Elements of a good talk Content Presentation Delivery Clarity = Simplicity + Consistency

Explain why the audience should pay attention Make your explanation appropriate to the audience Tell the simplest possible story Show them the data early Don’t overstate results Elements of a good talk Content

Stupid mistakes not to make Content: Overlong/over-general introductions Too much content Convoluted description of experiment/results If a data slide is difficult, build up to it gradually.

The effect of Donezepil on visual attention

1 slide a minute Organizational slides? Too many words, too small font Avoid unnecessary clutter/animation Label everything Be consistent in labeling Keep structure consistent Say thank you (Choose a style and stick to it) Elements of a good talk Presentation

Stupid mistakes not to make Presentation: Careless typos Too many words, too small font Too much animation Meaningless/confusing/inconsistent color Inconsistent terminology Failure to label axes, lines etc.

Learn your first sentences by heart Just say it, and only once Speak slowly, with pauses between sentences Use consistent terminology For every graph explain x- y- axis and what each object in the graph represents Don’t talk about something different from what’s on the slide Sound somewhat enthusiastic Don’t be overly casual Lose your ticks/querks, “ums” (Practice in front of a mirror & wear a white shirt) Elements of a good talk Delivery

Stupid mistakes not to make Delivery: Bad timing resulting in rushing/skipping. Adding stuff to talks at last minute is a terrible idea

On the day Arrive early and introduce yourself to the moderator & projectionist. Tell the moderator how you want to be introduced Be assertive about your place in the set- up queue. Check all your movies/slides. Think about where you want to stand. Make sure they put the mike on the lapel towards the slides

How to answer impossible questions I am concerned that your failure to control for the Limaky effect casts doubt on your main finding. Lemake-what the f***??? I’m sorry, could you repeat the question? Your stimuli were all green – so you might have simply been measuring a Limaky effect. Green? What’s green got to do with anything? I want my mummy. That’s a really interesting point, but one that will take a little bit of time to answer. In the interests of time maybe we should discuss it offline.

12 minute talk 1. Title slide 2-5, Set-up slides ending with a statement of the main point 6-13, Methods including 3 organizational slides Results 17. Summary + Conclusions 18. Thank you Say what you are going to say, say it, then say that you said it …

Academic Interview Talks The goal for a interview talk is very different than a conference talk. The goal of a conference talk is to get people interested in your paper and your work. The goal of an interview talk is to get a job, for which interest in your work is one part. There are two key audiences for an academic interview talk, and you have to reach both. One is the people in your sub-area, who you must impress with the depth of your contribution. The other is the rest of the department, who you must get to understand your problem, why it is important, and a hand-wave at what you did. Both audiences will evaluate how well you speak as an approximation of how well you can teach. An algorithm: Take a 20-minute conference talk. Expand the 5 minute introduction to 20 minutes to drive home the problem, why it's important, and the gist of what you've done. Do the rest of the conference talk, minus the summary and future work. Add 10 minutes of deeper stuff from your thesis (to show your depth). It is okay lose people outside of your sub-area (as long as you get them back in the next bullet). Do the summary and future work from the conference talk in a manner accessible to all. Add 10 ten minutes to survey all the other stuff you have done (to show your breadth). Save 5 minutes for questions (to show that you are organized).