Some Thoughts on Academic Presentations March 26, 2014 Dan Quint University of Wisconsin

1 Introduction Preparation Delivery Answering Questions Almost Freakish Attention to Detail

2 Introduction  Presenting well matters

3 Introduction  Preparing a good talk takes much longer than you think “Hofstadter’s Law: it always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.” – Douglas Hofstadter

4 Introduction  Giving a good talk is hard… …and you’ll screw it up Your first presentation will probably go worse than you expect… even when you take this into account.

5 Introduction Preparation Delivery Answering Questions Almost Freakish Attention to Detail

6 Preparation  “Own your paper”

7 Preparation  Think about who your audience is  Assume we’re smart, but haven’t read your paper, or the paper you’re extending

8 Preparation  Think about the best way to teach them your paper

9 Preparation  Start with a puzzle, or a story

10 Preparation  You want us to understand, quickly:  What the question is  What you found  Why we should care

11 Preparation  Your lit review is terrible  Show you know the literature you’re supposed to  Put your paper in context and clarify its contribution easy hard good place to take advice from advisors, etc.

12 Preparation  You don’t have to present the most complicated case in your paper

13 Preparation  Plan where you want to spend your time

14 Preparation  Plan where you want to spend your time

15 Preparation  PLAN WHERE YOU WANT TO SPEND YOUR TIME

16 Preparation  Get to your model FAST!

17 Preparation  Define things rigorously

18 Preparation  Have examples in mind

19 Preparation  Highlight the things you want us to notice

20 Preparation  Don’t drown us in equations

21 Preparation  Tables source: A. Sengupta and S. Wiggins (2014), “Airline Pricing, Price Dispersion, and Ticket Characteristics On and Off the Internet,” AEJ: Economic Policy 6(1)

22 Preparation  Visuals good! source: T. Piketty, E. Saez and S. Stantcheva (2014), “Optimal Taxation of Top Labor Incomes: A Tale of Three Elasticities,” AEJ: Economic Policy 6(1)

23 Preparation  Ask for advice – and follow it

24 Preparation  Practice!

25 Introduction Preparation Delivery Answering Questions Almost Freakish Attention to Detail

26 Delivery  Face the audience, and don’t laser-point every slide

27 Delivery  Go slow, except for the technical parts – then, go really slow

28 Delivery probability h of my opponents do one thing and the rest do another increase in probability stuff happens expected payoff I get if it happens  Slowness especially important for equations

29 Delivery  I like dot points to appear one by one  Guides people through each point I make  Reinforces each point  (Means I can’t present without a clicker)

30 Delivery  But don’t “foreshadow” dot points You may think it looks cute But it makes people read ahead while you’re talking Which means they aren’t paying attention

31 Delivery  But don’t “foreshadow” dot points  You may think it looks cute But it makes people read ahead while you’re talking Which means they aren’t paying attention

32 Delivery  But don’t “foreshadow” dot points  You may think it looks cute  But it makes people read ahead while you’re talking Which means they aren’t paying attention

33 Delivery  But don’t “foreshadow” dot points  You may think it looks cute  But it makes people read ahead while you’re talking  Which means they aren’t paying attention

34 Delivery  Also, don’t put everything you want to say on your slide  If you do, then all you can do is read your slides  And that isn’t a very compelling way to present  Better to leave some things off your slide and just talk about them  And use your slides as an outline of the major points you want to cover…  …not every detail

35 Delivery  Don’t be limited by your slides  Control pace, adjust accordingly  Use white board as needed

36 Introduction Preparation Delivery Answering Questions Almost Freakish Attention to Detail

37 Answering questions  Anticipate likely questions

38 Answering questions  Don’t take it personally  Don’t get defensive  Don’t be a dick

39 Answering questions  Don’t interrupt someone asking a question

40 Answering questions  Don’t interrupt someone asking a question

41 Answering questions  Make sure you understand the question before you start to answer

42 Answering questions  Don’t defer questions more than necessary

43 Answering questions  But don’t lose control of the seminar

44 Answering questions  Don’t be a bullshitter

45 Answering questions  But also, don’t undersell your work

46 Introduction Preparation Delivery Answering Questions Almost Freakish Attention to Detail

47 Almost freakish attention to detail  Minimize typos, incorrect notation, etc.  But don’t freak out if you catch one during your talk

48 Almost freakish attention to detail  If your dot points appear one by one,

49 Almost freakish attention to detail  If your dot points appear one by one,  Make sure you do it properly,

50 Almost freakish attention to detail  If your dot points appear one by one,  Make sure you do it properly,  Because if they don’t line up right,

51 Almost freakish attention to detail  If your dot points appear one by one,  Make sure you do it properly,  Because if they don’t line up right,  It makes me want to kill you!

52 Almost freakish attention to detail  Plug in your fucking computer

53 Almost freakish attention to detail  (Also: don’t use the word “fuck” in a presentation until you have tenure)

54 Thanks for listening, and good luck!