the slide too.

Use brief statements and keywords to highlight and support the slide’s individual point. Slides are a visual medium, so use them for figures, equations, and as few words as possible to convey the meaning of the slide.

If you have a block of text on your slide, ask yourself what the takeaway message is, and what is the necessary supporting material (data, analysis). Then, identify how text can be reduced to still support your point clearly. Consider…

Replacing text with figures, tables, or lists.
Eliminating all but key words and phrases, and speaking the bulk of the text instead.
Breaking up the slide into multiple slides with more visuals.

Replace blocks of text with easy-to-read pictures, tables or diagrams.

Left: The original slide provides specific information as text, but makes it easy for both speaker and audience to read directly off the slide, often leading to a distracted audience.

Right: The improved slide conveys the same information with a simple graphic and keywords, conveying the chronology more clearly, and allowing the reader to speak the same information without reading off the slide.

Simplify Figures

The purpose of a figure is to convey a message visually, whether it be supporting evidence or a main point. Your audience usually gives you the benefit of the doubt and assumes that whatever you show in the figure is important for them to understand. If you show too much detail, your audience will get distracted from the important point you want them to gather.

An effective presentation figure is often not one made for a paper. Unlike you scrutinizing your own data or reading an academic paper, your audience doesn’t have a long time to pore over the figure. To maximize its effectiveness, ask yourself what minimum things need to be shown for the figure to make its point. Remove anything that doesn’t illuminate the point to avoid distraction. Simplify data labels, and add emphasis to key parts using colors, arrows, or labels.

Additionally, presentations offer different opportunities than papers do for presenting data. You can use transitions on your slides to sequentially introduce new pieces of information to your slide, such as adding data to a plot, highlighting different parts of an experiment (or equation), or introducing text concepts as bullets.

Simplify data, simplify labels for emphasis.

Top: Academic referees and peers would prefer to see the complete theoretical model and experimental data (top), so they can interpret it for themselves. In addition, in papers, space is limited, while time to digest is not.

Bottom: But in a presentation, simplifying the data makes it easy to focus on the feature of interests for the presentation, or even at that moment (different regions may be highlighted from slide to slide). Slides provide plenty of space, while time is at a premium. [Adapted from Wind-Willassen et al., Phys. Fluids 25, 082002 (2013); doi:10.1063/1.4817612]

Introduce Your Data

Make sure your audience will be able to understand your data before you show it. They should know what the axes will be, what points in the plot generally represents, and what pattern or signal they’re looking for. If you’re showing a figure common to a specific audience, you may not need to explain as much. But if you show the data before the audience knows how to read it, they’ll stop listening to you, and instead scrutinize the figure, hoping that a knitted brow will help them understand.

If you are worried your audience won’t understand your data, one approach is to show sketches of what the data would should like if your hypothesis were true or false. Then show your real data.

For an audience unfamiliar with cyclic battery testing as a way to measure corrosion, first show a slide explaining how the electrical signal would appear without corrosion ( top ) before showing the slide with the actual data ( bottom ). Use parallel design across the explanation and data slides. This way, the audience is introduced to the logic of the experiments and how to draw conclusions from the data, making them more likely to follow and agree with the point made on the second slide. [Adapted from AAE2]

Be Critical of Visual and Textual Jargon

If there are discipline-accepted symbols, for example in fluid or electrical schematics, using them is an effective tool to simplify your visual for people in your field. However, if these may be unknown to a significant portion of your audience, be sure to add a descriptive keyword, label or legend.

Use simple, consistent visual design

A clean set of slides will minimize visual noise, focus the audience’s attention and improve the continuity between what you’re showing and telling. The graphical design is also important for setting the tone and professionalism of the presentation.

Are colors related to each other? Do some carry intrinsic meaning (e.g. blue = cold, water, red = hot)?
Are you using colors that are well-represented when projected?
Are your color choices appropriate for colorblind members of the audience? Can you textures or line/point styles to differentiate data instead?
Spread out elements on a slide to use space effectively—don’t be afraid of white space! By limiting the amount of information on a slide, you can control what your audience will focus on at each moment in time.
Use your software’s alignment and centering features.
When items are grouped as a list, make sure they actually belong under a helpful unifying theme.
Make sure all text and figures are legible to the back of the room.

Resources and Annotated Examples

Annotated example 1.

This is a technical presentation given by MechE graduate students for a system design class. 13 MB

Annotated Example 2

This presentation was given by a MechE PhD student during interviews for postdoc positions. 1 MB

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7.4: Technical Descriptions and Definitions

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Mechanism Descriptions: provide a detailed overview the physical aspects of a tool, machine or other mechanical device that has moving parts and is designed to perform a specific function. These could be product descriptions for sales or manufacturing, documentation of design specifications, info-graphics, etc . This chapter focuses in detail on this kind of description.
Process Descriptions: detail a series of events ( natural/biological/ecological, mechanical, social, or psychological phenomenon ) that happen in particular sequence in order to achieve a specific outcome. These can be categorized into non-instructional processes (such as a process analyses of how an internal combustion engine works, or natural processes like photosynthesis) and instructional process (such as recommended/required procedures and explicit step-by-step instructions to be followed). (See Section 7.7 for detailed information on Writing Instructions ).
Definitions: clarify the specific meaning, often related to a specific context, or express the essential nature of the terms being defined. These can range in length from a simple clarifying phrase to an extended document of several pages. Definitions will often include detailed descriptions and visuals to illustrate ideas. Click on the link below to view a student PowerPoint presentation on how to write effective definitions for technical purposes. This presentation is included with express permission of the student.

Definitions in Technical Writing – Sample student presentation (.pdf)

Technical Description of a Mechanism

Mechanism descriptions should provide a clear understanding of the object being described, including

General appearance and physical properties
Overall function/purpose
Component parts
How the parts interact to create a functioning whole.

The reader should be able to clearly picture, and therefore understand, the nature of the object being described, what it does, and how it works.

In order to achieve this clarity for the reader, the writer must choose significant details and organize information logically. Select details that can be described precisely and measurably, such as

Once you have your purpose and audience clearly in focus, draft a description that includes the following elements:

Definition : What is it, and what is its main purpose?
Overview : Describe the mechanism’s overall appearance (“big picture” description of its overall size, shape, general appearance).
Components : Describe the main component parts in labelled sections; consider the order of information carefully here. Create a logical connection between each component described.
Explanation: how do the parts work together to fulfill its function? What key principles govern its functioning? Consider how much detail is necessary here for your intended audience.
Visuals: include graphics that clearly illustrate the mechanism and/or its parts. Show the device as a whole; consider showing specific details in expanded views, cut-aways, or labelled diagrams. You may even embed or link to videos showing the device in action.
Conclusion : depending on the purpose, you might review product’s history, availability, manufacturing, costs, warnings, etc .)
References : Sources you have used in your description, or additional sources of information available (if relevant).

Sample Descriptions

Examine the description of the “Up Goer Five” in Figure 7.4.2 (click on image for larger version). Who might the intended audience be?

Blueprint of rocket, labeled using silly-sounding simplistic language such as "fire comes out here"

Compare the description in Figure 7.4.2 to the information given on the NASA website about the Mars Curiosity Rover .

In refining the details of your description and its component parts, consider the following:

Steps in a process it completes
Top to bottom (or foundation upward)
Left to right (or right to left)
Inside to outside (or outside to inside)
Most important to least important features
Central component to peripherals
Material properties, etc .
Use correct terminology – define terms as necessary for your audience
Use analogy to describe an unfamiliar thing in terms of a familiar thing
Use objective language – no “ad speak” or subjective terms
Use present tense, active verbs to describe how the device appears and what it does
Use words that create vivid and specific pictures in the reader’s mind.

Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\): Practice technical description

R. Sturnback and M. Okuna, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Technical Manual . New York: Pocket Books, 1991. ↵
R. Munroe, "Up Goer Five" [Online]. Available: https://xkcd.com/1133/ Also see "1133 Up Goer Five - explained," Explain xkcd wiki [Online]. Available: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1133:_Up_Goer_Five . CC-BY-NC 2.5 . ↵
[Corkscrew and bicycle images]. [Online]. Available: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dogbomb/527733767 and https://www.flickr.com/photos/8205548@N08/4607907389 . CC BY 2.0 . ↵

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7.5 Technical Descriptions and Definitions

Knowledge test.

Take this short quiz to find out what you already know about Technical Descriptions and Definitions.

Knowledge Check

Mechanism Descriptions: Provide a detailed overview of the physical aspects of a tool, machine or other mechanical device that has moving parts and is designed to perform a specific function. These could be product descriptions for sales or manufacturing, documentation of design specifications, infographics, etc. This chapter focuses in detail on this kind of description.
Process Descriptions: Detail a series of events (natural/biological/ecological, mechanical, social, or psychological phenomenon) that happen in a particular sequence in order to achieve a specific outcome. These can be categorized into non-instructional processes (such as a process that analyses how an internal combustion engine works, or natural processes like photosynthesis) and instructional processes (such as recommended/required procedures and explicit step-by-step instructions to be followed). (See Section 7.7 for detailed information on Writing Instructions ).
Definitions: Clarify the specific meaning, often related to a specific context, or express the essential nature of the terms being defined. These can range in length from a simple clarifying phrase to a glossary, to an extended document of several pages. Definitions will often include detailed descriptions and visuals to illustrate ideas. Extended definitions are created using various rhetorical strategies: classification, exemplification, analogy and comparison, history, and components, along with relevant visuals. You can find a good example of such a description on the NASA Mars Perseverance Rover site; the overview of the spacecraft that conveyed the Perseverance Rover to Mars includes various rhetorical strategies. Can you pick them out? Click on the link below to view a student PowerPoint presentation on how to write effective definitions for technical purposes. This presentation is included with the express permission of the student.

( Technical Definitions , 2015)

Definitions in Technical Writing – Student Presentation

Technical Description of a Mechanism

Mechanism descriptions should provide a clear understanding of the object being described, including

General appearance and physical properties
Overall function/purpose
Component parts
How the parts interact to create a functioning whole.

The reader should be able to clearly picture, and therefore understand, the nature of the object being described, what it does, and how it works.

In order to achieve this clarity for the reader, the writer must choose significant details and organize information logically. Select details that can be described precisely and measurably, such as

Before you begin to draft your description, you must consider your purpose and audience : Why does your audience need this description? What will they use it for? For example, are you describing different types of solar panels for the average consumer to help them choose the one that best fits their needs? Are you giving schematics to technicians and installers?

Once you have your purpose and audience clearly in focus, draft a description that includes the following elements:

Definition : What is it, and what is its main purpose?
Overview : Describe the mechanism’s overall appearance (“big picture”).
Components : Describe the main component parts in labeled sections; consider the order of information carefully here. Create a logical connection between each component described.
Explanation: How do the parts work together to fulfill their function? What key principles govern its functioning? Consider how much detail is necessary here for your intended audience.
Visuals: Include graphics that clearly illustrate the mechanism and/or its parts. Show the device as a whole; consider showing specific details in expanded views, cut-aways, or labeled diagrams. You may even embed or link to videos showing the device in action.
Conclusion : Depending on the purpose, you might review the product’s availability, manufacturing, costs, warnings, etc.)
References : Include sources you have used in your description, or additional sources of information available (if relevant), including specifications, codes, regulations, and manufacturer’s datasheets.

Physical characteristics, such as temperature, dimensions, weight, and distance are customarily noted with numerical information that must be written with consistency and accuracy. Learning about technical notations will help you answer questions like: “When do I spell out a number and when do I use a numeral?” “Do I place a space between a number and the value?” “Do I add an ‘s’ for multiples of any value; for example, do I add an ‘s’ to ‘cm’ for centimeters over one?” For a primer on technical notations, see the IEEE article: Using Numbers in Technical Documents (Elliott, 2016). Also check out the APA Style section: Numbers (2019).

Sample Descriptions

Examine the description of the “Up Goer Five” in Figure 7.4.2 (click on image for larger version). Who might the intended audience be?

Figure 7.4.2 A description of the blueprints for NASA’s Saturn Five rocket using only the 1000 most commonly-used English words (Munroe, n.d.).

Compare the description in Figure 7.4.2 to the information given on the NASA website about the Mars Curiosity Rover .

In refining the details of your description and its component parts, consider the following:

Top to bottom (or foundation upward)
Left to right (or right to left)
Inside to outside (or outside to inside)
Most important to least important features
Central component to peripherals
Material properties, etc.
Use correct terminology and notations – define terms as necessary for your audience
Use analogy to describe an unfamiliar thing in terms of a familiar thing
Use objective language – no “ad speak” or subjective terms
Use present tense, active verbs to describe how the device appears and what it does
Use words that create vivid and specific pictures in the reader’s mind.

EXERCISE 7.4.1 Practice technical description

Choose a common, everyday object (such as one of the objects in Figure 7.4.4 ) and draft a technical description for an audience unfamiliar with the object. Start by imagining a target audience and purpose, and then try filling in the Technical Description Template with detailed information. Using the information in your template, draft a short description of 1-2 paragraphs, and add properly-captioned visuals.

Figure 7.4.4 Common objects for practice description. Sources: Corkscrew and bicycle images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dogbomb/527733767 and https://www.flickr.com/photos/8205548@N08/4607907389 . CC BY 2.0 .

How to Develop Your Descriptions (McMurrey, 1997-2017)

The ability to explain complex, technical matters with ease, grace, and simplicity so that nonspecialist readers understand almost effortlessly is one of the most important skills you can develop as a technical writer. This ability to “translate” difficult-to-read technical discussions is important because so much of technical writing is aimed at nonspecialist audiences. These audiences include important people such as supervisors, executives, investors, financial officers, government officials, and, of course, customers.

Here are some strategies for “translating” technical discussions, that is, specific strategies you can use to make difficult technical discussions easier for nonspecialist readers to understand.

You use your understanding of your audience to decide

What information to include in the document
What information to exclude from the document
How to discuss the information you do include in the document

Translating is particularly important because it means supplying the right kinds of information to make up for the reader’s lack of knowledge or capability. Translating thus enables readers to understand and use your document. Some combination of the techniques discussed in this chapter should help you create a readable, understandable translation:

This list by no means exhausts the possibilities. Other techniques include:

Headings. See the section on using headings that break up text and emphasize points and on how to construct headings that guide readers from section to section.
Lists. See the section on constructing lists that break up text and emphasize points and on how to construct headings that guide readers from section to section.

Definitions of unfamiliar terms

Defining potentially unfamiliar terms in a report is one of the most important ways to make up for readers’ lack of knowledge in the report subject.

Comparisons to familiar things

Comparing technical concepts to ordinary and familiar things in our daily lives makes them easier to understand. For example, things in the world of electronics and computer—a downright intimidating area for many people—can be compared to channels of water, the five senses of the human body, gates and pathways, or other common things. Notice how comparison (highlighted) is used in these passages:

Elaborating the process

Explaining in detail the processes involved in the report subject can also help readers. Consider a paragraph like this one, containing only a sketchy reference to the process:

This brief reference can be converted into a more complete explanation as is illustrated here:

Providing descriptive detail

Descriptions also help nonspecialist readers by making the report discussion more concrete and down-to-earth:

Providing illustrations

Illustrations—typically, simple diagrams—can help readers understand technical descriptions and explanations of processes. You can see the use of illustration in the FAS example above: epicanthic folds and the philtrum are labels in the diagram.

Providing examples and applications

Equally useful in translating complex or abstract technical discussions are examples or explanations of how a thing can be used. For example, if you are trying to explain a LINUX command, showing how it is used in an example program helps readers greatly. If you are explaining a new design for a solar heating and cooling system, showing its application in a specific home can help also.

Now here is a passage with a longer, extended example:

Shorter sentences and paragraphs

As simple a technique as it may seem, reducing the length of sentences can make a technical discussion easier to understand. Consider the following pairs of example passages, the second versions of which contain shorter sentences. (The passage still needs other translating techniques, particularly definitions, but the shorter sentences do make it more readable.) Notice too that shorter paragraphs can help in the translation process, not only in the example below but throughout this chapter.

Original version: longer sentences

Revised version: shorter sentences

Stronger transitions and overviews

Transitions and overviews guide readers through text. In difficult technical material, transitions and overviews are important. (For in-depth discussion, see transitions .)

Repetition of key words. As unlikely as it may seem, using the same words for the same ideas is a critical technique for comprehension in technical discussions. In other words, don’t refer to the hard drive as a “fixed-disk drive” one place and as “DASD” (an old IBM term meaning direct access stationary drive) in another. Same goes for verbs: stick with either “boot up” or “system reset,” and don’t vary.
Arrangement of key words. Equally important is how you introduce keywords in sentences. If your focus stays on the topic in each sentence of a paragrah, place the keyword at or near the beginning of the second and following sentences. However, if the topic focus shifts from one sentence to the next, use the old-to-new pattern: start the following sentence with the old topic and end the sentence with the new topic. For more detail, see the discussion of topic strings .
Transition words and phrases. Examples of transition words and phrases are “for example,” “however,” and so on. When the discussion is particularly difficult and when repetition and arrangement of keywords is not enough, use transition words and phrases. See transitions .
Reviews of topics covered and topics to be covered. At certain critical moments within and between paragraph (or groups of paragraphs) occurs a transitional device that either captures what has been discussed in a short phrase, previews what is to be discussed in the following paragraphs, or both. The latter device is also called a topic sentence.

The “in-other-words” technique

Another way of translating technically difficult content is to give the reader two “looks” at the same idea by restating the difficult-to-understand version in simpler terms. The second, simpler explanation is often preceded by a phrase such as “in other words” (IOW). Here are two examples of this IOW technique:

Posing rhetorical questions

In technical writing, you occasionally see questions posed to the readers. Such questions are not there for readers to answer; they are meant to stimulate readers’ curiosity, renew their interest, introduce a new section of the discussion, or allow for a pause:

Explaining the importance

Some translating techniques work because they motivate readers. Sometimes readers need to be talked into concentrating on difficult technical discussion: one way is to explain to them or to remind them of the importance of what is being discussed. In this example, the last paragraph emphasizes the importance):

Providing historical background

Discussion of the historical background of a technical subject helps readers because it gives them less technical, more general, and sometimes more familiar information. It gives them a base of understanding from which to launch into the more difficult sections of the discussion:

Reviewing theoretical background

To understand some phenomena, technologies, or their applications, readers must first understand the principle or theory behind them. Theoretical discussions need not be over the heads of nonspecialist readers. Discussion of theory is often little more than explanation of the root causes and effects at work in a phenomenon or mechanism. In this example, the writer establishes the theory and then can go on to discuss the findings that have come about through the use of NMR on living tissue.

Combining the translating techniques

This last section concludes the techniques for translating difficult technical prose to be presented here. However, take a look at writing in fields you know about, and look for other kinds of translating techniques used there. Now, here are several extended passages of technical writing that combine several of these strategies.

American Psychological Association. (2019, September). Numbers. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/numbers

Brightwell, S. (2015). Writing Definitions. Slideshare . https://www.slideshare.net/safwanb/technical-defintions

Brightwell, S. (2015). Writing technical descriptions. Slideshare. https://www.slideshare.net/safwanb/writing-techn ical-descriptions-50178324

[Corkscrew and bicycle images]. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dogbomb/527733767 and https://www.flickr.com/photos/8205548@N08/4607907389 . CC BY 2.0.

Elliott, C. M. (2016, March 16). Using numbers in technical documents. IEEE PRO COM. https://procomm.ieee.org/using-numbers-in-technical-documents-2/

Israel, R. (2020). Getting creative with organizing principles for blogs. Say it for you . https://www.sayitforyou.net/checklist-for-business-blog-writers/getting-creative-with-organizing-principles-for-blogs/

McMurrey, D. (1997-2017). Translating technical discussions. In Online technical writing. https://mcmassociates.io/textbook/translating.html

Morton, Isaac. (n.d.). Definitions in technical writing. PPT.

Munroe, R. (n.d.). “Up Goer Five”. https://xkcd.com/1133/ Also see “1133 Up Goer Five – explained.” Explain xkcd wiki. https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1133:_Up_Goer_Five . CC-BY-NC 2.5.

NASA. (n.d.). Spacecraft. Mars Curiosity Rover. https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/spacecraft/rover/summary/

NASA. (2020). Spacecraft. Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover. https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/overview/

Sturnback, R. & Okuna, M. (1991). Star Trek: The Next Generation: Technical manual. New York: Pocket Books.

Technical Writing Essentials Copyright © 2019 by Suzan Last (Original Author) Robin L. Potter (Adapter) Tricia Nicola Hylton (H5P) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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7. COMMON DOCUMENT TYPES

7.4 Technical Descriptions and Definitions

Mechanism Descriptions: provide a detailed overview the physical aspects of a tool, machine or other mechanical device that has moving parts and is designed to perform a specific function. These could be product descriptions for sales or manufacturing, documentation of design specifications, info-graphics, etc . This chapter focuses in detail on this kind of description.
Process Descriptions: detail a series of events ( natural/biological/ecological, mechanical, social, or psychological phenomenon ) that happen in particular sequence in order to achieve a specific outcome. These can be categorized into non-instructional processes (such as a process analyses of how an internal combustion engine works, or natural processes like photosynthesis) and instructional process (such as recommended/required procedures and explicit step-by-step instructions to be followed). (See Section 7.7 for detailed information on Writing Instructions ).
Definitions: clarify the specific meaning, often related to a specific context, or express the essential nature of the terms being defined. These can range in length from a simple clarifying phrase to an extended document of several pages. Definitions will often include detailed descriptions and visuals to illustrate ideas. Click on the link below to view a student PowerPoint presentation on how to write effective definitions for technical purposes. This presentation is included with express permission of the student.

Definitions in Technical Writing – Sample student presentation (.pdf)

Technical Description of a Mechanism

Mechanism descriptions should provide a clear understanding of the object being described, including

General appearance and physical properties
Overall function/purpose
Component parts
How the parts interact to create a functioning whole.

The reader should be able to clearly picture, and therefore understand, the nature of the object being described, what it does, and how it works.

In order to achieve this clarity for the reader, the writer must choose significant details and organize information logically. Select details that can be described precisely and measurably, such as

Once you have your purpose and audience clearly in focus, draft a description that includes the following elements:

Definition : What is it, and what is its main purpose?
Overview : Describe the mechanism’s overall appearance (“big picture” description of its overall size, shape, general appearance).
Components : Describe the main component parts in labelled sections; consider the order of information carefully here. Create a logical connection between each component described.
Explanation: how do the parts work together to fulfill its function? What key principles govern its functioning? Consider how much detail is necessary here for your intended audience.
Visuals: include graphics that clearly illustrate the mechanism and/or its parts. Show the device as a whole; consider showing specific details in expanded views, cut-aways, or labelled diagrams. You may even embed or link to videos showing the device in action.
Conclusion : depending on the purpose, you might review product’s history, availability, manufacturing, costs, warnings, etc .)
References : Sources you have used in your description, or additional sources of information available (if relevant).

Sample Descriptions

Examine the description of the “Up Goer Five” in Figure 7.4.2 (click on image for larger version). Who might the intended audience be?

Compare the description in Figure 7.4.2 to the information given on the NASA website about the Mars Curiosity Rover .

In refining the details of your description and its component parts, consider the following:

Steps in a process it completes
Top to bottom (or foundation upward)
Left to right (or right to left)
Inside to outside (or outside to inside)
Most important to least important features
Central component to peripherals
Material properties, etc .
Use correct terminology – define terms as necessary for your audience
Use analogy to describe an unfamiliar thing in terms of a familiar thing
Use objective language – no “ad speak” or subjective terms
Use present tense, active verbs to describe how the device appears and what it does
Use words that create vivid and specific pictures in the reader’s mind.

EXERCISE 7.2 Practice technical description

R. Sturnback and M. Okuna, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Technical Manual . New York: Pocket Books, 1991. ↵
R. Munroe, "Up Goer Five" [Online]. Available: https://xkcd.com/1133/ Also see "1133 Up Goer Five - explained," Explain xkcd wiki [Online]. Available: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1133:_Up_Goer_Five . CC-BY-NC 2.5 . ↵
[Corkscrew and bicycle images]. [Online]. Available: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dogbomb/527733767 and https://www.flickr.com/photos/8205548@N08/4607907389. CC BY 2.0 . ↵

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Presentations

Communication, facilitation, powerspeaking blog: tips and strategies for crafting presentations, deliver more powerful technical presentations: 8 techniques.

by Ralf Wolter Aug 4, 2022 1:36:00 PM

Before moving into training and coaching, I was an IT Consulting Engineer for 25-plus years. To this day, I have a left-brain bent. But I remember the experience that changed my perspective on what makes a powerful technical communicator (hint: it involves both hemispheres).

I was watching a very senior engineer at Cisco give a technical presentation. This engineer was so senior and well-regarded, he held a prestigious Fellow position at the high-tech company.

What struck me was that he was so good at illustrating his points and keeping the audience rapt. I approached him after his talk and asked him, ‘What’s your secret sauce?’ He said, ‘Whenever I give a technical talk, I start by explaining in a way that my mum would understand it.’

I really liked the way he dove into deep technical detail only after he introduced the concepts with brief, compelling stories and vivid analogies. To me, that was a perfect way to make sure everyone understands what you’re talking about, without dumbing down the content.

What I’ve learned since then is that this kind of approach to technical presenting doesn’t take away from the content expert’s credibility; as a matter of fact, it adds to it, especially if they’re addressing a mixed audience.

Delivering clear, complex data in a meaningful way to the people and businesses impacted is more important than ever—at work and in our communities.

To do it well, you might need to rethink some of the hallmark left-brain preconceptions about how to craft and deliver your talk. But trust me, it’s well worth the journey.

Here are our top pointers . . .

1. Start With Your Audience in Mind

Who are you presenting to, and how is your main message or proposal relevant to them? How much detail do they really want or need? Your technical peers might be happy to dive into lots of detailed data. But how about a mixed audience of engineers, salespeople, and potential customers? Or maybe senior executives , who just want the bottom line?

For example, let’s say you’re presenting to a mixed audience. The best strategy would be to organize your presentation so you begin with a big-picture overview and main message/proposal for the non-technical people; then a strategic level of detail for technical managers and technical specialists outside your area; and last, a deep dive for content experts who are familiar with your work.

Senior-level executives prefer content focused on the overall impact of your data or proposal: the cost, ROI, and benefits. They want the high-level view, with executive summaries, solutions, and future business implications. (Check out our downloadable PDF, “ How to Present to Executives: 23 Proven Tips ”)

Non-technical audiences and technical people in different disciplines also appreciate higher-level content. In addition, they typically want to know how what you’re presenting will affect them directly. Will it impact their workload or priorities? Will it delay other projects they’re working on? Will it shift roles or responsibilities?

Technical audiences want content rich in detailed data analysis, design specifications, theory, and statistics. They expect you to know the jargon and to use technical terms. They want to know about the research behind your data, and they appreciate information such as algorithms, process-flow diagrams, feature lists, and coding examples.

One presenter we worked with noted that with mixed audiences, he starts by announcing, "Today, I'll be doing a split-level presentation. The first 10 minutes will be a big-picture, market-focused summary. In the next 10 minutes, I will provide an overview of the technology involved. In the last 10 minutes I will go into the detail and present the results of our code review. Feel free to leave before the next level of detail if that is not what you want."

So remember, consider your audience before you get too far in crafting your presentation. By doing so, you will be more . . .

Engaging By directing your presentation to the audience’s needs, you’ll increase attention and retention.

Efficient By creating an audience-centric presentation from the start, you’ll find it easier to plan and deliver a relevant and memorable talk.

Effective By communicating an action the audience can take as a result of the presentation, you’ll have a greater impact (we go into this in “Identify an Action Step,” below).

Here’s a helpful Audience Analysis checklist we developed for workshop participants.

Next, what do you want the audience to do with the data you’re presenting?

2. Identify an Action Step

Once you’ve analyzed your audience, the next best step is to ask yourself, "What do I want the audience to do, think, or feel as a result of hearing this presentation?"

One common mistake many presenters make is to assume the audience understands what they’re being asked to do. Unless your request is clear and concrete, you risk creating confusion and losing their support.

Here are some quick examples of effective vs. ineffective action steps . . .

Now it’s time to dive into the core content of your presentation . . .

3. Develop a Clear Main Message

Even if you have complex ideas or data to discuss, your presentation should have a clearly stated central purpose or key message. Why are you presenting the data? What do you want your audience to remember?

A short, clear, and compelling main message accomplishes several important things . . .

Here are some best practices for developing your main message so it’s clear and memorable . . .

As PowerSpeaking, Inc. Master Facilitator Rita Williams emphasized in the video, repetition of your main message—word for word—is key. Research has shown that people are much more likely to retain your clear, concise main message if you repeat it at least three times throughout your presentation, at the beginning, middle, and end.

Once you’ve analyzed your audience, identified an action step, and crafted your main message, it’s time to turn to the substance of your presentation . . .

4. Make Your Content Relatable and Memorable

Maybe you want to get a group of teams fired up about the next phase of product development. Perhaps you need to enlist support from other departments to make a system change. Or maybe your team needs budget approval from senior management to launch a new project.

No matter your purpose, you’re far more likely to succeed if you help your audience relate to your content and remember (and maybe act on) it after the presentation is over.

We’ve found that the best way to do that is to craft a technical presentation that balances analytical and anecdotal evidence— and connects with people on a human level.

Analytical Evidence: Facts and Figures

Analytical evidence is typically evidence drawn from statistical information—especially data collected by systematic methods. for example, the number of component failures reported in a quarter, the percentage of people who had adverse reactions to a new drug, or the roi on a new service offering over a specified period of time would all be considered analytical data. , anecdotal evidence: stories, analogies, case studies, examples.

Anecdotal evidence tells a story rather than drawing solely on numbers or percentages. Examples: A story about how a seriously ill patient responded to a new drug, reading a letter from a satisfied customer, or talking about an experience you had when calling your own company for customer service.

Some technical people in our workshops bristle at the idea of storytelling or, as they’ll say, “trying to be entertaining.” But being an entertainer isn’t the point here. The point is that we’re all human, and images, metaphors, and stories spark our interest and lodge in our memories more easily than facts and figures alone.

“In fact, the thickness of the Earth's atmosphere, compared with the size of the Earth, is in about the same ratio as the thickness of a coat of shellac on a schoolroom globe is to the diameter of the globe. That's the air that nurtures us and almost all other life on Earth, that protects us from deadly ultraviolet light from the sun, that through the greenhouse effect brings the surface temperature above the freezing point.”

In his book “Actual Minds, Possible Worlds,” psychologist Jerome Bruner estimated that facts are about 22 times more memorable when they are delivered via a story.

When the brain sees or hears a story, it mimics the pattern of the writer’s or speaker's brain. This is known as neural coupling, where in effect, the storyteller literally shares their sensory experience with another person. (A much more memorable experience than looking at a spreadsheet in a slide presentation.)

“ You cannot reach a person's head without first touching their heart, and the path to the heart runs through the brain, starting with the amygdala . . . We now know which brain chemicals make us pay attention to a speaker (cortisol) and which make us feel empathy toward another person (oxytocin)." — Carmine Gallo, "Storyteller's Secret.”

“ You can’t play tennis with a bowling ball.”

So, remember that research proves you will increase the impact of your data and your message by reaching people through their hearts and minds .

Next, use the power of imagery to help people understand and remember key points . . .

5. Be Creative With Visual Aids

Whether you’re presenting in person or virtually, there are several ways you can hold people’s interest and drive home your message by getting creative with visuals.

Add Imagery to Explain Data

You already know not to clobber your audience with endless data-dense slides, right? Good. The more you can convey data/key messages via imagery, the more engaging and memorable your content will be.

Here are a few more examples of combining simple, powerful images with (few) words to deliver a message . . .

Don’t Limit Yourself to Slides

Think about introducing a variety of visual aids to make your presentation more interesting . . .

Whiteboards : A virtual whiteboard or an in-person flip-chart are still great ways to emphasize key points, capture audience feedback or questions, or explain a concept.

Props: Use props to illustrate a key metaphor or idea from your presentation. A world globe could help illustrate the global marketplace, or an apple could evoke preventive health care (“An apple a day keeps the doctor away.”)

Handouts: A handout allows the audience to take something back to work that can be used as a reference or summary of your content.

Video Clips: These are a great way to break the monotony of still slides, and often introduce a more human factor to the topic.

6. Use Pattern Disruption to Hold Attention

There’s nothing like breaking a pattern to snap people back to attention. Think of a presenter who suddenly turns off the screen or introduces music. Or how about a presenter who’s been talking for five minutes then suddenly . . . stops. Silence, for like 30 seconds. You’d look up, right?

Consider places in your presentation where people might need something fresh to keep them engaged. Some examples . . .

Stories and analogies
Video clips or sound recordings
Style changes (vocal, movement, gestures, pausing)
Blanking the screen
Visuals (graphics, illustrations, images)
Audience participation (small group discussion, brainstorming)

Next, let’s look at one aspect of successful presenting that causes many techies to roll their eyes: an engaging delivery style.

Stay with me. It’s relatively painless . . .

7. Don't Underestimate the Power of Style

A speaker who stands statue-still, stares at their slides or notes, and speaks in a monotone is enough to put anyone to sleep—no matter how interesting the content.

Remember, even scientists, engineers, and system programmers are human. And research has shown that we humans are moved by nonverbal communication. We “read” a lot into its presence or absence, which means it can either obscure or make clear what we’re saying out loud.

“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you’re preparing to make a presentation or give a talk, it’s likely you do what most people do: focus solely on your content. While what you have to say is definitely key, how you say it—through nonverbal “language”—is a lot more important than you might think.

Research has shown repeatedly that your posture, gestures, facial expressions, and the tone and cadence of your voice play a huge role not only in getting your message across to an audience, but also, in engaging them, building trust, and increasing your credibility.

Your tone of voice, for example, has a big impact on how your content is received.

Not being able to hear a speaker, either because of poor audio or a too-soft voice, isn’t just an annoyance. In a USC study that looked at the effects of poor audio in scientific presentations, they found that, “When the video was difficult to hear, viewers thought the talk was worse, the speaker less intelligent and less likable, and the research less important.”

Speaking in a dreary monotone is another way to lose your audience. Watch how to avoid it and instead, create energy and interest . . .

source: Great Speech Writing, "How to Avoid Speaking in a Monotone," via YouTube

If you’d like more tips on making nonverbal communication work for you, check out our blog, “ Use the Power of Nonverbal Communication to Connect with Your Audience: 7 Tips .”

8. Bring Your Authentic Self to the Table

Speaking of the human factor when it comes to presentations, know that authenticity, openness, and passion go a long way in engaging your audience, building trust—and yes, even establishing your credibility.

NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson once revealed her childhood passion for numbers in a very simple, relatable way . . .

“I counted everything. I counted the steps to the road, the steps up to church, the number of dishes and silverware I washed ... anything that could be counted, I did.”

Now, if you had been in the audience when she led with that, she’d have your attention, right?

No matter how complex the data or the message, an audience-centric, authentic, human approach is a good place to start.

Join Us in Conversation . . .

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Thursday, may 23, 2024, 9-10:00 a.m. pt/12-1:00 p.m. et/5-6:00 p.m. bst.

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Topics: Effective Technical Presentations

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7.4 Technical Descriptions and Definitions

Mechanism Descriptions: provide a detailed overview the physical aspects of a tool, machine or other mechanical device that has moving parts and is designed to perform a specific function. These could be product descriptions for sales or manufacturing, documentation of design specifications, info-graphics, etc . This chapter focuses in detail on this kind of description.
Process Descriptions: detail a series of events ( natural/biological/ecological, mechanical, social, or psychological phenomenon ) that happen in particular sequence in order to achieve a specific outcome. These can be categorized into non-instructional processes (such as a process analyses of how an internal combustion engine works, or natural processes like photosynthesis) and instructional process (such as recommended/required procedures and explicit step-by-step instructions to be followed). (See Section 7.7 for detailed information on Writing Instructions ).
Definitions: clarify the specific meaning, often related to a specific context, or express the essential nature of the terms being defined. These can range in length from a simple clarifying phrase to an extended document of several pages. Definitions will often include detailed descriptions and visuals to illustrate ideas. Click on the link below to view a student PowerPoint presentation on how to write effective definitions for technical purposes. This presentation is included with express permission of the student.

Definitions in Technical Writing – Sample student presentation (.pdf)

Technical Description of a Mechanism

Mechanism descriptions should provide a clear understanding of the object being described, including

General appearance and physical properties
Overall function/purpose
Component parts
How the parts interact to create a functioning whole.

The reader should be able to clearly picture, and therefore understand, the nature of the object being described, what it does, and how it works.

In order to achieve this clarity for the reader, the writer must choose significant details and organize information logically. Select details that can be described precisely and measurably, such as

Once you have your purpose and audience clearly in focus, draft a description that includes the following elements:

Definition : What is it, and what is its main purpose?
Overview : Describe the mechanism’s overall appearance (“big picture”).
Components : Describe the main component parts in labeled sections; consider the order of information carefully here. Create a logical connection between each component described.
Explanation: how do the parts work together to fulfill its function? What key principles govern its functioning? Consider how much detail is necessary here for your intended audience.
Visuals: include graphics that clearly illustrate the mechanism and/or its parts. Show the device as a whole; consider showing specific details in expanded views, cut-aways, or labeled diagrams. You may even embed or link to videos showing the device in action.
Conclusion : depending on the purpose, you might review product’s history, availability, manufacturing, costs, warnings, etc .)
References : Sources you have used in your description, or additional sources of information available (if relevant).

Sample Descriptions

Examine the description of the “Up Goer Five” in Figure 7.4.2 (click on image for larger version). Who might the intended audience be?

Compare the description in Figure 7.4.2 to the information given on the NASA website about the Mars Curiosity Rover .

In refining the details of your description and its component parts, consider the following:

Top to bottom (or foundation upward)
Left to right (or right to left)
Inside to outside (or outside to inside)
Most important to least important features
Central component to peripherals
Material properties, etc .
Use correct terminology – define terms as necessary for your audience
Use analogy to describe an unfamiliar thing in terms of a familiar thing
Use objective language – no “ad speak” or subjective terms
Use present tense, active verbs to describe how the device appears and what it does
Use words that create vivid and specific pictures in the reader’s mind.

EXERCISE 7.2 Practice technical description

R. Sturnback and M. Okuna, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Technical Manual . New York: Pocket Books, 1991. ↵
R. Munroe, "Up Goer Five" [Online]. Available: https://xkcd.com/1133/ Also see "1133 Up Goer Five - explained," Explain xkcd wiki [Online]. Available: https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/1133:_Up_Goer_Five . CC-BY-NC 2.5 . ↵
[Corkscrew and bicycle images]. [Online]. Available: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dogbomb/527733767 and https://www.flickr.com/photos/8205548@N08/4607907389. CC BY 2.0 . ↵

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How to give a technical presentation (how to give a scientific talk)

By michael ernst, january, 2005 last updated: march 21, 2022, introduction, the content, answering questions, in-class presentations, practice talks, other resources.

(Also see my advice on giving a job talk and on making a technical poster .)

A successful career depends on the ability to give effective technical presentations, whether at a conference, to your research group, or as an invited speaker. This page notes some problems that I very frequently see in talks.

Get feedback by giving multiple practice talks ! One of the most effective ways to improve your work is to see the reactions of others and get their ideas and advice.

Think about the presentations you attend (or have attended in the past), especially if they are similar in some way to yours. What was boring about the other presentations? What was interesting about them? What did you take away from the presentation? What could you have told someone about the topic, 30 minutes after the end of the presentation?

Before you start preparing a talk, you need to know your goal and know your audience. You will have to customize your presentation to its purpose. Even if you have previously created a talk for another venue, you often need to make a new one, particularly if the audience differs or you have done more work in the meanwhile.

The goal of a talk you give to your research group is to get feedback to help you improve your research and your understanding of it, so you should plan for a very interactive style, with lots of questions throughout. In a conference talk , questions during the talk are unlikely, and you have much less time; your chief goal is to get people to read the paper or ask questions afterward. In a seminar or invited talk , you want to encourage questions, you have more time, and you should plan to give more of the big picture.

The goal of a talk is similar to the goal of a technical paper : to change the audience's behavior. Therefore, you should also read and follow my advice about writing a technical paper . Decide what the change is, and focus your talk around that. Typically, you have done some research, and to effect the change you need to convince the audience of 3 things: the problem is worthwhile (it is a real problem, and a solution would be useful), the problem is hard (not already solved, and there are not other ways to achieve equally good results), and that you have solved it. If any of these three pieces is missing, your talk is much less likely to be a success. So be sure to provide motivation for your work, provide background about the problem, and supply sufficient technical details and experimental results.

When you give a talk, ask yourself, “What are the key points that my audience should take away from the talk?” Then, elide everything that does not support those points. If you try to say too much (a tempting mistake), then your main points won't strike home and you will have wasted everyone's time. In particular, do not try to include all the details from a technical paper that describes your work; different levels of detail and a different presentation style are appropriate for each. Never paste PDF of a table from a paper to slides. Reformat the table to be more readable and to remove information that is not essential. The talk audience does not have as much time to comprehend the details as a paper reader does.

Before you create slides, a good way to determine what your talk should say is to explain your ideas verbally to someone who does not already understand them. (You may use a blank whiteboard, but that often is not necessary.) You may need to do this a few times before you find the most effective way to present your material. Notice what points you made and in what order, and organize the talk around that. Slides should not be an obstacle that constrains your talk, but they should support the talk you want to give.

Do not try to fit too much material in a talk. About one slide per minute is a good pace (if lots of your slides are animations that take only moments to present, you may have more slides). Remember what your key points are, and focus on those. The key point should be written on the slide, for example as its title or as a callout. Don't present more information than your audience can grasp; for example, often intuitions and an explanation of the approach are more valuable than the gory details of a proof. If you try to fit the entire technical content of a paper into a talk, you will rush and the audience may come away understanding nothing. It's better to think of the talk as an advertisement for the paper that gives the key ideas, intuitions, and results, and that makes the audience eager to read your paper or to talk with you to learn more. That does not mean holding back important details — merely omitting less important ones. You may also find yourself omitting entire portions of the research that do not directly contribute to the main point you are trying to make in your talk.

Just as there should be no extra slides, there should be no missing slides. As a rule, you shouldn't speak for more than a minute or so without having new information appear. If you have an important point to make, then have a slide to support it. (Very few people can mesmerize an audience on a technical topic, and leave the audience with a deep understanding of the key points, without any visual props. Unfortunately, you are probably not one of them.) As a particularly egregious example, do not discuss a user interface without presenting a picture of it — perhaps multiple ones. As another example, you should not dwell on the title slide for very long, but should present a graphic relevant to the problem you are solving, to make the motivation for your work concrete.

Slide titles. Use descriptive slide titles. Do not use the same title on multiple slides (except perhaps when the slides constitute an animation or build). Choose a descriptive title that helps the audience to appreciate what the specific contribution of this slide is. If you can't figure that out, then you do not yet understand your own material.

Introduction. Start your talk with motivation and examples — and have lots of motivation and examples throughout. For the very beginning of your talk, you need to convince the audience that this talk is worth paying attention to: it is solving an important and comprehensible problem. Your first slide after the title slide should be motivation, such as an example of the problem you are solving.

Outline slides. Never start your talk with an outline slide. (That's boring, and it's too early for the audience to understand the talk structure yet.) Outline slides can be useful, especially in a talk that runs longer than 30 minutes, because they help the audience to regain its bearings and to keep in mind your argument structure. Present an outline slide (with the current section indicated via color, font, and/or an arrow) at the beginning of each major section of the talk, except for the introductory, motivational section.

Conclusion. The last slide should be a contributions or conclusions slide, reminding the audience of the take-home message of the talk. Do not end the talk with future work, or with a slide that says “questions” or “thank you” or “the end” or merely gives your email address. And, leave your contributions slide up after you finish the talk (while you are answering questions). One way to think about this rule is: What do you want to be the last thing that the audience sees (or that it sees while you field questions)?

Builds/animations. When a subsequent slide adds material to a previous one (or in some other way just slightly changes the previous slide), all common elements must remain in exactly the same position, pixel-for-pixel. A good way to check this is to quickly transition back and forth between the two slides several times. If you see any jitter, then correct the slide layout to remove it. You may need to leave extra space on an early slide to accommodate text or figures to be inserted later; even though that space may look a little unnatural, it is better than the alternative. If there is any jitter, the audience will know that something is different, but will be uneasy about exactly what has changed (the human eye is good at detecting the change but only good at localizing changes when those changes are small and the changes are smooth). You want the audience to have confidence that most parts of the slide have not changed, and the only effective way to do that is not to change those parts whatsoever. You should also consider emphasizing (say, with color or highlighting) what has been added on each slide.

Keep slides uncluttered. Don't put too much text (or other material) on a slide. When a new slide goes up, the audience will turn its attention to comprehending that slide. If the audience has to read a lot of text, they will tune you out, probably missing something important. This is one reason the diagrams must be simple and clear, and the text must be telegraphic. As a rule of thumb, 3 lines of text for a bullet point is always too much, and 2 full lines is usually too much. Shorten the text, or break it into pieces (say, subbullet points) so that the audience can skim it without having to ignore you for too long.

Do not read your slides word-for-word. Reading your slides verbatim is very boring and will cause the audience to tune out. You are also guaranteed to go too fast for some audience members and too slow for others, compared to their natural reading speed, thus irritating many people. If you find yourself reading your slides, then there is probably too much text on your slides. The slides should be an outline, not a transcript. That is, your slides should give just the main points, and you can supply more detail verbally. It's fine to use the slides as a crutch to help you remember all the main points and the order in which you want to present them. However, if you need prompting to remember the extra details, then you do not have sufficient command of your material and you need to practice more before giving your talk.

Just as you should not read text verbatim, you should not read diagrams verbatim. When discussing the architecture of a system, don't just read the names of the components or give low-level details about the interfaces between them. Rather, explain whatever is important, interesting, or novel about your decomposition; or discuss how the parts work together to achieve some goal that clients of the system care about; or use other techniques to give high-level understanding of the system rather than merely presenting a mass of low-level details.

(It's possible to overdo the practice of limiting what information appears on each slide, and you do want to have enough material to support you if there are questions or to show that the simplified model you presented verbally is an accurate generalization. But the mistake of including too much information is far more common.)

Text. Keep fonts large and easy to read from the back of the room. If something isn't important enough for your audience to be able to read, then it probably does not belong on your slides.

Use a sans-serif font for your slides. (Serifed fonts are best for reading on paper, but sans-serif fonts are easier to read on a screen.) PowerPoint's “Courier New” font is very light (its strokes are very thin). If you use it, always make it bold, then use color or underlining for emphasis where necessary.

Figures. Make effective use of figures. Avoid a presentation that is just text. Such a presentation misses important opportunities to convey information. It is also is wearying to the audience.

Images and visualizations are extremely helpful to your audience. Include diagrams to show how your system works or is put together. Never include generic images, such as clip art, that don't relate directly to your talk. For example, if you have a slide about security, don't use the image of a padlock. As another example, when describing the problem your work solves, don't use an image of a person sitting at a computer looking frustrated. Just as good pictures and text are better than text alone, text alone is better than text plus bad pictures.

When you include a diagram on a slide, ensure that its background is the same color as that of the slide. For example, if your slides have a black background, then do not paste in a diagram with a white background, which is visually distracting, hard to read, and unattractive. You should invert the diagram so it matches the slide (which may require redrawing the diagram), or invert the slide background (e.g., use a white slide background) to match the diagrams. A light-colored background with dark text is usually the best choice (preferably white background with black text; see the next paragraph about eye candy).

Do not use eye candy such as transition effects, design elements that appear on every slide, or multi-color backgrounds. At best, you will distract the audience from the technical material that you are presenting. At worst, you will alienate the audience by giving them the impression that you are more interested in graphical glitz than in content. Your slides can be attractive and compelling without being fancy. Make sure that each element on the slides contributes to your message; if it does not, then remove it.

Emphasis. Slides that are monocolor black on a white background can be boring. This tires the audience, and it may prevent them from appreciating the big picture. Use color, callouts (e.g., arrows or speech bubbles), or other mechanisms to draw attention to the most important parts of your slides or graphs. For example, suppose you have a list of 3-5 bullet points, each one line of text long. You might want to emphasize the 1-3 most important words in each bullet point.

Color. About 5% of American males are color-blind, so augment color with other emphasis where possible. For example, on an outline slide, in addition to color I use boldface and also a right arrow (⇒) in the left margin to indicate the current section of the talk.

The presentation

Make eye contact with the audience. This draws them in. It also helps you determine when they are confused or have lost interest, and whether your pacing is too fast or too slow.

Stand and face the audience.

Don't give a talk while seated. Standing gives you more energy, the talk is more dynamic, and it is easier to maintain eye contact.
Do not face the screen, which puts your back to the audience. This is offputting, prevents you from getting feedback from the audience's body language, and can cause difficulty in hearing/understanding you. Do not look down at your computer, either, which shares many of the same problems.
Don't stand in front of the screen. This prevents the audience from viewing your slides.
Being animated is good, but do not pace. Pacing is very distracting, and it gives the impression that you are unprofessional or nervous.

When giving a presentation, never point at your laptop screen, which the audience cannot see. Amazingly, I have seen many people do this! Using a laser pointer is fine, but the laser pointer tends to shake, especially if you are nervous, and can be distracting. I prefer to use my hand, because the talk is more dynamic if I stride to the screen and use my whole arm; the pointing is also harder for the audience to miss. You must touch the screen physically, or come within an inch of it. If you do not touch the screen, most people will just look at the shadow of your finger, which will not be the part of the slide that you are trying to indicate.

If you find yourself suffering a nervous tic, such as saying “um” in the middle of every sentence, then practice more, including in front of audiences whom you do not know well.

If you get flustered, don't panic. One approach is to stop and regroup; taking a drink of water is a good way to cover this, so you should have water on hand even if you don't suffer from dry throat. Another approach is to just skip over that material; the audience is unlikely to know that you skipped something.

Think about your goal in giving the talk. When presenting to your own research group, be sure to leave lots of time for discussion and feedback at the end, and to present the material in a way that invites interaction after and perhaps during the talk. (When presenting to your own group, you can perhaps give a bit less introductory material, though it's hard to go wrong with intro material. It should go quickly for that audience; you ensure that everyone is using terms the same way; and it's always good to practice presenting the motivation, context, background, and big ideas.)

For computer science conferences, the typical dress code is “business casual”. (For men, this is a dress shirt with slacks or jeans.) Some people dress more formally, some more casually. The most important thing is that you are comfortable with your clothing; if you are not, your discomfort will lead to a worse presentation.

Answering questions from the audience is very hard! Even after you become very proficient at giving a talk, it will probably take you quite a bit longer to become good at answering questions. So, don't feel bad if that part does not go perfectly, but do work on improving it.

Just as you practice your talk, practice answering questions — both the ones that you can predict, and also unpredictable ones. Give practice talks to people who are willing to ask such questions.

When an audience member asks a question, it is a good idea to repeat the question, asking the questioner whether you have understood it, before answering the question. This has three benefits.

You ensure that you have understood the question. When thinking under pressure, it can be far too easy to jump to conclusions, and it is bad to answer a question different than the one that was asked. A related benefit is that you get to frame the question in your own words or from your own viewpoint.
You give yourself a few moments to think about your answer.
If the audience member does not have a microphone, the rest of the audience may not have been able to hear the question clearly.

Be willing to answer a question with “no” or “I don't know”. You will get into more trouble if you blather on or you make up an answer on the fly.

For an in-class presentation by a student, you will be judged on how well other people understand the material at the end of the class, not on how well you understand the material at the beginning of the class. (You do need to understand the material, but that is not the main point.)

When you present someone else's paper in class, you should cover not only the technical details (people generally do a good job of this), but also what is novel and why others didn't do it before. That is just as important but very often overlooked. Focus on what is important about the paper, not just on what is easy to explain or to give an example for.

Know what your main point is, and don't get bogged down in easier-to-understand but less interesting details. Try not to bring up a topic until you are ready to discuss it in detail — don't bring it up multiple times.

Encourage questions — it's the best way to deepen understanding — and be able to answer them. If other students wrote questions in a reading summary, be responsive to them. When you ask a question, don't assume the answer in the form of your question. For example, don't ask, “Was there anything novel in the paper, or not?” but “What was novel in the paper?” It can be very effective to ask a question that reveals understanding of a subtle or easy-to-misunderstand point (but an important one!) in the paper, because this will lead the audience members to reflect both on the paper and on the way they read and understood it. Don't be too abstruse, and don't get bogged down in unimportant details just to show your mastery of them.

Examples are often very helpful. Augment your talking with visuals on the board or slides. Either is fine. The board may encourage more interaction (and it slows you down in a beneficial way), but does require pre-planning; don't just go up and start drawing. Most people find comfort in having pre-prepared slides, and slides can be a good choice because they can be more legible and detailed, can include animations, etc. Don't waste a huge amount of time on elaborate slide decks, though; that is not the point.

Always give at least one practice talk before you present in front of an audience. Even if you have read over your slides and think you know how the talk will go, when you speak out loud your ideas are likely to come out in a different way. (This is true about writing , too: even if you know what you want to say, it takes several revisions to figure out the best way to say it.) In fact, you should practice the talk to yourself — speaking out loud in front of a mirror, for example — before you give your first practice talk. In your individual practice session, you must say every word you intend to in the actual talk, not skipping over any parts.

It can be a good idea to keep your practice talk audience relatively small — certainly fewer than 10 people. In a large group, many people won't bother to speak up. If the pool of potential attendees is larger than 10, you can give multiple practice talks, since the best feedback is given by someone who has not seen the talk (or even the material) before. Giving multiple practice talks is essential for high-profile talks such as conference talks and interview talks. Avoid a small audience of people you don't trust, who might be unanimous in a wrong opinion; getting a balance of opinions will help you avoid making too many mistakes in any one direction.

Videotape yourself to see how you come across to others. This information can be a bit traumatic, but it is invaluable in helping you to improve.

When giving a practice talk, number your slides (say, in the corner), even if you don't intend to include slide numbers in your final presentation.

When giving a practice talk, it is very helpful to distribute hardcopy slides (remember to include slide numbers) so that others can easily annotate them and return them to you at the end of the talk. (Also, the audience will spend less time trying to describe what slide their comment applies to, and more time writing the comment and paying attention to you.) For non-practice talks, don't give out hardcopy slides, as they would tempt the audience to pay attention to the piece of paper instead of to you.

Go to other people's practice talks. This is good citizenship, and cultivating these obligations is a good way to ensure that you have an audience at your practice talk. Furthermore, attending others' talks can teach you a lot about good and bad talks — both from observing the speaker and thinking about how the talk can be better (or is already excellent), and from comparing the feedback of audience members to your own opinions and observations. This does not just apply to practice talks: you should continually perform such introspective self-assessment.

(Also see Tessa Lau 's advice on giving a practice talk — which focuses on a practice talk for a PhD qualifying exam, but is relevant to talks in general.)

Here are some other good resources for speakers who wish to give a good talk.

See Ian Parberry's speaker's guide .

The LaTeX Beamer documentation has some good advice.

Back to Advice compiled by Michael Ernst .

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FAQs on Technical Presentation Template

What should a technical presentation include.

A technical presentation should include several key elements for clarity and engagement. It should start with a clear introduction outlining the topic's importance. Then, present technical content logically with clear explanations, visuals, and examples. Address potential questions or concerns. Summarize the key points, and end with a concise conclusion. Visual aids, diagrams, and data should be used effectively to enhance understanding. Audience interaction, where appropriate, can also improve engagement.

What is most important in technical presentation?

In a technical presentation, effective communication and clarity are of highest significance. It is crucial that highly technical material be presented in a way that is easily understood. Also essential are eye-catching graphics, well-organized text, and an understandable progression of events. A technical presentation may be improved by interacting with the audience, fielding their questions, and using real-world examples to drive home your arguments.

How do you make a technical presentation interesting?

To add interest to a technical presentation, commence with an engaging introduction emphasizing the topic's significance. Utilize relatable examples and narratives to illustrate intricate concepts. Include visually attractive graphics and diagrams on your transparencies. Maintain a dynamic tempo and refrain from overpowering the audience with technical jargon. Engage the audience through questions, discussions, and real-world applications. Conclude with a memorable summary and encourage questions, fostering an interactive and engaging atmosphere.

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4.6 Presentations

Presentations are an interesting genre, since they can cover a variety of genres and purposes. Presentations provide the opportunity to present information in a multimodal format, and often require you to condense information for a broad audience. Within the very broad genre of “presentation” many genres fall with more specific conventions and constraints. Some examples include:

Conference presentations
Less formal meeting or business presentations (internal)

As technology continues to develop, you might consider other genres under the umbrella of “presentations,” including:

Youtube videos

In this section, we talk about the specific genre of presentations, but we also focus on taking complex information (such as gathered in a formal report) and reworking, condensing, and remixing that information into a presentation, a website, a poster or infographic, or a podcast.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

Just like with the other common genres that we’ve discussed so far, presentations are developed for a specific audience. So, you need to consider how your audience might best receive the information that you are working to communicate. Presentations are a great way to reach an audience, and as a communicator you get to explore various communication modes and approaches. As with anything else, what might work for one audience would not work for another audience; think back to the different ways to communicate the process of conducting a Covid-19 nasal test. Each example was effective, but only in the context of their intended audience.

Technical presentations are a specific genre that often take the complex, lengthy information included in a formal report and condenses and translates that information in a way that includes visual and audio communication modes. Consider why it is useful to present information in various ways (as a formal report and as a 5-10 minute presentation). How might presenting information in various ways or formats increase accessibility? How might developing a presentation work towards equity of information access?

When creating a presentation, the principles of universal design are important things to keep in mind. One example might be adding captions if you create a presentation that has any audio component. The captions are essential for any audience members who are hearing impaired, AND they make it easier to absorb content and understand the audio for your entire audience. Remember that universal design means that accessibility of information is an essential part of your presentation: do not think about accessibility after you’ve created your content, but work it in from the beginning and throughout your process.

Technical presentations

Technical presentations can vary quite a bit in length and content, depending on your purpose, audience, and context (remember that the rhetorical situation is always relevant!). Generally speaking, a technical presentation will:

Condense a longer text, such as a formal report
Summarize the most important, useful, or meaningful information from that text
Use visuals, text, and audio together in order to tell a story

Most often, presentations work to inform, to persuade, or both. All the things that we’ve discussed so far are important to consider when you create a presentation, including plain language, document design, and considering diversity, equity, and inclusion. Just as with any other genre, to create an effective presentation, you must understand your audience.

Google Slides

These are only 3 of many free tutorials available online.

When creating effective presentation slides, be sure that you balance the amount of information on each slide. Consider how your audience is interacting with these slides: they are not likely sitting down with so much time to carefully read through each one. Rather, they may only have a minute to take in all the content. So, less is often better than putting too much text on any one slide. It’s also important to use a variety of visual modes–such as graphics and images–along with text.

The text that you choose should summarize key points, and the images should reinforce or illustrate those points. Do not make your audience take in large blocks of text. Instead, summarize key questions, data points, findings, and conclusions. Show them examples that help to illustrate these important points, but do not overwhelm them. You cannot include everything in a presentation that you would include in a lengthy report. Rather, you must choose the most important pieces so that your audience has a clear idea of what you want them to take away from your project.

When planning and creating audio, be sure that you do not simply read the text from our slides. Instead, you can use the audio portion of your presentation to further explain key concepts. Give your reader a bit more detail, but do not overwhelm them. A presentation works to create a narrative or tell a story. The audio and text should complement each other, but not be exactly the same (if you’ve ever attended a presentation where the presenter read each slide out loud, you know how uninteresting that can be!).

Finally, consider accessibility when you design your presentation. Create closed captions or subtitles when recording audio, and be sure to incorporate the principles of universal design. Try to imagine how to make information accessible to your audience in regards to your text, your use of language and terminology, your use of visuals and graphics, and your use of audio.

Message titles

On way to create stronger, more memorable presentations is through the use of message titles rather than subject titles for each slide. It’s important to use strong titles, and a message title delivers a full message to your reader. A subject title is briefer and less specific. An example of the difference between a message title and subject title might be:

Subject title:

Covid-19 prevention

Message title:

How can I protect myself from Covid-19?

A message title is generally more effective for audiences because it provides more information. Further, delivering a full message helps audiences to retain the information presented in that slide and it frames what you cover in that section of your presentation. Remember that audiences must listen to your presentation and read your slides at the same time. Subject titles provide information, but message titles helps audiences place that information into a more specific framework. A message title delivers your message in a more complete way.

Condensing and remixing

While most formal reports use some sort of presentation software and rely on a combination of slides (which contain visuals and text) and audio (which may be spoken live as you present to an audience or may be recorded ahead of time), there are other ways to remix and present information in a condensed and useful way. As technology develops, so does the presentation genre. For example, podcasts, videos, or websites might be useful in place of a technical presentation, again depending on the audience, purpose, and context.

If you are enrolled in WRIT 3562W, you are not asked to create a podcast or website; however, you may come across such genres and want to use them as sources in your own report. And, you will likely want to (or be asked to!) create a website or podcast someday. So how can you begin to take information presented in something like a formal report and revise, translate, and remix it for a completely different medium?

First, consider the rhetorical situation and reflect on your own experiences as a website user or a podcast listener. Which websites do you like best? Which podcasts do you enjoy? Then, do some reflection and analysis and consider the following questions:

When interacting with a website, what features are most important to you? How are you typically interacting with content (do you want to be able to search for something specific, do you want something easy to skim, do you want to deeply read all the text, etc.)?
Think of the easiest to navigate website you’ve visited recently; what specific features made it easy to navigate? How did it use text, images, alignment, repetition, contrast, colors, language to help you know how to find and understand information?
Think of the most difficult to navigate website that you’ve ever visited; what made it difficult? What specific features can you identify or isolate that made it hard to find information?
Consider your favorite podcast; how does the creator(s) organize the content and present information clearly? How long does it take to listen to? What environment do you usually listen to podcasts in (your car, at home, using headphones, on a speaker while you cook dinner…). What specific features can you identify or isolate that make it enjoyable?

These types of reflection questions help you to make decisions about the texts that you create. They are useful when considering conventions or strengths of specific genres, AND they are useful when you have to create a genre that is completely new to you. Remember that analyzing the rhetorical situation and genre conventions together make it manageable as you approach any new communication task.

Throughout this text, we’ve discussed technical communication as rhetorical, as always concerned with diversity, equity, and inclusion, how we define or set the boundaries for technical communication, and the conventions of common genres. As you continue your education and practice as a technical communicator, or as you approach any new communication situation, keep doing the work of analysis and reflection. Consider how each act of communication engages a specific audience for a specific purpose. Even the most seemingly objective genres require you to make choices: what information do you include, whose voices and experiences do you elevate, how do you take in feedback and revise your texts, how do you approach research in a way that reduces bias and incorporates marginalized experiences–these are all important pieces of the communication process. As technical communication continues to develop and evolve, and as technology and genres also change, keep these considerations in mind.

Activity and Reflection: Presenting information

Together or with a partner, find a presentation (you can search YouTube for technical presentations or Ted Talks). Reflect on the following questions to perform a rhetorical analysis on the presentation:

Who is the target audience for this presentation? How can you tell?
What is the main purpose or goal of the presentation? How can you tell?
What did you like about the presentation (be specific)? What features make it effective?
What would you change, and why?
How does the presentation use text and audio together to deliver a message? How do these elements complement each other?

Introduction to Technical and Professional Communication Copyright © 2021 by Brigitte Mussack is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Craft Effective Technical Presentations: 5 Success Strategies

Dominik Sumer

Aug 30, 2023 · 8 min read

Technical presentations can be tricky to execute. You know your subject inside out, but is that enough?

How do you ensure your audience stays engaged throughout the presentation, and how do you answer their questions effectively?

This blog post provides modern strategies for crafting effective technical presentations, covering all aspects, from understanding your audience to handling questions and feedback.

You will also learn about the practical parts of technical presentations, including proper tools and examples.

These tips will help you deliver a successful presentation that makes a lasting impact on your audience.

Anyone can use this guide as a checklist , but the following can get huge benefits:

Software Engineers or Developers
Tech YouTubers
Candidates who are presenting in tech interviews
Social Media Influences like tech on LinkedIn
Students, Tech Teachers, and much more.

Identify your Audience:

In our previous guide about technical writing , we shared 19 expert tips you should know.

Let me quickly highlight the five most important tips:

Understand Audience
Define Purpose
Always do your research
Organize thoughts
Avoid Jargon and Acronyms

Understanding your audience is not a first step but why?

Because first, you need to identify WHO is your target audience.

Question it by yourself, and write down the three closest audiences like:

JavaScript Developers: Those who want to learn about JavaScript technologies. You can help them learn the tech faster by sharing beautiful code snippets .
SaaS Owners: Those tech founders who want to learn about the ongoing development progress of their software. Give them tips on how to tackle obstacles in software development by using technical presentation slides .
Tech Talks: Those interested in code screencasts within the video content like YouTube or TED Talks. You can use rich animated content, like videos created with snappify.

So, identify your audience first and use the smart tools to simplify things for you and the audience.

Use Smart Tools:

So, what are smart tools in the digital world?

Smart Tools are intelligent software applications that help users perform complex tasks more efficiently and effectively.

They simplify processes, improve productivity, and help achieve goals quickly and easily online.

You can learn about our curated list of technical writing tools , which comes with Artificial Intelligence.

Before using your tool for technical presentations, make sure to check these features first:

Can you create a fully animated slide?
Is there any feature for Video Export?
The tool must be user-friendly to avoid presentation disruptions.
Clear and visually appealing infographics are important for tools with graphs, diagrams, or slides.

Now that you know enough about the features, here is another list of modern tools to help you become a good presenter.

Snappify: It can help you present code beautifully and has all the features I have mentioned above. It also has pre-made templates to help you create and share snippets faster.
PowerPoint: A user-friendly software for creating dynamic presentations with text, images, charts, and multimedia elements.
Google Slides: A web based presentation tool that lets users create basic presentations and save them online.

Let's take a closer look at the Slides and Video Export features of snappify and how it can become your new companion for your technical presentations.

It comes with a Present button at the top of the bar, which can help you show your code snippets in the presentation mode.

In slides, there are several options for animations:

Besides showing your presentation, you can download all slides or export videos to share on social media.

You can follow this tutorial on creating code presentations with snappify .

Video Export : TypeWriter Example

Video showcasing the TypeWriter transition

Structure Your Presentation

To craft an effective technical presentation, it is crucial to structure your content in a clear and logical flow .

Begin with an attention-grabbing introduction that captivates your audience and sets the tone for the presentation.

Organize your content into sections or chapters, making it easier for your audience to comprehend and follow along.

Divide your presentation into key sections or points.
Each section should have a clear focus and contribute to your main message.
Use bullet points and concise text to support each point.
Transition smoothly between sections to maintain a logical flow.
Include visuals such as images, charts, graphs, animations , and videos to enhance understanding and engagement.
Share real-life examples or case studies that illustrate your points.
Use relevant data and statistics to back up your points and add credibility.

Finally, remember to summarize key points and provide a memorable conclusion to leave a lasting impact.

Create your next presentation

snappify will help you to create stunning presentations and videos.

This video was created using snappify 🤩

Choose a good Font and Color for the Slides

Font and color choices in slides play a key role in shaping the impact and effectiveness of your presentation.

These choices go beyond aesthetics; they influence how your content is perceived, understood, and remembered.

Here are quick tips to make effective font and color choices:

Readability: Use simple, easy-to-read fonts that can be seen from far away. Avoid fancy or complex fonts that can make reading difficult.
Consistency: For a professional look, limit your presentation to two font styles: headings and body text.
Contrast: Use contrasting fonts for headings and body text for better readability. Headings should be in bold or larger font, while body text should be in regular font.
Hierarchy: Establish hierarchy with color by using bold or contrasting hues for headings and more subdued tones for body text.
Limit Bright Colors: While bright colors can add visual interest, avoid using too many as they can be distracting and make your presentation look unprofessional.

Remember that your font and color choices should support your technical content and help convey your message effectively.

Test your chosen fonts and colors on different screens to ensure they appear as intended.

Consistency in font and color usage contributes to a polished and visually appealing presentation.

Also take a look at our handcrafted templates to get started with your technical presentations.

Engage with Stories

People remember stories better than facts alone.

Include relatable case studies to illustrate your points and make your presentation more relatable.

Storytelling is a powerful technique that can elevate your technical presentation from informative to captivating.

Humans have been using stories to communicate and connect for centuries, and integrating this approach into your presentation can help you create a deeper and more lasting impact on your audience.

Here's how you can effectively use storytelling to engage your audience during your technical presentation:

Quick Story Example:

Example of stories in technical presentations

Meet Maya, a talented developer on a mission to make her technical presentations truly captivating.

One day, she discovered snappify, a tool rumored to bring code snippets to life .

Maya decided to give it a shot.

With snappify, Maya's code snippets transformed into dynamic visuals that got animated smoothly across the screen.

During her presentation, she used it to break down complex algorithms step by step.

The audience was captivated, effortlessly following along as the code was visually displayed.

Impressed by Maya's presentation, fellow developers asked about snappify.

Maya shared how the tool had elevated her delivery, making code accessible to all.

Afterward, snappify was known for its captivating technical demonstrations.

Developers worldwide used it to transform complex code into interesting visuals, captivating audiences and enhancing code comprehension.

Now, turn your boring code into fancy and beautiful snippets before sharing it on social media or inside your technical presentation.

In conclusion, delivering a successful technical presentation requires technical skills, engaging visuals, and audience interaction.

A compelling story and utilizing effective visuals are crucial for delivering a memorable and impactful presentation.

Following the tips in this comprehensive guide, you can always deliver successful technical presentations for interviews, YouTube videos, tech talks, social media posts, and much more.

How can I adjust my technical presentation to different levels of expertise among the audience?

Adjust technical depth and terminology based on audience familiarity. Provide real-world examples for beginners and deeper insights for experts.

What is the difference between presentation and technical presentation?

Presentations can be either general or technical. General presentations inform or persuade, while technical presentations explain complex concepts to an audience with relevant expertise like engineering, coding, or more.

How do I overcome nervousness before a technical presentation?

Practice is key. Familiarity with your content and great rehearsal can help reduce anxiety during the presentation.

What is most important in technical presentation?

Effectively convey complex concepts with clear explanations, visuals, and relevance to the audience's needs and expertise - that's clarity.

What are the four essential components of a technical presentation?

A technical presentation has four parts: intro, content, conclusion, and Q&A. Introduce, present, summarize, and impress.

How do you engage your audience during a technical presentation?

To keep your audience engaged during a technical presentation, use relatable examples, break down complex information, and include interactive elements like polls or Q&A sessions. Personal stories can also make it more interesting.

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7.4 Technical Descriptions and Definitions

Mechanism Descriptions: provide a detailed overview the physical aspects of a tool, machine or other mechanical device that has moving parts and is designed to perform a specific function. These could be product descriptions for sales or manufacturing, documentation of design specifications, info-graphics, etc . This chapter focuses in detail on this kind of description.
Process Descriptions: detail a series of events ( natural/biological/ecological, mechanical, social, or psychological phenomenon ) that happen in particular sequence in order to achieve a specific outcome. These can be categorized into non-instructional processes (such as a process analyses of how an internal combustion engine works, or natural processes like photosynthesis) and instructional process (such as recommended/required procedures and explicit step-by-step instructions to be followed). (See Section 7.7 for detailed information on Writing Instructions ).
Definitions: clarify the specific meaning, often related to a specific context, or express the essential nature of the terms being defined. These can range in length from a simple clarifying phrase to an extended document of several pages. Definitions will often include detailed descriptions and visuals to illustrate ideas. Click on the link below to view a student PowerPoint presentation on how to write effective definitions for technical purposes. This presentation is included with express permission of the student.

Definitions in Technical Writing – Sample student presentation [PDF]

Technical Description of a Mechanism

Mechanism descriptions should provide a clear understanding of the object being described, including

General appearance and physical properties
Overall function/purpose
Component parts
How the parts interact to create a functioning whole.

The reader should be able to clearly picture, and therefore understand, the nature of the object being described, what it does, and how it works.

In order to achieve this clarity for the reader, the writer must choose significant details and organize information logically. Select details that can be described precisely and measurably, such as:

texture, smell, taste
component parts
patterns, designs
principles at work
interactions

Once you have your purpose and audience clearly in focus, draft a description that includes the following elements:

Definition : What is it, and what is its main purpose?
Overview : Describe the mechanism’s overall appearance (“big picture”).
Components : Describe the main component parts in labeled sections; consider the order of information carefully here. Create a logical connection between each component described.
Explanation: how do the parts work together to fulfill its function? What key principles govern its functioning? Consider how much detail is necessary here for your intended audience.
Visuals: include graphics that clearly illustrate the mechanism and/or its parts. Show the device as a whole; consider showing specific details in expanded views, cut-aways, or labeled diagrams. You may even embed or link to videos showing the device in action.
Conclusion : depending on the purpose, you might review product’s history, availability, manufacturing, costs, warnings, etc .)
References : Sources you have used in your description, or additional sources of information available (if relevant).

Technical Description Template

Sample Descriptions

Examine the description of the “Up Goer Five” in Figure 7.4.2 (click on image for larger version). Who might the intended audience be?

Compare the description in Figure 7.4.2 to the information given on the NASA website about the Mars Curiosity Rover .

Template for Description of Mars Curiosity Rover

In refining the details of your description and its component parts, consider the following:

Top to bottom (or foundation upward)
Left to right (or right to left)
Inside to outside (or outside to inside)
Most important to least important features
Central component to peripherals
Material properties, etc .
Use correct terminology – define terms as necessary for your audience
Use analogy to describe an unfamiliar thing in terms of a familiar thing
Use objective language – no “ad speak” or subjective terms
Use present tense, active verbs to describe how the device appears and what it does
Use words that create vivid and specific pictures in the reader’s mind.

EXERCISE 7.2 Practice technical description

Media Attributions

Fig. 7.4.1. Thumbnail cover of R. Sturnback and M. Okuna, Star Trek: The Next Generation: Technical Manual. New York: Pocket Books, 1991. For noncommercial, educational use only.
Figure 7.4.2 A description of the blueprints for NASA’s Saturn Five rocket using only the 1000 most commonly-used English words by Randall Munroe is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.5 licence.
Figure 7.4.3 Corkscrew by Simon Brass is licensed under CC BY 2.0 licence.
Figure 7.4.3 Bike is licensed under CC BY 2.0 licence.

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7.2 Technical Descriptions

Like instructions , descriptive technical writing uses a combination of visuals and text to both “show” and “tell” the reader about the information being conveyed. Like more creative descriptions, technical descriptions sometimes draw on the “five senses” and metaphorical comparisons (analogies) to allow the reader to fully conceptualize what is being described. More often, however, they rely on concrete, measurable descriptors.

Technical descriptions can take many forms, depending on purpose and audience. Descriptions can range from a brief sentence, to a paragraph, a whole section of a report, or an entire manual. Poorly written technical descriptions can cause confusion, waste time, and even result in catastrophe! Technical product descriptions are often legally required to ensure safety and compliance. Attention to detail is critical.

Some general categories of technical descriptions include the following:

Mechanism Descriptions: provide a detailed overview the physical aspects of a tool, machine or other mechanical device that has moving parts and is designed to perform a specific function. These could be product descriptions for sales or manufacturing, documentation of design specifications, info-graphics, etc . This chapter focuses in detail on this kind of description.
Process Descriptions: detail a series of events ( natural/biological/ecological, mechanical, social, or psychological phenomenon ) that happen in particular sequence in order to achieve a specific outcome. These can be categorized into non-instructional processes (such as a process analyses of how an internal combustion engine works, or natural processes like photosynthesis) and instructional process (such as recommended/required procedures and explicit step-by-step instructions to be followed—see section on writing instructions for more information).
Definitions: clarify the specific meaning, often related to a specific context, or express the essential nature of the terms being defined. These can range in length from a simple clarifying phrase to an extended document of several pages. Definitions will often include detailed descriptions and visuals to illustrate ideas. Click on the link below to view a student PowerPoint presentation on how to write effective definitions for technical purposes. This presentation is included with express permission of the student. [1]

Writing Technical Descriptions

Before you begin to write a technical description, consider carefully how the audience and the purpose of the document will affect what you write. Your sense of your audience will determine not only how technical your vocabulary should be but also how long your sentences and paragraphs should be.

Another audience-related factor is your use of visuals . Less knowledgeable readers may need simple graphics; they might have trouble understanding complicated schematics or charts. As you consider your audience, think about whether any of your readers are from other cultures and might therefore expect different topics, organization, or writing style in the description.

Consider your purpose : What are you trying to accomplish with this description? If you want your readers to understand how a personal computer works, write a general description that applies to several brands and sizes of computers. If you want your readers to understand how a specific computer works, write a description specific to that computer. Your purpose will determine every aspect of the description, including its length, the amount of detail, and the number and type of graphics.

Drafting Effective Descriptions

There is no single organization or format used for descriptions. Because descriptions are written for different audiences and different purposes, they can take many shapes and forms. However, the following four suggestions will guide you in most situations:

Indicate clearly the nature and scope of the description
Introduce the description clearly
Provide appropriate detail
End the description with a brief conclusion

Indicate Clearly the Nature and Scope of the Description

If the description is to be a separate document, give it a title. If the description is to be part of a longer document, give it a section heading. In either case, clearly state the subject and indicate whether the description is general or particular. For instance, a general description of an object might be titled “Description of a Minivan,” and a particular description, “Description of the 2015 Honda Odyssey.” A general description of a process might be called “Description of the Process of Designing a New Production Car,” and a particular description, “Description of the Process of Designing the Chevrolet Malibu.”

Introduce the Description Clearly

Start with a general overview: you want to give readers a broad understanding of the object, mechanism, or process. Consider adding a graphic that introduces the overall concept. For example, in describing a process, you might include a flowchart summarizing the steps in the body of the description; in describing an object, such as a bicycle, you might include a photograph or a drawing showing the major components you will describe in detail in the body.

Provide Appropriate Detail

In the body of the description, treat each major part or step as a separate item. In describing an object or a mechanism, define each part and then, if applicable, describe its function, operating principle, and appearance. In discussing the appearance, include shape, dimensions, material, and physical details such as texture and color (if essential). In describing a process, treat each major step as if it were a separate process.

A description can have not only parts or steps but also subparts or substeps. For example, a description of a computer system will include the keyboard as one of its main parts. The description of the keyboard will include the numeric keypad as one of its subparts, and a description of the numeric keypad will include the arrow keys as one of its subparts. The same principle applies in describing processes: if a step has substeps, you need to describe who or what performs each substep.

Conclude the Description

A typical description has a brief conclusion that provides an overall summary of the item. One common technique for concluding descriptions of some mechanisms and objects is to state briefly how the parts function together. A professional description usually has a brief paragraph summarizing the principal steps or discussing the importance or implications of the process.

Structuring an Item Description

Ask yourself the following questions as you compose your description to help give it a structure:

What is the item? You might start with a sentence definition. EXAMPLE : “The electron microscope is a type of microscope that uses electrons to create an image of the target. It has much higher magnification power than normal microscopes.”
What is the function of the item? If the function is not implicit in the sentence definition, state it. EXAMPLE : “Electron microscopes magnify objects that are smaller than the wavelengths of visible light.”
What does the item look like? Sometimes an object is best pictured with both graphics and words. Include a photograph or drawing if possible. *If you cannot use a graphic, use an analogy or comparison. EXAMPLE : “The USB drive is a plastic- or metal-covered device, about the size of a pack of gum, with a removable cap that covers the type-A USB connection.” Mention the material, texture, color, and other physical characteristics, if relevant.
How does the item work? In a few sentences, describe how the item works (sometimes objects do not work ; they merely exist). EXAMPLE : “The USB drive is simply inserted into any available USB port on the computer to allow for file transfers between devices.”
What are the principal parts of the item? Limit your description to the principal parts. A description of a bicycle, for instance, would not mention the dozens of nuts and bolts that hold the mechanism together; it would focus on the chain, gears, pedals, wheels, and frame. EXAMPLE : “The MIG welder has a power switch, a speed selector, a voltage selector, a pressure regulator, a ground clamp, and a standard trigger handle and tip.”

You may find that some of these elements are not necessary; again, consider what your target audience already knows. Strive to strike a balance between unnecessarily stating the obvious and incorrectly assuming your readers have knowledge that they lack.

Once you have your purpose and audience clearly in focus, draft a technical description that includes the following elements:

Definition : What is it, and what is its main purpose?
Overview : Describe the mechanism’s overall appearance (“big picture”).
Components : Describe the main component parts in labeled sections; consider the order of information carefully here. Create a logical connection between each component described.
Explanation: how do the parts work together to fulfill its function? What key principles govern its functioning? Consider how much detail is necessary here for your intended audience.
Visuals: include graphics that clearly illustrate the mechanism and/or its parts. Show the device as a whole; consider showing specific details in expanded views, cut-aways, or labeled diagrams. You may even embed or link to videos showing the device in action.
Conclusion : depending on the purpose, you might review product’s history, availability, manufacturing, costs, warnings, etc .)
References : Sources you have used in your description, or additional sources of information available (if relevant).

Revising Technical Descriptions

In refining the details of your description and its component parts, consider the following:

Top to bottom (or foundation upward)
Left to right (or right to left)
Inside to outside (or outside to inside)
Most important to least important features
Central component to peripherals
Material properties, etc.
Use correct terminology – define terms as necessary for your audience
Use analogy to describe an unfamiliar thing in terms of a familiar thing
Use objective language – no “ad speak” or subjective terms
Use present tense, active verbs to describe how the device appears and what it does
Use words that create vivid and specific pictures in the reader’s mind.

Here’s an example of a student’s technical description assignment for explaining GPS.

Additional Resources

“ Technical Description ” Online Technical Writing
“ Technical Definition and Description ” Penn State University, Technical Writing, Fall 2013

IMAGES

PPT
33 Good Technical Writing Examples (Word & PDF) ᐅ TemplateLab
An epic guide to writing a product description
Technical Description: What is it & How to Write it? (Steps Included
Elegant Technical Presentation Templates PPT Designs
8 Strategies for Delivering a Technical Presentation

VIDEO

Technical translation presentation
Technical Description of A.C || Chapter
Customer Review Ready Chef
Introduction to Technical Vocabulary
Basics for Structure and Editing with Technical Writing
An Example of using Storytelling in a Technical Presentation

COMMENTS

7.4 Technical Descriptions and Definitions
7. COMMON DOCUMENT TYPES. Descriptive technical writing uses a combination of visuals and text to both "show" and "tell" the reader about the information being conveyed. Like more creative descriptions, technical descriptions sometimes draw on the "five senses" and metaphorical comparisons (analogies) to allow the reader to fully ...
Technical Description: What is it & How to Write it? (Steps Included
A technical description is a document created for the end-user to understand how a product, process, or concept works. A technical description typically includes the names of the product or process, gives a brief overview regarding its functions, and dives deep into its size, frames, and other components. A technical description describes a ...
What Is a Technical Description? (Plus Template and Example)
Updated July 23, 2023. A technical description defines how an individual can use a product or complete a task following a sequential order. It ranges from a few sentences to multiple pages and can stand on its own or be part of a larger document. Understanding how to write a technical description can help you create an easy-to-read and follow ...
Technical Description: Definition, Benefits & How to Write an Effective
The technical description is the most simple way to talk about something technical, plus guide and educate a user on a product or a process. It is a genre of technical writing that provides a detailed description on how a product or system works. Technical descriptions can be found in product manuals, online documentation, and other technical ...
Chapter 16: Technical Presentations
PowerPoint Tips. Figure 16.1: It can be scary looking at a large audience, even for us who do it a lot. One important, but often overlooked, skill in engineering is presenting. From talking with students, I have noticed that a lot of engineering students are intimidated by public speaking.
7 Steps to Delivering a Technical Presentation
First of all, don't use dark backgrounds. Light-colored backgrounds are easy on the eyes. Second, adjust your font styles and sizes to make sure they're big enough. And finally, learn to zoom in on specific areas as required, depending on whether you're using a Windows PC or a Mac system.
The practical strategies to deliver an effective technical presentation
Essentially, the success of a presentation depends on how much can each recipient take away. Hence, having a clear idea of who the recipient is makes it straightforward in shaping the presentation's content. This includes. gauge the complexity of topics to covers; determine the background context to include; shaping the jargon around technical ...
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And yes, keep your presentation short - not more than 10 slides. You can go for the 10/20/30 rule, i.e., 10 slides, 20 minutes, and 30 font size. 6. Leave space for questions and queries. Since your presentation is technical and the audience might be diverse, be prepared to answer questions. The major cause of anxiety before a presentation is ...
Technical Descriptions
Because descriptions are written for different audiences and different purposes, they can take many shapes and forms. However, the following four suggestions will guide you in most situations: Indicate clearly the nature and scope of the description. Introduce the description clearly. Provide appropriate detail.
Technical Presentation : Mechanical Engineering Communication Lab
Criteria for Success. The presentation starts with the motivating problem for the research and why it's being presented. Every slide shows something relevant to the motivating problem. Every slide shows no more information than necessary to convey the message. Slide titles stand on their own; other text supports the visuals.
7.2 Technical Descriptions
Like instructions, descriptive technical writing uses a combination of visuals and text to both "show" and "tell" the reader about the information being conveyed.Like more creative descriptions, technical descriptions sometimes draw on the "five senses" and metaphorical comparisons (analogies) to allow the reader to fully conceptualize what is being described.
7.4: Technical Descriptions and Definitions
Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\): Practice technical description. Choose a common, everyday object (such as one of the objects in Figure 7.4.3) and draft a technical description for an audience unfamiliar with the object. Start by imagining a target audience and purpose, and then try filling in the Technical Description Template with detailed ...
7.5 Technical Descriptions and Definitions
Knowledge Check. Descriptive technical writing uses a combination of visuals and text to both "show" and "tell" the reader about the information being conveyed. Like more creative descriptions, technical descriptions sometimes draw on the "five senses" and metaphorical comparisons (analogies) to allow the reader to fully ...
7.4 Technical Descriptions and Definitions
Sample Descriptions. Examine the description of the "Up Goer Five" in Figure 7.4.2 (click on image for larger version).Who might the intended audience be? Figure 7.4.2 A description of the blueprints for NASA's Saturn Five rocket using only the 1000 most commonly-used English words [2]. Compare the description in Figure 7.4.2 to the information given on the NASA website about the Mars ...
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Handouts: A handout allows the audience to take something back to work that can be used as a reference or summary of your content. Video Clips: These are a great way to break the monotony of still slides, and often introduce a more human factor to the topic. 6. Use Pattern Disruption to Hold Attention.
7.4 Technical Descriptions and Definitions
7.4 Technical Descriptions and Definitions. Descriptive technical writing uses a combination of visuals and text to both "show" and "tell" the reader about the information being conveyed. Like more creative descriptions, technical descriptions sometimes draw on the "five senses" and metaphorical comparisons (analogies) to allow the ...
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Use color, callouts (e.g., arrows or speech bubbles), or other mechanisms to draw attention to the most important parts of your slides or graphs. For example, suppose you have a list of 3-5 bullet points, each one line of text long. You might want to emphasize the 1-3 most important words in each bullet point. Color.
Top 7 Technical Presentation Templates With Samples and Examples
Template 3: Technical and Nontechnical Training Proposal PowerPoint Presentation Slides. This complete PPT set spans various crucial topics, emphasizing the significance of technical and non-technical skills in workforce efficiency. This PPT infographic highlights the need for comprehensive training programs to enhance employee capabilities.
4.6 Presentations
Technical presentations are a specific genre that often take the complex, lengthy information included in a formal report and condenses and translates that information in a way that includes visual and audio communication modes. Consider why it is useful to present information in various ways (as a formal report and as a 5-10 minute presentation).
Craft Effective Technical Presentations: 5 Success Strategies
To craft an effective technical presentation, it is crucial to structure your content in a clear and logical flow. Begin with an attention-grabbing introduction that captivates your audience and sets the tone for the presentation. Organize your content into sections or chapters, making it easier for your audience to comprehend and follow along. ...
7.4 Technical Descriptions and Definitions
Descriptive technical writing uses a combination of visuals and text to both "show" and "tell" the reader about the information being conveyed. Like more creative descriptions, technical descriptions sometimes draw on the "five senses" and metaphorical comparisons (analogies) to allow the reader to fully conceptualize what is being ...
7.2 Technical Descriptions
7.2 Technical Descriptions Like instructions, descriptive technical writing uses a combination of visuals and text to both "show" and "tell" the reader about the information being conveyed.Like more creative descriptions, technical descriptions sometimes draw on the "five senses" and metaphorical comparisons (analogies) to allow the reader to fully conceptualize what is being ...

Technical Description of a Mechanism

Sample Descriptions

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Technical Description: What is it & How to Write it? (Steps Included)

What are Technical Descriptions?

Types of Technical Descriptions

1. Product Description

2. Process Description

What is the Benefit Of Writing Technical Descriptions?

How to Write Technical Descriptions? (Step by Step)

Step 1. Define your audience

Step 2. Describe the result

Step 3. Gather Information

Step 4. Build an outline

Step 5. Make it interactive

Step 6. Proofread & Edit

Step 7. Keep updating

Bit.ai : Best Tool for Writing Technical Descriptions and Other Documents

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Technical Description: Definition, Benefits & How to Write an Effective One

What are technical descriptions?

Types of technical descriptions with examples

1. Process Description

2. Product Description

"Electric Spin Scrubber with 4 replaceable brush heads and an adjustable extension."

"The iPhone 6 has a 4.7-inch Retina HD display and is powered by an A8 processor. It has 16GB of storage capacity and supports LTE connectivity."

" The Canon EOS Rebel T6i is a digital SLR camera with a 24.2 megapixel CMOS sensor. It has a 3-inch LCD screen and an ISO range of 100-12800. It can shoot full HD video at 30 fps and has built-in WiFi for easy sharing."

Benefits of writing technical descriptions

How to write an effective technical description

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Related content

Chapter 16: Technical Presentations

Learning Goals

Why Learning How to Present Is Important

Presentation Anxiety

What Your Presentation Should Entail

Title Slide

Introduction / Background Slide(s)

Materials and Methods

Conclusion / Significance

How To Give a Dynamic Engineering Presentation

PowerPoint Tips

7 Steps to Delivering a Technical Presentation

Know your subject matter

Know your audience

Configure your IDE

Practice Presentation Skills

Minimize distractions

Get the right equipment

Rehearse in advance

Finally, enjoy the experience

How to Deliver a Memorable Technical Presentation

Tips to Ace Your Technical Presentation

How to Deliver a Winning Technical Presentation?

1. What is the core message and purpose of your presentation?

2. Who is your audience?

3. Define a clear outline

4. Take help of everything that can explain the concept

5. Remember to be consistent

6. Leave space for questions and queries

7. Practice sessions

8. A few quick tips

Do’s and Dont's

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Technical Presentation

Identify Your Message and Purpose

Analyze Your Audience

Plan Out the Presentation