How to give a talk...

My favorite tips on how to give a talk are by Gordon Bower (click here to see the original). Below are a set of tips compiled from Gordon, other excellent talk-givers, and my personal experiences at conferences and on the job market.

First, the bad news: the best thing for a talk is an interesting topic and some compelling data. The good news is that improving every other aspect of your talk is really easy. Here are some tried and true do's and don'ts.


1. Be prepared:

2. Practice

3. Get Into It

4. Use Figures & Examples

5. Be VERY VERY Clear

6. Do a lot of pointing

7. You probably shouldn't be using overheads any more, but if you are:

8. Start well

9. Say only the right things, and not any of the other things

10. Take questions and learn from them


Some more pages on how to give a talk:

Gordon Bower's tips -  the best!

Some  great tips on giving a talk

some more  thoughts on giving a talk

and some more on  giving a talk

Tips for  surviving the job search

tips  for giving a great lecture