Astrophysics of Variable StarsASP Conference Series, Vol. 349, 2006C. Sterken & C. AertsAdvice on Giving a Scientific TalkD. W. KurtzCentre for Astrophysics, University of Central Lancashire, PrestonPR1 2HE, UKAbstract. What makes one speaker exciting and another boring? You havebeen to good talks and you have sat through far too many poor ones, so whatmakes the difference? It doesn’t really matter whether it is a scientific talk, apublic talk or a classroom lecture: Your prime concern is to think about theaudience. You are talking to them. You are performing. Look at them; talk tothem; think about what they are hearing and seeing. They very much want youto give a good talk – that is why they have chosen to be your audience. But atthe start of your talk they are worried you might not, so they are nervous. Yourfirst job is to relax them and get their trust that you are going to do a good job.Then you will relax and you will be off to a great start. Of course your contentmatters; if you have a great discovery, they will forgive you anything. But it isstill better to make a good presentation. I give some advice here on what to do,and what not to do, when giving any kind of talk, but with emphasis on shortscientific talks presented at conferences. You should be a little nervous at thestart of a talk - that is caused by your concern to do a good job. With a goodstart your talk will flow, you will then present your discoveries, and with a goodending your audience will applaud appreciatively and want to ask you questions.You will have enjoyed performing and want to do it again. Speaking can be funfor you, and rewarding for your audiences.1. IntroductionIn the early 1860s the Reverend Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, an Oxford Mathe-matics professor, told some fanciful stories to the young Alice Liddell – storiesthat everyone now knows as Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Mr. Dodgson,as he was known to Alice, took the nom de plume Lewis Carroll, derived fromhis middle name Lutwidge, which he Latinised to Ludovicus, then Anglicised toLewis; and first name Charles, Latinised to Carolus and Anglicised to Carroll.Early in Alice’s Adventures, after she has fallen down the rabbit hole followingthe white rabbit (who is late for a birthday party), Alice eats a small cake thatmakes her grow to a height of 2 miles! This is a crime in Wonderland (rule 42, infact) and she is tried by the King of Hearts. The white rabbit is required to giveevidence at her trial, and asks, “Where shall I begin, please Your Majesty?”.“Begin at the beginning,” the King said, very gravely, “and then go on till youcome to the end: then stop.”This was wise advice 150 years ago in Wonderland, and it is good advice nowfor giving a scientific talk: “Begin at the beginning, and then go on till you cometo the end: then stop.” It is the last of these instructions that is the hardestto obey, “then stop,” and we will return to that. But for now let’s begin at thebeginning.435436 Kurtz2. The Beginning: talk to your AudienceWhile as a scientist you will have a presentation – in most cases nowadays witha computer and data projector – this is not your “talk”. Your presentation isimportant support for your talk, but your talk consists of the words you say toyour audience. So begin by talking to your audience, not to your slides on thescreen; not to your feet; not to the ceiling; not to your shoes. Do not close youreyes. Look at your audience and talk to them.Your audience is friendly. In other professions this is often not true – say fora politician, or a lawyer – but for a scientist it is. Whether you are giving aprofessional scientific talk or a public talk, the audience has come to hear you.They want to hear what you have to say, so they are well-disposed towards you.When you first stand up to begin your talk, before you do anything else, lookat them; make eye contact and verbal contact. This can be as simple as justlooking around the audience and saying hello.If you are unsure how to go about “saying hello” to your audience, pay at-tention to what other speakers do. Many of them will fail to follow the aboveadvice; notice how you feel their neglect. Others seem very relaxed and friendlywith their words of first contact. Notice that you immediately warm to thesespeakers, and think about following their examples.This last advice is general. Notice how other speakers make their presenta-tions. Even many senior scientists, with years of experience giving presentations,still do not do a good job, and some can be very bad. Other speakers, both youngand experienced, give brilliant presentations. By all means concentrate on thescience they are presenting – that is why you are there – but also think theirstyle, then emulate the good ones and avoid the mistakes of the poor ones.2.1. Your Nerves and their NervesYou will be nervous. Almost everyone is and this is a good thing, as long as itis not totally debilitating. It is because you care about doing a good job; youwant to be well-received and appreciated. So you are worried. Your nervousnessis not as obvious to them as it is to you, so cover it as best you can and theywill not notice. You may have a strong inclination to hide from the audience bynot looking at them, by looking anywhere but at them. That they will notice,so overcome your inclination to do this and look at the faces who are watchingyou. Some of them will be “friendly” faces: people who just look like they areon your side. Find a friendly face or two and talk to those people to start with.That will help you relax much more than trying to pretend the audience isn’tthere. You will find that your nerves disappear very quickly as you get off to agood start.So you are nervous, but so are they ! How many times have you gone to a talkand had the speaker turn his back to you and mumble, while showing unreadableslides? You get nothing out of the talk and spend the time thinking about otherthings, waiting for it to be over in the hopes that the next speaker will be better.Your audience has also had this experience, and they are a little worried thatyou may be about to do the same thing. You need to look at them, greet themand get them to relax in the assurance that you are in control and are going togive a good talk. Then you will relax.Advice on Giving a Scientific Talk 4372.2. The Beginning: What to do when Things go WrongWith modern talks you often have to set up your own laptop