Final presentation guidelines

We'll have about 10 minutes per presentation.

Here's what you should cover in your final project presentation:

1. The basics: your name, your project's name, license, contact information.

2. Who is your software meant for?

3. How does it meet their needs? (A demo or screenshots can help here.)

4. What other options does your audience have (other software, paper and pencil, anything) and how does your project compare?

5. What motivated the various decisions you made throughout the project? In other words, what worked and what didn't? "Failures" are as important to report as successes because we can all learn from both.

6. Were there any lessons you learned that you'd like to share? Preferably lessons that you think other people will benefit from, but if it was important to you, share it!

7. If someone (perhaps you) were to continue this project, how do you think they should improve it?

8. Where can we find your code, and how can people reach you if they're interested in the project?

I'm looking for honest self-assessment, not a sales pitch. If your project really is everything you hoped, then that's wonderful, but if there's any way it hasn't met your goals, I will grade well for showing that you've considered its limits.

Slides are optional but unless you are an experienced speaker you will probably find them helpful to have as a reminder of what you intended to say. That said, please don't read your slides to us.

There's lots of advice on the Internet for how to give a good talk; here's one reasonable source.