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Great site with some good advice. I particularly like this part: "Talks are Entertainment - Public speaking's dirty little secret." The best thing I learned

Great site with some good advice. I particularly like this part: "Talks are Entertainment - Public speaking's dirty little secret." The best thing I learned for giving a good talk, and what I tell myself every time, is that it's story time for adults. Think back to a young age, and how you learned all those morals with fables and stories. Want to give a good talk? Make it a good story with wit and anecdotes. Be Garrison Keillor up there, and you'll see sparkling eyes and open mouthed smiles.

mapster 9y ago
that's a tall order. And the topic requires a different approach. scientific topics require 'just the facts ma'am' with extra points for a dash of shop humor.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- binarymax 9y ago
  Ultimately, the goal of a talk is to win the hearts and minds of the audience. If you achieve that, while communicating the foundational ideas and knowledge required to go further (perhaps implementation of a paper or replication of an experiment), then the talk was successful.
- marcosdumay 9y ago
  What facts? For example, this sequence: This is an open problem -> We've got those results -> This is how we did it -> We used this methodology Is very different from this sequence: We used this methodology -> This is how we did it -> We've got those results -> This is the problem we solved
  - mapster 9y ago
    the former - just the facts on hypothesis, methods, yada yada. audience may be taking notes. so a concise well rehearsed presentation is optimal.
Mz 9y ago
Or use an entertaining example of your point, like juggling for math. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNKFSpJIBO0&t=212s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNKFSpJIBO0&t=212s
munificent 9y ago
We shouldn't consider this secret to be a "dirty" one. There's plenty of scientific research that shows that we remember things better when they are keyed by emotion [1]. By giving your talk a personal, emotional frame, you help the listener remember and recall it, which in turn makes better use of their attention and time. Also, we should never feel bad for enjoying something. Life is not a zero-sum split where the more miserable something is, the more valid it is as work. As long as the entertainment of the talk does not detract from the information, it's fine. You can have both. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion_and_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion_and_memory
cholantesh 9y ago
> Be Garrison Keillor up there, and you'll see sparkling eyes and open mouthed smiles. From your pink-cheeked and robust audience.
shanecleveland 9y ago
And what I find is that the audience wants you to do well. They are invested in your success and their enjoyment be being in those seats. Double-bonus if drinks are being served ;)

mapster 9y ago

that's a tall order. And the topic requires a different approach. scientific topics require 'just the facts ma'am' with extra points for a dash of shop humor.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
binarymax 9y ago
Ultimately, the goal of a talk is to win the hearts and minds of the audience. If you achieve that, while communicating the foundational ideas and knowledge required to go further (perhaps implementation of a paper or replication of an experiment), then the talk was successful.
marcosdumay 9y ago
What facts? For example, this sequence: This is an open problem -> We've got those results -> This is how we did it -> We used this methodology Is very different from this sequence: We used this methodology -> This is how we did it -> We've got those results -> This is the problem we solved
- mapster 9y ago
  the former - just the facts on hypothesis, methods, yada yada. audience may be taking notes. so a concise well rehearsed presentation is optimal.

Mz 9y ago

Or use an entertaining example of your point, like juggling for math. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNKFSpJIBO0&t=212s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNKFSpJIBO0&t=212s

munificent 9y ago

We shouldn't consider this secret to be a "dirty" one. There's plenty of scientific research that shows that we remember things better when they are keyed by emotion [1]. By giving your talk a personal, emotional frame, you help the listener remember and recall it, which in turn makes better use of their attention and time. Also, we should never feel bad for enjoying something. Life is not a zero-sum split where the more miserable something is, the more valid it is as work. As long as the entertainment of the talk does not detract from the information, it's fine. You can have both. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion_and_memory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion_and_memory

cholantesh 9y ago

> Be Garrison Keillor up there, and you'll see sparkling eyes and open mouthed smiles. From your pink-cheeked and robust audience.

shanecleveland 9y ago

And what I find is that the audience wants you to do well. They are invested in your success and their enjoyment be being in those seats. Double-bonus if drinks are being served ;)