Presentation Slides — Guidelines and Rubric

Purpose

These guidelines help you create slides that focus on the content of your presentation and provide structure for your work.

About the Slides

General Guidelines

• You are encouraged to revise your slides after receiving feedback. Revisions may improve your presentation, but your slide draft grade is based only on what you submit by your deadline.
• As usual, if you need to break any rule to improve the slides, you can do it provided that you clear with your instructor in advance.
• Word limit: Your slides (excluding bibliography) should contain no more than 150 words total. Slides support what you say—not replace it.
• Slide count: Plan for about one slide per minute. Most strong presentations have 6–10 slides total, each focused on a key idea.
• Screenshots: Avoid screenshots unless cleared with the instructor. Do not use screenshots of formulas from books or papers.
• Images: All images must be relevant and clear. Credit all images in the "Image Credits" section of your bibliography slide.
• Keep slides visual and concise.
• AI Policy: Follow the course AI policy. AI can help with brainstorming, but slides must reflect your own understanding and voice.

Typography

• Font: Choose a consistent font throughout your presentation
• Titles: 40–44 pt
• Body text: At least 35 pt
• Avoid: Thin, light, or condensed typefaces

Design Principles

• One solid background color per slide—no gradients, textures, or images behind text
• Avoid cluttered slides—use minimal text, clear layouts, and ample white space
• Consistent text color across all slides as much as possible
• Strong contrast between background and font

Required Slides

Your slide deck must include the following 7 required slide types. You may include additional slides. These 7 can appear in any order that fits your topic—but they should work together as one coherent narrative, not as seven disconnected checkboxes. Think of them as parts of the story you're telling, not a checklist to complete in sequence.

How to label each required slide: Add a small red square with an 18pt white bold number at the bottom-right corner of each required slide. The square should be just large enough to contain the number clearly. This makes it easy for the grader to identify which requirement each slide fulfills.

Important: These red numbers are a grading aid only—include them in your 9up PDF (submitted for grading), but remove them from the full PDF you actually display during your presentation.

Example: A slide for "Timeline and Context" would have a red square with white "1" in the bottom-right corner.

The 7 Required Slide Types (use these numbers):

1. Timeline and Context: Show when and where your topic fits in mathematical history
2. Primary Source: Include an image or text from a primary source with your explanation of what it shows. Connect it explicitly to the rest of your talk—don't just display it and move on.
3. Mathematical Concept: Clearly describe the object/theorem/idea you are discussing
4. Worked Example: Present one example that YOU actually solved yourself
5. Learning Moment: Explain a genuine "aha" moment from your own preparation—something you misunderstood at first and figured out, a misconception (yours or a common one) you dispelled, or an assumption that turned out to be wrong
6. Audience Question: Pose a question to your audience—either a content check (did they follow the idea you just presented) or a reflection/connection question (invites them to think beyond it)
7. Annotated Bibliography: Include all sources with brief annotations explaining how each source was used. Use your words. This slide should also include an "Image Credits" section listing where each image in your presentation is from.

Tips for a strong audience question: A good question creates a little productive struggle—it shouldn't be answerable just by repeating what's on the slide, and it shouldn't hint at its own answer. Two approaches that work:

• Content check: asks the audience to apply the idea to a new case, not just recall it (e.g., not "What did I just say?" but "Given this, what would happen if...?")
• Reflection/connection: invites the audience to think past the material (e.g., "Why might they not have used the simpler method we know today?")

Note: If any of these requirements creates a problem for your specific topic, discuss it with the instructor in advance.

Format and Submission

Two Submissions Required

1. Draft Submission — via Brightspace

• Submit: lastname_slides_9up.pdf (nine slides per page)
• This is your draft for feedback
• Due date: See course schedule (Lecture 1, Lecture 2, or Lecture 3)

2. Final Submission — 24 hours before your presentation via Google Form

• Submit TWO files:
  • lastname_slides_full.pdf — One slide per page, no red number labels (for display during presentation)
  • lastname_slides_9up.pdf — Nine slides per page, with red number labels (for grading)
• Google Form links:
  • Lecture 1: link coming soon
  • Lecture 2: https://forms.gle/W2cXW4byC3cJEeco7
  • Lecture 3: link coming soon
• Example filenames: garcia_slides_full.pdf, garcia_slides_9up.pdf

How to Create 9-Up PDF

Most presentation platforms can print multiple slides per page. For PowerPoint (available via Office 365):

1. File → Print
2. Under 'Settings', click 'Full Page Slides'
3. Select '9 Slides'
4. Save as PDF

Grading Rubric

Total: 30 points