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.

• 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.