Why was this tutorial created?

Effective oral communication is an important - but often overlooked and underpracticed - skill in scientific and academic endeavors. This tutorial has been developed to serve as an introductory guide and general reference for use when formulating a talk. The principles should be applied whenever you are faced with making a public presentation, whether it's a journal club presentation or a more formal talk, such as a conference presentations, job talks, and invited seminars.

There are very few people having a natural talent for delivering outstanding presentations (IMHO, anyway). On the other hand, foresight, hard work, and practice can carry most of the rest of us into the 'very good' level of presentation skills. The standards for public speaking in the scientific and academic realms are relatively low, so a good presentation often is memorable. I've attempted to compile a short summary of skills needed to make a good presentation so that a user can learn these skills with a little effort and practice, then apply them in professional settings.

You may go to the Main Menu for this tutorial, or you may RETURN to the Effective presentations page.

Jeff Radel