Woman Physicist’s Speaking Guidelines Resonate with Readers

Heidi Newberg’s article hits the mark. I have some additional comments.

Teaching experience is excellent training for presentations of almost any kind. People who haven’t taught professionally might consider a part-time teaching position to gain such experience.

It’s a good idea to move around on the stage, if possible, such as by changing the overhead slides yourself or pointing at the screen. Movement helps hold attention and projects energy.

In my opinion, visuals that consist solely of text should be used sparingly. Audiences tend to read word-visuals at the expense of what the speaker is saying. The best bets for visuals are pictures, including data plots, graphs, and the like, chosen to complement the presenter’s spoken words and to explain the same thing in a different way.

In the talk itself, explaining the same things in different ways is often called for. Not surprisingly, the more original the material, the greater this burden. After all, if a new technique or idea was obvious, someone would already have thought of it. Scanning the audience makes it possible to discern the level of understanding. It sometimes pays to back off from covering all the material in favor of covering, say, the most important 80% really well.

Here is a final tip: At your next conference or meeting, watch the speakers and evaluate their presentation skills. Choose the best, and consider adopting their best techniques. Keep in mind, though, that one style does not fit all; you will have to develop your own.