Advice on giving a research talk

Compiled by Clay Scott. Created 8/22/07. Last modified 9/5/07.

• Research talks should contain certain key elements, possibly but not necessarily in this order. Some of these elements will be more developed than others depending on the maturity and nature of your project.
  • Problem statement, with motivation
  • Significance/importance of problem
  • Context: related work, where your work fits in
  • Contributions: your specific innovations and achievements
  • Challenges faced and overcome
  • Evidence: experimental findings, simulations, theory, etc.
  • Impact of your work (does it help solve other problems besides the one that motivated your work?)
• Avoid outline slides in short talks. They tend to waste time and do not aid the audience’s understanding. In longer talks, outline slides might be justifiable, but only after you have defined and motivated the problem. In most cases your talk should be one seamless narrative where each point flows naturally into the next, and an outline should not be necessary.
• Your talk is an advertisement for your research. It does not need to convey every last detail. It should inspire the audience members to read your paper or follow up with you later in person. Give key ideas, motivation, intuition, major findings, impact, but resist the temptation to overload with information.
• A rate of 3 slides per 5 minutes is very reasonable. Any more than that and you're likely to go over your time limit.
• Unless you are very experienced, it’s a good idea to memorize what you plan to say on the first and last slides. Your opening sentences should quickly turn to a problem statement or motivating example. The last slide should recap your contribution, and should ideally present a memorable image or phrase or result that will stick with audience. Do not end by asking if there are any questions, because then the audience may not applaud, which can be awkward.
• Use graphics/images/figures in your slides frequently. Even if a slide contains equations or a lot of text, it’s a good idea have at least one figure. It gives the audience something to stare at. Many people tune out when faced with a slide full of text and equations. A figure can be as simple as a “cartoon” made of simple powerpoint graphics objects (dots, lines, etc.). Google Images is also a very good source of images.
• Don't go overboard with the animations. They can be distracting.
• Regarding pointers and laser pointers: As a rule I try not to use them. If you are nervous, the pointer will shake, which is distracting. You may unconsciously shoot a laser pointer into the audience members' eyes, which is very unsettling. If you are close enough to the screen that you can walk to it and point, that is the best option. It also helps you be more active. If you do have to use a laser pointer, use it sparingly. It is for emphasis, not to underline every point on your slide as you talk about it.
• About 5% of males are color-blind, with red-green colorblindness being most common, so avoid graphs where differences between red and green (or other subtly different colors) are critical. Effective use of color will enhance a talk, but use other methods of emphasis as well. Also keep in mind that the colors on your computer screen and the colors on a projector may be significantly different.
• It is better to answer a question with “I don’t know” than to convey this information by talking about something you don’t understand. Pause no more than 5-10 seconds when thinking of how to answer a question.
• Give one or two practice talks in front of a small audience (5-10 people). When you speak out loud, your ideas are likely to come out in a different or less clear way than you imagined when preparing the slides. Invite people who are unfamiliar with your work, as they tend to give the best comments.
• In a practice talk, distribute hardcopies to the audience members.
• Arrive at your talk early to make sure everything is set up
• Something to keep in mind as your presentation skills develop: Your slides are not the focal point of your talk. Your ideas are the focal point, and the slides are only there to assist in conveying those ideas. Therefore, let the flow of your talk be determined by what best advances your argument, not by what is next sequentially on your slide. In other words, if you find that you want to jump forward a slide, even though you have not addressed all the material on a current slide, it is best to move forward. Then adjust your slides before you next give the talk.

References

Advice for researchers and students by Michael Ernst
Ian Parberry's speaker's guide
How to give a good research talk: Simon L Peyton Jones, John Launchbury, John Hughes
More presentation tips posted by Craig Kaplan
Paper writing and presentations page by Armando Fox
Oral presentation advice by Mark Hill
Giving a good research talk by Nicholas Nethercote