I felt honoured to be asked to give a talk to the Science Faculty Post-doc Society on this topic. As we are all different I emailed colleagues for their perspectives and list a summary from 16 of them below. The above ‘wordle’ highlights the keywords in their replies. Note the importance of time (management), people,
Delivery Who are your audience – aim the talk at them, what will interest them? Make your story relevant to the audience (see below) Show some enthusiasm; it can energise the atmosphere Posture Face the audience and look at them all (not one person) Always stand when speaking as it helps projection of your voice
Before starting Know the key message you wish to communicate. Typically this is the result that most advances the science. Identify an iconic figure or image that communicates this message. Build the paper around this. Remember Write a compelling story, not a report. Make it interesting for your target audience (typically your peers) to read.
