some thoughts on academic presentations
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Some Thoughts on Academic Presentations. Dan Quint University of Wisconsin. March 26, 2014. Introduction Preparation Delivery Answering Questions Almost Freakish Attention to Detail. 1. Introduction. Presenting well matters. Introduction. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
Some Thoughts on Academic Presentations
March 26, 2014
Dan QuintUniversity of Wisconsin
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IntroductionPreparationDeliveryAnswering QuestionsAlmost Freakish Attention to Detail
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Introduction
Presenting well matters
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Introduction
Preparing a good talk takes much longer than you think
“Hofstadter’s Law: it always takes longer than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter’s Law.” – Douglas Hofstadter
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Introduction
Giving a good talk is hard…
…and you’ll screw it up
Your first presentation will probably go worse than you expect… even when you take this into account.
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IntroductionPreparationDeliveryAnswering QuestionsAlmost Freakish Attention to Detail
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Preparation
“Own your paper”
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Preparation
Think about who your audience is
Assume we’re smart, but haven’t read your paper, or the paper you’re extending
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Preparation
Think about the best way to teach them your paper
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Preparation
Start with a puzzle, or a story
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Preparation
You want us to understand, quickly:
What the question is What you found Why we should care
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Preparation
Your lit review is terrible
Show you know the literature you’re supposed to Put your paper in context and clarify its contribution
easy
hard
good place to take advice from advisors, etc.
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Preparation
You don’t have to present the most complicated case in your paper
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Preparation
Plan where you want to spend your time
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Preparation
Plan where you want to spend your time
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Preparation
PLAN WHERE YOU WANT TO SPEND YOUR TIME
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Preparation
Get to your model FAST!
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Preparation
Define things rigorously
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Preparation
Have examples in mind
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Preparation
Highlight the things you want us to notice
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Preparation
Don’t drown us in equations
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Preparation
Tables
source: A. Sengupta and S. Wiggins (2014), “Airline Pricing, Price Dispersion, and Ticket Characteristics On and Off the Internet,” AEJ: Economic Policy 6(1)
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Preparation
Visuals good!
source: T. Piketty, E. Saez and S. Stantcheva (2014), “Optimal Taxation of Top Labor Incomes: A Tale of Three Elasticities,” AEJ: Economic Policy 6(1)
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Preparation
Ask for advice –
and follow it
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Preparation
Practice!
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IntroductionPreparationDeliveryAnswering QuestionsAlmost Freakish Attention to Detail
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Delivery
Face the audience,
and don’t laser-point every slide
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Delivery
Go slow,
except for the technical parts –
then, go really slow
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Delivery
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Slowness especially important for equations
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Delivery
I like dot points to appear one by one
Guides people through each point I make
Reinforces each point
(Means I can’t present without a clicker)
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Delivery
But don’t “foreshadow” dot points
You may think it looks cute
But it makes people read ahead while you’re talking
Which means they aren’t paying attention
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Delivery
But don’t “foreshadow” dot points
You may think it looks cute
But it makes people read ahead while you’re talking
Which means they aren’t paying attention
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Delivery
But don’t “foreshadow” dot points
You may think it looks cute
But it makes people read ahead while you’re talking
Which means they aren’t paying attention
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Delivery
But don’t “foreshadow” dot points
You may think it looks cute
But it makes people read ahead while you’re talking
Which means they aren’t paying attention
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Delivery
Also, don’t put everything you want to say on your slide
If you do, then all you can do is read your slides
And that isn’t a very compelling way to present
Better to leave some things off your slide and just talk about them
And use your slides as an outline of the major points you want to cover…
…not every detail
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Delivery
Don’t be limited by your slides
Control pace, adjust accordingly Use white board as needed
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IntroductionPreparationDeliveryAnswering QuestionsAlmost Freakish Attention to Detail
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Answering questions
Anticipate likely questions
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Answering questions
Don’t take it personally
Don’t get defensive Don’t be a dick
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Answering questions
Don’t interrupt someone asking a question
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Answering questions
Don’t interrupt someone asking a question
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Answering questions
Make sure you understand the question before you start to answer
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Answering questions
Don’t defer questions more than necessary
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Answering questions
But don’t lose control of the seminar
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Answering questions
Don’t be a bullshitter
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Answering questions
But also, don’t undersell your work
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IntroductionPreparationDeliveryAnswering QuestionsAlmost Freakish Attention to Detail
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Almost freakish attention to detail
Minimize typos, incorrect notation, etc.
But don’t freak out if you catch one during your talk
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Almost freakish attention to detail
If your dot points appear one by one,
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Almost freakish attention to detail
If your dot points appear one by one,
Make sure you do it properly,
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Almost freakish attention to detail
If your dot points appear one by one,
Make sure you do it properly,
Because if they don’t line up right,
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Almost freakish attention to detail
If your dot points appear one by one,
Make sure you do it properly,
Because if they don’t line up right,
It makes me want to kill you!
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Almost freakish attention to detail
Plug in your fucking computer
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Almost freakish attention to detail
(Also: don’t use the word “fuck” in a presentation until you have tenure)
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Thanks for listening,and good luck!