Kimmy's Skills

Nine months after the dike breach — Presentation Requirements

Source: ../academic-defense.html · Type: Academic defense · Audience: Thesis committee · Mode: Live + Q&A · Time: 20 min + 5 Q&A Fictional case. The deck is the current implementation; this file captures the brief, structure, and acceptance.

1. Audience and intent

Thesis committee; one external examiner; 20 minutes plus questions.

Intent: Defend the claim and leave with a clear recommendation and acknowledged limits.

Decision or action: Accept the thesis, require revisions, or approve the monitoring recommendation.

Success: The committee can restate the question, the two results, and the main limitation without reading the slides.

2. Narrative

Question → why it matters → method → two results → interpretation → limitations → recommendation.

Slide sequence

#	Slide	Budget	Purpose / speaker cue
1	Nine months after the dike breach	1	Open with the question, not the methods.
2	The question	2	State both trajectories.
3	Why it matters	2	Keep this short.
4	Method	3	Name the limitation now: one site, nine months.
5	Result 1: accretion	3	One chart, one claim.
6	Result 2: reed cover and salinity	3	The surprise is that salinity stayed in band.
7	Interpretation	2	This is the thesis.
8	Limitations	2	Own the limits before the committee does.
9	Conclusion	2	End with the recommendation, not a summary of the method.
10	Q&A	5	Likely questions: storm sequencing, observer error, transferability, why not model wave energy.

3. Evidence and fact-check

36 fixed transects, monthly; drone photogrammetry at 4 cm/px; salinity loggers at three depths; storm dates from tide gauges. All numbers are fictional for the showcase; replace them with the real study before use.

Fact-check gate: confirm names, numbers, dates, and comparisons before layout. A precise number without a date and source is a liability.

4. Language and delivery

Formal academic register; assertion headlines; define terms once; never read the slides.

5. Visual and accessibility

Light paper, navy accent, serif display; one chart or table per result; grayscale-safe; body text sized for the room.

6. Time and structure

20 minutes plus 5 minutes Q&A. One to three minutes per slide. Must-cut: the why-it-matters detail and method detail; protect the two results, limitations, and recommendation. (total budget: 25 minutes)

Q&A: prepare the ten most likely questions and one honest answer for each. Do not improvise a fact.

7. Verification

• Titles-only read: read the slide titles in order. The argument must hold without the body.
• Timed run: rehearse to a hard stop, record it, and cut from the must-cut list.
• Evidence: every number and comparison has a source, date, and range where relevant.
• Visual: check at presentation size, in grayscale, and in the exported file.
• Accessibility: alt text, reading order, contrast, color-not-alone, reduced motion, captions/transcript.
• Print: one slide per page, notes hidden, no clipped content.
• Check every number against the study; run the 20-minute hard stop; print the deck and read the grayscale hierarchy.

8. Non-goals and open questions

Risks: Overclaiming self-healing; hiding the one-site, nine-month limit; being surprised by storm-sequencing questions.

Open: Replace fictional numbers with the real study; confirm committee format and whether the appendix is allowed.

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