In article <35A3F832.26316381 at molbio.princeton.edu>, Mary Kate Alexander
<mca at princeton.edu> wrote:
>All this talk lately of preparing students/postdocs for aggressive
>questioners at seminars is making me a bit nervous. I'll be giving a
>talk for the first time in about three weeks, at a very large meeting
>(Yeast Genetics and Molecular Biology, at University of Maryland). So
>far, my public speaking has been limited to presentations within my own
>department. In addition, this will be my first time attending a
>scientific meeting. Do any of you have some words of wisdom for
>beginning speakers?
>>--Mary Kate
Mary Kate-I'll tell you what my PhD mentor told me when I defended: "You
have a story to tell, and you know your story better than anyone else in
that room. So go tell it." You should be very well prepared. Make sure
your slides/overheads are in proper order and right-side up in the
carousel before you start your talk. (Sometimes it helps to take your own
carousel--just make sure you get it back.) If you're afraid of sharks,
have someone in your group ask you some of the "tough" questions
beforehand so you can have a ready answer.
Even though there may be some sharks in the room, there'll probably be
just as many (if not more) dolphins who'll be supportive of a novice in
the ocean. (Boy, talk about mixing metaphors!)
Good luck! Cindy
--
C.J. Fuller
<mailto:cjfuller at erickson.uncg.edu>
<mailto:cjfuller at mindspring.com>
