Guides to giving good scientific talks

The links below take you to some informative articles that condense some useful ``tricks of the trade'' for giving effective presentations. I've tried to stick to suggestions by people in the physical sciences (mainly physicists and astronomers, but there's one by a chemist and one by a computer scientist) rather than more general ``public speaking'' guides from other fields of academia or business (which have different traditions and norms).

• Ten Secrets to Giving a Good Scientific Talk, by Mark Schoeberl and Brian Toon, from the AGU's Atmospheric Science Division.

• Suggestions for Giving Talks, notes by Robert Geroch from 1973 that are still valid today (also available as HTML text here).

• How Not to Give a Scientific Talk, by Michael De Robertis (with hints from an article by by James C. Garland, Physics Today (July 1991), 44, p. 42; that article is also available as a PDF file here).

• The Art of Scientific Presentations, by Allard Jan van Marle, a collection of cool advice from a hot-star astronomer on composing slides, delivering the spoken talk, synching with the technical aspects, and dealing with hostile questioners!

• Oral Presentation Advice, by Mark Hill, Computer Sciences Dept., University of Wisconsin-Madison.

• A Seminar on Seminars, by Kenneth Suslick, a humorous presentation on what to do and what not to do.

GO BACK to Steven Cranmer's Home Page, or to the Harvard-Smithsonian CfA Home Page.