How to give the right talk the right way

How to give the right talk the right way

Gintaras K. DudaPhysics Department

What is Research? Three criteria for research of any kind

1. It is made public2. It is subject to critical review and

examination by members of the community3. the work is built upon, used, and modified

by others

Communication is at the heart of the scientific enterprise!

How do we disseminate knowledge?

Peer-reviewed articles Conference proceedings Letters and other communications

And talks, talks, talks …

Know your Audience!

Most important thing to remember

Each talk should be written with a specific audience in mind

Elementary is ok People like to feel smart People come to actually learn something

… Gasp!

Our model: N = 1 SUSY extension to SM with the following soft breaking super-potential

We include a mix of F and D terms in the super-potential

The Montillation of Traxoline It is very important that you learn

about traxoline. Traxoline is a new form of zionter. It is montilled in Ceristanna. The Ceristannians gristerlate large amounts of fevon and then brachter it to quasel traxoline. Traxoline may well be one of our most lukized snezlaus in the future because of our zionter lescelidge.

A Ph.D.?

You all know what the following acronyms stand for:

B.S. M.S. Ph.D.

Talking over the heads of an audience doesn’t make you look smart!

Types of Talks

Conference Presentation Invited Contributed Poster

Seminar style Presentation Invited talk Job talk

General Audience Presentation Outreach

Conference Presentations:Contributed Talks

Contributed talks may be only 8-12 minutes in length Important to stay within your time!

What can you say in 8-12 minutes? Give an overview of what you did and why its

important Give a introduction placing the work in

context Tell people what YOU did Going to be more technical

Conference Presentations:Invited Talks

Invited talks tend to be longer and of more general interest Think 25-40 minutes in length

This type of talk needs to be accessible to a WIDE audience Give a more detailed overview of the

field Keep the discussion more general Audience is likely interested but non-

specialist

General Audience Talks The hardest of all talks to write

Can’t assume a lot of background knowledge

Use the parent test: If I explain it this way, would my mom or dad

understand? Also great for your thesis!

But these are a wonderful opportunity to promote science This is our responsibility!

http://www.thepaincomics.com/weekly080709.htm

Seek outside advice

Ask for faculty mentors, other graduate students, or friends to listen to your talk

Ask them if they understood it

Ask for feedback and advice

This can save your butt!

My big tips

Explain why your subject is interesting

Pitch it at the right level Progress to more difficult material if

need be Stay within your allotted time Make sure to give references Practice, practice, practice!