Around the code

Capstone defense slides

A defense usually runs 15–20 minutes, and most of the mark is decided inside it. The most common mistake is not an ugly deck — it is putting the report on the screen: dense text, a presenter reading their own slides aloud, and no time left for the demo the committee actually wants to see.

What the deck includes

The presentation itself, sized to your allotted time — typically 15–25 slides for 15–20 minutes.
Presenter notes on every slide, so you know what to say rather than having to invent it.
A demo script with the exact click order, so you do not lose your place under pressure.
Anticipated questions for your specific brief, with suggested answers.
A fallback: screenshots or a recording of the demo steps, in case the projector or network fails.

A structure that matches the rubric

Committees work through a fairly consistent sequence. A deck that follows it scores more easily than a prettier but disordered one:

Problem statement and motivation — short, two slides at most.
Objectives and scope: state explicitly what is in and what is out. This slide protects you from out-of-scope questions.
Analysis and design: use cases, ERD, architecture — only diagrams legible from the back of the room.
Technology choices and the reasoning behind them. Committees like asking why this and not that.
The demo — the longest segment, roughly a third of your time.
Results, remaining limitations, and future work. Raising limitations yourself usually beats letting the committee find them.

The rehearsal

We treat this as more important than the slide design. A good deck is still useless if you cannot run the demo or explain the architecture.

The rehearsal happens over a screen-share call: you present the whole thing, we time it and play the committee asking questions. Then we fix whatever you stumbled on and whatever ran long.

Frequently asked

I already have the report. How long do slides take?

Usually one to two days if the report is final, since the deck is drawn from existing content. If the report is still changing, finish it first — otherwise the slides get reworked twice.

Can you follow my university template?

Yes if your university provides one — send the file and we follow it. Without a mandated template we use a clean layout with type large enough to read from the back of the room and no distracting transitions.

I freeze in front of an audience. Does that get any help?

That is exactly what the presenter notes are for — you know precisely what to say on each slide. The timed rehearsal with mock questions also means the real defense is not the first time you have said any of it out loud.