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?
Here are some pointeres:
1. Remember that you only have time to make one or two points. Be clear
on what those are.
2. Make sure that your talk suits your audience. Check for body language
signs of comprehension, and be prepared to speed up or slow down accordingly.
(actually, this is a more advanced technique, but worth thinking about).
3. My PhD supervisor gave me the metaphor of an hourglass for the design
of a talk - start big picture, gradually ease down to the one tiny point
you are making, then ease back out again to big picture.
4. Remember that this is probably a big meeting with multiple parallel
sessions, and that you may lose your audience for a second or two. Have
enough information on your slides that if someone does drift off, they can
quickly get back on track.
5. Remember -- you are the expert on this, and people are in the audience
because they want to know what you did. Expect the best from those
who ask questions, and if a question comes from left field, take a deep
breath to think. (Those few seconds seem *much* longer to you than to the
audience). If you really don't understand, or if you're not sure how
to handle it, don't be afraid to use the tried and true "that's an
interesting point, and I would like to have more time to discuss it
with you, perhaps after the talk." or "I'm not sure I quite understand
your question. Perhaps we could discuss it later?"
Good luck!
Chris.
