EES Graduate Seminar Fall 2008 Geoc/Geol/Geop/Hydr 592 Rick Aster MSEC

Course Web Site

Objectives To gain experience with presentations and get candid feedback from your peers! To communicate the range of work going on in this department (and maybe learn some new science). To promote greater interaction among EES programs To gain experience in critically and collegially evaluating presentations.

Participation Requirement Master’s students –Attend seminar for two semesters –Make one presentation, normally in your second year Doctoral students –Attend for three semesters –Make two presentations, normally in your second and third year

Requirements Speakers –Attendance –Professional web page (make one if you don’t have one already!). –Title and abstract to me by at least one week before your seminar day (file formats: pdf, doc, rtf, txt) –Be ready to go 10 minutes before seminar time (check AV and computer systems) –Look at your video! Let us know what surprised you (or if you think you looked even better than you thought you would, for that matter).

Requirements Introducers –Get introduction information from speaker before seminar time –Be prepared to time the speaker, prompting them as time runs out –Manage question period Reviewers –Provide constructive feedback to speakers immediately after the talk (and private comments within 24 hours at the latest)

PRACTICE!! Giving a Good Talk Check out equipment in advance –Run through all the slides –Do movies, etc. run? –Have you practiced it as a show, e.g., so you expect your animations when they come? –Know how to use the pointer, etc. Speak slowly, clearly, and project your voice “Speak” from the slide – do not read. Be natural; Don’t fidget; Make eye contact.

Make the talk content appropriate to the audience. Don’t be afraid to be (appropriately) humorous. Be gracious to your collaborators and audience Have an Introduction and a Conclusion –Why should we care what you do? –What do you think is important about what you’ve done? Define terms, remind people of simple concepts so they stay up with you Keep slides relatively simple –Don’t be tempted to put too many graphics onto one slide –Make text and figures big enough to read easily

Make the talk content appropriate to the audience (know your audience!) Have an Introduction and a Conclusion –Why should we care what you do? –What do you think is important about what you’ve done? Define terms, remind people of simple concepts so they stay up with you Keep slides relatively simple –Don’t be tempted to put too many graphics onto one slide or extraneous material. –Make text and figures big enough to read easily

Consider the consequences of background and background color

More Tips Consider the consequences of background and background color

Busy Slide?

Oregon Frontal Thrust: Pore pressure and stress from seismic velocity ODP Leg 146 (Tobin et al., 1994) Seismic data Lab core data

Graphics Keep it simple Show only what you need –watch out for stuff you don’t understand on your own slides! Axes? Orient the audience Movies can be captivating and illuminating No tables full of fine print!

AVOID GARISH FONT EFFECTS Avoid distracting animations

Dates: (I will be out of town on April 8) January: 28 February: 4, 11,18, 25 March: 4, 18, 25 April 1, 15, 22 (Aster at NMMNHS), 29 May 6