All scientists need to give talks but being able to give a brilliant talk takes skill. Are you wondering how to best keep your audience’s attention? How to design slides that enhance, rather than distract from what you’re saying? And how to tackle your inevitable nerves?

This week Jen and Michael chat about how to give a better science talk. Listen for our thoughts and advice on how to plan, design and deliver a fantastic talk plus tips from two of our UniMelb SciComm students, Randy Mann and Stephanie Wong.

Here are a few good reads to help next time you’re preparing a talk:

Reframing stress - stage fright can be your friend. Very nervous about speaking in public? You're not alone, and there are ways to harness that fear to your advantage.

Get Excited: Reappraising Pre-Performance Anxiety as Excitement. This paper talks more about reframing anxiety by taking stress and turning it into excitement. We actually use the tip "say I am excited out loud" all the time and it works!

Use PowerPoint as a Tool, don’t be a Tool for PowerPoint. PowerPoint is full of pitfalls. How many slides are too many? What should your slides have on them? How do you use the slides in your talk? This article answers all that and more.

How to avoid death By PowerPoint | David JP Phillips | TEDxStockholmSalon. A TED talk that’s worth your time – it includes plenty of excellent advice on how to use slides more effectively.

How to be an Excellent Communicator — You Only Need 3 Axioms. Three pillars that make for good communication, no matter the medium. This is a longer read, but jam-packed with great information.

Making a short presentation based on your research: 11 tips. Tips on how to make 15 minutes count when talking about your research.

We also mentioned canva.com and piktochart.com which are both really useful tools for improving your talk visuals.

Transcript: https://go.unimelb.edu.au/6y8e