How to give a good research talk

Reading : "How to give a good research talk," Jones et. al.

For a person who gives a 30-60 minutes talk, there are several suggestions to follow.

First, prepare appropriate content according to background knowledge of the audience. Omit unnecessary contents and remain the things that can convince the listeners of the primary topic. It may be more persuasive with precisely motivating examples. Second, use an overhead projector is effective. Put what is about to be explained on the slides, which not only saves the visual bandwidth but also gives the audience emphasis. Prepare the slides just one day before the talk may help us have fresh materials in our minds. Third, overcome nerves, show clear slides, and do not overrun. Try deep breathing or exercise may be effective to reduce nerves. Do not reveal a slide line by line or block people’s view. It is limited for a person to follow in a constant period of time, so take whether the listeners get the point into consideration before jump to the next section. Moreover, it is quite helpful to reorient the audience with a slide for each part.

In my opinion, prepare slides by typesetting with computer rather than writing by hand also has advantages for me. It saves time and does nice if someone is familiar with some software, such as Powerpoint. Besides, rehearsal several times before giving a talk is really helpful in my experience.