Ray's Rules for Talks

• Organization
• Outline
• Intro
• provide context for your topic
• implications?
• previous work?
• Meat
• make sure the organization is logical & flows well
• (re)emphasize key assumptions, results, implications, etc.
• Summary
• synopsis
• implications
• future work ?
  
  
  
• Appearance
• use brief phrases & keywords to reinforce what you are saying
. . . grammatical, narrative text will destructively interfere
. . . don't recite your text verbatim
• don't hand-write your text
. . . if you insist, at least write neatly
• use a big font
. . . try reading it yourself from the back of the room
• don't put much on the page
. . . dense text & equations are hard to read
. . . organize web content to minimize scrolling down pages
• don't display tables
. . . a histogram or graph is much more informative
. . . but if you insist . . .
• make the entries BIG and few
• talk people through the tables carefully
• when using published figures . . .
• expand figures to fill the page
• crop out unnecessary text
• know what's being plotted !!
• explain what's being plotted
. . . describe each axis' units & range
. . . overwrite larger labels, if necessary



• Preparation
• make sure you are checked out on equipment
. . . fumbling is distracting, embarrassing & inefficient
• make sure projection is in focus & FILLS the screen
. . . what is le point if we can't read what you display ?
• think about where you need to be so you don't block screen
• test Web notes on presentation platform before your talk
• do you have access to your own notes ?
• make sure font size & graphics are readably sized
• colors are not platform independent - check contrasts
  
  
  
• Presentation
• cater to the audience's sophistication level - avoid or explain jargon
• don't block the projector - note where you are
• face the audience - don't talk to the screen
• don't striptease viewgraphs . . . you're frustrating us !
• try to have amplitude in your voice . . . monotony stupefies
• verbally & physically reinforce the particularly important parts
. . . jump up & down! . . . throw things at the audience
• develop a narrative which builds expectation for your results
• make eye contact w/all parts of the audience
• be funny, spontaneous, tall, blonde & beautiful