Resource of the Week #131: “How to Give Better Talks”

Hello again. Our resource this week is an article that recently appeared on the website of the magazine The Scientist. The article is titled “How to Give Better Talks”. In it, the author, who teaches presentation skills, offers advice on giving research presentations.

I was pleased to see that much of the advice resembles that in AuthorAID presentations on giving talks. Such PowerPoint presentations, plus other materials, are available in the oral-presentation section of the AuthorAID Resource Library.

Points that appear in both the article and some AuthorAID presentations include the following: In a talk, present much less detail than in a journal article. Consider the audience. Prepare well. Keep slides simple. Explain what is in each slide.

The article also includes new advice. Perhaps the most useful is the following:

• When preparing a talk, don’t start with too much information and then try to delete some.
• Rather, start by identifying the main message of the talk.
• Then add relevant information until the talk is the right length.

If you give oral presentations, I encourage you to look at this week’s resource. Consider also reading the comments, which include some good ideas.

Until the next post—

Barbara