FSU SC Artificial Intelligence Seminar in Tallahassee

NASA Trichotomy of Presenting — a compact guide for our diverse audience

Our seminar brings together researchers with varied backgrounds. The NASA Trichotomy is a simple checklist to keep talks accessible and useful: cover The Basics so everyone can follow, provide The Details for substance, and include The Deep Dive so specialists can learn something extra without derailing the flow. Interactive format: we welcome questions and discussion at any time unless the speaker prefers to take them at the end. This can make planning the amount of prepared content slightly trickier, but the payoff is a more engaging seminar where we learn from one another. Some questioners can be quite direct; this is meant in the bestest of spirits.

Illustration of the NASA Trichotomy: The Basics, The Details, The Deep Dive

1) The Basics

Clear topic & why it matters
Plain English; minimal jargon
One-sentence takeaway

2) The Details

Research: methods, data, key figures, limits
Surveys: scope, representative sources, contrasts, caveats
Be specific; cite essentials

3) The Deep Dive

Discuss some key elements with rigour and in-depth
Backup slide / worked example / suggested reading
Doesn’t derail the main story

Test your slides with an LLM

Paste your notes or draft slides into your preferred LLM and use the prompt below. It’s tuned for constructive, no-fluff feedback against the trichotomy. (Avoid sharing confidential data.) See the disclaimer below.

Copy-and-paste prompt

You are a generous no-fluff reviewer. Be direct—no compliments. Flag only gaps that completely jeopardise minimum adequacy.

Use the NASA trichotomy with generous thresholds. For survey/discussion talks, judge 'Details' by coverage (representative sources, contrasts, caveats), not new experiments.

Basics: clear topic and why it matters; plain English; jargon minimal enough for comprehension.
Details: research → methods/data/figures/limits; surveys → scope, key references, comparisons, limits.
Deep Dive: at least one optional rigorous element (backup slide, worked example, or suggested reading) that will not derail the flow.

Assume Adequate if an element is present, even briefly. Mark Thin only if seriously under-developed; Missing only if completely absent. Do not nit-pick style.

Context: mixed AI audience, some technical background.
Goal: attendees learn something concrete.
Time: 45-minute talk + 15-minute Q&A.

For the attached notes/slides, output (≤40 words total): For 1–3, label Adequate / Thin / Missing. Provide one fix only for each Missing item.

Tip: If your talk is a survey/discussion, weight “Details” by coverage (breadth, contrasts, caveats) rather than new experiments.

Disclaimer: Automated reviews can be blunt or overly strict. Treat them as heuristics and sanity checks—not final judgements. Use your judgement and, if in doubt, ask a seminar organiser for a quick look.

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