Wednesday 29 June 2016

How to value a presentation or a paper

Sometimes you like a presentation or a paper and sometimes you don't. I decided for myself (and it is my personal opinion) the following list of imaginary points of goodness.

A graph of a diagram representing numbers (e.g. pie chart) is (+1).

A magic number: (-1). This is a number appearing from nowhere and not explained.

Two formulae: (+1). One formula is not enough; it is 0. So the total number of points for all formulae is their number divided by 2.

Two undefined abbreviations or two domain specific jargon words: (-1).

A block diagram or an algorithm: (-1).

A picture representing idea (+1). How to distinguish it from a block diagram? If the reader/audience can draw this picture after read or presentation, then it is (+1) otherwise it is as above (-1).

A list of items is tricky. If the reader/audience know why the number of items is that exactly number - not more not less, then it is (+1). If the items appear arbitrary or the list is not surely complete, then it is (-1).

A table is (0), and any text is (0).



No comments: