Hints forProfessional and Public

Speaking

Robert Jedicke23 June 2009

Qualifications

• 30+ years of public speaking– Hundreds of public talks to schools, rotary,

conferences, astronomy clubs, etc.– Keynote speaker– Many TV, radio, newspaper interviews– examples

• http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/videos/EinsteinSanta480.shtml• http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/videos/KillerAsteroids.shtml

• 20+ years of professional speaking• Former Friends of IfA faculty

coordinator

Preparation

• Well in advance• Practice by yourself• Practice in front of others• Target your audience

– Do not ‘dumb down’

• Review & practice immediately before giving the talk

• Show up early to address technical issues

Preparation

• Do NOT use all your time• Aim to finish early• Public and professional talks

are not so different– ‘experts’ on your topic are hard to

find

Presentation

• Dress appropriately• Do not move around• Do not fiddle• Do not same ‘ah’ and ‘um’• Look towards the audience• Do not overuse a pointer

– Try to make your talk pointer-less– Have arrows & highlights appear on screen

• Use a remote clicker

Presentation

• Spend MOST of your time on introductory material– Setup the problem/issue

• Outlines are over-rated– They take time, add little

• Use a microphone!– Preferably a headset– You want to be heard by everybody– You do not speak as loud as you think you

do

Presentation

• NEVER apologize– takes time– highlights your failures

• NEVER bullshit– If you don’t know something, say so

Creating slides (layout)

• Think about layout• Use a consistent style throughout

talk• Maximize screen size• Remember that lowest part of

screen is often difficult to see• Use simple background• Use simple/consistent slide

transition• Do not over use color text

Creating slides (text)

• Use large, simple text and font• Use consistent font throughout• Minimize text

– People read rather than listen– Nobody is going to reference

or read your talk

• Minimize text per slide• Animate text so people read

what/when you want

Creating slides (text)

• No strange line breaks• Do not read off the screen

– Read off your laptop while facing audience

• Use images on most slides to highlight text

• Use x% transparent text background for overlays

• USE AUTOMATIC SPELLCHECKING!!!

Creating slides (images)

• Maximize images on each slide– E.g. put text on image

• Maximize relevant part of image– Irrelevant parts can be off screen

• Think about layout!• Use borders• They can overlap!

Creating slides (figures)

• Maximize figures on each slide– E.g. put text on figure– Place other figs/images on top

• Think about layout!• Use borders

Creating slides (animation)

• Do not abuse slide animation– Use it appropriately and effectively

• Use movies/animations– Make them part of the animation

sequence so you do not have to click on them

Public speaking

• Minimize equations• Avoid figures

– Especially log axes!

• Avoid metric units• Avoid exponential notation

– Write out all the digits

• Use comparison scales– E.g one-millionth human hair width

Professional Talks

• Reference figures– But do not make it distracting

Documentation

• Keep a record of the origin of images, figures, text, etc in the text section associated with the slide

Examples

Connecting the First Nanoseconds to the Origin of Life

Stars forming at z=10!

Simulation As observed through 30-meter telescope R=3000, 105 seconds,Barton et al., 2004, ApJ 604, L1

1 Mpc (comoving)

Simulated

1 Mpc (comoving)

As observed through 30-meter telescope R=3000, 105 seconds,Barton et al., 2004, ApJ 604, L1

Star formation at z=10

Exploring other solar systems

Artist conception of planetary system orbiting around 55 Cancri using results of radial velocity Keck observations

More than 100 planetsaround other starsdetected so far (“indirect” technique-very small periodicspectral line shifts indicate orbital motion)

Most planetary systemsvastly different fromSolar System

No direct images ofother planetary systemsso far

Artist conception of planetary system around 55 Cancri

More than 100 planets already known around other stars

Exploring other solar systems

GSMT Detection of 55 CnC b/cChemical composition ofAtmosphere of 55 CnC b

Sudarsky, Burrows& Hubeny, 2003

55 Cancri – physical characterization by spectroscopy

Sudarsky, Burrows & Hubeny, 2003

55 Cancri

The physics of giant exo-planets

Goal: Image and characterize exo-planets – Mass, radius, albedo– Atmospheric structure– Chemistry physics of giant planet formation repercussion for formation of terrestrial

planets, life on terrestrial planets– Rotation– “Weather”

Measurements: R~ 10 photometry & R ~ 200 spectra– Near-infrared (reflected light)– Mid-infrared (thermal emission)

Role of GSMT: Enable measurements via– High sensitivity– High angular resolution

Physics of giant exo-planets

Goals:massradiusalbedoatmospherechemistryrotationweather

Physics of giant exo-planets

Measurements:near-infraredmid-infrared

Physics of giant exo-planets

GSMT:high

sensitivityhigh

resolution