One of the perks of being in academia is having the opportunity to listen to smarter people than myself talk about the cool things they have done. I find it a little frustrating that good research is often let down by bad presentation. As a regular attendee of many talks across departments, it is still shockingly easy how a presenter can rise above 95% of the talks I’ve seen - I will just jot down a few, with the caveat that I do not always practice what I preach.
caveat emptor: As with everything academia-related, Matt Might already has great tips for how to make a presentation better. I also found this document pretty useful. And of course, many of these tips are due to mentors and colleagues.
Big picture
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Start with a question and tell a story to answer it. Tell the audience the purpose of the talk.
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Prepare (!!!). Flip through the slides a few times. Even the best slides do not present themselves.
Presentation style
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Do not talk to your slide. Do not stand in front of your slide.
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On the flip side, presentation is not performance art. Being understood is better than being impressive.
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Therefore, slow down.
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Shift your gaze across the room regularly.
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Modulate your voice. If someone is dropping off, speak louder and slower while looking in their direction.
What to present
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KISS: Keep it short and simple. No-one (AFAIK) has ever complained about a talk being shorter than planned.
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Present only the simplest non-obvious example.
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No more than ~6 lines and one set of equations per slide (if you want anyone to listen to what you’re saying). I like sentence fragments, not whole sentences.
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Have nothing on your slides you do not want to talk about.
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Use title slides to summarize take-away insights. At the end, repeat important insight instead of a chronological recap.
Questions
- Take time to digest questions. Avoid “waiting-to-speak” syndrome. Repeat questions so that you and the audience are on the same page.