some thoughts on giving good scien1fic talksabbott/reu/goodscientifictalks.pdf · some thoughts on...
TRANSCRIPT
SomethoughtsongivingGoodScien1ficTalks
Dr. Mike Strauss OU REU 2017
with input from Dr. Eric Abraham and Dr. Ferah Munshi
I.WhyBotherWorkingatSpeakingWell?
� Conferences,colloquiumandyouwillhaveto:� Thissummer� Academictalks:� seminars� JobInterviewTalks
� AnyprofessionaloccupaEon.� Wearen’ttalkingaboutteaching.ThatisadifferentskillenErely.
� Itisimportanttoknowhowtogiveagoodtalk.� Mayneverbefun,butcandecreaseanxiety.� SaEsfacEonincompetence.
SpeakingwellMaJers!� GetnoEced,peoplerememberyou.� Postdocs,programofficers,reviewers,students
� Samegoesforbusinessworld.� Bosseswillgetyourideas� Impactonthejob;influenceothers
� JobTalks� Youwillhavetogivetalkswhenapplyingforpost-doctoralandotherjobs
� Aspartoftheinterviewtogetajobasaprofessor,aTeroveradecadeofgraduateschoolandpost-doctoralresearch,acrucialinterviewcomponentwillbeapresentaEonatadepartmentalcolloquium.
Withali'leeffort,youcangivegreattalks…relaEvely.
� ManyscienEfictalksarehorrible� ManyscienEstsputnoeffortintotheirpresentaEons.� Mostviolatemuchofwhatwillbediscussed.� Mostpeopledon’twanttoworkatit,evenaliJle.� Mostpeoplefearpublicspeaking.
� Shypeople/introvertsmistakenlybelievetheycan’tdothiswell,oristoomuchwork� Introvertsmakegreatpublicspeakers(withpracEce).� Extrovertsdoaswell(pracEcingdifferentthings).
II.SomeBasicRules
� Thereisabewilderinglylargearrayofdifferentkindsoftalksonecangive.
� Fourrulesyoushouldneverviolate:1.AudienceAnalysis:Knowyouraudience
3.PracEce
4.Never,ever,underanycircumstances,gooverEme.
2.Storytelling:Knowwhatyouaretryingtosayandaccomplish
1.AudienceAnalysis
� Whatistheirbackground?
� Whatistheirinterest?
� Whyaretheythere?
� Whatlevelshouldyoupitchthetalk?
� Isthereamixtureoftheabove?Howisthatrelevanttoyourtalk?
� Notnecessarilyanydecisions,yet.Butthisguidestherestofyourdecisions.
2.StorytellingGivingagoodtalkmeanstellingagoodstory.Herearesomeideas:� ForscienEfictalksstartwithcontext� WhatquesEonareyoutryingtoanswer?Whatisthe
fundamentalscience?� Supporttheimportanceofyourresearch� WhyisthisquesEonrelevant?Whathasbeendoneon
thistopic?� Tellwhatyouhavecontributed� Howdidyoudoyourresearch?Whychosethismethod?� Summarizewhatyouhavelearnedanditsvalue.
3.PracEce
� EverytalkshouldbepracEced.
� Decreasesfear.
� PolishesthepresentaEonandtransiEons.
� Debugsslides,logicalsteps,colors,mechanics.
� FixesEmeproblems.
4.NevergooverEme
� The�threerules�ofpublicspeaking
� Destroysgoodwill,damagesyourlikability
� ArrogantandinsulEng:� Areyouaremoreimportantthanaudience?� DidyounotpracEce?Audiencenotworthit?� CouldyounotbebotheredtolookupthespecificaEonsforthetalk?
� IhaveneverseenascienEfictalktooshort.
III.PlanningtheTalk:Details
� Whatareyoutryingtoaccomplish?� CommunicaterecentresearchresultstothescienEficcommunity.
� AdverEseresearch,drawaJenEontoit.� Getfuturepaperspublished,grantsfunded.� Impresspeoplebyhowsmart/competentyouare.� Gethired.� Getthroughrequirementwithoutlookingstupid.
III.PlanningtheTalk(more)
� HowmuchEmedoIhave?
� Audienceanalysis?
� Mainpointofcontent.� Whatisthetake-awaymessage?� Newmethod,newmeasurement,newcalculaEon� Notthesameaswhatyouwanttoaccomplish� Istheremorethanonemainpoint?ThatshouldbeclearinyourpresentaEon.
III.PlanningtheTalk(more)� NarraEve:Youaretellingastory.Whatisit?� ThinkofyourtalkascreaEvewriEng.� WhattypeofnarraEveskeletonbestfitsyourstory?� Chronological,spaEal,experimental,mystery
� Whoarethecharacters?� Good/badguys(anthropomorphizedequipment,bugs)?
� Whereisthedrama?Conflict?Surprises?� Thisisnotparodyorfarce,itshouldbeimplicit.� Thisisalsoveryhard.Don’tletiniEaldifficultyorfailuresdissuadeyoufromworkingonthis.
Finally:CreaEngthetalk� Outline
� Onceyouhaveastory,youcanoutlineit� MainContentFigures.� Howdoyoustart?Engagetheaudience.
Whyisthisimportant?� Coolfigures/Goodjokes.
� SomeEmesshouldbeusedevenifthetalkismoreconcise/completewithoutthem
� ListSlides� Writeonpaper� Whatisvaluableforthisaudiencegiven
theamountof7mealloJed?� CreateTalk
YouHaveCompleted:1. IdenEfiedYour
Goal.2. Audience
Analysis.3. MainContent
Points.4. NarraEve.
IV.SlideTips
� Title:Yes
� Outline:Maybe� Canhelpguideaudience.� Cancalmnerveswitheasyfirstslide.� WastesvaluableEme.� NarraEveguidesaudiencethroughtalk.� Personalpreference,butneverfortalklessthan15minutes.
IV.SlideTips� Picturesoverwords!� (Thistalkdoes,unfortunately,havealotof“words”butit
isnotatalkonresearch,data,results…)
� Bulletsoversentencesorparagraphs!� Noparagraphs.Neverreadparagraphs!� Yourtextshouldnotbeexactlywhatyouaregoingtosay.It
shouldbearemindertoyouofwhatyouaregoingtosay.Itislikeanoutline,emphasizingtoyouraudiencewhatthemainpointis,whileremindingyouofthetopicsoyoucanexplainfurtherinwords.Ifyouputallthewordsthatyouaregoingtosayontheslide,itbecomesawalloftext.Youloseyourfocusontheaudienceasyoustareatthescreen.PeoplewillstoppayingaJenEontowhatyouaresayingasyoudroneonandonandon.
How Low Can You Go?
104
103
102
101
100
10-1
10-2
10-3
10-4
10-5
10-6
10-7
10-8
10-9
T(K)
1 K
1 mK
1 µK
1 nK
Surface of the sun Room temperature Liquid nitrogen
Liquid helium
Doppler laser cooling
Sub-Doppler laser cooling
Evaporative cooling
• Everything stays in the gas phase, must be very dilute.
• Temperature is related to the average speed of particles.
• Cooling is the same as slowing down.
• Cannot touch with any physical object.
• Typically 103 to 109 particles.
IV.SlideTips
� Don’tbeconfusing.AvoidcluJer.Onethoughtperslide.
� Maketextlargeenoughtobeseen.Caneverythingbereadfromthebackoftheroom?
SIVA
f1≈c/436.8nm+f2≈c/476.7nm+f3≈c/532nm
206Pb19F207Pb19F208Pb19F
Chris
To search for an e-EDM we will look for ΔU=U+M –U-M in a strong E field.
Precisionstructurecalcula7onsarenotnecessary.
Major Difficulty: A background magnetic field mimics an EDM.
GHz/ 39962458.1)( µµµ =⋅+⋅= BedmB SEgSBgU!!!!
PbF
IV.SlideTips
� NoAcronymsorJargon.
� TheproliferaEonofBSOsinAGNsisanoutstandingproblem.TypeIaSnarenotasourceofsuchQSOs.Furthermore,thelackofnewTLAsmayforceustoconsiderETLAs
IV.SlideTips� NoequaEons!
� Really?
� Ok,notnecessarily.But,youmustexplaineveryequaEon.� Everytermcouldbeexplained.� Importanttermscouldbeexplained(butthenwhythe
wholeequaEon?)� DoestheequaEonreallyaddvaluetothetalk?Isit
thebestwaytopresentthepointyouaretryingtomake?
� Willyouraudiencecare?
IV.SlideTips
� Nocode,circuitdiagrams,machinedrawings.� OnlyexcepEonmightbeinaverytechnicalworking
meeEng.� Willyouraudiencecare?
IV.SlideTips� Graphs:legible!� NocluJer� Labels,axes� Symbolsandlineslargeenough� IsanythingtoocluJered� Caneverythingbeseenfromthebackoftheroom?
� Colors:Checkcolors.
� Whenplanning,assume30to120secondsperslide.
� Ipreferminimum,orno,textanimaEonforscienEfictalks
TheFirstofMyObstacles� IdidnotcreateeverypieceinAutoCAD
� IassumedthoseIdidnotadjusttobegoodenoughforthemachineshop� Theyhadbuiltastrikinglysimilardesignbefore
• Measured intensity profile.. • Rigorous fit to superposition
of modes to determine mode quality.
• Fits consistent with 100% in mode of choice.
L21
Detailed Beam Analysis
(99.3 +- 0.9)% of intensity in L21 mode.
Also measured: • Propagation characteristics • Extinction ratios • Conversion efficiencies • Misalignment effects
Sharon A. Kennedy, Matthew J. Szabo, Hilary Teslow, James Z. Porterfield, and E. R. I. Abraham, Physical Review A 66, 043801 (2002).
αs(pT) results
30
• Use pTnbr > 50, 70, 90 GeV (138 data points total)
• At each pT, combine all data points with different pTnbr and ΔR requirements
• Determine results for αs(pT) at 12 pT values
à α(pT) results up to 400 GeV à αs(pT) decreases with pT
as predicted by the RGE
Results agree with results from à ALEPH event shape data à Previous DØ results from
inclusive jets
V.SpeakingTips:Do’s
� Dospeaktoaudience,nottocomputerorscreen.
� Dohavegoodlegiblegraphics
� DopracEceyourtalk.
� Dostartstrong.
V.SpeakingTips:Dont’s
� Don’tblockprojector.
� Don’tputintoomuchinformaEon.
� Don’tputintoomanyequaEons.
� Don’thavetoomuchinformaEononanyslide
� Don’tcoversegments:bewareofappearingtext.
� Don’tgooverthetop.Youarenotindebateclass,acEng,orsellingcars.
� Don’tgooverEme
Remember
� Itisyourtalk.Youareprobablytheexpertintheroom.Itisyourresearch.Beconfident.
� YouhavepracEcedyourtalksoyouknowwhatyouwanttosay,howyouwillmaketransiEons,andhowlongyourtalkwilltake.
VI.QuesEons
� SomeEmesquesEonsarethemostchallengingpartofthetalk.
� RepeaEngthequesEonmaygiveyouEmetothink.
� Ifyoudon’tknowtheanswerdon’tmakesomethingup.Don’tpanic.“Idon’tknowbutI’lllookthatup”isaperfectlyreasonableanswer.
� IfthequesEonerisbelligerent,takeitoffline.
VII.Miscellaneous
� Dressappropriately.
� PrepareforAVequipment.
� Beyourself.Don’ttrytomimicsomeoneelse.
� Keephumoratprofessionallevel.Carefulgoingoverboardwithinternetpictures.
� Oh,yeah,andremembertopracEceanddon’tgooverEme.