scientific communication cits7200 lecture 10 giving a talk
TRANSCRIPT
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Scientific Communication CITS7200
Lecture 10Giving a Talk
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• Good presentation skills are vital in many professions and contexts
• Research seminars, conference talks, project meetings, budget meetings, sales talks, funding applications, job interviews, meeting your future in-laws, …
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Key points
• Know your audience– What do they know?
What do they want to know?
• Figure out what they will learn and why they want to learn it
• Be professional– Organise yourself, your materials,
and your time
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What to say and how to say it
• A good talk can usually be split into five parts
1. Definition and motivation of the problem
2. General theory3. Details4. Conclusions5. Question time
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Define and motivate the problem
Defineand motivatethe problem!
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Define and motivate the problem
• First impressions count!• Be concrete, not abstract
– Be concrete in motivation and in details– Generalise in conclusions, if appropriate
• Motivate with applications, philosophy, history, predictions, dollars, …
• Cover background only where necessary for understanding or for motivation
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• Set up the notation and terminology– Keep notation (especially) to a minimum– Keep examples as simple as possible
• Remind, but do not assume• Emphasise your contributions• Often a “road map” to the talk
helps to impose structure
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The general theory
• Describe the methodology• Describe the key results• Explain the significance of the
results• Sketch the proof/evidence of the
results– Pictures/graphs help
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The details• Present one key result which is
– Important– Non-trivial– Representative
• Now give details– But this is the part of the talk that is
least important, and should be first to be cut
– Refer them to the paper/notes, if necessary, or to later discussion
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The conclusion
• Put your results back in context– Once again, motivate the problem– Make clear your contribution
• Discuss any limitations• Discuss some interesting open
problems• Conclude: thank the audience, and
invite questions and comments
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Handling questions
• Always allow time for questions– There are always questions!
• Allow/encourage questions during the talk, if you are confident enough
• Try to anticipate likely questions• Try to learn from the questions
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Visual and aural aids
• High tech– PowerPoint, LaTeX, HTML, PDF, others
• Medium tech– Overheads, slides
• Low tech– Pen and plastic, whiteboard
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General points
• Use large font sizes• Write points, not sentences• Do not put too much on one “slide”• Make the medium invisible
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High tech
• Use presentation software if possible– Forces you to prepare in advance– Helps you to organise your talk– Makes changing your talk easier– Looks professional and well-prepared
• But plan for equipment failure, or portability issues– Have a lower-tech back-up plan
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Medium tech• Overheads are good as a
back-up mechanism• But printed overheads can look
boring– And a mixture can look odd
• Always use permanent pens• With slides, video or audio:
be in control of the situation yourself, and prepare
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Low tech
• Recommended only for confident speakers
• Allow you to tune the presentation on-the-fly
• Allow you to build up complex pictures/equations/graphs on-the-fly in any order, and to control the audience’s attention
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Pointers
• Stick pointers are easier to aim– But don’t bang on non-rigid screens!
• Laser pointers give you more range– But avoid these if your hands shake
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Voice issues• Face the audience, not the projector
screen, nor the computer screen, nor the OHP, nor the desk, …– And don’t get between them!
• Talk to (multiple) individuals, or at least to the back of the room
• Vary the tone and level of your voice• Use “normal” language
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Getting through to the audience• Use repetition
– Remember that with a talk, people cannot “refer back” to earlier comments
• Use examples– Don’t get bogged down in
abstractions and generalities– Never present the details of proofs– Feel free to say “more details are given
in the paper/notes”
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Know your audience• Scientists (or business people,
or the general public)– Will be interested only in general results
• Computer scientists– Use notation carefully and focus on the
problem• Theoretical computer scientists
– Will want to know exactly what your contribution is
• Experts– Will want to know how your work beats
theirs!
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Timing
• Never over-run your allotted time– Talks which are too short are always better
than talks which are too long
• Be aware of how long you have, and stick to it
• Design multiple exit points, or identify material that can be skipped– Cut out details first
• Make sure you’re aware of the time
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Handling nerves
• Everyone gets nervous• Make your nerves work for you
– Be animated: show them you care!
• But be prepared too– Deep breathing– Know your introductory “speech”– Use written reminders if necessary– Bring water, so you can pause and
re-group when necessary