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CMSE495 Data Science Capstone

Final Videos and Presentations

Photo of a drawn example storyboard.

As the semester comes to a close, your team will prepare several ways of communicating your project’s story, outcomes, and impact.

Although the final video, live presentation, and final report have different audiences and formats, they should communicate a consistent message about:

Think of these deliverables as different views of the same project rather than separate assignments.

Assignment Goals

This milestone is designed to help your team consolidate what you have learned throughout the semester and prepare for your final project communications.

By the end of this assignment, your team should have a clear plan for both:

  1. The final project video
  2. The live showcase presentation

Deliverables

1. Final Video Storyboard

Submit an updated storyboard for the final project video.

The storyboard should reflect your current understanding of the project and include planned visuals, narration, timing, speaker assignments, results, conclusions, and future work. This should be the final version of the storyboard that will guide video production.

2. Presentation Script or Outline

Prepare a detailed script or presentation outline for the live showcase presentation.

The goal is not to memorize every word, but to clearly define the flow of the presentation, key talking points, speaker responsibilities, transitions, and supporting visuals.

Your video and presentation do not need to be identical, but they should tell the same overall story and communicate a consistent set of conclusions.

Presentation Plan

Your final presentation will take the form of an in-person lightning talk of approximately five minutes.

This presentation is different from your final video. The video allows you to carefully tell the entire project story, while the lightning talk is designed to convince an audience that your work is interesting, meaningful, and worth discussing further.

Condensing a semester-long project into five minutes is challenging. Successful teams focus on the most important ideas rather than trying to include every detail.

Remember that the lightning talk is only the beginning. After the presentation there will be opportunities to answer questions, demonstrate your work, and speak directly with community partners, instructors, and guests. These conversations are often more valuable than the presentation itself. They are an opportunity to receive feedback, practice professional communication, expand your network, and discuss future opportunities.

Because of this, teams should carefully plan and practice their presentation so they can communicate their project clearly while staying within the allotted time.

Deliverable

Prepare a presentation plan and save it in your public team folder.

The plan does not need to be long. It should provide enough detail for your team to coordinate a polished and professional presentation.

Consider including:

A good presentation plan should help your team deliver a concise presentation while leaving plenty of time for discussion and networking.

Evaluation

The file storyboard slides and script will be graded on good effort attempt to follow directions and complete the project. Your assignment will be graded out of 25 points, based on the following categories:

Total: 25 Points

Post Evaluation

Review the feedback from your classmates and slides. Add additional information to your storyboard and finish making the video.