- The conclusion of a scientific talk
is as important as the conclusion of a good movie.
(upbeat music)
The way I know I've watched a good movie
is when I come out and I'm feeling certain emotions,
I'm asking myself some questions.
And the same applies to a good talk.
- It's easy to really glaze over the ending of a talk,
to forget that the ending is also very important.
It is the last experience
that your audience is going to have
before they leave the room.
- You want to really make it clear,
after all that people have heard,
what you think are the most important takeaways.
- Make sure that you are clear
on what the final conclusions of your research story are,
and how that relates to your core message.
It's best to really be explicit
by stating what the core message is at the end.
- I've done the exercise of thinking,
what's the core message?
What's the one sentence that I want people
to remember or walk away with?
And so, when I'm thinking about how I'm gonna end a talk,
I try to find a way that's gonna
encapsulate that take-home message.
- This can be done in a variety of ways.
I think in my case I had an end slide
with some bullet-pointed text
that kinda summarized the important aspects
of the protein I was working on,
and really reiterated my core message for my talk.
- Another way is to end with what are some of the questions,
further questions that you're pursuing.
The result will always lead to 20 more questions,
so what are those 20 more questions?
- What does the finding you came up with mean?
What does it mean for your field,
what does it mean for future work that you might do,
future work that other people might do?
- If we can understand angiopellosis,
and all of the mechanisms and the molecules involved,
then we can manipulate these,
and augment and increase the amount of stem cells
that are exiting the blood vessel
and reaching the damaged tissue,
potentially increasing the amount of regeneration happening
and saving countless or improving lives.
- We've also had YSS winners
that end our talks with a call to action.
They've presented their research,
their research might inform policy,
and they invite the audience to think about
how they can take actions
based on the discoveries that they've presented
to make a difference.
- You can make your own lifestyle changes,
such as recycling, eating locally,
taking public transportation,
to make a difference in your own footprint.
- That's one way to end with a punch.
- A very good indication that a talk has been successful
is when you have a lot of questions,
when people are curious about what you have done,
and when they feel engaged in what you have presented.
- You want to leave your audience wanting more
because you are sparking curiosity.
- A good conclusion that summarizes what you've learned,
and that opens up perspectives on what could be learned,
is definitely extremely important for a scientific talk.
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