- I think the most important part of giving a talk
is the process that happens
before you actually start putting it together.
(uplifting music)
It's a process that I personally didn't think much about
until I started doing science communication.
When I was a graduate student, I was like,
"Oh, I have to give a talk,
so I'm gonna talk about my data,
throw something together,
deliver it very poorly and not very happily,
and that's it."
I've learned over the years that self-reflection
is something that's really, really important.
- That process is what helps you build your framework.
Answering the questions of who's your audience?
- What's your goal?
- What's your core message?
- It's this framework, the audience, the goal, the message,
combined with, of course,
how long do I have to give this talk?
- Who's sitting in the audience?
Are they scientists, is it a more general audience?
If they are scientists,
is it certain career stages, is it certain specialties?
What's the goal of my presentation?
- The goal is what you would like to accomplish
by presenting your work to other people.
- Then I think about the core message that I want to convey.
What is the one thing
that I want my audience to walk away with?
If you have five minutes
versus 30 minutes versus 60 minutes,
that will really dictate what data you talk about
and how long you talk about it.
- The process of self-reflection before giving a talk
is very individual.
I sit down, and I think about it
while I am commuting to work,
while I am taking a shower, while I am having a coffee.
But that might look different for you.
You might be the person who needs to write it out,
you might be the person who needs to draw it out.
So there's some trial and error in discovering
what process works best for you,
and what leads to you giving the most effective talk.
- Preparing and giving a presentation,
let alone a good presentation, takes a lot of time.
You're going to define your framework,
make your slides and practice them,
but you're going to get feedback,
and then you'll have to go back,
you might have to make changes,
you might have to practice again and get feedback again.
Think about it as an investment in your research.
- Practicing the framework technique
is something that can focus your presentation
and actually accelerate the iterative process.
- It really helps me make decisions about
what I'm going to include or not include.
- It's just intuitively become
part of how I prepare my talks now.
(slow music)