Talk Prep:
Use of Specific Visualization Tools

• Outline or overview slides
  Topic slides focus attention on key thoughts and orient the audience. An outline of major topics to be covered should be your opening slide. But be careful not to read it - the audience can do that without your help. Be brief but be sure you give the audience the proper orientation for the body of the talk.
  
• Trends
  Continuous line graphs show trends or correlations effectively. Be sure to label both X and Y axes. Make sure the graph has enough information to be understood without a lengthy explanation of its details - simply interpret it.
  
• Comparisons and proportions
  Bar graphs are best for comparing magnitudes. Pie charts are good for showing relative parts of the whole.
  
• Symbols
  Symbolic diagrams of circuits or flow charts are useful if carefully prepared and if not too detailed. Use IEEE standard symbols where applicable. Otherwise, define your symbols.
  
• Flow and relationship
  Simple flow charts or schematic diagrams can convey flow or relationships to be described. Show only those parts or details necessary to explain how a thing works. Convey ideas with pictures rather than words if possible.
  
• Tabular data
  Avoid tables! Use graphs or charts instead. If you must use a table, include only items that you will mention. Normalized data or easy visual comparison - relative run-time, normalized to a particular line in the table, is much easier to interpret than actual CPU times. When you must compare numbers, arrange them vertically rather than side-by-side. Use contrasting colored numbers to highlight significant data in tables. Include a leading zero when showing decimal fractions - .56 is easy to confuse with 56 while 0.56 will not be confused.