Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week

As the conference season heaves into view again, I thought it was worth gathering all four parts of the old Tutorial 16 (“giving good talks”) into one place, so it’s easy to link to. So here they are:

• Part 1: Planning: finding a narrative
  • Make us care about your project.
  • Tell us a story.
  • You won’t be able to talk about everything you’ve done this year.
  • Omit much that is relevant.
  • Pick a single narrative.
  • Ruthlessly prune.
  • Find a structure that begins at the beginning, tells a single coherent story from beginning to end, and then stops.
• Part 2: The slides: presenting your information to be understood
  • Make yourself understood.
  • The slides for a conference talk are science, not art.
  • Don’t “frame” your content.
  • Whatever you’re showing us, let us see it.
  • Use as little text as possible.
  • Use big fonts.
  • Use high contrast between the text and background.
  • No vertical writing.
  • Avoid elaborate fonts.
  • Pick a single font.
  • Stick to standard fonts.
  • You might want to avoid Ariel.
  • Do not use MS Comic Sans Serif.
  • Use a consistent colour palette.
  • Avoid putting important information at the bottom.
  • Avoid hatching.
  • Skip the fancy slide transitions.
  • Draw highlighting marks on your slides.
  • Show us specimens!
• Part 3: Rehearsal: honing the story and how it’s told
  • Fit into the time.
  • Become fluent in delivery.
  • Maintain flow and momentum.
  • Decide what to cut.
  • Get feedback.
• Part 4: Delivery: telling the story
  • Speak up!
  • Slow down!
  • Don’t panic!

Also, some addenda written later:

• Addendum 1: give a talk that holds attention!
  • Love your taxon.
  • Show us pictures of your taxon.
  • Engage with the audience.
  • Tell a story.
  • Talks are not papers.
• Addendum 2: giving talks: what to leave out
  • Don’t start by saying the title.
  • Don’t introduce yourself.
  • Don’t reiterate your conclusions at the end.
  • Don’t say “thanks for listening”.
  • Don’t read the acknowledgements out loud.
  • Don’t say “I’ll be happy to take questions”.
• Addendum 3: giving talks: some more positive thoughts
  • Offer lots of jump-back-on points.
  • Anticipate possible objections and meet them in advance.
  • Do the work to make it worth the audience’s while.
  • Efficiently introduce a taxon and make it interesting before launching into details.