Talk Science Tips on how to give a scientific presentation Summer 2011 at SDSU Eric Sandquist

Before You Start…  What are your main points? What does your audience know? How can you interest your audience? Then… OUTLINE!

Introduction Get interest early Prepare the audience for your main points WHY SHOULD THEY CARE?

Layout Things that are different catch the eye If everything looks the same, it can be hard to pick out the main ideas The audience might spend more time reading the slide than listening to you Important ideas can get lost – like how much I like creamy chocolate pudding You have to fight to make your ideas stick in your listeners’ minds for more than a second If you are at the end of a long list of speakers, it may be a battle to keep audience attention

Layout Things that are different catch the eye If everything looks the same, it can be hard to pick out the main ideas The audience might spend more time reading the slide than listening to you Important ideas can get lost – like how much I like creamy chocolate pudding You have to fight to make your ideas stick in your listeners’ minds for more than a second If you are at the end of a long list of speakers, it may be a battle to keep audience attention

Layout Slides shouldn’t be too busy… Emphasize important points

 Clusters held together by gravitational forces between stars  up to about 10 6 stars Video: terpsichore.stsci.edu/~summers/viz/scviz/spz.html 30 light-years Catchy Visuals?

Graphs Ask yourself:  Is this graphic important?  Are the labels visible?  Will the audience clearly understand it?

NGC 6819 solar composition age ~2.5 GyrGraphs Ask yourself:  Is this graphic important?  Are the labels visible?  Will the audience clearly understand it? zero age

Graphs Ask yourself:  Is this graphic important?  Are the labels visible?  Will the audience clearly understand it? zero age 1% precisions

Starting to Talk Control nervousness by having a practiced introduction GET THEM TO CARE! 

Timing PRACTICE YOUR TALK! …especially short ones  It will feel smoother  don’t wear out your welcome Make sure everything serves a purpose  If you have to speak fast, YOU HAVE TOO MUCH!!!

Snappy slides won’t make up for poor speaking skills TIPS: Don’t read your slides Know your own nervous habits Speak clearly and at reasonable speed Speaking  BLAH OW!

Conclusions Summarize main points:  Focus on the important science ideas  Know your audience  Practice, practice, practice Leave conclusions slide up at end  give audience time to absorb them

Question Time Give yourself time to think and compose an answer If you don’t know, say so… BUT you can:  offer to find an answer, and report back  offer some related thoughts